"She girds herself with strength, and makes her arms strong." Proverbs 31:16
To develop a healthy lifestyle , you need to be consistent. We sleep because our body needs it. So we should exercize because our bodies need that ,too! We gain 5 pounds each year after the age of 40 because our metabolism slows down. Be determined to change your unhealthy lifestyle for a healthy one. Start by writing down goals in your personal wellness sections in your organizational binder.
The first step is to take time for yourself:
1.Read Bible and pray/quiet time
2. Eat REAL Foods. (More on that below)
3.Read a book that teaches you something new
4. Budget a manicure or pedicure every other month or so
5.Budget getting your hair done
6.Get a facial
7.Go to lunch with your friends often
8.Take baths with nice soaps and bath salts
9.Write in your "Joy Journal" often
10. Wear beautiful nightgowns to bed
11.Have a weekend getaway to sleep, read, pray, and play
12.Take the "day off". Go do something you've always wanted to do- museum, movie, paint pottery,etc
13. Have a regular date night with your spouse! ****VERY IMPORTANT!
Clean Eating:
1. Eat 5-6 Small meals a day
2. Eat fresh, organic, local fruits and vegetables. No processed foods, white flour, or sugars. **See Real Foods section below**
3. Drink at least 3 liters of water a day. Here is a break down:1 liter = 1.06 qt, 1 qt = 32 oz/ 3 liters = 3.18 qt/ 3.18 qt = 101.76oz.
4. Eat a combo of grass fed lean protein and a complex carb. at each meal.
5. Eat fat! Yes! It's true, but it has to be a HEALTHY FAT such as : olive oil, nuts, cold-water fish, nut or seed oils.
6. Eat within a hour of waking-up.
7. Use smaller portion sizes. Stop using large dinner plates and use the salad plates, instead.
8. Eat every 3 hours: make it a routine. Our bodies thrive on routine.
9. Get 8 hours sleep at night.
10. Plant Based eating is best. If you choose to eat animals based products, use real foods, grass fed, free roaming to lower inflammation.
11. Once you start eating healhty, your body will lose cravings as it expelled the bad from your body. Bad food will no longer taste good to you.
Things to Avoid/Stop Doing now:
1. Do NOT skip any meals!! This damages your metabolism!
2. Stop eating processed foods; whites, flours, sugars.
3. Stop drinking sugar, sugar free, and artificial sugared drinks. They have no nutritional value. (Artificial sugars have been proven to trick your body, and actually make it crave food.)
4. Stop eating "fat free", or "reduced calorie" foods. They are called "anti-foods" because they have no nutritional value. If you are going to eat food , eat something that will fill your body with healthy nutrients.
5. Stop eating foods that contain preservatives.
6. Do not drink or limit alcohol. It's full of sugar!
*** Read more at the Real Foods Section below ***
My Real Food Meal Schedule:
5:30 am~ Drink water with prayer time
6:00~ Breakfast. ex: oatmeal or high fiber cereal, hard boiled egg, hot tea(no sugar)
9:00~ Snack. ex: apple, palm full of almonds, water
12:00~ Lunch. ex: mini whole wheat pita with 1 tsp of roasted red pepper hummus and lean turkey(apple gate is the only good brand of deli meat), grapes, water or veggie salad with lean turkey and no dressing or balsamic vinegar
3:00~ Snack. Ex: pear and walnuts, water
6:00~ Dinner. Ex: Northwoods seasoned wild caught salmon, steamed asparagus or green beans or baked sweet potato, veggie salad with no dressing or lemon juice and EVOO(extra virgin olive oil) , water
9:00~ Snack. If I'm not trying to lose weight I will have a snack: yogurt and mixed berries, green tea
My Plant Based Meal Plan
5:30am- lemon infused water, and maybe some coffee later
6am- Breakfast- fruit and veggie smoothie
10am- fruit, if i want a snack
12pm- Lunch- mono fruit meal- enough fruit to reach your caloric intake or blacks and and rice with roasted veggies /water
3pm= bowl of fresh fruit or cut up veggies and hummus, afternoon tea time with tea or fruit water
6 pm-Dinner- bowl of fresh fruit, huge bowl of fresh veggie salad or beans and rice with roasted veggies or baked potato loaded with lentil chili /water
*more meal ideas HERE
*and Fully Raw Kristina has great ideas also
Benefits of Clean Eating:
1. No more insomnia!
2. More energy
3. Better skin/complexion
4. Stronger nails
5. Leaner and naturally toned body
6. Healthy hair
7. Increased metabolism
8. Better overall Health! Doctors can see it in your blood work!
***See my "Clean Eating Recipes" Section***
Real Foods
- Cut out processed food, "low fat" & "fat free" foods.
- Avoid GMO's!!
- Eat foods in it's most naturally state
- Eat local and organic fruits & vegetables
- Eat local, grass fed, humanely raised beef, pork, chicken- in moderation
- Eat only wild caught seafood or fish, not farm raised!
- Eat organic, whole, pasteurized, unsweetened milk, yogurt, cheese, eggs, butter
- Use only natural sweeteners like local honey and pure maple syrup- in moderation
- Eat 100% whole grains
- Snack on fruits,vegetables, nuts and seeds
- Drink water often. Drink in moderation- milk, 100% natural juices, coffee tea, wine and beer.
Read more at 100 Days of Real Food
----->DINING OUT in Memphis<-----
Educate Yourself!
Watch these shows on Netflix, YouTube, or Amazon Prime:
{Click on name to go to link/website}
- Forks over Knives
- GMO OMG
- Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead 1 & 2 / Reboot
- Engine 2 Kitchen Rescue
- Food, Inc
- Fed Up
- Super Size Me
- The Gerson Miracle (about healing cancer)
- Hungry For Change
- Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution USA
Exercise
If you are a busy person, you may feel like you have not time to exercise and eat right. But you do! Think about the everyday activities that your could rearrange to make what I like to call : "natural exercise".
~play ball with your kids(basketball, baseball, soccer), play catch, ride bikes, do squats and sit-ups while watching TV, do push ups and stretches while watching TV, take the stairs everywhere you go, read magazines only while walking on treadmill, play tag with your kids, do"airplane" with your kids.
Whatever you do think of it as doing two things at once, not wasting your time. Exercise can be in anything that we do.
Make a goal for an exercise routine for the week.
Ideas for healthier living:
1.Do something different everyday.
2.Commit to regular exercise~ taking a walk everyday after dinner, riding your bike,etc...
3.Eat slowly
4. Eat raw veggies and fruits for snacks
5.Eat in a 12 hour time period
6.Take the stairs
7.Enroll you and your hubby in a dance class
8.Wear ankle weights while doing housework,shopping, or walking at the mall.
9. Do sit ups while watching TV.
10.Make exercise fun: kiss your baby every time you go up for a sit up, use an exercise ball, do it with friends,etc...
11.Join the YMCA or an exercise club
12.Don't buy junk food, but only for special occasions.
13.Limit your sugar intake and save it for only special occasions
14. Do not deprive yourself. Pick a day where you can treat yourself.
15. Eat healthy but not so healthy that your kids want to binge on sweets when given a chance or when away from home.
16.Have cut up veggies and fruit easily accessible.
17. Put fruits out in a bowls. If it's visible, then you are more than likely to eat it.
18.Make homemade foods with your children. It costs less and you have more fun.
19.Plan healthy menus, and a variety of meats and vegetables during the week.
20.Treat yourself to something every time you have met your goal. (It doesn't always have to be food! It could be a manicure, pedicure, new skirt, or a movie)21. Keep a journal of what you eat for the week. Read over at the end of the week. Make adjustments to your eating habits as needed.
22. DO NOT eat artificial sweeteners. Natural is always best. Artificial tricks your body onto thinking it gets the sugar, but later makes your body crave more food. Thus making you eat more in the end.