The mirror shows that one thing isn’t right with your life. Your weight has risen. You’ve let everything else get in taking care of yourself.
You can’t wear your favorite pants. You’re taking in too much caffeine, but your energy level is still low. The “p” word is being used to describe aches and pains that come and go (pills). These business lunches, skipping the gym, and snack foods got the best of you. It shows right where you don’t want it!
Where do you start? How can you make time for new healthy habits when you’re already so busy at work? Try these seven ways to lose weight for size.
1. Create a Simple Plan.
Think about a simple eating plan that you can follow which makes sense. It will work for the long run, not just a few weeks or months. The easier the goal is to follow, the easier it will be to gradually add it into your daily routine, and the more tangible the results will be.
Start by asking yourself: “Which foods can help you live longer?” All kinds of healthy food. They have the most nutrition for their calories, so they are the best choice. Weight loss and better health! Meats, brown-colored white bread, boxed cereal, milk, pasta, salty snacks, and cheeses have never been said to stop cancer. They’re the foods we eat the most. People do this because our culture has told and trained us to do so.
2. Follow Three Simple Rules: Add, Stop, and Wiggle.
Rule #1: Add and fill up on the good foods for you first, like fresh fruits and vegetables. It’s then time to add other whole plant foods, like whole grains (brown rice and barley) and legumes (peas, beans): (kidney beans, black beans, lentils).
There’s a lot of food you like. Not at all! Fill up on the good nutrition for you first, then choose other foods. You will get full and satisfied with nutrient-rich, low-calorie foods without restricting, depriving, counting, or worrying. This will automatically make you less hungry for high-calorie foods.
Rule #2: It would be best to stop eating as soon as your brain tells you that you’re full, but not until your stomach begs for your attention. Hard, but if you eat more fresh fruits and vegetables that satisfy your hunger, you’ll better sync with your brain. When do you eat an apple? Several? On the other hand, think about how many chips or other treats you can eat. More than enough!
Rule #3: Move your body. In the beginning, make sure that your program has room for change or wiggle room. You aren’t perfect doesn’t mean that you should expect to be perfect, either! All of this is about making progress, not being perfect at everything you do. Eat what you want when you eat out, entertain, travel, or celebrate special events. You don’t want to wiggle too much, or you’ll lose that jiggle.
3. Add Simple, Fruity Breakfasts.
Which foods are best for breakfast in the morning? Fruits that are fresh. However, fresh fruits are the fastest foods to eat. They eat very quickly. They open their mouths, bite down, and chew. They don’t require a lot of fuss or time to set up, and they go well on trips. Whether driving or sitting in front of the computer, you can quickly eat an apple or banana. You can also eat a grape, a plum, an orange, or some other fruit right after going to the bathroom. Think “fruit break,” not “coffee break.” A simple shift in your mindset will show you how easy it is to sneak fruit into your morning.
4. Create Simple Ziploc Lunches.
If you want to be the “Zip Queen or King,” you can save calories, time, and money by becoming one. A Ziploc lunch is a good thing to have if you don’t have to go to a business lunch. When you slip on those pants, you’ll feel like cloud nine.
You need to do this the night before: Fill a gallon-sized Ziploc bag with washed and spun-dry lettuce (romaine, leafy lettuce, butter lettuce), spinach, and sprouts that have been washed and spun dry. In a second bowl, add chopped vegetables, such as cucumbers and tomatoes and carrots and onions and red cabbage, and zucchini. There should be avocado and lemon with the salad. It would be best if you chopped the avocado up right before you eat it. Avocado, lemon, and balsamic vinegar are all great salad dressings that you can mix to make your own. Throw everything into a bowl, and you’re done! Having this lunch will help you lose weight. It’s also quick, so you’ll have time to walk.
A different way to eat is to bring sprouted-grain bread and a bag of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, and onion slices. A quick, healthy lunch is on its way. If you made a meat-free, dairy-free, low-salt vegetable and bean soup over the weekend, you could also store it in a double Ziploc bag or some plastic containers.
Eat fruit all morning, so you don’t get too hungry at lunch. A small salad can even be eaten before. I think you’ll eat less and make better decisions because you’ll be more careful. Also, if you have a choice, pick a restaurant that has good salad and vegetable side dishes. Bring your salad dressing that doesn’t have any oil, or use lemon and vinegar at the restaurant to make your salad dressing there.
5. Make Simple “Eat-in-Order” Dinners.
Whether you’re at home, dinner is the most complicated meal to change, even if you get home late. Steamed vegetables of your choice, then a salad, then a more dense, more filling vegetable like potatoes, yams, or winter squash, with avocado and diced tomatoes, sautéed-in-water vegetables or fresh salsa. Whole brown rice and/or beans can be added in place of potato or yam. They should already be cooked, of course.
6. Pack Simple, Healthy Snacks.
When you get hungry a few hours after having a salad for lunch, do something new: eat! If you want to stay healthy and lose weight, choose healthy snacks like fruit, carrots, celery, cucumbers, or a handful of raw nuts and seeds. Good snacks should be easy to find. Make them your number one choice.
7. Watch Your Beverages!
I didn’t know that the calories in one 16-ounce cup of skim milk are 160; a 16-ounce cup of whole milk is 270; an 8-ounce glass of red wine has 170 calories.
There are 2,310 extra calories in just one glass of red wine and one skim-milk latte each day or more than one additional day of calories in a seven-day week. That doesn’t include all the other drinks that were consumed. Common sense tells you not to drown yourself in liquid calories as a smart business person.
If you want to get rid of those extra layers, the easiest thing to do is always choose the drink that doesn’t have calories, alcohol, caffeine, or sugar: water. Water! In water, see how your weight changes. What are you going to do to get a quick pick-me-up? There are fruits and vegetables (not protein) that you ate yesterday that make you feel good today, along with daily exercise and sleep.
You have shown that you are intelligent, savvy, and brave during your professional life. In the same way, start taking care of your body a straightforward step at a time with the same skills and attitude.