You want to take charge of your health, slim down, tone up, improve your eating habits. You look online and get bombarded with information, you just don’t know where to begin. It’s intimidating, you don’t know who to follow, you want to throw your hands in the air and give up before you even get started.
I want to take a new approach. Why don’t we take a step back, look at your health from an outside point of view and work on some exterior factors before getting down to the nitty gritty.
Trust me ♥
Stress Can Cause You To Store Fat
When we are stressed, our body releases adrenaline and cortisol to prepare us for the ‘fight or flight mode’. Once the adrenaline wears off, the cortisol tells our body to replenish our food supply. In earlier centuries, our ancestors would have to fight off wild animals and did things that required a lot of energy, so they needed a supply of fat and glucose in their bodies. In today’s world, when we get stressed by things like work or money while we are sitting on the couch or at our desk, we aren’t actually burning off our energy after eating, causing us to gain weight.
Stress and lack of sleep will also make you crave sugar and caffeine as quick fixes throughout the day, rather than sustained slow-releasing energy. Reaching for those sweet treats and unnecessary coffee, will only cause you to crash even harder, leaving you in a viscous cycle of exhaustion and fatigue. Don’t fight it – change your habits instead.
You can manage your stress by:
• Maintaining healthy relationships with friends and family – if someone gets ‘too much’ to handle and it is affecting you, take a break from that person.
• Ensure you get enough ‘me’ time. Take a bath, light a candle and relax with a book, get a massage, or work on something for your own personal benefit such as a new hobby or side hustle.
• Use a calendar or to-do list to stay organised, know when bills are due and keep on top of deadlines you need to adhere to.
• “You are busy with what you say yes to”, so if it is getting too much and you can’t take time out for yourself, drop something that doesn’t hold true importance to you.
• Supplement with vitamins to help you feel calm, support energy production and reduce stress such as a B-Complex or Magnesium.
Add certain foods into your diet such as –
Asparagus which contains folate to help you stay calm.
Avocados contain beta-carotene, vitamin E, folate and plenty of B Vitamins which help to stress-proof your body.
Berries contain antioxidants and vitamin C, resulting in lower blood pressure and lower cortisol levels.
Cashews are a good source of zinc, giving you less chance of having anxiety or depression.
Dark chocolate is known to lower blood pressure, helping you to feel calm as well as containing antioxidants.
Green Tea contains theanine which is an amino acid, it can also enhance mental performance.
Oatmeal is a complex carbohydrate which produces a feel-good chemical called serotonin
These are just some foods that could help you to combat stress.
Utilize Time Management To Increase Productivity Throughout The Day
If your excuse is that you don’t have time to cook healthy meals, or exercise several times a week due to time constraints, see if you can juggle a few things around to create more gaps in your day.
• Go to the grocery store with a shopping list, meaning you won’t have to drive back for things you have forgotten during the week. Also, do your errands all at once while you are in town.
• Cook meals in bulk and freeze them, or utilize a slow cooker for dinner.
• Stop watching TV. Reality shows provide nothing valuable and can take up hours of your time. I haven’t had TV since I was 17 and don’t miss it at all. I am also a lot more productive throughout my day and feel I can achieve a lot more with my life. That way, if I do decide to watch the odd movie once every few weeks, it’s a real treat!
• Work off a to-do list. I love Any.do, and have also heard Todoist is good. It saves me from insanity ha-ha.
• Use a calendar for scheduled events/activities so you can prepare things ahead of time.
• Start saying “no” to things that don’t hold true value to you, so you can free up some time for yourself and what you want to achieve.
When it comes down to it, it’s simply a matter of priorities. If you say you don’t have time to prepare healthy food, but then turn on the TV and blob out on the couch, no one can help you until you’re willing to help yourself. You simply just don’t want it bad enough.
Make Healthier Alcohol Choices
The binge drinking culture (especially in New Zealand) is absolutely horrific. People wonder why they are gaining weight, yet every weekend they try to escape from their reality by consuming dangerous amounts of alcohol until they are no longer in control of themselves.
The only place this gets you is your body working over time to try and process the excessive amount of sugar and rid itself of the alcohol, then refueling with greasy processed food to compensate. Your weekends set you back due to lack of sleep, dehydration and often regret.
It’s not that I don’t believe we should enjoy ourselves and let loose every once in a while. In fact I currently drink every week, but I just have a glass of wine because I truly enjoy the taste of it when I’m cooking or relaxing in the evening. When I attend events and festivals, I know my limit so I don’t embarrass myself.
The go-to alcoholic beverage for people watching their weight is vodka with mint, lime and soda. Other sensible choices include red wine, lighter beer or spirits on the rocks. RTD’s and cocktails have extremely high sugar levels and should be avoided most of the time or where possible.
You can still go out and have fun. You don’t have to give up your social life. But a few simple adjustments can make all the difference when you have a goal to achieve.
Clean The House
This is an odd thing to say to help you to lose weight. But when you clean your home, do you feel more energized sitting in a clean tidy space? Do you come home from work with a clear head and peaceful thoughts? It can help you to feel less stressed and more energized, which can motivate you to exercise.
According to this study reported by The American Association of Nurse Anaesthetists, people with messy or cluttered homes are 77 percent more likely to be overweight or obese.
When you sit in a cluttered home it can make you feel exhausted mentally because of the size of the task that needs doing. When you clear your living area, it can clear your head-space, making you more likely to make healthier decisions and feel motivated.
Look After Your Mental Health
Health isn’t just about the physical side. When you feel good on the inside, it affects everything you do in day-to-day activities and what you achieve in life. Make time for yourself, de-stress, let go of drama, stop worrying about what other people think of you, stop being un-organised and binging on unhealthy food, stop living in a messy cluttered home, stop wasting time.
START setting goals, having ‘me’ time, working on personal development, working a job you enjoy, learning new things, making time to cook healthy meals, exercising regularly, exploring the outdoors and nature, sleeping well, and thinking positive. You WILL see the results.
I hope you found this post helpful and informative. If you would like to learn more, feel free to check out my online programmes and guides, or follow my journey on Instagram.
