Top Ten Tuesday – 10 Ways To Live Healthier

Happy Tuesday! If you’re been keeping up with me, you know that hubby and I have been doing our best to live healthier this year. It’s been a long time coming and while it’s not always easy to make lifestyle changes, they can go a long way to making you feel better overall. Taking care of yourself is so important and your body will thank you.

Hubby likes to work his way into a new routine while I just dive right in. Being an all-or-nothing girl, I can’t have that gray area. Either I’m doing something or not. My way is not any better than his way, it’s just how we approach things. These ten tips are what is working for us right now.

[Tweet “10 Ways to Live Healthier with @AuntNanci as she shares her journey to #fitfor45 #toptentuesday”]

10.  Snack, snacks, and more snacks. One thing that always works for me when I am trying to eat healthy and lose weight, is to have several small meals a day instead of three large meals, or even worse – skipping a meal. You body needs energy and having those smaller, more frequent meals, it means your body is working. And, you won’t go around hungry. Don’t ever deprive yourself if you’re hungry.

9.  Choose foods that will fill you up.  Eat foods that won’t leave you hungry. Pick snacks that are high in fiber to feel full longer. This will also help you to eat less.

8.  Drink water like it’s going out of style.  Water is the best thing you can drink, all day long. It helps to cleanse your system, keeps you full, does wonders for your skin, and is all around wonderful for you. 

7.  Track your foods. Remember the days of having to look up calories and nutritional information in a book and writing it down by hand? Thankfully, we have all that info at our fingertips in an endless number of apps on our Smart Phones. My current preference is My Fitness Pal. It’s easy to use, the food database is huge, and it is encouraging and informative.

6.  Watch those serving sizes. As important as tracking your food is weighing and measuring it to make sure you are not eating double portions or more. It is easy to get carried away and when you first starting measuring out your food, it is a real eye-opener. Take the time to check and make sure you are actually eating a single serving size and not more.

5. Cut out the soda.  I haven’t had soda in 542 days and yes, I am counting. I miss it every once in awhile but never enough to give up this incredible streak I have going. Soda is sugar you don’t need, it causes bloating, and it’s addictive. Diet soda is even worse, don’t let the word “diet” fool you. Stick to water or green tea.

4. Bye bye to alcohol.  Did I also mention that I haven’t had alcohol in 66 days? As much as I love wine (we all know how much I love it), I really don’t need it. It’s empty calories and sugar, and the added weight I’ve been carrying around the last year came straight from a wine bottle or two (or three). If you see me raising a glass now, it’ll have ice water in it.

3.  Take your vitamins.  I can be really bad about taking vitamins. Many vitamins will give me an upset stomach. Maybe it’s the kid in me, but I find that gummy-type vitamins stay down the best. And I actually look forward to taking it in the morning. Whatever kind you take, make sure you are getting your daily allowance of all the important nutrients you need, especially when you are working out.

2.  Get plenty of rest.  Going back to the gym has helped me sleep so much better. I never have trouble falling asleep, but staying asleep can be a problem for me. After a day where I’ve worked out hard and eaten well, I sleep like a baby.

1. Work out together. Our time together, quality time, can be few and far between because we are so busy. But going to the gym together is currently one of my favorite things to do. We support each other and cheer each other on. There is nothing like getting a high five from hubby after a hard workout, knowing that he is proud of me. And vice versa.

Do you have a tip you’d like to share?

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