Healthy Challenge

The Snore Shop Team would like to challenge you to make a healthy you this year!  See if you can follow these steps!

1)  No Drive Through Meals

Drive through meals have to be one of the largest sources of empty calories, fats and salt you can find in one setting. As our lives get busier and we have less time for ourselves, the drive through counter offers a fast, admittedly delicious, yet unhealthy way to satisfy your hunger.

Instead, plan your day or even your week beforehand.  You know your habits; you know the days you might have to hit the local fast food restaurant for that quick lunch between destinations.  Bring a lunch. Bring lunches for everyone (your kids in the car).  You will probably save money in the process and definitely improve the calorie count for the day.

TRY THIS:  No drive through or fast food for a week.  At all!  If it comes from a restaurant in a bag or a box, don’t do it!

2)  Drink more water!

All we hear about are the virtues of water.  Drink eight glasses per day, the doctors and nutritionists say. Is there much to that claim?  Eight 8 ounce glasses of water per day amounts to half a gallon, or two litres, of water.  That volume of water constitutes about 40% of your total blood volume, which means you will increase the filtration of your blood through your liver and kidneys, which requires work and calories, without inputting calories or other substances, like sugar, salt, caffeine or alcohol.

Drinking a cold glass of water just before a meal can also help fill you up early and will help you if you are trying to practice portion control, and it will help improve the breakdown of food products in your gut.

TRY THIS:  Start to replace your intake of coffee, juice, or other beverages with a glass of water. If you drink two coffees per day, make one of them a glass of water. Even changing one of the many beverages you take in a day with an equivalent of water can help.

3)  Portion control

It is often too much to ask to get someone to overhaul their entire diet.  Going from a carb-rich to a carb-poor diet often does not last long.  Trying to go fat-free all of a sudden also does not bode well for long term support.  And in the end, depriving yourself of an entire food group or source of calories like fats and carbs is also not good for your overall health.

MODERATION is the key.  You can have some carbs and some fats.  The key is the word “some”. Use a smaller plate, and stick to ONE plate of food. Some of the best weight loss tips have come from people who have simply used smaller plates. A filled up plate looks appetizing, and a smaller plate can significantly reduce unnecessary calories.

TRY THIS:  Get some low cost paper plates, smaller than your own dinner plates, and try this tip for a week. Challenge yourself to only eating one plate per meal. Look at Tip #2 and drink a cold glass of water just before your meal.

Good Luck!  We would love to hear about your successes!  Check out our FaceBook page and post your thoughts!

The Snore Shop Team