My Tips Toward A Healthy Lifestyle

As someone who has watched the scale go up and down and tried lots of fad diets numerous times in their life, I have come across SO MANY tips for how to lose some weight. I’ve read enough issues of Shape Magazine to write about five posts full of tips. But instead of giving you a million tips, I’m going to give you the top five best tips/bits of advice I’ve heard or received.

And because I absolutely hate to write a blog post without a picture, I'm including this photo to show you where I want to end up. This is when I was really happy with my body and I'm hoping that I can get back to this figure soon. Although, I'm not going to rush it, I'm going to concentrate on living a healthy life to get there.

1.) Drink Water. Simple as that. Water has so many benefits and one of them is that it helps in weight loss. Water hydrates you, helps cleanse your body of toxins, gives you incredible smooth and clear skin and even helps keep you from over snacking. If you feel the need to keep eating when you know you really shouldn’t, drink a glass of water and then re-evaluate the situation. Yes, I know, I probably sound crazy but just give it a try. Plus water has zero calories so you can have as much as you want!!! I love to add citrus or cucumber slices to my water to give it an extra little kick.

2.) Track What You Eat. And Don’t Lie. So many studies show that if you track what you eat, you are more likely to make better choices. But you must track everything, if you leave that candy bar off your list, that isn’t going to help. Track everything that goes in your mouth. There are plenty of iphone apps available to help you track your food. I am currently using the Weight Watchers app, but I have used My Fitness Pal in the past. I have friends who swear by My Fitness Pal as it has helped them lose some poundage.

3.) Reduce Your Sodium Intake. I never thought about this one until my extremely fit uncle told me to cut back on sodium. I always thought you had to watch your sodium only when you had high blood pressure, but if you are trying to lose weight keep an eye on sodium as well. Sodium makes you retain water, thus making the number on the scale increase or stay the same. So reduce the amount of sodium you ingest.

4.) Allow Yourself Some Treats. This one might have a lot of people disagree with me, but I believe in allowing yourself to have candy or chips or cookies every once in awhile. If you deny yourself your favorite foods, you are more likely to give up on your healthy eating because you miss that yummy treat so much. So allow yourself to indulge every now and then. Have a cookie if you want it, just don’t have 10 cookies every night.

5.) Get Moving. Whatever it is, you must exercise and get moving. Exercise burns calories, duh! Even if you just take a 20 minute walk that is better than sitting on the couch thinking about food all the time. Get up and do something. Walk, run, skip, join a gym, take a dance class, do some pushups, move your body!

These five tips are what I am using on my current weight loss journey. Won’t you join me?