We're 6 months (almost 7 months) into 2018 and for most people a lot of those New Year's Resolutions haven't exactly panned out...or more accurately haven't been achieved yet!
Getting healthy is on everyone's lips and I've found a lot of people are bombarded with soooo many differing ideas and thoughts about what constitutes being healthy and the types things you should do, eat, think and buy to get there.
Health is beyond a destination, it is beyond reaching a certain "thing". Whether that "thing" is a certain dress size or "goal weight" because at the end of the day you can reach your "goal weight" have a mind that is riddled with insecurity or fear and that's not what health looks or feels like. Health is beyond a certain weight or BMI (body mass index) although both those things are important to a certain extent, especially in calculating and monitoring risk for developing certain disease conditions such as Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure for instance.
My point is this; health is a lifestyle, you have to live it out day to day. Of course there are going to be times where you fall back into old habits and old routines (one of mine is stress eating! Eating McDonald's I know what a crime! A future Nutritionist that has struggled with food *gasp* ps: this would be the perfect time to mention that Nutritionists and all other Health Professionals are human too, we're allowed to have our "moments" just like you...) and at those times you need to forgive yourself for turing to whatever coping mechanism served you well in the past, ditch any negative self-talk around the situation and C H O O S E to move forward in a behaviour that serves you and goals well n-o-w; for example say you want to eat healthy... And then! You eat something that's not the healthiest thing you could be eating. Instead of bashing and belittling yourself for having a moment and I mean a moment, not a slip up or a failure but a moment (now that's a handy way to look at things!) Look at what you could next, what choice could you make that will get you back on track towards your goal. For example: "okay at the next meal I eat I'm going to sit down, take a nice deep breath in and out and enjoy eating something that is nourishing to my body" like a nourish bowl filled with good quality fats, good quality protein and good quality carbs.
Don't deprive yourself of food to make up for a moment, that's not living it's punishment and you are far too valuable and worthy to spend your life living this way! (Trust me on this I've l-i-t-e-r-a-l-l-y wasted years of my life being obsessed with unrealistic body image and did whatever I had to do to get there)
So I'm going to share some VERY simple tips, tricks and principles I use to get myself back on track to achieve whatever personal health goals I set for myself!
Tip 1: Grocery shopping and Food Prepping
Shop for your upcoming week and cook some dishes that can last you a few days. I usually shop on a Sunday/Monday cook enough food till Wednesday/Thursday then buy a few more proteins (fish/meat) to freshly cook over the end of the week/weekend. Having an idea of the dishes you want to make BEFORE you go shopping saves a lot of time and money! Eg: Meat balls in a healthy red sauce loaded with extra veggies or Cauliflower fried rice are on my menu this week.
Tip 2: Roasted Veggies!!!! Pumpkin, Zucchini, Carrot, Onion, Garlic, Tomatoes... whatever floats your boat really...
I like to roast a big batch of veggies and keep them in the fridge to add to salads, omelettes, serve as a side alongside some quality protein like some pan seared salmon as my easy, fast and healthy go-to! It's a very easy way to add more vegetables in to your diet and it's a very tasty way to eat your veggies too! My general rule is this; don't add too many starchy veggies to this roast and aim for COLOUR! I like to add 2-3 tablespoons of good quality extra virgin olive oil plus some dried herbs to my veggies for taste and extra flavour.
Tip 3: WATER!
Water the giver of life! Well not really...but! We can't survive for too long without it and our body and all our cells crave water!! The general consensus is that you need to roughly drink 0.30mL-0.35mL of water per/kg of body weight for the everyday functioning of your body. For example: if you weighed 75kg you would need to roughly drink about 2.25L - 2.62L of water per day. Surprising right! Cause let's face it most of us don't even get 1L of water per day! So my tip is this; drink more water. Instead of the extra tea or coffee or soft drink replace it with some water. You'll need to direct your focus towards this decision if you are not a water drinker but I assure you it can be done...*as I sip some water that's on hand next to me at my desk*. Don't get too fussed into the amount to begin with, just make the effort to drink more of it, then worry about the amount once the behaviour has been set into gear.
Tip 4: Sleep
You can eat all the healthy food in the world but if you do not support your body with adequate rest you will NOT see the full potential of your results. Some people can survive off 5 hours of sleep...I am not one of those people, I would die if I did that! 7-9 hours is the recommended amount of sleep, for myself I've found that I do most well with 8-9 hours*9 hours of sleep produces the ultimate fluffy, well balanced and nicely behaved Loretta imaginable!* Sleep is very important for hormonal health and production. I would encourage everyone to create an intentional night time routine, just like the one you have when you get up in the morning. For me, a warm shower before bed really helps me to sleep faster, easier and sleep sounder.
Tip 5: Exercise!
Oh my favourite thing to do in a day! I LOVE to exercise, it keeps me sane. Whether its walking outside, training in a gym, doing a group class or even signing up with a personal trainer, it is SO crucial to your health to have at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise per day! Eating well and exercising go hand in hand and I will always recommended to any of my clients (that are able to exercise) to be physically active every day. Exercise gets my mind back on track and helps me to reassess and evaluate my motives, intentions and fix my eyes towards my goals. Its the first thing I think of doing now when I am feeling stressed and it works!
So there are some very simple and easy tips I personally use to get my mind right and myself back on track if I've had a few moments. I hope this helps at least one person and as always I would love hear any feedback you have. Also check out my Instagram account my handle is: @nourish_with_loretta
Have an awesome week,
Love Loretta xx