You may think that weight loss and getting
healthy requires lots of sweat, pounding the pavement and a strict diet.
If you
need to lose a lot of weights or get into shape really fast, yes, taking extreme
measures is best.
However, if you know you need to make changes and find it
difficult to stick to a grueling regimen, you can make small changes, over
time, that add up to big results.
Just by making
a few small changes over the course of a few months or a year can help
you lose a few pounds here and there without feeling deprived or like you're
even trying.
Make Small Changes in Your Eating Habits
Many people have made minor changes
in their diet and reaped significant rewards.
If you change one
unhealthy eating habit per month, by the end of a year you will have changed a major part of your diet and will see results
in your weight.
Even if you only lose one pound
per month because of these changes, that equals twelve pounds lost per
year without much effort.
Some people decide to give completely up sugar. That is a great goal and it should be
done, but if you're struggling to stick to something so strict, try giving up
one of your favorite snacks.
Most people have several snacks they like and
indulge in, like cookies and chips, or ice cream and candy bars. Try giving up
one of those the first month.
Maybe you'll give up chips the first month. Then
you can give up cookies the next month. Don't deprive yourself, you can still
enjoy your snacks once in awhile. The key is to give them up in your daily or
weekly eating habits.
Are you addicted to carbs? Trying giving up
a high carb dish the first month, something like potatoes or a pasta dish. You
probably can't give them up entirely at
first, but if you're prone to have a carb with every meal, start giving them up
for at least one meal per day.
Small changes like
this may not seem all that significant. However,
they do add up over time and it helps you stick to them when they are small, as
opposed to trying to change your whole diet at once.
If coupled with an
exercise routine or adding more exercise to your current program, that could
make a big difference in the way you look and feel.
Make Small Changes in Your Exercise
Routine
If you don't currently have a daily
exercise routine, this is a great time to start. Simply doing five minutes a
day is better than what you're doing now. Over time that will add up. Over the
next twelve months, you can add five
minutes per month to that.
If you're in poor physical health, this is a very
easy way to increase your time and stamina. In
fact, you may be able to add those five minutes every two weeks as you improve
by setting a goal of five minutes per day for the first month and adding five
minutes to that each month.
Within six months,
you could be exercising for thirty minutes per day, which is the standard
amount doctors and fitness experts recommend. By the end of a year, you could
double that or you can stay at thirty minutes.
The point is to start doing something and
increase your time slowly. This will make big changes in your physical health, endurance, and stamina, plus it will also help
you lose a few pounds without having to jump into an extreme fitness regimen.
If you're already exercising, then start adding more time to your routine. Do this in
small increments so it doesn't feel so much like work. If you currently work
out for half an hour per day, by the end of six months you could be working out
for an hour per day.
Make Small Changes in Your Mindset
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| Image source: freedomtoeatforever.com |
Mindset is one of
the key factors in anything you do, but it's especially
important when it comes to healthy eating habits, weight loss, and fitness. You can't expect to change
your whole way of thinking overnight, but you can start changing small things
about the way you think and approach better health.
For example, instead of telling yourself
you have to get through a grueling half hour workout today, simply tell
yourself you only need to do five minutes, and then go do it. Chances are, at
the end of that five minutes endorphins will start to kick in and you'll want
to keep going. If not, then at least you've done five minutes and that's better
than not doing any.
Another example is to tell yourself that
snacking on fresh fruit is better and healthier than snacking on chips or
candy. There will be times when you do choose the unhealthy snacks over a piece
of fruit, but the more you tell yourself to keep making the better choice, the
more you'll start sticking with it.
You do not need (or want) to tell yourself that you have to make all of
these life changes at once. Start with small things and over time you will work
on bigger things and your mindset will
slowly change without as much struggle.
Keep Yourself on Track
Even making small changes can often seem
like a major undertaking. Studies have proven time and
again that the best way
to make progress with anything is to keep
track of it. This is especially true when it
comes to weight loss and fitness.
People who track their eating habits
and exercise habits get better results than those who don't. Why is this?
Because those who track are more aware of their food intake and calorie output
during exercise. By being aware, they know where they need to make changes.
If
they splurge and have a treat on Monday, they know to make better choices for
the next week and often will add a few minutes to their daily exercise routine
to counteract the extra calories consumed.
Losing weight and
getting fit can seem like a daunting task, but it
doesn't have to be. Decide you're going to make small changes over the next
year instead of trying to change your whole lifestyle and eating habits
overnight.
This may not be the fast track to
losing weight, but those small changes positively do.
