The road to change can sometimes be frustrating. For me the biggest problem is the transition. I like to see results and get things done right away. I am an all or nothing type of gal. So when I cave in to a double fudge sunday or a dulce de leche cheesecake, I feel so disappointed and diverge further from the road to healthy and happy.
Truthfully, change goes hand in hand with patience. If change were easy, everybody would be changing every day. It is definitely more rewarding achieving change from having to go through many trials and tribulations.
So, what I have found works best for me is to start slow. Yes its frustrating making little changes at first as apposed to just diving into whatever your ultimate goal is, but if we really think about it, each time we progress with our little goals, we are moving forward down the same path, without having major setbacks.
To make this a little clear I shall compare this to my path to getting healthy. There were certain foods I needed to eliminate in order to keep myself working optimally. For example, milk, because unfortunately, I am allergic to it. If you know me well, you know that these things are severely unpleasant. But milk is contained in a lot of my favorite foods like cake, ice cream and chocolate. So yes it was hard, and because I wanted to go full throttle on eliminating milk, every time so milk happened to splash into my life, I went out like a maniac trying to eat all the milk products out there since I had been depriving myself of them and since I "ruined my progress."
Lesson learned: A little of some of something isn't bad, and I shouldn't let that get me down.
So what I started to do was use lactose aid pills to enjoy the foods with milk I liked, and slowly I started changing from mozzarella cheese to goat cheese (because it does not affect me as bad as the cow cheese) or almond cheese, and from ice cream to coconut ice cream or homemade banana ice cream without milk.
Taking it slow really helped me to avoid that catastrophic collision. But now to the main point of this post. Today I would like to share 5 easy changes that you can make in your daily life to burn fat, live healthier, and function better! So lets get started
3. Start your day with a green smoothie
Find yourself rushing so much in the morning that breakfast is near to impossible to fit in? Well how about you try a smoothie? Its portable and does not require any sitting around ritual to eat! Greens smoothies are filled with fiber, and the right combination of ingredients can really create an amazing meal replacement. By starting your day with a nutritious smoothie, you are setting yourself up for success by motivating you to stay on track in your healthy life throughout the day. Furthermore, smoothie are easy for your body to digest, so its kindoff like a detox. If you are looking for the perfect detox smoothie for breakfast why not try Kimberly Snyders famous and delicious green smoothie for breakfast? Its filled with fiber and you wont taste the greens, I promise! And if you do not like it, you can always just experiment yourself. Add avocado for creaminess, add berries for flavor, add a handful of spinach for iron, fiber, and lots of other nutrients! Add almond milk for creaminess and added calcium. You can even add a good quality, plant based protein powder if you are eating after working out, or just want to feel more satisfied.
Tip: Add greens to your kids smoothies, they wont taste the wonderful spinach of sexy kale! I promise!! You can add more berries to mask the colour of green or just tell them its a hulk smoothie :)
Yes I am saying to walk over to the intimidating male side of the gym with all the weights and join them. Trust me, you will not get bulky. You will not become a female hulk. Instead you will be creating lean, toned muscle that will help you burn more fat. Muscle may weigh more then fat, but it does not take up more space then fat. Muscle is essential for functioning. Toning that muscle will lower you chances or developing osteoporosis or other diseases that can really weaken us. Try to weight train 3 times a week, spacing it out by a day. Do it before cardio, but make sure to warm up a little bit before lifting them weights. Increase your weights, or repetitions every 2 weeks to keep your muscle guessing. Make sure to have some protein and carbs (4g of carb for every 1 gram of protein, rough equation for how much you should be having) within an hour after your exercise. This is the time when your muscles are ready to take in nutrients. This will help to repair your muscles and increase your recovery time. Try a protein shake of: 1 cup almond milk, 1/2 cup mixed frozen berries and 1 scoop of protein powder.
Warning long discussion of change up ahead, scroll down to see my 5 top tips if you are not interested. No feelings hurt I promise :)
Truthfully, change goes hand in hand with patience. If change were easy, everybody would be changing every day. It is definitely more rewarding achieving change from having to go through many trials and tribulations.
So, what I have found works best for me is to start slow. Yes its frustrating making little changes at first as apposed to just diving into whatever your ultimate goal is, but if we really think about it, each time we progress with our little goals, we are moving forward down the same path, without having major setbacks.
To make this a little clear I shall compare this to my path to getting healthy. There were certain foods I needed to eliminate in order to keep myself working optimally. For example, milk, because unfortunately, I am allergic to it. If you know me well, you know that these things are severely unpleasant. But milk is contained in a lot of my favorite foods like cake, ice cream and chocolate. So yes it was hard, and because I wanted to go full throttle on eliminating milk, every time so milk happened to splash into my life, I went out like a maniac trying to eat all the milk products out there since I had been depriving myself of them and since I "ruined my progress."
Lesson learned: A little of some of something isn't bad, and I shouldn't let that get me down.
So what I started to do was use lactose aid pills to enjoy the foods with milk I liked, and slowly I started changing from mozzarella cheese to goat cheese (because it does not affect me as bad as the cow cheese) or almond cheese, and from ice cream to coconut ice cream or homemade banana ice cream without milk.
Taking it slow really helped me to avoid that catastrophic collision. But now to the main point of this post. Today I would like to share 5 easy changes that you can make in your daily life to burn fat, live healthier, and function better! So lets get started
5 Tips for A Healthier and Happier Life
1. Drink water, constantly.
Yes, we have heard water is important our whole lives, we get it! But honestly, it is very underestimated. Water helps to detoxify the body. This is really great! We want to constantly detox. Water helps us to clean our livers and other organs. It helps with digestion and the uptake of nutrients. (Sometimes we are just hydrated not hungry.) Water is a major tool in weight loss. If you drink more water, you will lose the water weight because your body will know that it does not need to retain water. Honestly, there are countless fantastic benefits of water. Add a splash of lemon for added detox benefits to your body. I recommend drinking 2 big glasses right after you wake up. Its also really great for digestion to drink an hour before each meal, but limit liquid intake to 8oz while eating your meal to help with digestion. The thing is good digestion = weight loss and healthier body.
Tip: drink half your weight in ounces of water a day, more depending on how active you are. So if you weigh 120 lbs drink 60 ounces.
2. Add some Apple Cider Vinegar to your life
Apple cider vinegar is a super food. Apple cider vinegar, like water, helps to increase your metabolism, improve your skin, and improve digestion. Now that is just SOME of the benefits of this amazing vinegar. It has powers to improve your life from the inside out or outside in. An article by readers digest says that taking a tspoon of apple cider vinegar can stop hiccups. Research also shows that it can improve indigestion, cure sore throats, and give you energy. But you have to make sure that the apple cider vinegar you reach for is organic, raw and unfiltered. This is the purest form with the best benefits. Briggs makes an amazing bottle of vinegarness! :) Now for benefits outside the body, meaning ones that you do not have to consume, The Huffington post reports that you can use this liquid as a toner for your face, deodorant, mouthwash and sunburn soother.
Tip: Drink one tablespoon of Apple cider vinegar in the morning to jump start your metabolism. Mix with some water or honey to reduce the acidity. If you prefer not to try that, just add it to your salad dressings! Here is the most delicious dressing by one of my favorite blogs called My New Roots (mynewroots.blogspot.com):
Vinaigrette:
1/3 cup cold pressed, extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp. maple syrup
1 Tbsp. strong mustard
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. turmeric
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
½ tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
¼ tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
This recipe is part of her amazing lentil salad recipe found here: http://www.mynewroots.org/site/2010/06/the-best-lentil-salad-ever-2/
3. Start your day with a green smoothie
Find yourself rushing so much in the morning that breakfast is near to impossible to fit in? Well how about you try a smoothie? Its portable and does not require any sitting around ritual to eat! Greens smoothies are filled with fiber, and the right combination of ingredients can really create an amazing meal replacement. By starting your day with a nutritious smoothie, you are setting yourself up for success by motivating you to stay on track in your healthy life throughout the day. Furthermore, smoothie are easy for your body to digest, so its kindoff like a detox. If you are looking for the perfect detox smoothie for breakfast why not try Kimberly Snyders famous and delicious green smoothie for breakfast? Its filled with fiber and you wont taste the greens, I promise! And if you do not like it, you can always just experiment yourself. Add avocado for creaminess, add berries for flavor, add a handful of spinach for iron, fiber, and lots of other nutrients! Add almond milk for creaminess and added calcium. You can even add a good quality, plant based protein powder if you are eating after working out, or just want to feel more satisfied.
Tip: Add greens to your kids smoothies, they wont taste the wonderful spinach of sexy kale! I promise!! You can add more berries to mask the colour of green or just tell them its a hulk smoothie :)
Kimberly Snyder’s Glowing Green Smoothie
Author: Kimberly Snyder
Recipe type: Green Smoothie
Serves: 5-6 cups
Ingredients
- 12-16 oz Filtered Water
- 1 head Romaine Lettuce
- 1 cup Spinach
- 3 Celery Stalks
- 1 Apple (cored)
- 1 Pear
- 1 Banana
- Juice ½ Lemon
- 1 cup Ice
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in the jar in order listed
4. Eat Fruits on an empty stomach
This is something I learned from a life changing book called "The Beauty Detox Solution." Fruits, digest faster then any other food. Therefore, if we consume fruits after a meal, they will ferment in our stomachs. Gross right? Thats why it is best to eat them early in the day and on an empty stomach, because it will improve our digestion and help us shed fat faster. Usually after dinner, I would eat a banana. I realized that I would become gassy (im sorry if this is to much information for some people. I am still a lady, promise. I keep that gas to myself! haha okay Sofia stopping now) and feel really unpleasant. Thats because the fruit was fermenting. Ew. so by eating it first you are not depriving yourself of the wonderful benefits of fruit, instead you are improving your digestion and living healthier. You are also fully absorbing all the benefits that fruit has to offer.
Tip: try to wait 20 minutes after consuming your fruit before consuming anything else because that is how long it takes for your body to digest the fruit!
5. Lift weights!
Yes I am saying to walk over to the intimidating male side of the gym with all the weights and join them. Trust me, you will not get bulky. You will not become a female hulk. Instead you will be creating lean, toned muscle that will help you burn more fat. Muscle may weigh more then fat, but it does not take up more space then fat. Muscle is essential for functioning. Toning that muscle will lower you chances or developing osteoporosis or other diseases that can really weaken us. Try to weight train 3 times a week, spacing it out by a day. Do it before cardio, but make sure to warm up a little bit before lifting them weights. Increase your weights, or repetitions every 2 weeks to keep your muscle guessing. Make sure to have some protein and carbs (4g of carb for every 1 gram of protein, rough equation for how much you should be having) within an hour after your exercise. This is the time when your muscles are ready to take in nutrients. This will help to repair your muscles and increase your recovery time. Try a protein shake of: 1 cup almond milk, 1/2 cup mixed frozen berries and 1 scoop of protein powder.
Tip: If you get to a machine and do not know how to use it, do not be afraid to ask that cute hunk next to you how to use it! ;)
So slowly incorporate these tips and I guarantee you will start feeling better. They are easy changes to your already beautiful daily life!
Live long and prosper,
Sofia
Sources:
Image: http://www.onemorebite-weightloss.com/muscle-to-fat.html
Articles: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/16/apple-cider-vinegar-beauty-benefits_n_3589264.html, http://www.rd.com/slideshows/8-health-benefits-of-apple-cider-vinegar/
Books: The Beauty Detox Solution by Kymberly Snyder
5 Easy tips to burn fat, improve digestion, increase metabolism and just simple get healthier
By UnknownThe road to change can sometimes be frustrating. For me the biggest problem is the transition. I like to see results and get things done rig...
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