Simple Steps To A Healthier You

When I was young, I was thin. But when I was young, I was not healthy.

I worked out a lot because I was involved in sports and I had a lot of excess energy. However, I ate horribly. I ate sugary snacks, only drank soda, and McDonald’s had basically become one of my main food groups.

Because I had a fast metabolism, these bad eating habits didn’t affect my physical appearance. I remained thin, even if I wasn’t being healthy. And when I was young, I thought that was what mattered – I thought that as long as I was thin, I was healthy.

If you think that way, it’s time to learn a good lesson: being thin does not mean you are healthy.

Remember that fast metabolism I had in high school? Well, fast-forward to college and you’ll find out that fast metabolism slowed down a lot. I surpassed the freshman fifteen. I was eating horribly, drinking horribly, and I never worked out anymore. I was very unhealthy.

However, a few years into this weight gain, I realized just how unhealthy I had become. I realized that I was gaining weight and that if I didn’t start changing my habits, I could easily become overweight.

So, I changed my lifestyle. And guess what? It worked! I didn’t have to go on a dramatic diet, I didn’t have to take any medication, I didn’t have to mix special diet drink ingredients together… I made a few simple changes to my life and became healthy for the first time in my life.

I’m going to share these steps below:

Stop eating out so often: Next time you go eat at a restaurant, take a moment and look at the nutritional facts of what you’re eating – talk about getting scared straight!

Cut out extra, unnecessary sugary foods: Replace regular candy bars with snack foods made by companies such as Atkins. When I lost my weight, I lived off of their peanut butter cups!

Cut back on soda: If you drink a lot of soda, it’s important to know that this can add a lot

of harmful things to your body and can cause breakouts on your skin. If you want to quit drinking soda completely, I recommend cutting back a little at a time. By doing this, you won’t experience the caffeine withdrawal headaches! It took me approximately two weeks to stop drinking soda.

Drink more water: I cannot stress the importance of drinking water. Your body is made up of 70% water, so it is obviously very important for your health! Drinking water will help your skin become clearer, it will curve cravings, and give you more energy.

Eat smaller portions: You don’t have to stop eating pasta, but you do have to stop eating a huge plate full and going back for seconds. Also, cutting back on so much bread with your meals is helpful!

Cut back on drinking alcohol: Once again, I urge you to look into the nutritional facts of the alcohol that you are drinking. In college, like many college students, I went to the bar. And what was my preferred choice? Anything filled with sugar that tasted sweet and delicious. Drinking sugary, mixed drinks is putting so many bad things into your body. And side note: alcohol affects every organ in the body, so keep that in mind before you decide to binge.

Stop eating so late: Like many people do, I get late night cravings. These cravings were intensified in college when I was up late for parties or studying. When it’s late, places like Taco Bell sound like the best idea. But don’t do it! Instead, eat a healthier snack from your home (fruit is always my favorite option!)

Get your heart rate up at least 30 minutes each day: You have to move your body. Although eating habits are important to a healthy body, you need to work out. It’s important to remain physically active!

I don’t always follow these rules perfectly. I eat out occasionally – sometimes, I slip up and eat out multiple times a week. Also, Coca Cola is my guilty pleasure and I am not ashamed to admit it. We are all going to mess up. But the point is that you have to keep trying. If you follow these steps, I promise that you will start to see positive results!

Remember: Life is short; eat the cake batter.