Tips To Stay On Track For This New Year's Resolution!

• Educate yourself with real facts of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Do the research to expand your healthy options in your kitchen. Milk, peanut butter, and fruits are not bad for you. It is called moderation!
• Dieting does not mean starvation! Starving yourself only makes you body hold on to it's weight longer. Eating every 2 - 3 hours ( 5 - 6 meals a day) keeps your body burning fat.
• Take baby steps when making dietary changes to your lifestyle. Going cold turkey might make you freak out and give up on a healthy lifestyle fast. Taking baby steps will soon become second nature habits.
• Have 1 - 2 cheat meals a week! This will help you stay on track. No, it does not mean cheat the whole day, just 1 - 2 meals.
• Eat lots of vegetables seasoned with spices and/or lemon juice. Sea salt is good but do not go overboard with it. Too much of any salt has bad affects on the body. In addition, it will make you body hold onto water weight.
• Stay away for "empty" carbohydrates foods. These include: white flour, white bread, and white sugar.
• Eat good carbohydrates that are high in fiber. These include: oats ( oatmeal ), yams or sweet potatos, brown rice, whole wheat pasta and bread.
• Eat good fats! Yes there is such thing as good fats! These include: unsalted nut butters, olive oil and coconut oil (use sparingly), and avocados.
• Eat more foods that are high in fiber! These include: legumes, fruits and vegetables ( as stated above ), beans and cereals.
• Pre - workout and Post - workout meals should consist of protein and carbohydrates! Not fats.
• Eat you meals within 20 minutes. Eating too fast can actually disrupt digestion and excelerate acid reflux. Plus, eating slower actually helps you eat less. Your body does not register that you are full until after the 20 minute mark.
• Women: lifting heavy does not make you bulky. We do not have enough testosterone in our system to produce big muscles like men. Plus, estrogen prevents that from happening.
• The same cardio is not enough to get you in shape. Your body has the ability to adapt. Doing the same cardio or routine for more than 3 weeks will lead you to a plateau. Change it up every week and you will see the fat melt off.
• Make stretching exercises a part of you workout. Yoga, Pilates and Bodyflow are perfect examples. They demolish stress, help you to get limber, boost your energy, and improve your gym performance!
• Never let anything, anyone, or yourself stop you from attaining a healthy lifestyle!