January 2019 - Issue # 062 - Dieting Versus Lifestyle - Part 2

Happy New Year Everyone and Welcome Back

I hope everyone is having a great holiday with lots of fun, laughter and R & R, a nice break before we start this new year.

As usual, most of us begin a new year with certain expectations and goals for ourselves.

We all know what improvements we would like to see happen in our lives, now it’s all about the energy to take action and make it happen.

Consider a lifestyle change as permanent, where as dieting is just a temporary or so called band-aid solution.

We don’t want to leave it up to chance, what we to make healthier behaviors a normal part of our daily routines.

That is when permanent change can happen.

People create good and bad habits for themselves everyday. We are after all, creatures of habit.

Whether it’s a good or bad habit, when you repeat an activity over and over again, you are training yourself to do something on a consistent basis. That’s when these actions (whether good or bad) can become who we are.

So what kind of things can we do to inspire permanent change for weight loss? If change is challenging, starting off with small things can be of great benefit.

Here are some great tips and if any of these tips helps create even 1 good permanent change in your life, that’s what I call a win.

Creating a New Habit is a Two Step Solution:

Here are two actions that can help create successful lifetime changes.

1) Did you know that it takes about 21 days to create a new habit?

Isn't that amazing? 21 days is such a short amount of time to create a new, positive and wanted habit that will produce health benefits for years.

Try taking a simple change and see if you can do it for 21 days, because studies have shown, that if you can maintain a change for 3 weeks, a high percentage of folks have no problem making it a permanent change. Not always, but sometimes, more than one attempt is needed to succeed, which is pretty standard.

Take a very easy task and try it for 21 days. Take the stairs instead of the elevator or replace a not so healthy afternoon drink with a healthier one.

Change or improve one simple thing that has been bothering you and see if you can keep up this change for 21 days.

Then you can gradually take on bigger tasks such as dedicating 20 minutes out of your day to take a quick walk or to meditate.

Baby steps can snow ball into amazing results, and as you get stronger, other goals become easier to reach.

2) Know what you want to change. This is very important. When making a list of goals you wish to work on, please be specific.

The clearer the goals, the easier they can be accomplished.

It sounds so easy. Write a list of specific goals and then try to accomplish one (or more) of those goals for a 21 day period.

But will it be easy? The human brain is funny as sometimes I find I can do a 3 day detox as if it were a walk in the park and other times that very same 3 day detox will have me in tears before I’m able to complete it.

That’s why it’s important to try multiple times if necessary to create or change a habit because a persons levels of strength can fluctuate. Review your results and try again if necessary.

Popular List of Lifestyle Changes That May Help:

* Stop snacking after supper. In other words pick a time to stop eating and stick to that time every night. 7 o’clock seems to be the most popular time to stop eating but this depends on ones schedule.

* If you have to snack then choose to snack healthy. There is a ton of stuff that we can enjoy that doesn't have to be so bad.

Suggestions include fresh fruit, handful of nuts, frozen yogurt, regular yogurt, natural popcorn (no butter please), vegetable tray or herbal teas. There are hundreds of healthy snacks to choose from, but those are the ones that come to mind right now.

* Avoid drinking beverages that offer no benefits. Notice I chose not to use the word calories. It’s not the calories that matter, but are they good calories or useless calories?

For instance soda (pop) has lots of calories but has absolutely no beneficial value, but you can drink a homemade smoothie with as many calories (or more) but those calories actually help feed, fuel and detox the body.

Example:

A 12 oz can of pop such as coke, sprite, ginger ale and pepsi run between 125 to 150 calories. The calories in pop offers zero nutrition while spiking sugar levels which tend to create a crash in energy later on.

12 oz coconut water, banana, spinach smoothie will run around 155 – 165 calories, but this beverage is packed full of vitamins, minerals, hydration while offering sustainable energy that feeds and nourishes the body, helping the body and it’s immune system stay strong.

* Having a hard time eating healthy meals and snacks? Next time you go shopping then don’t buy stuff you shouldn't eat.

This really does work, because if bad foods are not surrounding you, then they simply don’t exist until you leave the house.

Think of healthy foods you don’t mind tolerating and stock up the house with those. Fill a bowl with fresh fruit, stock the fridge with yogurt, but avoiding bringing home foods that will hurt your progress.

Heck, after 21 or more days of shopping and eating like that, it will probably become routine. Yes, that is the hope.

* How much we eat during one sitting is also important. Overeating is always so hard on the body. That’s why keeping portion sizes reasonable is helpful.

If we eat until we feel full, well that's great, but if we eat until we practically can’t breathe, trust me, that’s a lot of extra work on your digestive system, kidneys and liver.

* Of course we all know the main rule. Just try to eat healthier and avoid junk foods and processed foods whenever possible.

* If you can, add a little physical activity to your daily routine. What do you enjoy? Walking, swimming, trampolining, jogging on a treadmill, dancing, lifting weights?

Whatever physical activity makes you smile, try to make a little time for it everyday.

* Try to get a good nights sleep. Getting 7 – 9 hours of sleep can provide you with energy and strength that helps you cope with all your daily challenges.

I hope you can take a little time to write down what changes or improvements you want to achieve for yourself in this wonderful new year that is here, upon us.

Start off slow, thank goodness it’s not a race.

I wish you great success no matter how big or small the change is that you desire.

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Use our Contact Us page - or our Weight Loss News page (Your Story Counts).