Creating a healthy lifestyle doesn’t happen overnight. It’s all about taking small steps everyday towards a healthier lifestyle. Here are 5 small tips you can integrate into your life to help get you on track!
1. We all know we are supposed to drink lots of water. Experts recommend that we drink half of our weight in ounces of water every day. If you are anything like me, you probably forget to drink up throughout the day. Recently at work, I started setting reminders on my email to go off every hour of the work day to remind me to drink up! The goal is to have a glass of water down before each reminder and go fill up. You could also set up an alarm on your phone as a reminder throughout the day. Staying hydrated is going to make you feel great and it’s a great way to avoid the water weight bloat we all hate!
2. At work, there are times throughout the day (especially in the afternoons) where I begin to crave something sweet. Instead of reaching into my purse for change to feed the candy machine, I reach for some fresh fruit. Make a color fruit bowl to keep on your desk. Not only does it make a great decorative piece, but having fresh fruit available to snack on is going to help satisfy your sweet tooth. Some of my favorites to have on hand are apples, bananas, and Cuties (mandarin oranges).
3. After completing any workout, make sure to guzzle down a protein shake or eat some lean protein immediately following your workout. The amino acids in the protein are going to help alleviate muscle soreness and help build the muscles that you just worked so hard for. I love using this protein shake immediately after my workouts.
4. It is also important that you do not consume any sugar for at least an hour following your workout. You are working hard to push your body into fat burning mode and when you consume sugar, your body burns the sugar instead. If you are using an almond or coconut milk to mix with your protein shake, make sure it is unsweetened. READ YOUR LABELS! Here is a short list of sneaky ways sugar is listed on food labels:
- barley malt
- beet sugar
- brown sugar
- buttered syrup
- cane-juice crystals
- cane sugar
- caramel
- carob syrup
- corn syrup
- corn syrup solids
- date sugardextran
- dextrose
- diatase
- diastatic malt
- ethyl maltol
- fructose
- fruit juice
- fruit juice concentrate
- glucose
- glucose solids
- golden sugar
- golden syrup
- grape sugar
- high-fructose corn syrup
- honey
- invert sugar
- lactose
- malt syrup
- maltodextrin
- maltose
- mannitol
- molasses
- raw sugar
- refiner’s syrup
- sorbitol
- sorghum syrup
- sucrose
- sugar
- turbinado sugar
- yellow sugar
5. Practice mindful eating. This is something that I am definitely working on! I love food and tend to eat way too fast which leads me to over-eat. We also live in a fast pace society and so many people eat on the go. Take time to sit down and slowly enjoy what you are eating. Savor each bite. Not only will you enjoy your meal more but you will be chewing your food better and that will aide in digestion. It also allows your stomach time to signal when you are full so you will be less likely to over-eat.
What are some small steps that have worked for you in creating a healthier lifestyle? Please share below in the comments section!
Emanate Yoga 
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