The top ten lifestyle change tips developed by the nutritionists st Push Fitness:
1. Start your day with a workout
Michelle Jeeninga, a certified personal trainer at Push Fitness who is training contestant Shelly Daley, said getting your workout in bright and early is key to keeping weight off.
“Working out early before work forces you to get up and get moving,” Jeeninga said. “This way you don’t have any excuses (about no being able to exercise) after work.”
2. Maintain a food journal
Contestants are asked to keep a food journal throughout the competition to log what they eat each day.
Writing down your food choices can help you understand what you like to eat, how often you snack or nibble on foods between meals, and if something is missing in the diet (such as not enough vegetables or fruits).
Continuing to log food intake after weight loss has occurred keeps healthy eating habits at the top of your mind and can help people quickly notice if they slip back into old eating patterns.
“Pick two to three days of the week to log everything you eat and drink using your favorite calorie counter,” said Samantha Woulfe, a registered dietitian with Jewel-Osco, who helped contestants learn how make healthy purchases at the store. “This helps hold you accountable to your food choices.”
3. Do not skip meals
It’s tempting to skip breakfast or lunch when you’re trying to cut calories or don’t have time to prep food, but Woulfe said skipping meals won’t help people keep the weight off.
“Skipping meals leads to overeating,” said Woulfe. To combat this, Woulfe suggests prepping food in advance, especially if you notice that you’re skipping the same meal (i.e. breakfast) again and again.
“If you tend to skip meals, try preparing that meal the night before, so it is ready to go the next day,” Woulfe said.
4. Plan your meals weekly
Once Monday morning hits, it’s go, go, go. It’s easy to forget to pack a healthy lunch or stop by the grocery store to buy ingredients for dinner.
Instead, experts suggest sitting down ahead of a busy week and planning out each meal. Decide what you’ll have for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and what you’ll pack for snacks.
Not only does this allow you to have a healthy eating plan in place, it can make your grocery shopping and cooking experiences more efficient.
It also can cut down on the number of trips made to the store because you can buy most of your ingredients during one shopping trip at the beginning of the week. In addition, planning your meals allows you to use the same ingredients for multiple lunches and dinners, which saves time and money.
For example, you can cook rice in bulk at the beginning of the week and then pair it with different vegetables and protein sources for the next few meals….
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