Happy New Year! Are you using this time as a motivator to drop the weight you have been struggling to lose all year round? You have the best of intentions to lose weight as the New Year begins, but somehow, life happens and you often find yourself going back to your old ways.
Try a different approach for this New Year, instead of making a diet and weight loss resolution, focus on improving your health by making weekly nutrition and fitness goals. Decide what goal you will work towards for the coming week. Log your progress and check in with yourself at weeks end. This is the process that I follow when I work with my clients.
Don’t look at this year’s resolution as a temporary change; look at it as a lifestyle change. Making too many changes at once can cause you to burn out before the end of January, and cause you to break your commitment. Therefore, instead of changing your entire way of living all at once, try making these small changes every day.
Try these nutrition and fitness goals and you’ll see how great you feel.
- Increase your intake of fruits and vegetables. Every day have two servings of veggies such as adding veggies to your egg white omelet and having a soup with veggies at lunch or a salad. Have a fruit at lunch and one after dinner. The new recommendation is that half your plate should be veggies and fruit and the other half should be a ½ cup of grains and 4 ounces protein?
- Portion control. Work your way to smaller portions and this will help control your calories. If you use a big dinner plate and fill the whole plate, try using a smaller size plate. You will always eat more when you have a pile of food on your plate. Please don’t underestimate the amount of wine you are drinking. That alone can prevent weight loss.
- You do not have to avoid sweets. The key is moderation. If you enjoy dessert and sweets several times a day, make a goal for yourself to limit sweets to either once per day, or a few times a week. I teach my clients to have their sweets after a meal instead of randomly during the day which will prevent cravings for sweets. I always tell my client, “ think about how you feel after eating too many sweets, typically a headache, stomachache and just plain irritable”.
- Swap out the soda and juice. These beverages are loaded with sugar and contribute to your daily calories. And let’s be honest; most people don’t only drink a can a day. So imagine how many extra pounds in one year are contributed from soda alone. I show my clients many beverages that are popular and have no calories.
- Begin a walking program. Commit to a daily walk, first thing in the morning or after dinner. I teach my clients about interval training which shocks the metabolism and causes us to burn calories much faster.
- Schedule your workouts. Just like you schedule a doctor’s appointment or a lunch date with a friend, schedule your workout on the calendar and make it a part of your routine 5 times a week. I teach my clients how to set up their meal plan based on their exercise schedule for the day.
- Make sure you are getting enough sleep. It will be easier to listen to what your body needs in terms of food and exercise. Often I can see when my client is having a problem with overeating it is because they have not gotten enough sleep or are very overwhelmed with family and work and will use food to get thru these stressful times.
- Practice Mindful Eating. Since you have vowed not to diet this year, practice being mindful when you are eating. Listen for your hunger and fullness signals and respond appropriately. Don’t eat when you are not hungry, yet don’t let yourself get to the ravenous point either. When eating, stop midway and ask yourself if you are still hungry. If not, stop and save the rest for another time. I take a lot of time to practice this technique with my clients.
We are happy to hold your hand if this seems daunting to you. We set up individualized programs for you based on your health status, favorite foods and diagnoses.
Refer to our website www.LindaRD.com for more information about our services, insurances we are contracted with and see our YELP reviews. We will call your insurance for you and check on coverage for nutritional counseling. Email us at lifeweight1@yahoo.com or call us at 925-855-0150.