5 Simple Steps to a Healthier You

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What do you do if you want to get healthy or lose some weight without dieting or dropping into diet mentality?

In this episode, I share 5 steps or things you can do that will help you reach your health or weight goal in a sustainable, healthy way.

Step one: Make a daily food plan.

For those of you who listened to the Emotional Eating episode and the How to break up with any habit episode, you’ll know the importance of using the prefrontal cortex part of the brain to run the show. If you need a refresher course, go back and listen to those two episodes.

Making a daily food plan lets your decisions come from the wise, adult prefrontal cortex, which is the part of the brain that is capable of making long term choices that will benefit your health instead of quick, rash decisions in the moment of what might sound good, but not necessarily be what’s best for your body or your health or your weight loss goals.

I advise my clients to make their daily food plans 24-hours ahead of time, the morning before.

For example, if this is Thursday morning, you would write down everything you going to eat and drink for Friday.

Make sure your plan include snacks and beverages.

Meal planning does not need to be hard.

Just write down what you’ll have for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and any snack in between.

Write down the beverages you’ll have and when.

You do not need to write down amounts

Once you’ve written out your plan, now all you have to do is stick to it.

Meal Planning Questions:

Q: How do I plan my meals if I’m traveling?

A: If you know you’re going to be traveling, this is what I recommend . . . We are creatures of habit. We typically eat at the same places and we order the same things. If you don’t know exactly where you’ll be eating, just have a list of options available on your plan.

Another thing you can do is to just write down that you’re going to make the healthiest options available,

Don’t let this be too complicated or else your brain will reject it. Just do the best you can. Your best is enough.

Q: How do I plan if I’m going to a party or over to someone’s house for dinner or a BBQ?

A: Again, just do the best you can. We have to live life, right? Decide that you’re going to make the healthiest choices possible or maybe you’re plan is that you’re going to try one bite of everything. Find what works for you.

This process is not meant to feel restrictive. It’s just meant to be a boundary, something to keep you safe, and to give your brain a plan to go by

Step Two: drink lots of water.

I recommend half your body weight in ounces everyday. So if you weigh 150 lbs, you’d drink 75 oz of water or a little over 9 cups of water a day.

I know what you’re thinking. If I drink that much water then I’ll be in the bathroom all day! Here’s the truth, you will pee a lot more at first, but then your body will acclimate and you won’t pee quite so much. Plus we want to pee! This is how your body eliminates toxins and waste – fat cells being some of those.

Water is so good for us. Our body is made up of 70%+ water. It is used to digest food, and it helps our organs to function properly. Our skin looks amazing when we drink enough water, we feel energized and it helps with wrinkles and regular bowel movements, and all sorts of good stuff.

Step Three:  Eat when you’re hungry stop when you’re satisfied.

Notice I didn’t say full and I didn’t say stuffed!

In my program, I teach a tool called The Hunger Scale.

In the middle of the line is zero. When you’re hunger is at a zero, you’re neither hungry nor full.

If you go to the left of the zero then you’re getting into the hunger zone. This zone goes from a -1 just barely hungry to a -10 starving, haven’t eaten for day.

To the right of zero is the full zone. It goes from a +1 slightly satisfied to +10 stuffed, like Thanksgiving dinner stuffed.

If you’re eating three meals a day and snacking between, I’d recommend eating between a -2 and a +2. Play around an experiment what these different numbers feel like to you.

A -2 to me is a slight empty feeling, maybe a lightness in my head. And a +2 feels like you know when you’re eating and you notice you’re not really hungry anymore but you could keep eating? This is a +2 to me. Eating this way usually takes very little food.

If you reach a +2 and you still have food on your plate, it’s okay to put your fork down and throw your food away or save it for later.

Noticing where you are on the Hunger Scale will take you slowing down when you eat and eating and eat with awareness.

Step Four: Get 7-9 hours of GOOD sleep each night.

The body does all of its healing and repairing and growing new cells when we’re sleeping so it is essential to good health and to weight loss.

If you’re staying up late and getting up early, your body probably isn’t able to fully repair itself or release any weight.

Having good sleep means having a good regular bedtime or nighttime routine that includes low lighting, a dark bedroom.

Reading or scrolling on your phone or watching tv an hour before bedtime messes with your circadian rhythm which messes up your sleep cycle which means you don’t sleep as well, and your body isn’t able to do all it needs to do to keep you at your healthiest.

A good nighttime routine also includes going to bed the same time each night as much as possible.

Nobody’s going to be perfect, so please don’t just do your best. Figure out what works best for you.

Step Five:  Manage your mindset.

This is a lot of what I do as a coach, I teach my clients tools to manage their thoughts and beliefs.

I noticed a huge difference in my health and my weight when I started working with a coach and also coaching myself daily.

There are so many tools to help you manage your mindset – but today I want to talk about the tool of meditation.

Sitting quietly and still for even just 5 minutes, while noticing your thoughts and letting them come and go, will do wonders for your mental health.

You’ll begin to be more aware of what you’re thinking and how those thoughts are making you feel and behave. It’s so powerful.

If you want to start somewhere, and you can’t afford a coach, I recommend you start with meditation.

 

If you would like some help figuring these tools out and applying them to you, I’m running a Pay What You Can deal until the end of January.

If you’ve always wanted to work with a coach, but haven’t been able to afford a $2000 coaching package, now is your chance. Contact me HERE let me know what you want to pay and we’ll work something out!!!

But HURRY because this deal ends at 11:59 pm on January 31st.

 

 

 

 

 

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