Sticker charts!! What has been missing from your goals!

Who doesn’t love a prize for doing what you should?   I know my children can always be bribed, and really I can too.

*Can you work extra? You’ll get more money!   Sure!
*Do you want to upgrade? You get twice as much for only $2!  Sure!!!
*Do you want our store card? You’ll save 20% today!   Hot dang a deal!  (Although I almost always say no to these)

You get my point.

So if you’re having a hard time getting yourself into a good habit try a sticker calendar or point system with rewards!!!

This can be used for food, water, exercise- basically anything.

First you set rules- minimums and guidelines for earning, and then prizes (not unhealthy ones please) and you’re off!!

I’m currently earning “points” for eating healthy and exercise.  I can earn 2 points a day- one for completing exercise and one for eating healthy.  There’s also a chance for bonus points for long distance runs (since I’m training for a half marathon).  My 14 year old daughter is holding my accountable and deciding if I’m going outside of healthy with eating.

We have prizes for cashing in points like a new running belt, a mani-pedi, a massage, a new outfit and more.   Make your list for you and make sure your points match the effort for each.

If you’re someone who needs outside motivation and accountability (which most people do!) this is a great one to try!

Blessings in health and happiness!

How to not be hungry

Okay, so this is a compilation of several ideas, tips and maybe crap advice about what you can try to do to reduce hunger.  Bullet points seem to make the most sense to me- so here we go.

• Protein and good fat with meals.  You need fat and protein with your meals or else your meals are crap.  They won’t keep you full any decent amount of time and you’ll be hungry a lot. 
•  Pick up Kelly Leveque’s book Body Love and read about hunger hormones.  She goes through all the science of which hormones keep you hungry and which keep you full and how to turn them off and on.  If you want your body to help you through this, you’ll want to use science to your advantage. 
• Drink water.  Keep your stomach full of water and don’t be dehydrated.  Your body can often confuse dehydration with hunger.  Stay hydrated my friends and you won’t need to snack so much. 
• Some appetite suppressants work, and some are crap.  Some are prescription, some are supplemental.  You need to research side effects, how they work, and if it’s right for you.  I personally like Plexus’ Boost- it really decreases my hunger. 
• Stop thinking about food.  Really.  Stop stressing about it, obsessing over it, thinking about it nonstop and it won’t be such a big deal that your life revolves around.  I seriously cut my cravings just by not worrying about it. 
• Say no.  Okay, this is more of it you AREN’T hungry.  Say no.  I often would say yes just because it sounds good.  You know what this does? Turns on my appetite and then I want to eat even more or yell at myself for my choices.  Say no when you aren’t hungry.  The only person who it matters whether you partake is the one who will hate themselves later for the extra food.
•  Exercise.  Now this can be a double-edged sword but hang with me.  I know if I’ve done a hard work out several days in a row or a long run I’ll be more hungry and that’s understandable, but if you aren’t brand new to this activity you shouldn’t be starving and definitely don’t need to eat ALL the calories.  In general, when I get hungry when I shouldn’t be, I often will move if I’m hungry.  Take a walk, take a run, do some squats, anything.  This has two benefits.  Sometimes the hunger goes away- much like drinking extra water can make it go away.  Then if the hunger is still there, I have burnt a few extra calories to make up for it.  If I’m really that hungry, I’ll pick a healthy snack plus the exercise, so I’m balanced out. 

I can’t think of any more ideas now, but these are some tips that have worked for me and others (because I have seen most of them before from other sources).   Hope this helps someone!

Blessings in Health and happiness.

Measuring Weight Loss Progress

So you’ve decided it- you’re going to try to get healthy and lose weight and fit into smaller pants!  Great!

But let me warn you- the little box on the floor of your bathroom is a liar and mean!  This is the scale I’m talking about if you haven’t deduced this.  Your weight is important but doesn’t tell the whole story. 

How to combat the liar on the floor?  2 big tools everyone needs to do along with taking their weight.

1-     Pictures

2-     Measurements

Measurements are the easier for people to do, so I’ll start with that.  You want to get a tape measure and do several different areas on the body.  Most common measurements are waistline, hip line, bust line, and thigh.  Some people also do under bust and arms depending on goals. 

You want to make sure to do these with the same amount of clothes on each time and try to be in the exact same spot.  

Here’s a chart with where you take these measurements:

Measurements are more important than the scale because we all want to LOOK better.  The scale will never tell you how you look.  My weight may only go down 2 or 3 pounds, but I may go down 2-3 pant sizes which is life changing!!  If you strictly went by weight, you may be frustrated and give up and not realize you are making the gains you want!

The one NO ONE wants to do is Pictures!  But once again- we want to feel healthy, but we also want to LOOK good.  Pictures can tell so much!!

Look at my before and after pictures:

It’s it amazing how much skinnier I got on my waistline?!?  Taking measurements, I could tell the changes were happening, but seeing is believing for many of us and there is no denying how amazing the pictures are!  

Please take pictures and measurements!  If you really do the work, you will be so happy you did this extra step and can see your results much better!

Blessings in Health and Happiness!