I used to be a fad diet junkie.
Whenever I would read about a new diet I would immediately start planning for how I would attack this regime. I would always start on a Monday, go shopping for all these new foods on a Sunday afternoon and have given up totally by Wednesday lunchtime.
I was lured by these promises of weight loss, healthy skin hair and glowing skin.
Then I would beat myself up because I wasn’t ‘strong enough’ and I didn’t have enough ‘willpower’ to see these extreme diets through. I was on a constant rollercoaster going up to hope and excitement then falling rapidly to disappointment and shame.
It was only when I decided to be kind, go easy on myself and slowly introduce healthy lifestyle habits and routines to my day to day life that I started noticing tangible changes. My mood swings eventually disappeared completely, I became happy in my body and able to eat what I knew I needed to thrive.
The ridiculous thing was - these changes were so simple that I wasn’t suffering through them, which was incredible confusing as someone who thought that deprivation meant results. Which I’m assuming is a little how you feel, right? Like you need to push yourself to get anywhere close to achieving your goals?
I have more simple ways to get you there...
MORNING
DRINK IT UP
Start your day with a big glass of room temperature water. I keep a glass bottle next to my bed so that as soon as I wake up I can drink it down and get everything moving as it should. I would recommend getting a good quality water filter so as to eliminate any impurities in the water you’re getting from the tap.
WRITE IT DOWN
I keep a pad and pencil next to my water bottle on my bedside table and as soon as I wake up I write down my mood, immediate thoughts and anything I feel I need to get out of my mind to start the day fresh. I would rather get it onto paper than have it floating in my head. I also use this time to write down three things I’m grateful for, being sure that one of them is something I love about myself.
MOVE A LITTLE, OR A LOT
The morning is the best time to exercise for most. Getting it done in the morning, when you’re rested and fresh is much more inviting than at the end of a long work day or on your lunch break. This isn’t a rule, but it’s a good way to make sure you actually do it, we tend to have less excuses in the morning! Anything from a gentle 10 minute stretch out on your yoga mat to a full on PT workout, just get moving!
NOON
NOURISH
Eat a lunch that has good quality fats and some brain boosting superfoods. The afternoon slump (or 3:30-itis) can be completely avoided by having the proper nourishment on your lunch hour. You could carry an avocado in your bag to add to a salad, drizzle some coconut oil over a dark green leafy salad with walnuts and lemon juice. Just get the fat in! Remember that fat feeds your brain and the right kinds won’t make you fat, but sugar will!
CHANGE UP THE FLAVOUR
Try up a new flavour tea to replace your usually sugary afternoon treat. If you’re a natural sweet tooth, T2 does some amazing sweeter teas that you can use to eliminate the craving without the sugar hangover.
GET FRESH
Try to mix it up some days by taking a different stop on your way home and walking a longer distance, or if you’re a mama use the afternoon to head out with your little humans and get some fresh air. But getting moving in the late afternoon and filling your lungs with fresh oxygen, you can give yourself an extra burst of energy so that when it comes time to make dinner, you’re ready for the task.
NIGHT
KEEP IT LIGHT
The habit of eating a light dinner is ideal if you’ve felt some extra kilos piling on of late. Having a dinner that is smaller than most meals and easy for your stomach to digest means that you’ll wake up feeling lighter and sleep much better. Focus on slow cooked grass fed and finished meats, wild caught fish and an array of vegetables in many many different colours. The main idea of this step is to reduce your portion size in the evening, it’s an easy change with big results!
USE YOUR BRAIN
Studying or reading in the evening can stop you from less beneficial habits such as eating sweets or watching trash. Using this time to wind down and gently stimulate your brain means that you will take in information easier and can enhance your memory.
SLEEP WELL
This one seems quite obvious but make sure that you head to bed at a time that will give you a solid 9 hours sleep. If you’re waking up tired, you’re maybe not sleeping enough or well enough. If you’re reaching for snacks to keep you awake at your desk, you’re probably needing a nap instead. Quality sleep will change your life.
Now, I don’t want you to take on all of the above recommendations at once. Just pick one for this week and schedule a reminder in your phone to add another one in each week. It may seem small at first, but the small changes that you build gradually over time are the ones that you will sustain for life.
If you want some help implementing your own health habits into your everyday life in a simple and seamless way, get in touch with me about 1:1 coaching and learn how you can create the life you want to be living right now!
