How are You Changing Your Lifestyle for Weight Loss?
So you’re ready to change your lifestyle because you want to lose weight. This is where the phrase “nothing changes if nothing changes” really comes in. You can’t expect to achieve different results in your health or weight loss journey if you don’t change anything about how you live your life.
Making small changes adds up. If you can commit to making one change a day after a while it because routine and all those small changes add up. You know and I know that weight loss does not happen over night as much as we would all like it too.
How Can You Change Your Morning Routine?
Let’s start with your morning routine. This is often the easiest for people to adjust, and it can make such a drastic difference on your lifestyle.
Everyone has daily routines, even when you don’t put much thought into it. Your morning routine may consist of waking up after hitting snooze a few times on your alarm, going to the bathroom, brushing your teeth, and making your coffee. This is most likely you because it was surely me!
Think about your current morning routine, the same things you do every day, and make small adjustments. Think about what you can add to your morning routine that will be good for your journey, like starting your day with a tall glass of water, doing a few minutes of yoga and stretching, and making a smoothie for breakfast.
I’m not a huge breakfast person. It’s one thing that I always skipped. Now, I do everything I need to do and before I walk out the door in the morning I always make a healthy shake. Solves the problem of not eating breakfast and sets the tone for the whole day.
Are Your Meals Any Different?
While you definitely don’t need to “diet” in order to lose weight, you do want to change your what your eating to be balanced and nutrient-dense. Again, analyzing what you currently eat will help you determine how you need to change your meals.
Think about what you can add to them to be healthier, instead of what you need to take away. Maybe you love pasta and want to add a side salad while reducing the amount of pasta you eat. You add banana slices to your cereal, or you switch from an iced mocha to a coffee you make at home in a protein shake.
I love a good latte. I can honestly tell you that as soon as those PLS are released in September I start to pack the pounds on. I just can’t get enough of them. Instead of hitting up Starbucks or Dunkin drive-thru I make my morning shakes into a pumpkin flavored shake or a coffee flavored shake.
They actually taste much better and I don’t feel guilty. The added bonus is that I’m not packing the pounds on. Thats not to say I don’t enjoy a PSL every once in a while but I’m certainly not hitting the drive-thru daily anymore.
Do You Move Your Body More?
You also need to think of your lifestyle and consider whether or not you are moving your body any more than you were before. To be in a calorie deficit, it requires making small changes to your diet and your workout routine. Find new ways to add more movement and exercise more, like going for a walk in the evenings, sneaking in a mini workout in the morning, or finding new fitness classes in your area.
It’s so easy to add more movement to your day. For me, when I’m at work I always go to the bathroom that’s the farthest away from my desk. This means I’m walking downstairs to the bathroom and then all the way back up. I do this just to get extra steps in and I pee a lot. This usually gives me an extra 500 steps for the day!
I may also dance in the kitchen when making dinner. We all secretly do this you can’t deny it! Or maybe you take your dog out for a short walk when you get home from work instead of making your kids do it. These are easy ways to get more movement daily.
How to Crowd Out Unhealthy Foods
Switching to a healthier lifestyle where you fuel your body, but don’t follow a restrictive diet, can feel a little overwhelming at first. Especially if you are used to the yo-yo dieting lifestyle where you go back and forth from restricting your food to eating anything and everything before your next diet.
This is where the benefit of crowding out comes in. This simple means you start crowding out the unhealthier foods by adding in more healthy foods. It is a slow, gradual process that helps you get used to eating healthier meals, but not being on a diet.
Add Fruits and Veggie Side Dishes
This is probably the first thing people do when crowding out unhealthy foods. Begin by adding side dishes that are primarily healthy ingredients, like fruits or veggies. You aren’t really replacing anything, but adding something else to your plate that is really good for you.
If you’re like me and like to eat pasta with bread, go ahead and have your pasta and bread, but also have a side salad or some veggies on the side. Chances are, you won’t eat as much bread and pasta and over time, start to really love your veggies. This works with any meal or snack you are eating.
Sneak in Veggies to Soups and Sauces
There are so many dishes that can be healthier just by adding more vegetables to them. The easiest way to start is with your soups and sauces. For example, tomato sauces taste great with veggies like onions, bell peppers, mushrooms, and even diced pieces of broccoli or cauliflower. You can actually sneak in quite a bit of veggies into your sauces. Soups work even better, where you can boost the veggie content to increase how many nutrients you are eating.
When you do this you will fill up so much faster and feel fuller longer. Your actually eating more food but its healthy. The bonus to this is that you won’t feel bloated and in a food coma no matter how much you eat.
Make the Switch to Whole Grains
You might not want to get rid of grains like rice completely, but you can definitely increase the nutrients by switching to whole grains. A couple of days a week, use brown rice or quinoa instead of white rice or try sweet potatoes instead of white russet potatoes. You don’t need to do this every time and never eat a white potato again, but it mixes up the nutrients you get, and you can try new flavors.
Eat the Healthy Foods First
As you keep crowding out the unhealthy foods on your plate, try to eat the healthiest portions first, then move on the rest of your meal. This means the salad, vegetable or fruit, whole grains, and protein sources. Save your carbs and bread for last, and stop eating when you’re full.
When I started doing this by the time I finished all the healthier foods on my plate I was to full for the crap food. I also felt better when I was done eating rather than wanting to unbutton my pants and take a long nap.
Have You Adapted New Healthy Habits?
In addition to your diet and exercise, think about other healthy habits you can work into your life to help with your weight loss lifestyle.
Maybe you replace your Friday night pizza and beer night with a cycling class every Friday night, or you host family dinner at home on Sunday nights instead of going to your usual restaurant dinner. You can start bringing the kids along for a walk every evening after dinner, or journal what you eat each stay to stay accountable.
Making these small changes doesn’t have to be a chore. Start slow and add in small changes. When you conquer one add another and keep building. Changing your whole lifestyle can’t happen over night or you will never stick to it.
Keep in mind that its ok to eat unhealthy every now and then and its ok to skip a work out. Just don’t unpack and stay in these situations. Eat a bad meal, skip a workout and then get back on track.
Its a lifestyle and you need to be able to sustain it. Do you have small changes you have already worked in? I’d love to hear what you do or have done to change your lifestyle! Don’t forget to save this post so when you need a refresher you can come back and feel motivated again! 🙂
