As promised I did not ask for you to make any changes to your diet or exercise regime for the month of January. However, February starts this week and so do our changes. I will only be asking for one change each week and sometimes not even. There are times when it's more important to have a couple of weeks to get a change into place before adding more. Please feel free to comment on the changes since others may be struggling with the same area or may be able to offer tips on how they are managing to make a change you are struggling with.
For our first change you may feel I am not challenging you much but it depends on whether this is something you all ready manage to do or not. I am surprised by how many people I have met who aren't anywhere close to managing this first step so let's go...
Drink water. Simple right. Every day. 8 - 10 glasses and by glasses I mean eight to ten 8 ounce or 250 mL cups of water per day. Personally I figure I'm generally up from 7am until 10pm and that means if I drink one cup every 2 hours I've pretty much made my quota for the day as long as I drink one cup as soon as I wake up and stop drinking an hour before bed. On days I exercise and sweat a lot I'll make sure I'm getting the 10 glasses at least.
Now if you aren't a water drinker you are going to have to learn to be. Water at room temp or even slightly warm is preferable since that is what your body is working at on the inside but at this point if you like it ice cold and can get it in that way just do it.
Also starting your day out before you put anything else in your body with a glass or two of water and a squeeze of lemon will help work with your body's natural urge to eliminate and detox in the morning. Start carrying a water bottle with you everywhere you go. Aim for a refillable bottle to help cut down on plastics. Put one on your desk at work, one in your vehicle, one on the counter at home, one in your purse or gym bag. Wherever you are going to be have one available and drink it. If you have an alarm feature on your phone or watch set it to ring every half to one hour and drink some water.
At the beginning you will obviously be making more trips to the bathroom if you don't normally drink much water, but your body will adjust pretty quickly to this. You can try to drink more earlier in the day and less after dinner too if you want to cut down on nighttime bathroom visits.
Another thing that can be helpful is as soon as you feel hungry or about 15 minutes before a meal or snack drink one full cup of water. This will help fill you up and can help you naturally cut down on how much you would normally eat. A recent study showed that drinking something when you want to eat and then waiting 10 minutes before eating often changed a person's desire to reach for the snack at all. Really though, this is about hydrating, not about dieting so the goal is to get the water in and any other benefit is just a bonus.
Okay, so there you go, your first challenge in 2012 that will head you toward your end goal. What is it? Say your goal again to yourself. This is the beginning. You are taking the first step to reaching the new you that you set out in your goal. I'm so excited to hear the changes. Please share with us as you take this journey. We all have our own challenges and triumphs. I'm looking forward to working alongside your new, stronger you.
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