Small But Super Helpful Habits
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BUMP0
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Lots of water
If I want chocolate I can have it, just plan it into my daily calories! I would struggle with a lifestyle that excluded certain foods completely!
Dark chocolate with 70% or more cocoa is something that is much better for you then normal chocolate and you feel like it's cheating but it's not as bad as one thinks0 -
go for a 15 minute walk at lunch time0
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mgcarrillo wrote: »I'm pretty new here, and I'm trying to start making small changes to my eating and activities that will add up in the long run to a healthier lifestyle. I wanted to ask people here with more experience than me, what small changes have you made in your life that made a huge difference to your weight/fitness/general happiness? For example, I've always hated coffee, so in college and grad school I usually drank soda for caffeine
Now I've begun substituting black tea for my daily soda, and it's definitely making a difference, both to my weight and to how my body feels. What are some other small but crucial steps I could take to ease myself into this whole awesome-but-slightly-scary health thing?
Green tea is supposed to be great for weight loss. I don't like the taste so I disguise it by making a breakfast smoothie and adding green tea to the mix. My recipe is 1/2 c. almond milk, 1/2 banana (frozen is good), handful berries, 1/2 TBL of almond butter, 1 scoop vegan protein powder, enough green tea & ice cubes to make it mixable! Bon Apetit!0 -
mgcarrillo wrote: »I'm pretty new here, and I'm trying to start making small changes to my eating and activities that will add up in the long run to a healthier lifestyle. I wanted to ask people here with more experience than me, what small changes have you made in your life that made a huge difference to your weight/fitness/general happiness? For example, I've always hated coffee, so in college and grad school I usually drank soda for caffeine Now I've begun substituting black tea for my daily soda, and it's definitely making a difference, both to my weight and to how my body feels. What are some other small but crucial steps I could take to ease myself into this whole awesome-but-slightly-scary health thing?
Green tea is supposed to be great for weight loss. I don't like the taste so I disguise it by making a breakfast smoothie and adding green tea to the mix. My recipe is 1/2 c. almond milk, 1/2 banana (frozen is good), handful berries, 1/2 TBL of almond butter, 1 scoop vegan protein powder, enough green tea & ice cubes to make it mixable! Bon Apetit!
I think the green tea weight loss thing is supposedly because it's a mild appetite suppressant- that smoothie looks yum
but I'm guessing it's about 200-300 cals?
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Check the ingredients list on any packaged food you buy. If it lists sugar under any name (there are about 40 different varieties of Sugars in foods) in the first three ingredients, don't open the package.
Check the RDA Values list and try to buy items that have fats and sugars with single digit numbers and proteins with double digit numbers.
If you are going to eat deep fried foods, limit it to those you MAKE FROM SCRATCH at home only. There is something about all the process and making a mess that needs to be cleaned up, that makes a fresh salad sound so much more appealing.
And never forget that behaviors are far more important than results. Slow progress is still progress......0 -
I will be applying some experiences to help me stay focused, I have the issue of doing really good for a week or a month but once my food is low I get stuck. Any ideas on being creative with healthy food options on a budget?0
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Develop a positive attitude toward a (mild) sensation of hunger. Interpret it as evidence that your body is doing the right thing. It's not actually painful to be just a little bit hungry, and you can retrain yourself to feel it as a sign of progress instead of a problem.
This.0 -
Check the ingredients list on any packaged food you buy. If it lists sugar under any name (there are about 40 different varieties of Sugars in foods) in the first three ingredients, don't open the package.
Check the RDA Values list and try to buy items that have fats and sugars with single digit numbers and proteins with double digit numbers. (Update - I forgot to refer to the numbers in grams, not the % of RDA...my bad and sorry for the confusion)
If you are going to eat deep fried foods, limit it to those you MAKE FROM SCRATCH at home only. There is something about all the process and making a mess that needs to be cleaned up, that makes a fresh salad sound so much more appealing.
And never forget that behaviors are far more important than results. Slow progress is still progress......0 -
I lug a lot of crap to work each day. Lunch, snacks, water for the morning, water for the afternoon, protein shake for the gym, gym clothes. I use a wheely bag. My neighbors thought I was a flight attendant because of the bag! LOL! I come home one day and they ask me which airline I work for!
Planning makes a huge difference. If you have stuff to eat, you won't hit the vending machine. If you bring water, you won't get thirsty and get some pop. If you go tot he gym right from work, you'll avoid the black hole that is your couch.
I also don't buy snacky foods (chips/sweets). I have no self-discipline and will eat them up! Know yourself, and be honest about your strengths and weaknesses.
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Omg Psychgrrl you hit the nail on the head, if the snacky foods are in the house I eat them, even if I say I won't, or that I'm buying them for hubby and son (whom by the way hubby is diabetic and son well whole nother story, so do I just not buy them period?? And I so have to take your advice about packing the gym bag daily no excuses that way! Thanks0
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Eat as many fresh raw veggies as you can get down your throat! Every day I pack a baggie or tupperware with 3 cups of veggies--baby cucumber slices, cherry tomatoes, carrot slices, celery bites, raw green beans, raw broccoli or cauliflower. Not all of that in the same day, but a few things in the bag/container. That sits on my desk and I nibble on that throughout the day instead of the cookies/pastry/snacks that seem to appear in our teacher's lounge all day every day! Also water and unsweetened tea only--NEVER drink your calories. Also deciding what's worth spending your calories on--a poster above talked about not really liking donuts but eating them if they were "there"--stop doing that. Pick a few things you really love and would really miss and give up the rest of the crap. I LOVE cookies--love them--any and all cookies, so I give myself enough calories to have one at night with my tea. ONE, not five, ONE and really enjoy it!
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love love love the ONE not five, that may just work for me, my other problem is however, if i have a salty I want a sweet and vice versa, omg how easily I could go back and forth.0
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Apple
Fruit
The apple tree is a deciduous tree in the rose family best known for its sweet, pomaceous fruit, the apple. It is cultivated worldwide as a fruit tree, and is the most widely grown species in the genus Malus. Wikipedia
Nutrition Facts
Apple
Amount Per 1 medium (3" dia) (182 g)
Calories 95
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 0.3 g 0%
Saturated fat 0.1 g 0%
Polyunsaturated fat 0.1 g
Monounsaturated fat 0 g
Cholesterol 0 mg 0%
Sodium 2 mg 0%
Potassium 195 mg 5%
Total Carbohydrate 25 g 8%
Dietary fiber 4.4 g 17%
Sugar 19 g
Protein 0.5 g 1%
Vitamin A 1% Vitamin C 14%
Calcium 1% Iron 1%
Vitamin D 0% Vitamin B-6 5%
Vitamin B-12 0% Magnesium 2%
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ljashley1952 wrote: »One of the big things for me was getting a good digital food scale. I weigh every thing because it's very easy to underestimate what you eat. By weighing food it makes me accountable for every choice I make. If I'm having a sandwich with turkey, lettuce, and tomato, I might weigh out just a half ounce of cheese or skip it entirely.
Also knowing how many calories are in a teaspoon or tablespoon of mayo, butter, catsup, or mustard makes me very aware of the small stuff I add to sandwiches. Like the mustard (almost no calories) might be a better choice than the mayo (fairly high in calories). Or I often cut back to a teaspoon or less mayo or butter on a slice of bread, simply because I don't want to have to log it.
Mentally I'm trying to get used to the idea that I don't have to feel 'full' all the time. I really don't like the feel of a growling empty stomach either, but there is a happy medium where I'm neither full or empty and I'm trying to get used to that. Everytime I go to the refrigerator or poke around for something to eat, I ask myself if I'm really hungry or I'm just bored and need to find something to do that will occupy both my hands and my mind. And I'm learning to skip second helpings too.
It's great to consider some of the small things because they do add up in the long-run and by making some small changes you can set in motion some big dividends.
I love the new benefiber healthy shape!!! It helps to keep me from getting THAT hungry between meals and it helps keep me regular. LOVE IT!0 -
I'm wearing a Fitbit. It's kind of ugly, but seeing it all day helps me be mindful.
I also brush my teeth right after dinner. That way I know, if I snack later, I will have to re-brush-- and really, who wants to do that?!0 -
The best thing that I've ever done was to get acquainted with what a proper portion size actually is. I bought 9" salad plates and use those instead of regular dinner plates. Now my plates are full with proper portion sizes and I almost never overeat.
Through my research, I found that up until the late 70s, dinner plate were actually 9"; salad plates were 5" and dessert plates were 3"-4". Eight ounces was a cup of coffee and 10 ounces was a standard soda.0 -
pre-plan eeeeeeeverything but leave a few calories (100-200 for me) to play with during the day. I'm still in the process of working out what foods fill me up and what doesn't so I do find myself getting struck down with hunger during the day if I didn't plan particularly well. That extra buffer leaves me with some calories to play with.
Another thing is my Fitbit (though I'm sure any activity tracker would do). That has been such a big help with getting me to move around more. I've become incredibly ineffecient in everything I do, just to get more steps! Doing the washing, for example, normally I fill the basket and stop on my way to the machine to get the right amount of detergent. Now I walk to the machine, put down the basket, walk to get the detergent box, take that to the machine, take out what I need, go and put the box back, then come back and switch on the machine. Takes more time, yep, but I spend probably about 4 times more time on my feet than I would have otherwise. Likewise with cooking in the kitchen, I prepare things on the other end of the kitchen from my fridge, take out one ingredient at a time and go back and forth.0 -
For me it has been a little over 15 months total time since starting diet and then shortly after that starting exercise. It is hard to believe it has been almost 120 pounds ago.
Having a realistic goal for cutting calories and adding in exercise was key. If you can't live with it, it won't last.
Eliminating some fats and just straight up junk food was the biggest help. The low hanging fruit!
Once I got used to eating more fibrous veggies and lower fat meats I was good. It was just a matter of not eating too much or too little, and getting in some exercise.
Now I am about 25 pounds from my end goal. And nothing has changed for my strategy. The calories went down, and I consume less junk hidden calories. I also can exercise more and have a network of gym friends.
The best tip is to work a plan you can live with.
It is also very encouraging to get your annual physicals and see how dramatically eating right and exercising can transform your life!0
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