Simple Tips to Get Started on a Journey to Better Health

As I get closer to my health and fitness goals people that I know have become more interested in what I have been doing. Based on the comments that some have made when inquiring about my success, I have come to the conclusion that their new found interest in my success is based on the fact that I have been able to lose weight and keep it off for an extended period of time, 7 and a half months so far.

Recently a close friend of mine who has been struggling with getting back into shape over the past few years have asked for my advice. So I sent an e-mail with a few tips and one rule to help get started. These 9 tips and one rule are the core of what I believe will lead to better health and better fitness because they are the starting points and building blocks for making continued better choices. This is the approach I took. Many diets have people making drastic changes to their daily life and/or eating habits which is why most fail after just a few weeks or months. It is my belief that adopting a healthy lifestyle that one can sustain over a long period of time must start small, but making progressively better choices.

When I e-mailed my friend my advice to him was to start by applying any of the tips he could immediately without completely disrupting his current lifestyle. Then add the others as you feel comfortable.

As I have said, this is a very close friend of mine so I'm well aware of his health needs and important medical history. Some of the following tips may be beneficial to you, however take them with a grain of salt and what you know your own needs or health concerns are and NEVER EVER begin a diet or fitness regime without consulting with your doctor. With that being said, the following is the tips I gave him... I tweeked them a little specifically for this post.

Like Myself, my friend has hypothyroisim. Which, any of you who also have this know, makes losing weight even more diffcult. Which is why it is very important to take the medication correctly. Some of the tips are also geared specifically to try to fit into his currently lifestyle.

TIP#1: Take Thyroid medicine AS SOON AS YOU WAKE UP
I keep my thyroid medication in the bathroom. The first thing I do in the moring is go to the bathroom, strip down, and weigh myself, then take my thyroid medicine before I do anything else for the day. I would really like you to try to do this. Try moving you medicine to the bathroom and keep a cup in there for the express purpose of taking the medication after you go to the bathroom and before you do anything else you take your medicine. This will help the medication work better AND it will help you eat sooner in the day without affecting you medication. Also, if it is in the bathroom where the only thing available to you is to drink is water you'll be sure to take it with water instead of something else.

RULE #1: Only weigh yourself once a week, first thing in the morning after you've gone to the bathroom, then take your thyroid medicine. So, I want you to weigh yourself tomorrow (Monday) morning, after you've gone to the bathroom. And not weigh yourself again until next Monday morning after you've gone to the bathroom. You will drive yourself insane if you weigh yourself every day or more often. Weight fluctuates throughout the day and throughout the week based on what you've eaten, how much sleep you've gotten, etc. So, once a week, first thing the the morning is the only weight to keep it consistant!

TIP #2: Eating Throughout the Day
You should try to eat at least 4 times a day ideally 5-6 times a day, this is a combination of full meals and small snacks just to keep putting calories into you body for you body to continually metabolize. Once your body gets used to the idea that there will always be more food coming in it won't store as much as fat it will pull its energy from the food coming in. Try to set up an eating plan that is realistic to your day. Break down  your calorie goal so that you know how many calories you should eat at each meal eat day.  Try to adjust your calories per meal to something you think you might realistically be able to pull off based on your day and your food options. But don't fret, if you go over your calorie goal for a specific meal on any given day, the same number of calories less throughout the rest of your day.

TIP# 3: Make Better Choices
I know this tip can come off sounding a little like a lecture if it's read the wrong way, but it's not at all, it's actually making things a little easier for you. Making this "diet" a lifestyle change isn't about going all or nothing it's about making each food choice better than your last. This will eventually be how you can still eat the things you enjoy the most without feeling hungry all day. If you go out to eat somewhere most places will have some kind of healthy options especially chain restaurants like Applebees, Chilis, Denny's things like that. Try to look for those and select an appropriate meal based on calories only for right now. Once you get used to this and start losing weight and keeping it off then start looking at other nutrients to fine tune what your eating. If there isn't these types of choices on a menu the try to looke for baked, grilled, or broiled options rather than fried and breaded food. Just a little hint, you can eat WAY more veggies and fruit for the same number of calories than you can of carbs or fatty foods. This will help you stay under your calorie goal without feeling hungry all day.

TIP#4: Makeing Room on Your Plate for More  Fruits & Veggies
To help you be able to eat a larger quantity of food try to fill half of your plate with veggies or fruit, preferably veggies because they have less sugar and less calories. 1/4 of your plate should be protien (a serving of meat is the size of a deck of cards) and the other 1/4 can be carbs or dairy look for whole grain or whole wheat options) Another good idea is to eat a salad before your meal that way it will fill you up and you wont want to eat as much of the other stuff.

TIP #5: Find the Nutritional Values on Websites
Most major food chains have a nutritional information link on their webpages so you can find out exactly how many calories you are eating when you're eating their food. You can even ask for a nutrition pamplet from McDonalds and they will give you a hard copy. This will help you make better food choices when you are pressed for time and just want to swing by McDonalds or some other fast food restaurant for dinner instead of making your own. I do this a lot especially if I find conflicting information on MyFitnesPal about the number of calories in a particular food product. It would probably help you out too to download the MyFitnessPal app on your phone so you can accurately track your calories at each meal instead of trying to remember everything at the end of the day.

TIP #6: Drink More Water
If there was ever a magic weight loss potion water is it. I can't exactly explain it. Water does have many benefits though. It cleanses your system including your liver, kidneys and digestive track which makes it work better and makes you feel better. It keeps you hydrated which also helps keep your metabolizism at its best. And probably the simplest reason why it helps with weight loss is that it is a pure zero calorie beverage that takes up space in your stomache. Try to drink at least 8 oz of water before each meal. You're goal is to drink 8 - 8oz cups of water throughout the day. You'll have to go to the bathroom more at first but once your body gets used to being hydrated you won't have to go as often. And believe it or not drinking more water actually helps flush out your systems which helps you avoid becoming bloated or retaining water. Combonated beverages and alcohol, especially beer are notorius for bloating.

TIP #7: Stock up on Healthy Foods in your Apartment
Keep Raw meat in your freezer so you can just thaw it out and cook it every day.
Keep at least a weeks worth of Canned or Frozen veggies in your apartment in case your fresh veggies go bad or you dont have time to stop and pick some up
Keep at least a weeks worth of canned of frozen fruit in your apparment for the same reason you keep the veggies. This way when you're feeling hungry and you want to snack you'll have healthy low calorie snacks to choose from.
You may even eant to keep some frozen dinners like Healthy Choice Meals in you freezer too just to make it a little easier to know you're getting a healthier meal.

TIP# 8: SLEEP!!!
Sleep is important attempt to get 8 hours a sleep a night and definitely no less than 6. Sleep resets the body and gives it time to  rest, heal, and repair the damage done throughout the day. It also plays a major role in keeping your metabolism at it's best. If you get too little sleep it throws off the chemical balance in your body which in tern throws off your metabolism.

TIP# 9: Workout as Often as Possible
Try for at least 3 days a week, but defnitely not less than once a week. This is basically every other day. Exercise boosts your metabolism and you burn calories during the workout and during what some call the after burn. By working out three days a week you keep it boosted because as the afterburn wears down over 24 hours your boost it back up again with your next workout. There are only 3 reasons you should ever skip a planned workout 1) You are hurt/injured, even then depending on the injury you might still be able to workout the uninjured parts of your body. Typical muscle soreness from the previous days workout does not fall under this category. 2) You are seriously sick. I mean throwing up running to the bathroom to avoid pooping yourself kind of sick. When you are that kind of sick you need to rest more than you need to workout. If you just have a headach or stuff nose of just some kind of feeling lousy sickness try to workout out any way, I like to pretend that I sweat the sickness out when I do this and you may find yourself feeling better after the workout. 3) You need sleep. As much as you need to workout, you need sleep even more. getting that metabolism boost from a workout won't help you if you're body chemistry is all jacked up from not sleeping enough. Nor will you build the muscle you just attempted to put on if your body does not have time to sleep and repair the muscle you worked.