I think you’ll agree with me when I say:
Losing and maintaining a healthy weight seems like a never-ending battle.
It’s really hard to maintain your ideal weight, especially when you throw aging in the mix.
Or is it?
The reality is, your body wants to be at a healthy weight. But instead of constantly fighting your body for a number on a scale versus overall health, you must start working with your body through a few simple steps.
Steps that will enable your body to thrive, to live and do so at a healthy weight without a struggle to stay there.
In today’s post I am going to provide you with five easy and proven steps you can easily add to your daily routine to achieve lasting health and weight loss.
1. Feed Your Body What it Needs.
Your body craves energy. It needs energy to survive let alone thrive. While it seems like cutting calories is a great idea and what the world of dieting is telling us to do, this is sabotage to your body.
If you don’t provide energy for each and every cell to function at its best, it won’t. Functions cease, priorities take over and the entire working system of your body malfunctions.
The bottom line:
It takes a vast amount of energy and a wide array of nutrients to run this meticulous working system called your body.
And regardless to popular belief you need calories which is just a measure of energy in order to keep the body working in harmony. If you fail to do this, functions cease, causing a complete disruption of hormones, neurotransmitters and enzymes, and you begin packing on the pounds and preventing any fat from being lost.
Your Challenge:
Stop worrying about the number of calories you consume and start to worry about the quality. Each day our quantity or our need for energy changes based on our biological responses. If you develop an efficiently working system and choose to feed your body well, even over feeding it on the right calories, it will take in what it needs and excrete the rest.
2. Listen To What Your Body is Telling You.
Science has come a long way over the years. We know more about the working of the human body than ever before. But the reality, we still don’t know it all.
In fact, we probably know less of the overall working system than is still a mystery.
And even if we did know the complete system, the reality is each of our bodies are unique and functions in a unique way. It isn’t a black and white manner. So much of the medical world or nutrition and our exact needs is a grey area.
While rules, regulations and recommendations can be beneficial it is always better to have a good understanding of your own body and its needs.
It knows how to heal, cleanse, rejuvenate and thrive better than we can ever write-up.
Listening to your hunger cues, signs and symptoms that arise, energy levels, skin condition and mood are all great indicators of how your system is functioning.
The Bottom Line:
We can learn a lot about our body if we choose to set aside the noise of diets and the media and instead choose to listen to our own body, even if it is different from what we’ve done before.
Remember what works for someone doesn’t mean it is guarantee to work for you. Not any one diet plan, gimmick or lifestyle is perfect for everyone, that is why this weight loss issue is still that, an issue.
Your Challenge:
At the end of the day take note at how your body feels.
Are you gassy? Do you have a headache? Are you exhausted? Are you hungry?
Notice how you feel at the end of the day and try to link it back to what you went through.
Did you eat out for lunch? Did you skip lunch?
Start making mental notes of when your body is thriving and when you need to make necessary changes. Analyze it each and every day until you have a handle on achieving a harmony between mind and body.
3. Cook at Home.
It’s no secret, statistics prove that those who cook and eat at home more often are much healthier than those who choose to eat out. Those who take pride and joy in what they prepare, cook and eat versus those who eat out are less likely to contract a virus or bacteria and generally are at a healthy weight. The quality of home cooked meals is generally greater than restaurant fare.
The Bottom Line:
Re-acquaint yourself with the kitchen.
Start with the basics, get creative and enjoy the process. Buying real, wholesome foods and finding unique and delicious ways to cook them takes things to a whole new level. Lasting weight loss is in your hands and in your hands lies what you choose to eat.
Your Challenge:
Plan your menu for the week, even if you’re a busy cook, choose to make a home cooked meal more often than eating out. Utilize leftovers for breakfast and lunch, try something new and think outside the box.
Remember it is proven those who cook at home are statistically far healthier and are more likely to maintain a healthy weight.
4. Joyfully Rest.
None of us can deny the fact that we live in a high paced, over stressed world.
We put more on our plate and over commit leading to stress, fatigue and discontentment. Many days we are too busy to count our blessings, to find joy let alone get the adequate amounts of sleep. And when we talk about sleep we can’t get to sleep because our mind is racing a million miles an hour. And when we do sleep, we wake up far too soon, restless.
While finding joy in all things, in your daily life isn’t a magic cure to help you sleep, it can most definitely help keep you in check with reality, find peace and fight out those evil and negative thoughts that can overcome your mind.
If you can’t find joy, slow down and take some time for yourself.
Clear the air, clear your mind and relax.
That five letter word that is near extinct from our vocabulary, R.E.L.A.X. Schedule time for yourself and choose joy over discontentment.
The Bottom Line:
Stress it is a problem that establishes itself in our life. Stress from lack of sleep, negativity, over commitment and every other issue in our life is preventing true health from forming. If we don’t deal with our stress or develop habits that reduce stress we are constantly going to battle our health and our weight. We must get this issue in control to see results.
Your Challenge:
Schedule at least 30 minutes for yourself every day, even if that means physically writing it out in your planner. Schedule it, write it down, tell others and do it. Do something for yourself, not work, just relaxation. Read a book, go on a walk, jog or take a nice long bath you deserve 30 minutes a day and I guarantee that everything else will get done. On top of that, choose joy. Each day record five things you are thankful for, five areas of joy in your life. Write them down, look at them and fill your mind with them. Joy, relaxation and sleep are an asset to your health.
5. Put a Value on It.
Our priorities are established from our values. The definition of a value is;
A person’s principles or standards of behavior; one’s judgment of what is important in life.
We do and achieve those things in life that we value.
We make time for them.
We spend money on them.
We make them a priority.
If you don’t value your health, your weight and how you feel, you won’t ever achieve, let alone sustain lasting health and weight loss. You must place a high value on your health to make the necessary life choices that come easily without fail. Remember the things we value are the things we make time for. The things we do without regret or negativity.
The Bottom Line:
You must value your health in order to see lasting change. Some ways you know you value health.
- You purchase healthy food even though it may cost more money.
- You make time to cook meals at home.
- You choose to exercise often.
- You find ways you like to eat vegetables because you know they are important.
- You abstain from poor food choices because you value your health more than the donut.
Do you see where I am going with this?
Valuing your health and weight loss makes decisions come easier. It takes the thought and more importantly the battle out of our daily decisions. It helps you make the right choice without regret and without negativity.
The Challenge:
Write a list of your top five values in life.
What are the things you do, you sacrifice for, you make time for?
If health was not in your top five, how can you get it to move up? How can you put more of a value on it?
Also, write down what you value about food.
What is it that you believe about the food you put in your body? Why do you eat what you eat? Why or why isn’t that of value to you?
Go ahead and get deep, it may require uncovering some emotions to get to the heart of your values but it will be so worth it.
Pulling it all together:
Achieving lasting health and weight loss is more than a set of rules. Lasting health lies within each one of us, through our actions, our thoughts, how we listen to our body and what we value. Take time to focus on each of these steps, complete the challenges and begin uncovering the truth to your health goals. You deserve this, a life of lasting health!
