More than two-thirds of adults are considered to be overweight or obese...Our body is the only one we've got, and we need to take care of it to have a healthy life.
In order to live healthier, longer, and happier lives, we must begin making some important changes in our lifestyles. Healthy living is within your reach, starting today. Sure, healthy living is a long-term commitment, but there are steps you can take right now that will make today healthier than yesterday and pave the way for a longer, healthier, fuller life. 1. Establish Healthy Habits Use technology! Set reminders on your iPhone or your computer. Do you keep forgetting to take your vitamins or prep your meals for the week? Pick a specific time of day that works best for you, and set an alarm to remind you to do it. After a short while you'll notice you don’t even need the alarm anymore. Let’s say you’re about to go on your lunch break and you’re hungry. You only have about 30 minutes to eat, so you know you need something quick. You leave the office and head straight to the fast food joint because you know it's quick, easy, and you can be back at the office in time for your afternoon meeting. Instead of focusing on the fact that you messed up and ate the bad food, ask yourself why you made the choice to go there. The problem might be that you simply forgot to prep your meals for the week or pack your lunch that day to have handy at work. That led to you having to make a quick decision in a pinch and resulted in a bad decision. Don't beat yourself about it. Instead, think about how can you make sure you don't make the same mistake again. 2. Set Achievable Behavioral Goals Outcome goals are focused on end results. Behavioral goals are focused on what you need to do to achieve those results. Think of an outcome goal, then ask yourself what it will take for you get there. What types of actions do you need to take to make that happen? The actions you come up with are your behavioral goals. An example of a behavioral goal would be, "I'm going to prepare all my meals and snacks for the first three days of this week on Sunday." This is something you have control over, and that you can easily measure. By having your meals prepared ahead of time you are more likely to succeed in sticking to your healthy nutrition. 3. Eat More Often Many people believe they should be eating less so that they starve their bodies into losing weight. Simply eating less often or consuming less calories is not always the most effective method of losing weight, nor is it always the healthiest. Eating at regular intervals will keep your metabolism burning high and your blood sugar and hormones balanced throughout the day. 4. Eat Lean Protein Sources Eat healthy lean, proteins. Protein is harder to process than carbs or fat, therefore your body has to burn more calories to metabolize it. Also, protein helps you gain and keep more muscle mass, which will result in your body burning more calories at rest. 5. Eat Healthy Fats Eat more high quality fats. Many people make the mistake of cutting too much (or all) fat from their diet when they are trying to lose weight. Instead of cutting out all fats, focus on avoiding the bad fats. Your body needs good fat to increase insulin sensitivity, burn carbohydrates more efficiently, and decrease the amount of excess carbohydrates stored in your body as fat. Some great healthy fat sources are avocado, nuts, seeds, coconut, olives, and healthy oils such as olive oil, coconut oil. Avoid foods high in trans fat. That means limiting or cutting out greasy, breaded and fried foods. 6. Eat More Veggies Eat more veggies and less processed carbs. Eating leafy greens and low carb vegetables trains our bodies to no longer rely solely on glucose for its fuel source. Our bodies will begin to burn fat as a fuel source. Some examples of low carb veggies include all leafy greens (spinach, kale, collards), tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, onions, garlic, cucumber, avocado, etc. It's important to ease yourself into this transition. Don’t immediately eliminate everything at once. Slowly taper down your processed carb intake so you’re less likely to burn out. Try to limit high carb veggies and fruits for after exercise only. 7. Manage Stress Being stressed, strung out, or hyper-focused elevates our cortisol levels. Elevated cortisol levels decrease our body’s insulin sensitivity, causing us to store excess body fat, especially around our waistline. There are plenty of ways to calm ourselves down and relax our minds. Healthy exercise, self-reflection, walking, and meditation are all examples of ways we can lower our stress levels. Get outside and unplug from the world. Leave your cell phone at home, eliminate any chance for distractions, and check in with yourself. 8. Get More Restful Uninterrupted Sleep Poor sleeping habits are the most difficult habit to break for most people. Poor sleep can also have the most significant effect on weight loss and healthy lifestyle. When we sleep, especially during restful sleep, our body produces the hormones we need to burn fat. Inadequate sleep patterns alters glucose sensitivity, elevates cortisol levels, deranges our metabolism, and throws our hormones off balance. Regardless of how well we eat and how often we exercise, if we are not getting proper amounts of restful uninterupted sleep we are working against ourselves. According to the National Institutes of Health, the average adult sleeps less than seven hours per night. This is not enough. Healthy adults need 7-9 hours of uninterrupted sleep in a dark, cool room with ZERO distractions. Turn off your phone, dim or turn off any other electronics, and darken your windows. The best way to figure out if you're meeting your sleep needs is to evaluate how you feel as you go about your day. If you're getting enough restful uninterupted sleep, you'll feel energetic and alert all day long, from the moment you wake up until your regular bedtime. Want to learn more about healthy weight loss through balanced quality nutrition? Our Personal Nutrition Templates give you the precision nutrition you need with the flexibility to fit your lifestyle. Each template is simple, easy to use, and takes all the guess work out of what types of food you should be eating and how much of it to eat. Learn more...
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May 2017
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