1. Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail. Plan your meals in advance. If you wait until you are hungry to eat then you will grab whatever is in sight and that usually isn’t a healthy meal or snack. Planning your meals in advance and packing your food will save you money, help you maintain your energy levels through the day and keep you less stressed. When your blood sugar level drops, instead of feeling stressed about what you’re going to eat, you will have a healthy meal or snack ready to eat.
2. Overeat and Stretch Your Stomach Muscle. Eat until you are satisfied and stop before you are full. Your stomach is made of smooth muscle and when you overeat you actually stretch your stomach muscle and in turn increase your appetite. This is one reason why a cleanse or a fast for 1-2 days is a great way to help you reset your internal homeostasis and shrink your stomach muscle. It is also the reason why it is important to stop eating when you are satisfied. Pack the rest of your food up and always know you can eat again in a couple of hours. This also helps lower calories and manage portions.
3. Water is Life. Water is 60% of your body weight and is needed for digestion, elimination, the synovial fluid of your joints and in every living cell in your body. Make it a habit to have a glass of water before every meal. Half your body weight and drink that number in ounces of water per day. So if you are 140lbs you should be drinking 70ounces of water. Obviously a 250lbs man needs more water than a 140lbs woman, this is why your water intake should be based on your body weight not just a random number like 8 glasses for everyone. You should also increase your water intake when you exercise with a high sweat factor.
4. Balanced Meals.
Make sure your meals are balanced like this “Eggology Egg White Veggie Omelet with a Side Salad and Avocado” with approximately 30% protein, 30% healthy fat and 40% healthy carbohydrates that contain fiber. This will help you feel full and satisfied and give you the energy and nutrients needed to function at your best. Women 25grams of fiber per day and Men 38grams of fiber per day.
5. Biogenetically Unique For every rule there is a unique situation that breaks the rule so it’s important to recognize that you are biogenetically unique and the way your body responds to various foods may be different then your best friend so you must always listen to your body and how it responds after eating a meal and specific foods. If you are bloated, fatigued, indigestion or any type of unpleasant reaction then avoid that food, investigate the ingredients and possibly consider a food sensitivities test.
6. Calories Count. Caloric intake of meals on average should be from 300-500 and snacks from 100-250. Use a metabolic calculator to calculate the number of calories per day that you should be eating then divide those calories out through the day with your largest meals being breakfast and lunch and lightest meal dinner and then 2 or 3 snacks with the remaining calories. Over 60% of the American population is either overweight or obese so millions of people have clearly been ignoring calories. The only way scientifically you can lose weight is by burning off more calories then you consume. It is very easy to eat high sugar, high fat foods that are very high in calories but low in nutritional value so make sure you are aware of the number of calories you’re putting into your body.
7. Late Night Tea instead of Late Night Snacking. If you are craving food just before bed or in the middle of the night choose a glass of water with lemon and know that you will be able to have breakfast in the morning. That is why it is called BREAK “FAST” you are able to “break” the “fast” in the morning. If you still cannot mentally survive without putting something in your mouth then choose to snack on an orange or a handful of berries. A chamomile, peppermint, spearmint, orange blossom or sleepy time tea before bed can also help curb cravings and ease you into a peaceful sleep. Be aware of what you are feeding, are you feeding boredom, depression, loneliness, sadness, anxiety, fatigue, dehydration and more. If you are grabbing food out of an emotion, it’s okay, you’re human but you must recognize and make a change before it becomes routine. Try grabbing a journal and writing down your emotions to release your thoughts from your body. Finish with a meditation or prayer and let it go.
