So you’re ready to get started with a healthy diet and exercise plan, but you’re not sure where to begin? I have 5 steps to get started. You may have implemented some of these already:
1) Food diary: Keep an honest and accurate record of everything you put in your mouth including timing of meals, exercise, & sleep. Even if you “cheat”, be honest. This isn’t a failure; it’s an opportunity to learn about triggers that make it difficult for you to succeed.
2) Do it in the morning! Perform 30 minutes of pre-meal cardio each day. No excuses! You have to get up too early? Fine, then get up a little bit earlier.
3) Zero rule: the number of calories you consume each day should be your weight, with a zero on the end. For example, if you weigh 125, your daily caloric intake should be 1250. Are you very active? Then add 150 calories. (There are other, more complicated & much more scientific methods for calculating daily caloric requirements, but to begin, this is the simplest & most effective.)
4) Eat on the clock! Set a timer and eat every 3 hours, even if you’re not hungry. Take your total caloric intake, divide by 6 and eat that many calories at each meal.
5) Drink up! Drink a non-caloric beverage with each meal. If you normally drink soda, coffee with sugar & cream, juice or some other beverage that packs on calories, switch to water instead. Other options include diet sodas (not my first choice however); green tea, or crystal light. Green teas are also available in flavored varieties & they may be sweetened with Splenda or Spevia. As an added bonus, green tea is also thermogenic! The important thing is NON-CALORIC! Don’t drink your calories.
How do these sound to you? Are you already following these 5 simple steps? Do any sound too difficult or unrealistic for you to perform? Identify the hurdles to your success on this plan, and we’ll work through it!
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