Monday, January 24, 2011

Weight loss challenge - Week 1: It's the little things!

As I said in my previous blog in my change in lifestyle to a healthier one I've discovered a set of products that I believe in and  honestly feel they have helped me loose weight. Herbalife
I've become a distributor and want to help others know the feeling I have to be able to loose weight and boost energy and just generally feel SO much better.
I started a weight loss challenge with a cash incentive. Anyone can join in our loss by emailing me for details and weighing in before Saturday!
I wanted to attempt at keeping my blog more up to date. I also need a way to log and track eating and exercising. I want to encourage the ladies that have joined me in better lifestyle as well. I'm going to try and do all that here.

To start out I've learned it’s the little things that can mean a lot of difference…..
Here’s some tips and tricks I’ve learned and it’s little things that add up.

WATER
– Take what you weigh and divide that in half….. that’s how many ounces of water you should drink each day. It is a lot but once you start drinking more water, you find yourself craving it. Each person is different but for me I have to have it ICE COLD! At work I have about 4 20 ounce bottles in the freezer at a time. I only fill them half full to put in the freezer and just add water to them until the ice is gone. You can also add Crystal Light or the Great Value equivalent to your bottle of water. I have that almost every day at lunch and when I first started drinking more water, I would dilute the flavor each time as well.

GET RID OF THE TEMPTATION! – This was another one for me. But there are minor things that helped me. I was a pop a holic for a long time. Diet Dr Peper my choice. While I still have an OCCASSIONAL pop. I hardly ever keep it real handy for me. I like cans and used to keep a 20 pack in the fridge. While I’ll still buy the case/20 pack. I only keep 2-3 in the fridge at a time. That way it's not always handy and in front of me every time I open the fridge. I also quit buying the bad snacks. For me, my weakness were those little Debbie chocolet swiss rolls! But if I don’t have them handy I can’t eat them. I even threw away some Christmas cookies cause I just couldn't pass them by.

KEEP HEALTHY SNACKS ON HAND – As I said I quit buying bad snacks but I do keep snacks around AT ALL TIMES! Fresh veggies, trail mix, jerky, fresh fruits, yogurt, protein bars, those quaker rice cake things, string cheese are just a few examples…. Even oatmeal can be a healthy snack.

SWITCH TO WHOLE WHEAT – This is great for me cause I’m still a bread eater, even if I have cut back a huge portion. Whole wheat bread AND whole wheat noodles. We raise our own beef so it’s always on hand and spaghetti is a staple in our house. Whole wheat spaghetti noodles, you’ll never know the difference.

READ LABELS AND PAY ATTENTION TO SERVING SIZES -  You’d be surprised!
When you go out to eat, ask for a to go box as soon as you get your meal and put 1/3 to ½ of it in the box. Restaurant serving sizes are usually twice that what they should be. If it’s not in front of you, then you’ll not be as likely to eat it AND you have lunch for the next day!
Finish your serving size and wait 10-15 minutes for seconds. It takes time for your belly to tell your brain your full.

Other things that have helped me….
Using smaller plates at home. I tended to try and “fill up the plate” then felt like I needed to finish it off.
Eating smaller meals and snacking between them. You should eat every 2-3 hours.
NEVER skip on breakfast! Eat a high protein breakfast to start your day. Try to eat with 30 minutes to an hour after waking too.
Don’t get discouraged! Don’t expect instant results. A healthy rate to loose is 1-2 pounds a week. The slower you lose the weight and change your lifestyle the more likely you are to keep it off.
Don’t weigh yourself every day! And when you do weigh first thing in the morning.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Ladies if you read this I hope you're doing well on your shakes and have received the information I sent you today!

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