Small changes. Big results.

Do you want to lose weight and are not sure where to start? Perhaps you work full-time with family responsibilities, making counting daily calories and exercising for hours a week unrealistic. Here are five simple ways to get you on a sustainable path to good health.

Diet is 80% of weight loss, so I would prioritize meal planning and prepping every week to have food ready for quick meals and on the go. Stock your refrigerator and pantry with minimally processed foods. I know I can only eat so many apples or oranges at a time! I don't love cooking, but I love how I feel from eating at home with real ingredients. 

My favorite ways to cut time in the kitchen include:

Once a week, do the following:

Bake 5 days' worth of potatoes for easy snacks with a pat of real butter, salt, and pepper. There is a big difference between eating a bag of potato chips and a real potato.

Hardboil, a dozen eggs for easy, go-to snacks. Easy protein.

Load up the refrigerator with fresh fruit, sliced carrots, celery and hummus, seeded bread, almond butter for easy go-to snacks. Get rid of temptation by not even buying nutritionally void ultra-processed food. Fresh fruit is not the same as fruit juice.

Boil three to four cups of rice for the week (Cooked rice also stores nicely in the freezer and takes just a few minutes to reheat on the stove!)

Purchase frozen already sliced vegetables. My favorite place to purchase veggies is Costco, where I buy 5.5lbs of already sliced organic veggies for under $10.00, saving me time and money!

Buy individually wrapped chicken breasts, fish fillets at your local box warehouse or grocery store. 

My favorite go-to meal takes under 15 minutes total to cook and prep. I defrost either chicken or fish the night before, open it, use a drop of olive oil, salt and lemon, and pepper and cook for 10 minutes at 400 degrees. I then warm up cooked rice and heat some frozen veggies on the stove with a drop of olive oil, salt, pepper, and coconut aminos. And now you have dinner or lunch in under 15 minutes! This meal is portable as well and easy to pack for work. 

Another easy meal under minute meal is salmon patties over greens. While the olive oil is heating up in a pan, mix a can of salmon, gluten-free flour (just enough for the mixture to stick together), an egg, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and a dash of olive oil. Form patties and place on stove. In a small blender, mix one avocado, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and a little olive oil. Mix until almost liquid. Place pre-sliced cabbage mix into a bowl with two salmon patties. Top off with the avocado dressing. Total time? Less than 10 minutes for a meal well under 500 calories.

There is a lot of confusing information on the internet about eating. Please visit the 2020 - 2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans for evidence-based information on daily guidelines for healthy eating.

Exercise

Not everyone has time to exercise for hours or wants to. Here's what I would do.

Daily at-home strength training routine of the following:

45 pushups

45 body squats

45 bicep curls

1-minute plank

45 crunches

45 Glute Bridges

45 shoulder presses

Walk, run, ride or swim for at least 30 minutes five days a week. I find walking an ideal time to catch up on "reading" with Audible books while decompressing from life's daily stressors. 

If your building is equipped with stairs, go up and down a flight of stairs for five minutes at a time, six times a day. That would add up to 30 minutes of stair climbing five days a week for a total of 150 minutes of exercise without ever walking into a gym.

Aim for 10,000 steps daily. Ways to reach this goal include:

Park further out in the parking lot

Take the stairs vs. the elevator

Get up from your desk and make a loop around your floor every hour.

Health is not a six-month diet, it is a way of life and sustainable weight loss takes time. Small changes add up to big results. During my own weight loss journey, I lost about a pound or two a month for nearly three years and successfully kept it off despite being put through the wringer in unimaginable ways. I don't believe in motivation as I would never make it to the gym or eat well if I was "motivated". I do believe in discipline and accountability and to me, eating well and daily exercise is a form of self-respect. Please let me know how I can support your journey.