Tid bits of advice

Over the last year or so I have received a bunch of tid bits of advice from articles and friends. I thought Id share them with you. Feel free to offer yours too.


The difference between a diet and living a healthy lifestyle: One is something you do at the moment and will unlikely last very long and one is where you change your eating habits for the long term. Being healthy about finding a lifestyle that you can live with for the rest of your life. If you cant go without eating certain foods...simply don't do it now.

Cutting out complete food groups is never a good idea. Find a way to incorporate all of them because that is what your body needs and designed to process. Moderation is key.

If you eat a piece of cake, good for you. A healthy lifestyle is NOT about denying yourself certain foods or eating ones you don't like. Just eat less of them. IIFYM

Never take "diet pills". Be very careful with which supplements you choose.

Drink water.

Buy an HRM. Most of my friends are pretty good at estimating calories burned, granted. The problem is, MFP estimates and the machines at the gym can be wayyyy off sometimes. The fitter you are, the more your heart rate slows. How are you suppose to have an accurate diary of cals in/cals out if your guessing?

Never expect the scale number to determine how hard you have worked.

If your going to exercise, bring it. Get the best results that you can. Your time is worth more then doing something half-butted. Only you know how hard you have worked or if you slacked. I am so proud of my friends for the exercising they do but in the end, its not about impressing anyone else with numbers, its about THEM feeling good about the work they did.

Think of yourself as an athlete just trying to get fit.

Strength train. Strength training has an after-burn of up to 12 hours, Cardio has one of 2-3 hours.
For every pound of muscle you achieve, you burn an estimated extra 50 calories a day. This is one of the keys to long term success. Your weight will stabilize and you will be more likely to keep it off.

Don't drink your calories!

Eat less fast food. Watch the documentaries "Food Inc." and "King Corn" to deter you. haha

Eat more green/orange/red veggies and fruit. Eat less pasta and potatoes.

If your hungry- eat, if your bored- don't. The way to determine the difference is to have healthy snacks around all the time. If you wont eat them but you'll eat that piece of pie...your not really hungry.

Allow yourself a little time off. Have a rest day and/or have one day a week that you go out to eat and order whatever you want.

Just because something works for someone else does not mean it will work for you.

If you don't feel like going to the gym or work out, still do it. I personally would rather get it done then feeling bad about what I didn't do for the rest of the day.

Ladies-track your binge days. For me it was essential because 2 days before TOM I am a sugar addict. I allow myself a little slack on those days but because now that I am aware of them, I don't go overboard.

Routine, routine, routine. Exercise during the same times of day-at least at first. People are creatures of habit and it will be easier to incorporate into your life.

Be selfish. Yeah, I said it. You have the right to do this for yourself. Work, the husband or wife, kids, friends, outings...etc etc can get in the way sometimes but you deserve to have an hour or two a day for YOU. The purpose of your life is not to accommodate everyone else and put yourself on the back burner. Sure, everyone has responsibilities but look at it this way. More then likely you are spending 90% of your time running around getting things done. Is taking 5% of your time for yourself asking much? Not to me. Of course the other 5% is to chill