Healthy Habits – 11 Simple Tips to Make Your Weight Loss Goals a Reality

It’s easy to know you want to create healthy habits, but it can be tough to follow through. Late nights at work, unexpected errands and getting that level of hangry can leave us falling into old routines.  Because as you know – when you’re hangry, you know you deserve that milkshake or huge glass of wine after all, right?

Research has shown you won’t lose weight or commit to anything if your heart isn’t in it. So we’re focusing on connecting what our brains want to achieve and what our stomach craves to our heartstrings.

We’re sharing not only simple healthy habits anyone can implement into their lives but also how to avoid the 7 pitfalls of falling back into bad habits.

Simple Healthy Habits

Our simple healthy habits aren’t going to be extreme. The reason? Extreme doesn’t work long-term, and we want these healthy habits to last you a lifetime.

1. Get 7 to 8 Hours of Sleep

   Sleep helps regulate our hormones, hunger, mood, and the aging process. It’s cheaper than any facial or weight loss pill. Just take the time to rest.

2. Don’t Smoke

   Unlike sleeping, smoking kills your inners. It’s terrible for your inners, and it does nothing for your outward appearance. On top of all of that, people that smoke tend to make less money than nonsmokers.

3. Eat Most of Your Meals at Home

   Cooking allows you to know what exactly is going into your body, plus when we cook for ourselves we know more about the portions and calories involved in each meal. I also keep healthy-ish protein bars on hand.

4. Drink More Water

   Water keeps your inners working properly plus it helps your skin and energy.

5. Walk More

   Working out shouldn’t be the only activity you get a day. People that stay active throughout the day are likely to maintain their weight loss longer.

6. Drink Only in Moderation

   Light drinking can be linked to lower rates of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes; however, over-doing is not only annoying but linked to serious health risks including an increased risk of breast cancer. Plus drinking is one the key reasons we can gain weight without really noticing – don’t drink your calories.

7. Wear Sunscreen

   Skin cancer is one of the easiest cancers to prevent. Plus sun damage is one of the leading reasons for premature aging.

8. Surround Yourself with Good People

   People in good relationships are linked to greater happiness and overall well-being. Our 21 Day Challenge group of women are so amazing and keep us motivated.

9. Follow the 2-Day Rule

   The 2 Day Rule says if you haven’t worked out in 2 days, it’s time to jump back in. Never go longer than 2 days without a workout.

10. Leave Wiggle Room

    We follow a 90/10 approach to eating – meaning we eat healthy 90% of the time. That also means nothing is off limits. We can have 10% of anything we want. Everything in moderation ….including food, workouts, work, and stress.

11. Take Time to Breathe

    Right at this moment, you are enough. Let that other crap go.

The 7 Pitfalls Preventing Healthy Habits

Just because we know we should eat more whole foods and exercise, it doesn’t mean that we are mentally prepared to implement either one. That’s the real challenge. So here are our 7 pitfalls and how to overcome them. We also put together 5 tips to maintain your healthy weight here.

It’s important to pull out these 7 secrets when you start feeling your good intentions going out the window. Remember, the key is remember why you started these new healthy habits.

1. Identify Why You’ve Failed Before

   For us, getting hangry without a plan is always a reason for disaster. We also struggle with emotional eating. If you start feeling bored, lonely, or sad – identify the feeling and create a new habit. For example, you could call a friend or try a yoga class instead of reaching for treat.

2. Have a Concrete, Positive Goal

   So many of us will set a goal that is either vague or kind of negative. For example, “I’m not going to the chubby girl at the high school reunion” or “I’m never being the fat sister again!” Not cool.If you’re going to take the time to commit to healthy habits, you have to know you are worth it and have a plan to get to your goal. If you can tie your weight loss to something other than outward appearance it helps connect it to the heart too. A specific, positive goal might be, “I am going to lose 1-2lbs per week to prevent myself having heart problems like Dad”.

3. Adopt a Plan That Still Allows Your Favorite Foods

   Going back to the 90/10 rule, we aim to eat healthy foods 90% of the time. That means we can still have pizza a night of the week or a glass of wine with dinner. Your favorite foods shouldn’t be abandoned, or you’ll likely overdo it when you do have them.

4. Plan Ahead & Avoid Mindless Eating

   Keeping snacks on hand and knowing where your next meal will be is always helpful. If you’re going out with friends, go ahead and look over the menu ahead of time.I know for us – the rolls on the table are a form of mindless eating. Just because you are out with friends doesn’t mean you need to over-eat….let your company be your form of entertainment and joy versus the food.

   If you find yourself mindlessly eating during the day, one way to stop is to challenge yourself to put everything you would eat between meals into a gallon ziplock bag. At the end of each day, look up how many calories you would have just ate to eat. I bet you’ll be amazed, and the process will make you more aware of the habit.

5. Decide Why You’re Eating

   Are you hungry or do you feel bored, stressed, sad or lonely? A way to break emotional eating is to follow a meal plan. This way you’ll know exactly what to eat for each meal of the day to stay full and become aware of emotional ties to food.

6. Know That Willpower Is Limited

   Ever wonder why you overdo it at night? It’s because by the evening, we’ve made a ton of decisions, had a lot of surprises and stress hit us. Our willpower is limited – even Oprah and Beyonce only have SO much.

   So don’t sweat it if you cave here and there. One way to prevent a slip is to limit in the moment decisions. Last minute decisions rely on emotion or bad rationalizing like “well, she ordered pasta, I will too!” or “I deserve a pie of cake dangit!” Planning ahead will keep you on track with your long-range goals.

7. Stop the All or Nothing Cycle

   – We make around 200 food choices per day. It’s not the end of the world if one or two of those are bad. On the 90/10 rule, you could have 20 so-so choices. :P It’s all about balance. If you’d like more on how we maintain our healthy weight check out this post. Also, that 2 Day Rule is going to keep your rear in gear with working out too!

Are you still struggling with healthy habits or losing weight?

Sometimes just having a group of people that can relate can make a big difference. We host a 21 Day Challenge each month where we share the ups and downs we’re having and also share meal plans and workouts. If you’d like to join us you can learn more here and apply to join.

What healthy habits are you trying to implement? How do you stick to them?