It’s the time of the year when everyone is thinking about their New Year’s Resolutions. What are yours? For many people, the goal of getting healthier or losing weight or exercising more will be number 1. Sure, that’s part of mine, but this goal isn’t just starting. Read on for my healthy lifestyle journey.
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I have been on a healthy lifestyle journey for about three years now. In the beginning, I set out to lose about sixty pounds, but it has turned into so much more than just losing weight. Weight was all I focused on. In the first year, I did lose thirty pounds. WOOHOO! Go me! Remember, you have to celebrate the small things! But, for the next two years, I have been gaining and losing the same five to ten pounds. WHAAA?! But, I still don’t feel like I have failed.
What I have gained is a deeper understanding of what food can do to you and your body. Hippocrates was right by saying, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” Food can either be medicine or poison. Food should be considered fuel. Period. The quality of food is really important to consider. While I go back and forth about becoming vegan or eating a strictly plant based diet and eating meat, there is one thing I know for sure. When I do eat meat, I strive for high quality, grass fed, grass finished and no added hormone or antibiotic meat.
I have not yet figured out what works best for me, but I do know a lot of the research. But, I know how important water is for your body and I know how playing with different macro- and micro-nutrients in a diet can change your body’s chemistry. And, I also know how the gut microbiome plays a HUGE role on overall health and how to improve mine. Are you drinking enough water? These insulated water bottles, Yeti Rambler, and Under Armor Jug could help you reach your goals! They help me with mine!)
Am I perfect, oh no! Nowhere even close! Am I where I want to be? Also a big no! But, each day I continue to try to be the best version of me. It’s building habits that make for a healthy lifestyle. Finding out what works for you, testing theories, keeping what works and throwing out what doesn’t can be called the “study of one.” Each person is different and has different needs.
There are a zillion different diets out there! (Yep, I used zillion…is that a real number?) These diets are one-size-fits-all and that is why they just simply do not work. You have to take into account your hormones, ability level, activity level, medications, and your work and personal schedules. What I do will not work the same way for another person. That is why it is so important to test different strategies out and find out what DOES work for you.
Over the course of these past three years, I have learned just a couple universal tips and a tricks that can start you on your own healthy lifestyle. It is important to note here that I’m not saying “weightloss journey.” In order for weight to come off, and stay off (which is what we all want) you have to get healthy. You cannot just jump on a fad “one-size-fits-all” diet plan and expect to lose weight and keep it off. You must want to strive to become HEALTHY in order for any of this to work.
Here are my tips:
- You must, must, must drink enough WATER. It is recommended that you get at least half of your body weight in ounces of water daily for proper hydration. So, if you weigh about 150 lbs, divide that by 2, and you should be drinking about 75 ounces of water everyday.
Even though I do not weigh 150 lbs, and no I won’t be telling you what I do weigh, I still shoot for 75 ounces daily. In order to make sure that I get that, I have implemented a system and it makes it a no brainer. The system, like I have mentioned before, is filling up 3 insulated water bottles every day, and then when I’m done with those, I know I’ve hit my water goal. So easy!
- Learn the research. Like I said above, there is no one-size-fits-all diet. Learning the research about what types of foods help with what disorder or has this healing property will allow you to make informed decisions about what you put in your body.
I have been playing around and testing a ketogenic diet. This diet calls for about 70% of your calories to come from good, healthy fat and 5-10% from good, complex carbohydrates. Because of my testing and learning the research, I know my body cannot go that low carb, but increasing my healthy fat intake has relieved my chronic neck/shoulder/back pain and has reduced the inflammation in my body.
- Cut out inflammatory foods. Again, do your research, but these include processed foods, carbonated beverages, and sugar, among other things. There are some “healthy” foods that might cause you inflammation, so you have to remove and test what works for you. Some people can do dairy, others cannot. Inflammation causes your body to retain more water, which equals a higher weight.
Those three tips will definitely get you started on your healthy lifestyle journey. Remember, there are no quick fixes. It took time for you to “build” your body to its current state, so it will take time to take weight off and get healthy again. Sometimes, the patience is the hardest part about this journey. You have a goal in mind, and you want to accomplish it NOW. I get it, I am the exact same way. I have been on this journey for 3 years now, and I’m only halfway to my goal. BUT once I reach that goal, I know I will have another goal in place to strive for.
THAT IS KIND OF MY WHOLE POINT
There is no destination. Once you reach one milestone, there will be another one to strive for. Because of this, we must remember to celebrate our small victories. In just 2 weeks of testing a ketogenic diet (and I was not even close to being perfect on this diet) I have lost 5 pounds and 3 inches!! YESSS!!!! I am so proud of this accomplishment. Is it a lot? Not in the overall perspective of me wanting to lose about 35-40 more pounds. But, is it still a victory? ABSOLUTELY.
I have been gaining and losing the same 5-10 pounds for the past 2 years. These 5 pounds are a part of that. Am I scared that next week when I weigh myself that it will go up again, just like every other time I have weighed in for the past 2 years? ABSOLUTELY. But, I will do everything in my being to make sure that I am eating the foods I need to in order to fuel my body correctly. Now, with Christmas and New Years coming up, I know there will be some treats. I’m okay with treating myself a little bit for these two holidays. Will I go crazy and binge? More than likely, NO.
Habits take time to create. It will take conscious effort in the beginning to make sure to do the new habit that you are trying to build. Set a reminder on your phone. There are apps that can help. I have an iPhone and I use my Notes, Reminders, and alarm clock apps ALL THE TIME to help me remember to accomplish new tasks that I want to make a habit of. I also utilize my bullet journal to help me prioritize and keep track of those tasks and habits that I am trying to create.
My bottom line is this:
No two people will have the same healthy lifestyle journey. What works for me may not work for you. But, always remember that I am here, routing for you. If you want to talk about what I do, what things you are struggling with, or whatever else, reach out to me! I’m only a chat away. As always, leave me some feedback either here, below this post, or on any of my social media platforms! (FB/IG/TW @wheellifeblog and Snapchat @megsh8). I would love to hear from you and what I can do to help.
Let’s Grow and Grind!
Megs