- Include protein, fiber, and healthy fats with every meal and snack
- Veggies at every meal. This means in a smoothie (I often add spinach, celery or a carrot) -or scramble veggies in with eggs at breakfast, and pack them in with your lunches and dinners. Snack on veggies and fruits.
- Plan out every meal and snack. (This overwhelmed me at first so I started one meal and one snack at a time years ago. I’ve worked my way through breakfasts, midmorning snacks, lunches, afternoon snacks, and now I am still working on dinner)
- Exercise every day. A good rule of thumb is Every day do “3 miles or 30 minutes”. Start small and own your new behavior before you move on. I personally either walk, hike, jog or cycle daily to get my miles, then I do at least 3 30+ minute sessions of weight training a week, and 3-4 yoga sessions a week.
- Drink water! Water aids with portion control, weight loss, and can speed up your metabolism.
- Get enough sleep. The science on this is irrefutable. People that sleep between five and six hours a night compared to people that sleep closer to eight usually have a 25 pound difference in weight.
- Have a cheat day, or if you need, a small cheat treat. It won’t work to plan on never eating ice cream again if ice cream is your favorite treat. Just save it for a specific day and look forward to it.
- Make lunch a little bigger than dinner, and eat dinner on time and stop eating afterwards.
- Replace artificial sweeteners and white refined sugar with natural products- like honey or dried fruit. Studies show eating artificially sweetened foods and beverages makes you feel more hungry, so you’ll end up eating more total calories. As for refined white sugar, the more we eat it, the more we crave it — sugar addiction is real! Plus, studies show eating sugar actually ages you and has been linked to cancer, liver damage, heart failure, and other serious conditions. It can also make you feel bloated and foggy-headed. Avoid the obvious culprits such as candy, desserts, and soda, and also avoid processed foods, as these contain tons of hidden sugars. When sweet cravings strike, go for fresh fruit.
- Eat at least 30 g of fiber a day. One key to losing weight is eating foods that keep you full, avoiding hunger pangs that tempt you to eat high-calorie foods. Aim for each meal to offer eight to 10 grams so you get 25 to 30 grams per day. And snack on fiber, too- 1 pear has 5.5 grams of fiber!
