Picture yourself as healthy as you want to be, at a weight you’re comfortable with and able to do anything you want. (Find an old photo if it helps) Now, BELIEVE in that picture, hold on to it, and use it as your daily motivation.
It’s easy for the focus to be only on one thing: losing weight. This is a valuable goal – but it should only be part of a bigger goal:
Pursuing Wellness.
Many people don’t actually have to deprive themselves completely of the foods they like to eat. What most people have to change, however, is their food attitude from one of self-deprivation to one of self-control.
We must learn to listen – to our bodies and to our lives. Are you chronically tired? Are you unable to lose weight? Constantly sore and achy? Listen to your body’s signals, ask your doctor to figure out the root of the problem, and then start implementing the solutions. This little guide is intended to give you some ideas to get you started right away but always check with your doctor before any major change to your health routine.
Regain Your Energy
When you don’t eat right, you don’t feel right. Your body has a system for processing food so that you get maximum benefit, but if you’re putting garbage in (processed, salt, sugary, empty calories), you’re going to get garbage out (feeling sluggish, looking tired or puffy, overweight issues).
Your body is a machine that is constantly manufacturing new parts— cells, tissues, neurotransmitters, fluids, hormones, etc. The material and the energy to be constantly remanufacturing US comes ONLY from the food we eat. The old saying is true – you are what you eat! We feel tired and worn out because our food is trash.
To keep your energy level high: eat a balanced diet that includes a variety of unrefined carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, with an emphasis on vegetables, whole grains, and healthy oils. It’s better to eat small meals and snacks every few hours than three large meals a day. This approach can reduce your perception of fatigue because your brain, which has very few energy reserves of its own, needs a steady
supply of nutrients.
Enjoy Your Outlook
How does the idea of sitting in a wheelchair in a nursing home, watching the world go by your window, make you feel? Not good at all, right? Then today is The Day to start making changes to your health that will last for decades to come!
Our Health is perhaps the most important gift we can give to ourselves. Health gives us the ability to be independent and to do daily the little things that makes us feel special. We often take it for granted that we will live a long happy and prosperous life, but good health doesn’t come easy- you have to be willing to make the changes and do the work.
Taking good care of yourself by changing your health habits will help you feel better, be stronger, look younger, and live longer. You’ll have better physical and mental health, more satisfying sex, more confidence, a more positive attitude, and a much brighter vision of your future.
Cultivating a greater sense of optimism will provide you with more positive energy to motivate you to do more new, healthy things.
Attract Positive
Doing right by your body pays off for your mind as well. Eating a better diet as well as exercising can lead to a healthy body, but also feeling better about your appearance, which can boost your confidence and self-esteem.
Choose your company wisely. That might mean changing friends as you start to change your eating and lifestyle habits. Stop comparing yourself to the often false images of others and instead focus on being the best YOU that you can be. As you begin to change your eating and lifestyle habits, “Do not be misled: “Bad Company corrupts good character.” 1Corinthian 15:33.
Recognize, right now, today, that your life can always be better. Believe that you can be and that you deserve the best. Acting in harmony with your purpose, enjoying a sense of fulfillment, and knowing that you are more than able to achieve your dreams will have a dramatic effect on your health. When you understand how you are supposed to feel, you will also know your value and hold yourself to higher standards.
GODSU provided a holistic learning environment where academic excellence met spiritual growth. The program challenged me to think critically and develop innovative approaches to ministry. Today, I’m not only a more effective leader in my church but also a stronger advocate for community empowerment. GODSU truly prepared me to serve both God and humanity with distinction.
Dr. Eva Brown
Do What You Love
Deep inside, you have a desire to be different and to make a difference in the world. What’s your dream? The secret one that makes you nervous, the one you don’t tell other people? Maybe you’ll do something about it. Maybe you’ll give it a try. Maybe one of these days…
There are 7 days in the week and ‘someday’ isn’t one of them! What you think about, you bring about. The way you bring it about is by DOING. Picture yourself, again, this time doing what you love. Think how GREAT it’s going to feel when you achieve that dream. Now, BELIEVE in that picture also, hold on to it, and let it motivate you.
Desire + Effort = Results.
There are millions of unhappy people in the world settling for what they know because they’re afraid to go after what they want. Be different! Your dream, whatever it may be, is waiting for you to take the first steps.
Feel More Youthful
We’ve come to expect that certain physical and mental changes are inevitable as we get older. But, the foods we eat—or don’t—may be aging us before our time. The reason is simple- we eat too many processed foods.
Start every meal with a fruit or vegetable and a tall glass of water. Loading up on the vitamins and antioxidants in fruits and veggies will make you feel refreshed, recharged, and reenergized.
Chances are, you’re not getting as much sleep as you need. Make up for your sleep debt by turning in early enough to get eight hours of shut-eye for six weeks straight. That’s how much time it takes to form a lasting healthy snooze habit. You’ll feel the difference— more energy, fewer dark circles, and better focus.
Your brain craves novelty. It needs stimulation in order to stay sharp. To feel younger, you have to go to new places, meet new people, and try new things. The next time you shop, choose some items you’ve never tasted before to add to the basket. You might be surprised by all the new favorites you discover.
Take Action
The human body was designed for activity, and by exercising regularly and making smart food choices, you’ll look and feel better—every day.
The Mayo Clinic notes that physical activity stimulates brain chemicals that often leave you feeling both happier and more relaxed. Regular fitness is about improving muscular and cardiorespiratory strength and endurance and increasing flexibility through regular physical activity. That even includes things like
walking the dog, raking leaves, or playing tag with the kids.
Fueling your body with the right foods is also a must. At the very least, your body needs lean protein to provide essential amino acids; complex carbohydrates for a steady source of continuous energy, and, most of all, fresh fruit and veg for hydration and elimination. Aerobic exercises are good for your heart and whatever you do for your heart is also good for your brain. Even 10 minutes of exercise changes the levels of brain chemicals that assist with learning.
Overcome Obstacle
Be accountable. Try recording everything you eat and drink and the time you spend on exercise in a health diary. Making conscious notes will reveal the problematic cues, triggers, and habits that could be sabotaging your weight-loss efforts.
Keeping track of your gym time or walking miles will encourage you to keep going. Some research suggests that people who keep health diaries for five months lose nearly twice as much weight as their non-journaling peers.
1 Set healthy goals
2 Decide health priorities
3 Get the necessary support
4 Mark steady progress
5 Reward good decisions
“Try and keep it simple in terms of what you want to do, try to do it each time you encounter (the triggering event), just keep doing it, and,” says Benjamin Gardner Sood, a psychologist who lectures in motivation, habits, and health at University College London.
“Make sure you’re realistic in what you expect the accountability behavior to be like and what you choose the consequences to be.”
Supply More Water
Your body is composed of roughly 60% water. That means when you are dehydrated – and most of us spend our days constantly dehydrated to some degree – you’re affecting the performance of the majority of your body. If you don’t drink enough water, you will die. It’s that important!
Water is the ultimate health drink. It’s free in every sense of the word. It has no calories and it comes straight from your faucet. Carry a bottle everywhere with you as a reminder to keep drinking. Here is a quick rule of thumb for drinking water: Drink half your body weight in ounces of water (if you weigh 160 lbs, drink 80oz of water each day).
Sometimes we think we are hungry when actually we are thirsty. Our body just starts turning on all the alarms when we ignore it. For those of you trying to drop some pounds, staying hydrated can serve as an appetite suppressant and help with weight loss.
Watch Your Time
Studies have shown that you are more likely to overeat and misjudge how many calories you consume when you eat late. Fatigue may cause you to eat too much of the wrong foods, causing you to put on weight.
For many years, doctors and nutritionists have been urging weight-loss clients to eat dinner earlier and stop snacking a few hours before bed.
Researchers from Brigham Young University decided to put the theory to the test and asked the subjects to avoid consuming calories (water was okay) between the hours of 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. for two weeks. The average weight change was a loss of nearly 0.9 pounds during the two weeks of nighttime fasting. When the subjects avoided eating between the hours of 7 p.m. to 6 a.m., participants reduced their daily calorie intake by an average of 238 calories.
You have got to get healthy in order to lose weight. It is vitally important to get quality sleep each night because that is when the body burns fat and renews itself in hundreds of other ways.
Eliminate Toxins
Sodium, carbonation, constipation, and excess air from eating too fast can all lead to a bloated belly. A healthy diet promotes a flatter stomach. High-fiber foods (such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains) reduce constipation.
Slower eating not only makes you more mindful of what you are putting into your mouth, but it also reduces the excess air you swallow which leads to bloating.
Our digestive system needs water to function properly. Waste is flushed out in the form of urine and sweat. If we don’t drink water, we don’t flush out waste and it collects in our body causing a myriad of problems. Water keeps every part of your body working properly. Experts say people who drink the
proper amount of water will generally have a soft stool. Also combined with fiber, water can cure constipation.
Even if you lose excess weight and become more active, poor health will stick around until you clean up your nutrition. Until we put quality in, we cannot get quality out!
Beware of Additives
The addictive qualities of most junk foods could be boiled down to three additives: salt, sugar and fat. A food additive is any substance which is used to modify a food’s chemical, physical, or organoleptic (affecting the senses) characteristics.
Additives are commonly used to stabilize a product or to change the flavor, color, texture, or consistency of food items or as a preservative. MSG, sodium nitrate and BHA/BHT should all be avoided and don’t forget to cut back on sugar and salt, which cause more harm than all the other additives combined. Limit the refined sugar and white starches to only occasional treats. While you may get a quick boost, that feeling fades quickly and can leave you depleted and craving more sweets.
In excess, salt can not only raise your blood pressure and damage your heart, it can also make you look puffy and retain more water weight. High sugar intake can increase calorie intake leading to weight gain, as well as promote obesity increasing your risk for glucose intolerance leading to type 2 diabetes.
Avoid Any Trans Fat
Trans fat is made by adding hydrogen to vegetable oil, which makes the oil less likely to spoil. Using trans fats in the manufacturing of foods helps foods stay fresh longer, have a longer shelf life and have a less greasy feel.
It’s thought that adding hydrogen to oil makes the oil more difficult to digest, and your body recognizes trans fats as saturated fats. Studies show that trans-fats raise levels of LDL (bad cholesterol) in the body, while simultaneously lowering HDL (good cholesterol). This can lead to a host of health problems.
There are many alternatives to trans fats.
1. Butter
2. Butter fat
3. Coconut and palm oils
4. Animal fat
5. Fully hydrogenated vegetable oil
6. Traditional liquid vegetable oils
7. Liquid vegetable oils from advanced
oilseeds
Note that all fats of ruminant origin – butter, cheese, beef fat, etc. – contain natural trans fats however these naturally occurring trans fats, in reasonable proportions, do not endanger health.
No Means No
Healthy habits require discipline. It takes an average of 66 days, according to a 2009 study from University College London. Repetition and giving yourself time to adjust are the main factors in forming a new behavior pattern.
What I have experienced is as I began to say no to the white refined sugar, white rice, white bread, the high fructose corn syrup laced ketchups, barbeque sauces and sodas.Said no to the margarines, food dyes and man-made processed and pre-packages meals that were loaded with sodium.
I begin to take in more avocados, kale, broccoli, cabbage, collards, almonds, walnuts, wild caught salmon, cod fish and use olive oil, coconut oil, flax seeds and flax oil. The no became easier as I began to discipline myself to make healthier food choices.
You must learn to say no. No to your impulse to give in or do it the easy way, to friends who don’t understand your goals, to situations that put you in an unhealthy state, and to places that offer too much temptation.
Okay Sometimes
Remember: Moderation is key. It’s OK to have a wedding or birthday cake; just compensate with extra time on the treadmill or by getting back on track the next day. As long as 90% of your food choices are healthy, allow yourself to indulge in that remaining 10%.
Dietary changes that eliminate entire food groups or forbid the occasional splurge are most likely to fail, research suggests. If you don’t indulge every once in a while, you’re more likely to give in to cravings and binge. If your pantry shelves are filled with cookies and chips, get rid of them. Stuff your bag with
healthy snacks, pack your own well-balanced lunch each day, and prepare healthy dinners ahead. This will help you resist vending machines and fast-food takeout.
As your diet becomes balanced with nutritious foods, intense cravings for unhealthy food lessen over time. Learn the difference between hunger and boredom. Ask yourself: “When was the last time I ate?
Am I really hungry?” If you’re craving a certain snack, wait 20 minutes to see if the urge passes. Also, check for emotional triggers!
What Comes Next
Once you begin drinking more water, eating a healthier diet, eliminating toxins like candy, soda, and chemicals, and get regular exercise, you’re likely to find that your body isn’t the only thing that has changed!
It all starts with your mindset. How do you know drinking more water and eliminating toxins work? By checking your quality of sleep, and a new energy level, check how your clothes fit! Ask yourself some questions:
- What do I want to have happen concerning my health? Write down specifically what you want your health to look like when you are finished. What is your energy level, and how do you want to feel? Is there anything you can do that I was not able to do before?
- What is your motive? Why do I want this outcome? Truly, think what reason will be strong enough to keep you going when you are faced with obstacles and challenges? Reasons can be updated and changed.
- How much time am I willing to devote to obtain the knowledge I lack? Think through the price you must pay to reach your goal.
- What are your personal character traits?
- How much are you willing to invest in you, in your health? Remember the answer is all up to you. You decide on the goal you have set for yourself.
Remember this: If you want to finish in total wellness, you need to first plan your course of action and count the cost of not following that course. Know that you can make some adjustments along the way. Then and only, only then will you be assured of finishing well
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