Healthy Choices Add Up

Not tomorrow, today! What can you do RIGHT NOW to CHOOSE healthy?

Drink a glass of water.

Take 5 deep breaths.

Stand up.

Walk down the hallway.

Reset your posture: Pull your shoulders up to your ears, and then pull your shoulders down and back.

Eat veggies.

Say no to sugary snacks and beverages.

Call, email or text someone who makes you happy.

Watch a funny video on YouTube that makes you laugh.

Download a fitness or food tracking app.

Stand up for yourself.

Clean your desk.

Sit up straight.

Help someone else.

Pet your dog or cat.

Healthy Choices Add Up

Fitness Breaks!

Whenever you’re out and about or working on a project at home, add in fitness breaks! Anything goes as long as you’re moving your body for 10 minutes… and having fun! Fitness breaks are limited only by your imagination.

Take a Fitness Break

Get Fit Quick Tip:

Research your options!

Planning ahead is key to a healthy lifestyle, and that means be informed. If you’re heading out to eat, one easy action sets you up for a healthy meal success. Seeking out information ahead of time takes the guess-work out of making nutritious food choices. So how do you do it?

Look up the menu online. Look up the menu online ahead of time to plan for a healthy meal. Firstly, you won’t get caught up in making a fast, pressured decision. Secondly, you won’t be distracted by others choices. Finally, you won’t be swayed by spontaneous cravings.

Dining out? Always do this before you go…

Small Changes Lead to Big Results

Who wants to live their life losing 10 pounds in a week only to regain 15 pounds after quitting their incredibly hard diet? Many people do this continually – wash and repeat. That sounds like a terrible version of the Twilight Zone – harming your metabolic capabilities and hurting your psyche. So what’s a person to do? One option to shoot for a realistic caloric deficit of 100-200 per day that can result in 0.8 – 1.7 pounds a month which seems trivial but that equals 10 – 20 pounds a year respectively! The best part is creating a gentle caloric deficit like this is really simple.

Here are two options:

Snack Swap: If you would simply swap your normal, at-work vending machine snack with a piece of fruit, you could have cut out 150-200 calories! Get this; one 2oz. (56g) bag of salted potato chips has roughly 307 calories which you could have swapped for something like a large peach which has only 68 calories (175g; not to mention the vitamins, nutrients, fiber…etc.). With that swap you would actually be eating more food while saving yourself 239 calories. Do that every day for a month and you save 7100+ calories which equals to 24.9 pounds worth of calories a year!

Drop the Sugary Drinks: Sugary drinks are literally packing the pounds on people; they are so easy to consume! Let’s take the example of your typical classic Coca-Cola (12 ounce can) which has roughly 140 calories in it. If you simply stop drinking one soda per day you can literally cut out 4200 a month or 14.6 pounds a year worth of calories (51,000+) – that’s pretty simple!

Wrap-Up

It’s not all about cutting out calories; it’s about living a long, healthy life. If you’ve tried and failed in the past, it’s time to stop thinking of weight loss as a sprint. Instead, start thinking of weight loss as a fulfilling journey. Have patience with yourself in order to make weight loss work – make the small changes and give it time!

Josh (M.S.) is an AFAA Certified Personal Trainer and the founder of Always Active Athletics: “Your #1 Source For At-Home Fitness and Nutrition”.  He loves blending science with sustainable practices that can be implemented by literally anyone in order to live a healthy life!

Small Changes Lead to Big Results by Josh Anderson