The number one New Year’s resolution is staying fit and healthy. Often, we think to do this, we must go to the gym and that will help us lose weight and get fit at the same time. That is what I thought as well, but it is not true.
Nutrition is the foundation of everything we do, whether you are dealing with illness, want to lose weight or recover faster from your workouts. You need to fix your nutrition. Have you heard our abs are made in the kitchen? It’s true.
So, what do you need to do? It can be so confusing. Eat in moderation? Just eat protein? Stay away from carbs? Let’s make it simple.
We need to give our body a break from all the major triggers that can inflame it. If you can give it a rest from these foods and eat a mostly plant-based diet, you will be amazed at how you can feel in a short amount of time.
Here are 7 tips on how to lose weight and feel better for a new you.
Tip 1: Ditch Dairy
Dairy is highly inflammatory to our bodies. I know, you’re saying, “But I love my cheese” or “I thought yogurt was healthy.” It took me a long time to get rid of these foods, because big business does a good job of marketing them. After looking at the research, it made me want to take dairy out of my diet and I did.
Tip 2: Get Rid of Gluten
We like to modify our foods in this country so that they will last longer. But we end up having problems digesting the processed foods and it wreaks havoc in our body, again inflaming it like a slow-burning fire. Instead, let’s stick to whole foods.
Tip 3: Less Caffeine and Alcohol
We need to bring our adrenal systems back down to baseline. Our bodies need to detox, and if you can pull out more of the toxins in your body, your size will go down. Fat surrounds the toxins in our body to protect it, keeping our waistlines bigger. If we give our bodies a break from triggers like caffeine and alcohol, we can get rid of other toxins and lose the weight.
Tip 4: Eat Before 6 or 7 pm
Our digestion is strongest during the day. By eating earlier, your body does not have to digest the food, it can rest and heal from your day. Eating late slows down the detoxification process which is how you maintain lean body mass. As a bonus, you may find your sleep will improve as well.
Tip 5: Consume More Fruits and Veggies
Did you know that we need to eat 9-13 servings of fruits and veggies every day? If you exercise you need more. We breathe in oxygen every day. Our body needs it and uses it to stay alive, but the byproduct of using oxygen is oxidative stress. The accumulation of oxidative stress is the disease process of every illness. Antioxidants neutralize this stress. You get antioxidants from plants, not from a pill, or meat, or processed foods. Eating a consistent plant-based diet your hunger will be curbed when your body gets the nutrition it needs.
Tip 6: Drink More Water
Water has so many benefits, one of which is to help flush the toxins from our body. It also increases energy and relieves fatigue, promotes weight loss, improves complexion, maintains regularity and boosts the immune system. Most of us walk around dehydrated. For some reason this one is always tough for me, but when I am consistent with my water intake, it makes me feel the best.
Tip 7: Reduce Your Stress
Chronic stress wreaks havoc on your body. Your cortisol will increase and hangs around after the stressful event causing a disruption in our hormones, overeating, storage of fat and not having the ability to lose weight. It also leads to an increase in anxiety and depression. You need to find ways to reduce chronic stress in order to improve your health and lose weight.
Try all these tips for at least 10 days to get you started. Once you start seeing differences, it will become easy to apply it to your life on the daily.
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About Our Author
- Staying Fit and Healthy: A New You in This New Year - January 23, 2020
- How Hydrated Are You? Top 5 Benefits of Drinking Water - July 11, 2019
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