O.k. so I promised to share a few tips, so here I go. Now remember, I am not an expert, and what works for me will not necessarily work for everyone, so take it for what it is worth to you. I have gotten more then my share of unsolicteted advice,believe me,but these are few of my favorite ideas.
1.Exercise is great, but change it up often. Not only will you get bored with running around the block everyday, but your body will adjust to your routine, so have some variety. I do running, kickboxing, yoga circuit training, swimming, Wii workouts, the shred, weights, and change it up often. Have fun, do not let yourself get bored. Remember you do not need a Gym membership or fancy equipment, be creative.
2. Try to add strength training to your workouts.
3. Pick a calorie goal and stick to it. I have a thyroid disorder, so I switch between 1200 - 1500 calories a day.
4. Once you pick a calorie goal, record everything that goes in your mouth. You would be surprised at what you are eating. Just trying one of your kids chicken nuggets, or a casual thing here or there and your calories have gotten out of control. If you have a I pod or I phone there is a wonderful FREE app called My Fitness Pal, and it will even give you the calories for fast food and pretty much anything else. It has been a wonderful tool for me : )
5. Keep track of your exercise. During high energy workouts you can burn tons of calories, so you can bring your net calorie intake way down. I love the feeling of knowing that I ate 1500 calories then burned off 600, for the net calorie intake of 900!!! Be sure that you do not try to make up those calories by eating more or you will erase your work. : ) (The Fitness pal will keep track of this as well.)
6. Even the Biggest looser people eat at least 1200 calories a day, so do not short yourself. You do not want to put your body in starvation mode.
7. WATER, drink tons of it!!! Trust me it is worth it. It also makes your skin clearer!!!
8. Diet drinks really are not the best for you. They actually can increase your appetite, and cause some degree of memory loss over time. If you have to have them limit them to 8 oz a day. Also watch for things that have artificial sweetener. It seems to be everywhere these days.
9. Protein makes you feel fuller longer, so try to eat foods high in protein. For example, tuna, milk, lean sliced turkey, chicken breast, eggs, etc....
10. Fiber is good, enough said!
11. Do not deprive your self. If you want a piece of chocolate, go for it, but remind yourself that if you are going to cheat, do it wisely. That means you do not have to eat a big piece of cheese cake with a chocolate bar on the side. If you choose to have 1200, calories a day you have blown it!!! Try a york pattie at 130 calories, or 100 calorie packs. find something that will satisfy your craving, but not mess up any progress you have made.
12. Sleep, 8 hours of sleep really helps!!!
13. Never sit still, even if you are sitting, read, or do something, idle hands eat!!!
14. Carbs are not the enemy. Choose them wisely, but eat them!! Stay clear of processed carbs, and ones that contain lots of sugar. Steel cut oats, brown rice, buckwheat, even potato's can be great, just again watch the amounts.
15. This is the biggest, pray about it and hand it to God. Dive into the scripture, and see what it says about it. I think this could be a future blog post as well : )
Well, I hope some of these can be of some help to someone. I will try to share some of my favorite things to eat and great low calorie substitutes in my next blog, along with my favorite workout ideas and tricks. Oh, and one last tip, Diet, is a four letter word, never use it. I am not a dieter!!! I have changed my lifestyle. , The word Diet is overused, and often discouraging, so I do not like to use it!! Happy lifestyle change to you all!!!
For people without access to phone apps, like me, www.livestrong.com is a great website for calorie counting. It allows you to put in your weight loss goal and see how many calories you can eat a day to achieve that goal. Its got other nifty little tools too!
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