When you’re first start to lose weight and change your lifestyle, it can be daunting to try to do everything all at once so don’t. The following are small steps that I took to help me lose 125 lbs. Use them and guides and then develop what works for you.
1. I eat 1,600 to 1,800 calories a day, broken down into three meals and three snacks. Check with your specialist for your optimal calorie in take to lose weight. For a regular fuel injection, eat a meal or a snack every 2 to 3 hours.
2. Eat eight servings of fruits and vegetables daily. Serving of fruit or vegetable varies from a half cup to one cup.
3. Limit to two servings per day of whole grain bread. Have the rest be from complex carbohydrates like whole grains, as opposed refined food such as sugar and white flour.
4. Consume two tablespoons of healthy oil, such as olive oil or oils found in nuts, or vegetables each day. Most oils I use come from cooking, salad dressings, or nuts.
5. Exercise thirty minutes to one hour a day six days a week. I always take off one day to rest. Start gradually and work up. Be sure to consult your doctor before starting any exercise program. My program includes three strength-training workouts per week and water aerobics or swimming twice a week. I wear a pedometer and strive to take 10,000 steps a day. I bike ride for fun when the weather is good. If I bike, I decrease my walking. Remember, I have worked up to this regimen over several years.
6. Control stress through planning and the ability to say “no”, I will not be able to do that right now.” Say “no” to requests you do not have time for so you can say “yes” to your health, weight, and happiness.
7. Get a full night’s rest, about 7½ to 8 hours of sleep. I usually go to bed early enough that I can wake up without an alarm.
8. Drink eight cups of water (8 ounces each) daily.
9. Plan and prep your meals. When meats and vegetables are pre-prepped it’s faster and easier to cook a healthy meal. In families it is helpful to have everyone share during the week in meal preparations.
10. Control portions. Premeasured food items into proper portions so you’ll be less tempted to overeat. By weighing and packaging foods ahead of time, you can better control you serving size. When I fail to do this step, I usually get tripped up and end up eating too much.
11. Make yourself accountable. Identify your goals in weekly time periods and write down the steps it will take to accomplish them. Three-month goals let you set your heights a little bit further out. Find someone you trust to check in with once a week to hold you accountable. Keep a daily food and exercise diary. This will help you know whether you are following your program. Without writing it down it is easy to lose track often resulting in weight gain.
12. Enjoy the journey and never, ever give up.
These are small steps that you can take to make a big difference in you health, your weight and your happiness.
View Dian’s weight loss journey on a new video by BYU
Dian is writing a new book that will be released in March. The title is Tipping the Scales in Your Favor, Small Steps that Make a Big Difference to Your Health, Your Weight and Your Happiness. You can preorder it by going to https://dianthomas.com/weight-loss.htm Dian will also give you private access to a special area on her website for only those who have purchased the book. There are more than 40 articles there waiting for you to get started. Act today, so you can take advantage of her creative ideas that took her from 326 to 200 pounds. Dian shares her step-by-step plan that took her to a “new life.” One lady who wanted to start on Dian’s program today said that she was going to read one article every day.
