- Start the day right. Eat a good breakfast like your Mom told you to do. Seriously. Many reports show that people who eat a good breakfast of lean protein and a complex carbohydrate starve off nighttime sugar cravings. Also, you wouldn’t run your car with no fuel in it, would you? Same principal here. Real oatmeal and a soft boiled organic egg (or just the whites) is pretty filling. I like to mush a banana in my oatmeal.
- Avoid drinking your calories. I know, sounds like common sense but apparently it isn’t. Starting your day with a Dunkin Donuts Carmel Latte or Starbucks double sugar white chocolate frappaccino is sending your blood sugar into a rollercoaster for the rest of the day. It’s no wonder most people crash at 2pm. And soda is no better. If you’re a coffee drinker, then have a real coffee, not a milkshake. One package of REAL brown sugar and whatever milk you drink in it- if any. Which brings me to #3
- No soda. No diet soda. Why Danielle? It has no calories? Yes, but did you know that fake sugar is 4 to 5 times sweeter than real sugar and with the absence of calories your body is getting mixed signals from your brain. It was expecting calories since that stuff is so sweet, and since there were none- it makes your craves sugar even more! There’s no feeling of satiety. Notice around you how the people look who only drink diet soda? Hmmmm, I’m not saying it but I know you can see what I’m getting at. I had a client with a three Pepsi One a day habit. I made him stop drinking that crap. He lost 7lbs in two weeks. I, myself, lost 5lbs when I stopped drinking diet soda many years ago. It’s no coincidence people! Wanna be healthy in the New Year? Cut out all the fake, processed artificial sugar and stick to water. If that’s boring, cut up some lemon or pieces of orange, apple, lime, whatever fruit you fancy and have that in your water for real natural flavor.
- Explore something different in terms of exercise. Always do the same thing, try something new! Every wanted to take that Trapeze class? Hot Yoga? DO IT! Start the New Year fearless! Even if it you don’t think it will be a weekly addition to your workouts, you will feel a real sense of accomplishment from the new experience. Plus, probably some new muscles you didn’t know existed!
- High Intensity Interval Training. This is a great and time efficient way to boost your metabolism in a short burst of time. An example would be 20 seconds of non-stop body weight squats , 10 seconds rest, repeat for 8 cycles. Than do another exercise for the same pattern. This particular pattern is called Tabata training. They even have a Tabata App for the iphone! If Tabata is too intense, try another time pattern. Like 30 second of full out sprints to 1 or 2 minutes of rest. See how hard you can push yourself but remember safety first. You can always build up and change the time patterns once you get in better shape.
- If you don’t have someone like myself coming over to motivate you, than you need to find that motivation from within. It’s not easy at first. Why not recruit a good friend. It’s a free way to have the support and healthy competition with other people. They won’t be able to make sure your form is impeccable like I would, but it’s still a social way to stay motivated. Support is out there for every budget, you just need to do your research.
I hope this helps! Please do not get discouraged. Take it one day at a time and keep your eye on that prize.
In good health,Danielle Montezinos, CPT, RYT
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