It’s a new year, a lot of us probably have our new year resolutions and I’m hoping getting healthier is one of them. However we know how most resolutions go, we make them and never really follow through with them. I am going to be giving you some tips to help you stay on track and achieve your health goals.
First, find a reason why getting fit is important to you. Do you want to lose weight, get your blood pressure or sugar under control, have more energy, perform better in bed? Whatever, your reason, make sure its dear to you. You’ll need to remind yourself why you decided to start living a healthy lifestyle, when it gets tough; because it will. Learn more about reasons to get fit here.
I’m going to be talking about eating healthy in this article, the next will elaborate on exercise.
Have a meal plan. some of you will grumble at this one. Most people hate timetables because they feel they are boring, however they don’t have to be. When making one for yourself, you have control over what goes in there, so make it interesting.
A meal plan will help you plan towards your meals, to ensure you eating something healthy. If you leave the decision of what to eat till when you are ready to eat, most likely you’ll eat whatever is available, which most likely wouldn't be healthy. Take out the time to determine what your meals will be, and save yourself the headache of asking yourself that question 3 times a day, 21 times a week!
Since you have control over what goes in there, make your options during the week easy to prepare, the more complicated stuff can wait till the weekend.
Plan even your snack as well, so you are sure you are snacking healthy too! Many of the unhealthy food options we make occur in-between meals, so you should be armed with your healthy ones. A few munches here and there around the office, seems like nothing, but trust me the calories are adding up and its stretching your waist line! If you need help with making a healthy meal plan, you can get our book “What Should I be Eating?” or if you feel you’d require personal coaching to reach you goals, contact us here.
Have cheat days! I'm sure you are happy to see this 
. Make room for a slice of pizza (may be two 
), some icecream, chocolates, something you crave. Reserve a day in the week to "cheat". This is important so you dont feel overwhelmed or like you are purnishing yourself, especially when you just get started. Of course, you dont want to over do it, so just pick something to look forward to and keep moderation in mind. However with time, eating healthy just becomes a part of you that you stop looking forward to those cheat days so much.
Work your plan. So you have a meal plan now, great! To ensure you follow it, you need to get all the items you need to cook the meals you put on there. So create a shopping list from your meal plan and go shopping! Weekends are usually great for this.
Prepare as much as you can. Certain meals can be prepared towards the week. Your protein for example, meat, chicken, beans and so on. You can chop or shred vegetables in bulk and store in bags in your refrigerator. This way, meals are very quickly to prepare. Sometime, I go as far as slicing and peeling yam and keeping in water, the night before I need it.
Lastly, stick to it! Will it be easy, no! Will it be worth it, yes! Recruit a member of your family, your spouse, child sibling to go on this journey with you. They can help keep you accountable and make the process more fun.
Good luck!
Need help? You know where to find us.