High Five!!

I met my first "Healthy Living" milestone today. :)

The reason for this post is not to boast....yes I am VERY excited about meeting my first milestone, but I wanted to encourage any of you that are trying to lose weight/get healthy etc... If you are wanting to be healthier and make a change, you can do it. But you have to commit.

Here are 6 tips that I have learned this go round that are making the difference:

(many of these I had heard 1000 times before but never applied)

1. It really is HUGELY about diet. Working out is important as it increases your metabolism which overall will help you to burn more calories at rest, but if you really want to transform your lifestyle it is all about a lifestyle change in EATING. We eat very little carbs, we do eat some, but all whole grains and no more than one serving (two for Alex) --i.e. piece of bread, brown rice, etc.

2. Portion size, portion size, portion size - Alex and I studied what the average portion size should be and have been sticking to what we SHOULD be eating. (if you have never looked into this -- it is MUCH MUCH MUCH less than you would ever imagine) I am a woman with a VERY healthy appetite. If I wanted to, I could keep up with Alex and used to. We would split all our meals 50/50. Well, Alex used to eat more than a healthy portion which meant I was eating WAY more than a healthy portion. The coolest thing about this is that now, Alex and I will share a meal when we go out to eat and I will eat 1/3 and he will eat 2/3 and we will both leave satisfied. Such a life changer -- AND it is MUCH cheaper. :)

3. Get an accountability partner that will get in your face -- for me that is my drill sergeant of a husband - Leiva. Now, although I usually roll my eyes at him when he challenges my desire to cheat and eat chips or something....it has helped me tremendously. Alex has great disciple and obedience. When he decides to cut something from his diet or exercise more, he just does it...no questions asked. PLus he has been working out 6 days a week in the morning, which encourages me to make sure and go after work. (I don't like getting up every morning)

4. Water - H2O - Agua -- Water has made the biggest difference in how I feel. On the days when I drink 96-128 oz of water I feel better. I feel healthy, I don't feel heavy, and I have MORE energy. (Soda I have learned not only makes you feel bloated and retain water, but makes losing weight more difficult. I am still dealing with this demon in my life, but it is improving)

5. Plan it OUT: My New Year's resolution this year is to make each day more intentional. This spills into all aspects of my life: my time in the word, my time in prayer, WHO I am praying for as opposed to aimlessly praying, working out, eating well, cooking dinner, not over-busying myself. EVERYTHING. It has helped me to be more healthy because if I know that tonight I will not have time to work out because of plans, I work out in the morning etc. I want to work out 4-5 times a week, so I have to plan ahead tomake sure this happens. I bring healthy snacks with me to work, because I know at 2 I will get the munchies and the only options at work will be whatever sweets I can find floating around people's offices. Got to plan to succeed. WEight Watchers ALWAYS uses the phrase "Failing to plan is planning to fail."

6. I write down EVERYTHING I eat. It is so easy to lose track of the little bites that you have throughout the day. This gives me a place to keep myself accountable too. We have one meal a week where we allow ourselves to splurge a little (nothing crazy though). This is fine because I am tracking my eating using WW points, and I account for the extra eating. As long as I stay within my week points, I am good to go.

Hope these help!! Good LUCK!!

I have three more big milestones in my healthy lifestyle plan. The next two will hopefully be completed by Vegas. Then one more to go before Easter. :)