5 Easy Things You Can Do to Reach Your Goals
Hi I’m Dori Madsen. I’m a NextFit trainer and I wanted to share 5 tips that help my clients reach their weight loss goals. I am asked day in and day out what’s the best way to keep the weight off. I always tell people it’s not as complicated as you might think. Here are my 5 easy-to-do tips.
1) Don’t feel bad about throwing away food you don’t need to eat.
If you have already purchased the food it doesn’t make a difference if you put it in your mouth or in the trash! The best thing would be to not purchase things you do not need in the first place. But in the case of cleaning out your cupboards and fridge to get rid of things you do not need just relish in the fact that you will no longer be tempted by these things and you will be making room for all of the wonderful foods you will be eating instead.
2) Cardio 1st thing in the morning helps with motivation.
Actually, any type of exercise in the morning can help to motivate you to make better choices during the day because you start your day empowered and feeling good about what you have already accomplished…which is taking care of yourself and giving your body the exercise it needs to stay strong and healthy. Cardiovascular training gets your heart rate up and raises your core temperature signaling your brain to release those feel good chemicals serotonin and dopamine. It has been scientifically proven that exercise works just as well as anti depression medicine by releasing those feel good chemicals but without the negative side effects.
3) Eliminate regular soda. It is the worst thing you can put into your body.
Our systems were not designed to have concentrated sugar like what you find in a soda. It freaks out the pancreas which then goes into hyper-drive dumping insulin into the blood stream to shuttle that sugar into muscle cells or fat cells. And since we usually already have enough glycogen (sugar) in our muscle cells it almost always goes into the fat cells. That’s right, fat, making you fatter! Aside from that, it is the number one cause of adult onset diabetes! TOO MUCH SUGAR! Is there ever a time when sugar is okay? Well, yes…but that is a topic for another discussion!
4) Use Crystal Light if you don’t like plain water.
5) Taper off eating carbs as the day progresses.
As the day progresses and the evening approaches most of us begin to wind down for the evening. So your body doesn’t need the energy you receive from carbs. They are better put to use during the day when we are more likely to burn them. Better choices might be vegetables and lean types of protein in moderate portions.
So that’s it; Five simple but effective strategies to help you reach your goals. If you like these or have learned some tricks of your own that you’d like to share, please comment. We’d love to hear from you.
Comments
Kaylee Anderson said on Friday, February 12, 2010:
I am a personal trainer with a second to none track record.
Crystal light is poison to your system and toxic.
As far as the soda, the sugar yes is bad, but the carbonation is devastating. It actually paralyses your immune system and leaches calcium out of your bones.
bryan said on Friday, February 12, 2010:
I have found a lot of my clients prefer something to help them transition off of sugary drinks. Many drink several cans of full sugar soda per day. Switching to diet drinks has helped many reduce their sugar intake while they work on developing better eating habits. Baby steps. :)
Josh said on Friday, February 12, 2010:
Diet soda helped me drop 55 pounds that would've been much harder to lose if I'd continued drinking and/or eating sugary treats. I'm much healthier now because of it. I feel better, my endurance and stamina have increased dramatically, and my risk of cardiovascular disease is much lower. If you ask me, that far outweighs any potential side effects of the aspartame (of which I've had none).
maryann said on Friday, February 12, 2010:
I agree with your strategies. Cleaning out the snack food from the pantry is a great help in reducing temptation. I have a diet soda once in a while, but have found that water helps my energy stay more level through the day. Cardio is a great way to start the day - it helps me feel better throughout the remainder of the day, and I feel more motivated to do an additional workout later in the day.
Casey said on Monday, February 15, 2010:
My best advice would be to mix up some iced tea, and not feel bad if you drop a little bit of honey in it.
Susan Ayers said on Saturday, February 27, 2010:
THank you for the input. I mix instant ice tea with Crystal Lite lemonade to make sugar free Arnold Palmers. I know crystal lite is not the best but it does get me drinking more liquid.
I will try to get on my stationary bike in the am and watch the morning news.
Dori Madsen said on Thursday, March 04, 2010:
Guess I should expound a bit on that crystal light comment. If you are changing your habits and eliminating soda's and sugary drinks but find yourself having a hard time getting in enough fluid because you just can't stand drinking plain water then by all means, try mixing in some crystal light, lemon, or tea. I understand that some may feel that it is not good for your body as is anything you over use but it can be a help with those who's taste bud's have gotten so inundated with sugar that water just doesn't cut it. I would say that water is always your best choice but if you just need a swig of something that gives your mouth some joy then crystal light is a far better choice than soda, Kool-aid or any other sugary drink.