If history repeats itself, this year will find about 50 million Americans go on a diet. Wowza. That’s a lot of people trying to lose weight. Given the obesity epidemic, I think that’s awesome. But a lot of those dieters will diet dangerously, try to lose too much too fast, or give up because they have no direction. So what are some ways you can lose some weight in a healthy way? I’m glad you asked. Here are ways you can drop 10 pounds and keep it off!
Don’t starve yourself. You have to eat to lose weight. Sounds weird, I know, but it’s soo true! If you just drastically reduce your calorie intake to an unhealthy amount for your body, you’ll throw your metabolism out of whack. It’s possible that your body might freak and start to store your calories when you do fuel it which would result in even slower weight loss. Weight loss doesn’t require hunger pains! {So true!}
Don’t skip breakfast. Have you heard this one a thousand times? There’s a reason for it. Activate your metabolism early with a healthy breakfast that includes protein. Doesn’t have to be large, just something to get metabolism going. {Maybe instead of my usual morning cookie and a piece of chocolate, I’ll eat a bowl of oatmeal.}
Don’t drink your calories. Drinks like soda, fruit juice, sweet teas and flavored waters are all high in sugar and pack unnecessary, hollow calories. Drink water instead. {Maybe this will be the year I only have milk in my first cup of tea of the day and drink the rest without milk?}
Speaking of water, drink it. And a lot of it! Studies show that people who drink more H2O lose weight faster than those who don’t! {But it doesn’t taste as good as tea with milk and sugar}
Eat your veggies first. This is mostly for lunch and dinner, but start your meal with a course of veggies. Eat a salad before your protein and carbs. You’ll be less likely to overeat if you do this, and your stomach will be full of healthy green! {Carrots are my go to veggie of choice}
Cut your portion size. If you aren’t quite ready to cut out some of your favorite foods, think about dishing up your normal amount and then immediately putting half of it away as leftovers. If you finish your portion and you’re still starving, pull some of the reserved food out. Chances are, your half portion is sufficient to fill you up. {Or eat half, and then wait 20 minutes and see if your’e still hungry}
Avoid processed foods. Fresh fruits and veggies, complex carbs, lean protein. That’s where it’s at! Avoid anything that comes out of a box if you can help it. {What about cocoa pods? If I dry those in the sun myself will that count as an unprocessed food?}
Shoot for 80/20. Limit yourself to junk food or splurging 20% of the time. 80% of your diet should consist of all things healthy, and the remaining 20 can be whatever you choose. It’s a good balance that doesn’t make you feel deprived but ensures your body is getting healthy fuel. {My goal for January is to forsake all treats except for 3 small pieces of chocolate in the afternoon and the one sweet treat the HH makes this month out of the Bouchon Bakery book.}
Limit carbs. Carbs aren’t all bad even though they’ve gotten a bad rap as of late. But you can drop pounds faster if you reduce the amount and type you are consuming. For instance, a sweet potato is a much better choice if you’re aiming for weight loss than a bunch of breadsticks made with white flour. {But I love rice and pasta!}
Skip the booze. That beer gut gets its name for a reason. Avoid the calories in beer and wine and opt for water instead. {Beer smells like soap and the smell of wine makes me gag, so no problem there.}
Get more sleep. What does sleep have to do with weight loss? Apparently a lot according to numerous studies. Dieters who get 7-8 hours of sleep have much faster and more long-lasting results than those who get less. I guess if you snooze you really do lose! {Nice!}
Walk it out. Take a 30-minute walk a day. Exercise is a great addition to eating healthy, but if you don’t have time to hit the gym, hit the stairs, walk on your lunch break, or park in the farthest parking spot and walk into work. {I ordered a pedometer last night and it should be here tomorrow!}
Avoid dining out. Not only do you not know exactly what is in your food when you dine out, but studies show the average meal have 134 more calories than if you would have made that same meal at home. {Interesting!}
Train for a race. Having a goal and working towards it always helps me! Plus, if I’ve paid for the race, then I’m obligated to train. {Yes! That is why I put it in my 2019 goals}
Find a workout buddy. This is one of the most helpful things. It is so helpful to find someone to workout with you and hold you accountable. You might not want to get out of bed to exercise, but they’ll be counting on you! It gives me the extra push I need sometimes knowing I’m not in it alone, too! {I need to find a walking buddy.}
Calculate splurge calories. You want that piece of cake? Calculate first how many miles you’d have to run to burn those calories off. Sometimes that simple knowledge will help you put the fork down! {In theory this is a good idea…. but you know, CAKE.}
And there are just a few ways to kick off those resolution diets. Any tips you swear by? Share below!
You’ve got this!
~Mavis
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Ingredients
Goal #2 — Garden, Garden, Garden
Goal #4 — Gussy Up the Potting Shed
Goal #5 — Grow Enough Extra Vegetables, Eggs and Flowers to Earn $1500 at my little roadside vegetable stand.
Goal #6 — Finish Every Single Unfinished Rug Hooking Project in My Pattern Bin
Goal #8 — Split and Stack 2 Cords of Wood for Next Winter 
Goal #9 — Do Something with the 5,002 Photos on My Phone
Goal #10 –Lose the Muffin Top
If I could just fit in to my OLD PANTS…. I wouldn’t have to buy any new clothes. AND… AND I’d feel just a teeny tiny better about myself. You know, kind of like I’ve gotten my self control back or something. I want to fit into the same size pants {and be able to button them up!} that I wore when I started this blog. Is that too much to ask?
Goal #11 — Run, Walk or Crawl a 5k, 10k, Half Marathon and Marathon
Goal #13 — Try 52 New Recipes.
Goal #16 — Finish Furnishing Our House
Goal #20 — Create 12 Wowie Zowie Party Platters
Goal #21 — Visit 12 General Stores
11 years ago in an effort to get a better handle on our budget and to see exactly where our money was going each month, I decided to start tracking our grocery bills. Back in 2008 when I started we were spending an average of $814 a month. Which, at the time, didn’t seem like an extraordinary amount of money to be spending on food.
Then 
And then by around the middle of 2012 I was totally burned out from all those early morning trips to the grocery store and thought… Geez, I could probably be spending my time more constructively instead of spending hours upon hours each week clipping coupons and driving all over town to score deals on things we aren’t going to eat. So I dove into gardening again and instead of spending my mornings on the hunt for a good deal, I spent them pulling weeds.
And I think that was the moment I decided my TIME was worth something.
