Replace Sugary Foods With Healthier Treats.
The next food group we are going to zero in is sugary foods. We're going to do the same thing here with the sugary foods that we did with the fatty, greasy foods... we're going to eliminate them one at a time with healthier options.
* Challenge: Here we go again with another 30-day challenge, this time it's for sweets. Can you go one whole month without them!?!? As I have been doing this whole time... I would encourage a gradual approach to this as well and just try to start having less every day.
* Cheat Day: This is one of my favorite days EVER and I suggest you add one in once a week for yourself! My cheat day is every SUNDAY and I LOVE IT! I get to eat what I want on that day, I can have a sugary dessert or two or some chips and salsa or whatever I'm craving. The goal here is not to GORGE and completely pig out but to enjoy some of the foods that you have cut out.
* Alternatives: Find alternatives to the sweets you are used to eating and stock up on them and then get RID of the sweets in your house so you're not tempted in a moment of weakness! If you usually have a candy bar for a snack... try having an apple or a banana with some peanut butter instead, or some veggies and hummus. A lot of times we eat, just to have something to munch on.
* Drinks: A lot of people for some reason seem to think that the things they DRINK don't count towards their caloric intake. This is a big mistake...HUGE! The best thing you can drink is WATER. Try to cut out all the sugary sodas and juices. Most every juice on the market is just a well disguised sugar water full of empty calories and artificial flavors and colors...really!?!?! NO GOOD!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Step 4
Start Intensifying Your Exercise Slowly.
*Duration: Here's the thing...for now, don't worry about making your workouts any HARDER than they already are, just start increasing the time spent doing it. Start by adding just 5 minutes to your workout and keep doing that for 2 or 3 workouts and then add another 5 minutes to that. The goal here is to gradually work your way up to 40-45 minutes!
*Intensity: Pretty soon these longer workouts will start to feel too easy for you! (can you believe it!?!?) After your body gets used to going LONGER, a couple of times a week you should make your workouts a little HARDER. When you do your harder workouts...do them a little bit shorter than your normal long ones. For example, instead of your usual 40 minutes at your normal pace, do 20 minutes. Second... go harder in intervals, by that I mean for 3-5 minutes, go at a faster pace, then slow it back down to your normal pace and keep alternating that every 3-5 minutes.
* Hard/Easy: As you begin to add harder and longer workouts, you'll probably want to follow those with an easier workout. Let's say you do a long workout of 45 minutes or so...try going only 20 or 25 minutes the following day. Interval workout one day...go shorter and easier the next day. Always try to alternate between the two to avoid the risk of an overuse injury... or burnout.
*Duration: Here's the thing...for now, don't worry about making your workouts any HARDER than they already are, just start increasing the time spent doing it. Start by adding just 5 minutes to your workout and keep doing that for 2 or 3 workouts and then add another 5 minutes to that. The goal here is to gradually work your way up to 40-45 minutes!
*Intensity: Pretty soon these longer workouts will start to feel too easy for you! (can you believe it!?!?) After your body gets used to going LONGER, a couple of times a week you should make your workouts a little HARDER. When you do your harder workouts...do them a little bit shorter than your normal long ones. For example, instead of your usual 40 minutes at your normal pace, do 20 minutes. Second... go harder in intervals, by that I mean for 3-5 minutes, go at a faster pace, then slow it back down to your normal pace and keep alternating that every 3-5 minutes.
* Hard/Easy: As you begin to add harder and longer workouts, you'll probably want to follow those with an easier workout. Let's say you do a long workout of 45 minutes or so...try going only 20 or 25 minutes the following day. Interval workout one day...go shorter and easier the next day. Always try to alternate between the two to avoid the risk of an overuse injury... or burnout.
Step 3
Eat smaller meals, more frequently. As you start getting rid of all that nasty artery clogging, unhealthy greasy food and replacing it with fresh, healthy foods... you should probably begin eating smaller portions. We have gotten way out of control with the amounts of food we eat. Thanks to our portion distortion, we think that when we eat a plate of food at a restaurant that we have only had one meal, when in fact... a lot of times that amount of food could have fed about FOUR people!
*5-6 meals: The good news is you get to eat more often! The bad news is... well, sorry, I can't really think of any bad news about getting to eat more often. What I would like you to start working towards would be having a a good breakfast (that really should be your biggest meal of the day) then a mid-morning snack, a small early lunch, another small lunch a couple hours later, a small late-afternoon snack and then a small, light dinner. If that sounds to complicated to start with... stick with your three main meals but work on making them smaller and lighter and incorporating both the mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks.
*Wait: When you have a meal... make sure it is a proper portion and just eat that! if you still THINK you're hungry, wait about 20 minutes before heading back for more. It takes a few minutes for the brain and stomach to get on the same page. A lot of times you'll find out that you're really not that hungry after all and the second helping...well, you just don't need it.
*5-6 meals: The good news is you get to eat more often! The bad news is... well, sorry, I can't really think of any bad news about getting to eat more often. What I would like you to start working towards would be having a a good breakfast (that really should be your biggest meal of the day) then a mid-morning snack, a small early lunch, another small lunch a couple hours later, a small late-afternoon snack and then a small, light dinner. If that sounds to complicated to start with... stick with your three main meals but work on making them smaller and lighter and incorporating both the mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks.
*Wait: When you have a meal... make sure it is a proper portion and just eat that! if you still THINK you're hungry, wait about 20 minutes before heading back for more. It takes a few minutes for the brain and stomach to get on the same page. A lot of times you'll find out that you're really not that hungry after all and the second helping...well, you just don't need it.
Step 2
Replace fatty and greasy foods with healthier foods.
I don't want you to think of yourself as "going on a diet" because you're NOT! You ARE going to take a look at WHAT you eat and try to start replacing some of the BAD FOR YOU foods with healthier options.
Examples: Let's just say hypothetically that you really like your fried chicken... try replacing that with baked instead. You can find recipes out there that are LIKE fried chicken but don't involve the actual frying part. Want a big juicy hamburger? I found that it isn't so much the BURGER I enjoy as the bread with the onions and pickles and mustard... try substituting a burger for a verggie burger or a portobello mushroom. Pizza junkie? No problem, make your own with a store-bought pizza crust and load it UP with veggies, olive oil, go easy on the cheese and you have a very great tasting, healthy alternative to your usual meat lovers combo.
Gradual Changes: Here's where I'm going to be nice to you...again! And some people say I'm a total hard ass (you know who you are) Don't try changing out all your foods overnight. After you complete the first 30-day exercise challenge from step 1... start a second 30-day food challenge by replacing just ONE fatty food a day with a healthier option. Then, after that...begin replacing more and more of your unhealthy choices with healthy ones!
* Exercise: In this second month, start tweaking your exercise program just a little bit too. You should be able at this point to start gradually increasing the length of your workouts
I don't want you to think of yourself as "going on a diet" because you're NOT! You ARE going to take a look at WHAT you eat and try to start replacing some of the BAD FOR YOU foods with healthier options.
Examples: Let's just say hypothetically that you really like your fried chicken... try replacing that with baked instead. You can find recipes out there that are LIKE fried chicken but don't involve the actual frying part. Want a big juicy hamburger? I found that it isn't so much the BURGER I enjoy as the bread with the onions and pickles and mustard... try substituting a burger for a verggie burger or a portobello mushroom. Pizza junkie? No problem, make your own with a store-bought pizza crust and load it UP with veggies, olive oil, go easy on the cheese and you have a very great tasting, healthy alternative to your usual meat lovers combo.
Gradual Changes: Here's where I'm going to be nice to you...again! And some people say I'm a total hard ass (you know who you are) Don't try changing out all your foods overnight. After you complete the first 30-day exercise challenge from step 1... start a second 30-day food challenge by replacing just ONE fatty food a day with a healthier option. Then, after that...begin replacing more and more of your unhealthy choices with healthy ones!
* Exercise: In this second month, start tweaking your exercise program just a little bit too. You should be able at this point to start gradually increasing the length of your workouts
Step 1.
Begin Exercising Gradually.
This is the same sort of thing I tell my clients, don't try to change your ENTIRE life with an intense weight loss and workout plan. Start small. All you really want to do to start with is to make a commitment to yourself moving. I would suggest you start moving for even just 10 to 15 minutes a day for 30 days straight!
* Type of exercise: If you used to run or bike, then start by adding that back into your life. If you have never really done anything, start walking, find a way to get to a treadmill or rowing machine, find a good hiking trail. What type of activity you choose to do isn't as important as you actually DOING it!
* Start out really easy: I see this happen...a LOT. Folks start out completely excited and ready to go and then..burn out. Then the inevitable skipping a couple of workouts happen and then BAM the plan has failed, all attempts to exercise have been abortedand then they're right back to where they were in the first place.... not doing anything.
*Try your HARDEST to do it EVERY day! Keep track of the days you do SOMETHING on a visible calender... mark it with big gold stars, big red X's or whatever you need to do so that you can easily SEE when you've done it...and hopefully this won't be the case,but also when you didn't.
* Find a time during the day when you prefer to do it and set that time aside for yourself...every day!
* Strength: In addition to your walking, hiking or biking... you need to incorporate some strength exercises into the mix. Again though, keeping with starting off easy and working your way up...don't start with anything too hard the first couple of weeks. Try just doing some pushups, sit-ups, lunges and squats using no extra weight, you may be surprised just how effective of a workout you can get using just your own body weight.
* START! This is the most important step to this whole process...just START! Today... I did NOT want to get out of bed and go do my workout. You wanna know what I did? I told myself that I didn't HAVE to workout, but I DID have to get out of bed, get dressed and GO. Once I got there, I started warming up and the next thing I know... I finished my workout.
Tell yourself you're just going to do 5 minutes...chances are once you start, you'll probably keep going.
This is the same sort of thing I tell my clients, don't try to change your ENTIRE life with an intense weight loss and workout plan. Start small. All you really want to do to start with is to make a commitment to yourself moving. I would suggest you start moving for even just 10 to 15 minutes a day for 30 days straight!
* Type of exercise: If you used to run or bike, then start by adding that back into your life. If you have never really done anything, start walking, find a way to get to a treadmill or rowing machine, find a good hiking trail. What type of activity you choose to do isn't as important as you actually DOING it!
* Start out really easy: I see this happen...a LOT. Folks start out completely excited and ready to go and then..burn out. Then the inevitable skipping a couple of workouts happen and then BAM the plan has failed, all attempts to exercise have been abortedand then they're right back to where they were in the first place.... not doing anything.
*Try your HARDEST to do it EVERY day! Keep track of the days you do SOMETHING on a visible calender... mark it with big gold stars, big red X's or whatever you need to do so that you can easily SEE when you've done it...and hopefully this won't be the case,but also when you didn't.
* Find a time during the day when you prefer to do it and set that time aside for yourself...every day!
* Strength: In addition to your walking, hiking or biking... you need to incorporate some strength exercises into the mix. Again though, keeping with starting off easy and working your way up...don't start with anything too hard the first couple of weeks. Try just doing some pushups, sit-ups, lunges and squats using no extra weight, you may be surprised just how effective of a workout you can get using just your own body weight.
* START! This is the most important step to this whole process...just START! Today... I did NOT want to get out of bed and go do my workout. You wanna know what I did? I told myself that I didn't HAVE to workout, but I DID have to get out of bed, get dressed and GO. Once I got there, I started warming up and the next thing I know... I finished my workout.
Tell yourself you're just going to do 5 minutes...chances are once you start, you'll probably keep going.
Are You Ready?
As some of you who read this know, I have begun a very rigorous and demanding new training program for myself. I ABSOLUTELY am loving it... every minute. Even the times when my hands are bleeding and I am almost reduced to tears, in FACT those are some of my favorite times, because I get to prove to myself, if no one else, what I'm made of.
One of the things I have learned from starting this is, what it feels like to be a beginner again. And that got me thinking about how hard it can be for someone to start working out and more importantly stick to it.
Over the next few days I am going to give you a simple, easy to incorporate 5 step plan for weight loss. These are going to be things you can start putting to use right away to help get you on the path to a happier, healthier life! So, stay tuned and check back regularly and get ready for a new way to live!
S.
One of the things I have learned from starting this is, what it feels like to be a beginner again. And that got me thinking about how hard it can be for someone to start working out and more importantly stick to it.
Over the next few days I am going to give you a simple, easy to incorporate 5 step plan for weight loss. These are going to be things you can start putting to use right away to help get you on the path to a happier, healthier life! So, stay tuned and check back regularly and get ready for a new way to live!
S.
Monday, February 23, 2009
The Number One Dream Killer: Doing What Works.
I did not write this article, but I wish I had... it's very well written and should help give you some ideas on how to start taking the steps necessary to living your best life.
What’s the number one dream killer?
Doing what works.
By doing what works, I mean following a safe, easy, path where it’s unlikely you’ll find much that’s unknown. It’s comfortable and secure, so we think.
I don’t know about you, but I want more than just security. I want to live not simply survive.
If we want to have any hope at making our dreams a reality, we have to carve out our own path. We have to find a way to get paid to be ourselves. We must drop conventional wisdom (collective assumption) and break away from the herd.
But that takes courage, doesn’t it? It’s not easy taking giant leaps of faith, especially when you don’t know if there will be any floor beneath your next step.
So in order to start living on our own terms, we need to do two things: Go To Article To Continue Reading.
What’s the number one dream killer?
Doing what works.
By doing what works, I mean following a safe, easy, path where it’s unlikely you’ll find much that’s unknown. It’s comfortable and secure, so we think.
I don’t know about you, but I want more than just security. I want to live not simply survive.
If we want to have any hope at making our dreams a reality, we have to carve out our own path. We have to find a way to get paid to be ourselves. We must drop conventional wisdom (collective assumption) and break away from the herd.
But that takes courage, doesn’t it? It’s not easy taking giant leaps of faith, especially when you don’t know if there will be any floor beneath your next step.
So in order to start living on our own terms, we need to do two things: Go To Article To Continue Reading.
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