Weight Loss Musts

Try implementing these little things into your daily routine. I know they will make a big difference.

1. Avoid frequent use of soda. Read this interesting article about the facts that drinking even diet soda can increase your chance of getting or staying overweight.

2. Get 7-9 hours of sleep each night. Our body's hormones, Ghrelin (tell us we are hungry) and Leptin (tell us when to stop eating) change when we don't get adequate amounts of sleep. Ghrelin levels go up (causing more hunger) and Leptin levels go down (causing less signals of feeling full).

Interesting Fact: 65% of Americans are overweight and 63% of Americans don't get 8 hours of sleep at night.

3. Eat Breakfast. This is a no-brainer...just do it to get your metabolism going for the day-even if you aren't hungry.

4. Skip Late Night Snacking. Oh my goodness, if we can all stay disciplined about this one it would make all the difference!

5. Make a long term plan, divided into small plans. I do this by making a yearly spreadsheet with my weekly micro goals listed and record of my weight. I weigh myself every Thursday morning and record it. Then I also check off each week to make sure I did the things I wanted to do during the week. I do that for a year at a time, barely changing my micro goals throughout the year. It's kind of interesting to see the progress through the year as well as the patterns I can pick out when I get into "crazy cycles." I think it's so important to plan like this because it will help out with sticking to something long-term. Even if there's not much progress for the first 3-6 months, later you might be happily surprised with a positive change because of your focused endurance.

Long term planning is also so important because we have to give our body reaction time. They don't automatically change overnight or even in one week. It's such a delayed reaction because of all the chemical changes that occur within our complex body. Give yourself time to catch up with what you are doing to it. Set realistic goals and stick with them!

When I want to slip up on something I always think to myself, "if I keep doing what I've been doing, I'll get what I've been getting" which is normally no results.

So start or continue to do different things to your body in order for it to react differently!