By Suzanne Dooley
These days it’s all about improving yourself. And your everyday choices determine your well-being and so, in lieu of looking to drop those extra pounds in anticipation of your next vacation, school reunion, “hot date,” or what have you, what if you were able to consistently maintain a sexy, slim appearance, and feel exceptional every day of your life?
Forget those crazy diet fads. Forget counting calories. Forget depriving yourself of delicious foods. Rather, indulge in food, frolic in fun and focus on just feeling great – and the svelte you will emerge and stay with you, championing you to reach your highest potential in every aspect of your life. With this in mind, here are 10 tips to assist the slimmer you into living a healthy, happy life.
1. Prep For The Week
End the mealtime madness and set yourself up for success. Simply stated, prepare your meals/snacks ahead of time. By preparing healthy foods at home to eat throughout the week, you will easily eat your way to success, and make healthy food selections a no-brainer.
Select your least busiest day of the week, set aside an hour or two, and prep away. Choose recipes that are to your liking and tweak them to create more healthy versions. E.g., If you enjoy mashed potatoes slopped in butter, prepare some creamy cauliflower “mashed potatoes” saturated in freshly ground black pepper and garlic. The leftovers can also be kept in the fridge, serving as a tasty hummus later in the week.
2. Curb Late-Night Snacking
As a general rule, don’t eat three hours before you go to bed. You’ll wake up slimmer and more energetic. If you need to occasionally satisfy cravings, eat one of the healthy snacks sitting in the fridge that you prepared ahead of time. Perhaps that garlic n’ pepper hummus, accompanied by some wedges of fennel, will suffice?
3. Become A Foodie
Become the foodie that you’re meant to be and avoid processed foods as much as you can. This may initially be difficult for some, but once you undertake “clean eating” (at least, for the most part), you’ll drop any unnecessary lbs as easily as you breathe. No exaggeration. You’ll be able to seamlessly maintain your oh-so-slim body, while not forfeiting taste in any way, shape or form. Well, maybe forfeiting shape and form . . . into their more slender versions.
4. Surround Yourself With Beauty
When you surround yourself with beauty (indoors or outdoors), you’ll feel beautiful yourself. All that you experience is always filtered through your senses: from taste to touch, from sight to sound. Carefully selecting with what and whom you come in contact, adds to your well-being. And you’ll soon realize that beauty is bountiful, and is found in fresh, colorful foods, the company of friends, elegant ambience, scenic vistas, to name but a few.
5. Only Do Workouts That You Enjoy
Don’t follow trends. Do what you like to do. If you prefer yoga, practice it. If you like weightlifting, pump that iron. If you enjoy belly dancing, then hip shimmy into the wee hours of the morning. It’s not about what you do, but how you do it. And it’s not about tracking your progress, it’s about experiencing the vitality of life flow through you as you put your strong, slimmed-down body into motion.
6. Drink H2O
Hydrating is key. Drinking water cleanses your body, boosts your metabolism, and acts as an appetite suppressant. A winning -and slimming- trifecta. Also, drinking more water helps your body to stop retaining water, and so you can easily drop those extra pounds of water weight.
7. Celebrate Your Success
Your Slim Shady will want to come out as you eat well, or so you’ll think. Self sabotage tends to come about when you feel as if you’re not progressing. So, celebrate your successes! Perhaps set aside a celebratory day to eat whatever you want, whenever you want. You’ll find that these celebratory days over time will become healthier because your feeling good will eventually outweigh cravings for junk food.
8. Prioritize A Good Night’s Sleep
Halle Berry knows that shut-eye is critical for keeping her body in svelte condition. Berry sleeps at least eight hours each night, and credits her healthy, glowing skin (and slim body) to that time of rest. “I love to sleep,” said Berry, ”when I’m rested, I’m at my best.” And the time is now for you to be at your best too!
9. Eat Purely For Satisfaction
Eat to satisfy your desires, not your needs. Avoid emotional eating at all costs. We all have our emotional triggers, so select healthy outlets to let loose (or, when appropriate, avoid) your emotions. Rituals can serve as outlets that will help you to remain connected to feeling good: herbal tea sessions with friends; aromatic hot stone massages; at-home beauty facials; Netflix marathons. Whatever your healthy outlet is, decompressing will keep you centered. And slim.
10. Have Fun
Don’t underestimate laughing and joyful play. Friends, fun and frolicking are three ingredients to staying slim. Indulge in libations or don’t, but be sure to create light-hearted memories that will keep you slim and shapely. And happy.
