Tips for Successful Weight Loss!

While I have been going along this journey trying to lose weight I have discovered a few tips to help the process. I find the best way to stick to making a healthy lifestyle change was implementing these changes one at a time over a course of time. Waking up one morning and doing a drastic change in lifestyle may be hard for people to stick to and follow...but slow changes over a time period can help you stick to it! So here are the changes I have made to my life to help lose weight:

Number 1 which was the biggest change NO MORE POP! I have cut pop completely out from my diet and now only drink water and milk. Pop is loaded with sugar and really was doing nothing nutritionally for myself. I used to be a big pop drinker....like a can a day big!  I found this change to be hard at first as I would crave its sweet taste. However now I don't crave it anymore and I am so glad I have cut it out of my diet. Switch out that sugary sweet drink for WATER! Our bodies need water and I make sure I drink my 8 glasses a day!

Next change was cutting out the junk! I put those bags of chips down and stopped eating fast food. We all know fast food is totally unhealthy and is full of salt, carbs, and fat, but sometimes it is easier to grab it while your on the go. Again this change was difficult as I would crave the salty taste of these foods! But with time the craving goes away...for the most part... there are still days when I wanna chow down on a bag of chips (especially in the evening).

Which leads into my next tip...no eating after 7pm! I am still struggling with this as I am sucha grazer with my food and I find myself starving in the evening for those snacks! If I find myself with my tummy grumbling I will chug back some H2O and have a light snack like an apple or a couple of crackers.

One of the most important tips is meal planning! I was big on mindless snacking and eating whatever whenever. Once I started writing down what I was eating on a daily basis I realized I was eating way to many carbs! Almost everyone of my meals and snacks included some sort of carb! So I have limited myself to 2 servings of carbs a day (I don't want to completely deprive myself) and I have pretty much stopped eating bread. I may have the occasionaly slice, but mostly now my carbs would be whole wheat pasta and only a small amount of it as well (around 1/2 cup). Planning out your meals does take some time, but knowing what you can eat will help control mindless snacking and ensure you get all your food groups in a day.

I am no expert... these are just some of the changes that have worked for me in losing weight :)

3 months

This is just going to be a short update. It is mid June and I started this journey back in March. By this point I was hoping to be down at least 15 pounds....and I am around the 8-10 lb mark... not to far off from my goal. It seems my body just doesn't want to lose this weight at all. There have been weeks were I lose a pound then the next gain it back. Not to mention my weight fluctuates so much during the day. It is frustrating with all the changes I have made to my diet and giving up on delish grub! You can really eat so much salad before it gets  repetitive and boring. Ok well I will keep at it..no point in falling back into old routines and being back to square one!