Perfect time to start losing weight!

Ok, so we've had plenty of time to make our resolution for this year and many people have already failed or become discouraged.  I'd like to go over some tips that can help someone who is trying to eat healthier or lose weight. 

Obviously if you can hire a personal trainer and see a nutritionist that would be your best option but many of us can't afford that luxury.  So that being said, getting your entire family in on this with you is the best.  You would then, as a family go through the house and throw away junk food and any other products that are processed, full of sugar, sodas, etc...

If your family can part with these items at least at home then that is a huge success for you! Learning together as a family on how to cook healthy meals creates a bond that will be married. If you are not sure how to cook healthy then get some cook books that use real ingredients. At first it will seem like you just don't have the time and not sure how you can do this. Planning is your first step. You should plan for at least 1 week of food to keep in the house. Going to the store every day by forgetting something or just getting dinner each night can be quite costly in itself. Each member of the family should sit and write down their weaknesses. For example, every now and then my kids (teens) would like Captain Crunch or Cinnamon Twists cereal. Every now and then for them is not too bad but I know that if it is in the house I will sit with the box next to me and finish at least half of it. So I don't keep it in the house. If certain items call your name or make your mouth drool then you probably shouldn't keep it in the house.


A few tips to help you curb your cravings is when you feel really hungry then drink a "cold" glass of ice water, about 6-10 oz. I can keep individual dove dark chocolates in the house without eating them in one sitting (like I can do in other situations) so when I am hungry I will eat one of those and then drink the water. Wait for about 30 minutes and if you are still hungry then treat your self to some fruit or veggies :).

If your family is like mine and they don't want to help you, well this is where I really succeed. So I'll cook my dinner and my husband will cook his yucky dinner. The kids will usually eat from me but sometimes they go to my husband. At first I thought it would be hard watching them eat unhealthy but tasty meals. But I came up with a plan! So I continue to eat my healthy meals and I will take a bite of their unhealthy meal. This really helps me with my cravings. Also if we go out and they get fries and I got fruit, I will sneak a couple of fries. So I made my situation into a good one so I can "taste" the unhealthy meals and get my cravings fix. Everyone keeps food hidden in the house if it is something I might like to eat late at night. After awhile it gets easy and I get to "taste" what I'm missing and that is enough for me.

Another trick is to journal your feelings when eating. Yes GUYS too :). I've been involved in nutrition and exercise for many, many years and I just started journaling and I found out I was teaching my kids bad eating habits! As strict as I am, I found out that every time someone in our family was sad then I was baking cookies for comfort. I was teaching them to use food for comfort when you are sad. Also I noticed that every holiday and birthdays and anytime the kids have done something really good in school, we take them out to eat. So now I was associating doing good things with food as well. Ugh, that was frustrating. So now when we are sad then we watch a funny movie with very low calorie, low fat popcorn. And if someone did something great then we would go do something fun like a movie or rock climbing or bowling.


So those are some of my tips.  Hopy you enjoy!!!!!!!!
Kristina Crossway


NASM CPT