The holidays are finally over and you've likely recovered from your Christmas food coma. Just like last year and the year before that, your New Year's resolution is to finally, FINALLY lose weight.
So let's make it happen. For real, this time. The thing is, don't expect drastic weight loss in a short period of time. We're not talking about restrictive crash diets here. Nor do you need to go crazy at the gym only to lost steam after a couple of weeks.
We're talking about ways to get you losing those pounds and inches in the most doable, painless and sustainable way. Here are 5 simple things you can do to get started:
1. Remove processed food from your diet.
Eat real food with ingredients that your grandmother would recognize: in-season and local vegetables and a bit of fruit, beef, pork, poultry and other meats, fish and other seafood. Regard anything that comes in a box or can with suspicion. Anything that has the words "modified", "hydrogenated" or contains multiple 4-syllable words should be avoided. Processed food also tend to be very high in sugar and salt, so simply abstaining from processed food already helps you cut out quite a lot of these from your diet.
2. Eat more non-starchy vegetables.
Vegetables are some of the most nutrient-dense food you can eat and should be the first thing you reach for at every meal. The more varied your choices, the better, so you can benefit from a multitude of vitamins and minerals from different kinds of vegetables. While in weight-loss mode and especially if you're not very active, starchy vegetables like potatoes and yams, as well as sugar-laden fruit like mangoes, pineapples and bananas should be avoided.
3. Give up sugary drinks.
A lot of the sugar people typically consume comes from drinks. And this includes your fancy frappuccinos, sodas, cocktails and yes -- even your "healthy" juices. Stick to unsweetened tea, coffee and water. If you must, then use Stevia as a sweetener rather than artificial, chemical ones. But if you can, then skip even the Stevia and train your palate to appreciate coffee and tea for how they should taste in their most natural and unadulterated state. And if you must have fruit, then eat whole fruit instead.
4. Eat healthy fat.
Fat is essential to good health but we need to choose the fat we consume. One simple change you can do immediately is to replace highly unstable cooking oils like canola, vegetable or corn oil with healthier daily cooking oil alternatives like coconut oil or grass-fed butter. Consume healthy fat in the form of olive oil, avocados, nuts, coconut milk, full-fat dairy, wild-caught fish and grass-fed beef or free-range pork or chicken skin. You can refer to this article for more on dietary fat.
5. Move around more.
Stand rather than sit. Walk rather than stand. Don't allow yourself to go more than 30 minutes without moving. Even just going for at least a 30-minute walk every other day is a big help. Walking outdoors and getting some sun is even better. JUST MOVE. And when you're ready, start adding some resistance workouts like the Primal Essential Movements (squats, push-ups, planks and pull-ups). 15-30 minutes is enough.
So there you go: 5 simple things to get you started not just on a weight loss journey, but a journey towards better HEALTH. Here's to an awesome new year!!!!