Last week I posted 7 Easy Ways to Start Changing Your Lifestyle. I’m three pounds down since I started incorporating those changes in my life. Now it’s time to kick it up a notch!

Eight

Walk on your lunch break
If you only have a short lunch break, and you work at a place like an office where you can eat at your desk while your still working, go for it! Then clock out for your break after your food had a chance to settle and take walk. Fresh air and a change of scenery is really good for you. Don’t forget to bring a change of shoes.

Nine

Find an active hobby 

Hobbies are great for reliving stress doing something you enjoy but if you’re like me and sit in front of a computer all day then going home to sit in front of an easel to paint is not ideal for the rear end. That’s why last week I decided to learn a new skill. At my young age of 31 I got a used long board and have been learning to skateboard and let me tell you, it is really good for your core. Find something you think you could enjoy, or challenge yourself and learn something new. My boyfriend loves it because he has fun teaching me and it’s something we can do together.

Ten

Take it slow 
If you were once healthy and athletic and think you can just jump right back into it 80 pounds later, think again! You have to be really careful. I did martial arts most of my life, played soccer in high school, used to rollerblade daily, worked on my feet all day in a hot kitchen and just did all sorts of active things my whole life. So learning this skateboarding thing honestly wasn’t that hard for me.  Surprise surprise I sprained my knee from over doing it. My muscles think I can do it but the rest of me is yelling “OMG STOP!” All my extra weight really puts to much stress on my body and is not able to take the impact as well. Just remember, baby steps.

Eleven

Eat eggs for breakfast 

According to a study done in 2008. The International Journal of Obesity said that swapping out your morning bagel for eggs could help you lose 65% more weight. Subjects who ate eggs for breakfast lost more weight, body fat and inches from their waist than those who ate the same amount of calories in the form of a bagel. Researchers believe the higher protein content of the eggs helps you stay fuller, longer and leads to eating less throughout the day.

Twelve

Get Some Sleep 

I can’t stress this one enough! I am going to try an simplify this so pay attention to what ghrelin and leptin do:

Ghrelin: a/k/a “hunger hormone” stimulates hunger, reduces the amount of calories you burn (your metabolism) and increasing the amount fat you store. This hormone tells your brain when you need to eat.
When you sleep, ghrelin levels go down. If you don’t sleep enough, your levels wont go down enough. Then there is too much ghrelin left in your system, so the body thinks it’s hungry and it needs more calories, and it stops burning existing calories because it thinks there’s not enough.

Leptin: the chemical that tells your brain when you’re full.
When you sleep, Leptin levels go up and tells your brain you are good and don’t need food. When you don’t sleep enough, you don’t have enough leptin to tell your brain you are full so now you feel hungry even though you’re not! AND it slows down your metabolism.

Sleep deprivation makes that nearly impossible to loose weight!

Is a lack of sleep making me fat?

Thirteen

Find support 
Ask your people to help you. If you live with your family, ask them to join you on being healthier. If they don’t want to then ask them not to enable you. If they are ordering pizza, ask them to get a veggie topping or not to open the carton of ice cream when you are all watching TV together. Be specific.

My boyfriend helps motivate me with words of encouragement reminding me about our upcoming Caribbean cruise and rewards like clothes, jewelry or weekend trips to the keys!

Its great to have that support system but if you don’t have one, and if you can afford to and have the time, hire a dietitian or personal trainer. Many large gyms offer that.

Fourteen

Track your progress 
A lot of people and other articles say to keep a journal but that’s why I blog! It helps me keep track and I am publicly accountable. On top of blogging I use a lot of social media like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. I do photo of the day and keep a picture journal on Instagram and I share everything on Twitter and Facebook. A lot of my family and friend follow me too so it’s nice to hear their words of encouragement (and unsolicited advise hehe).

Let me know what you do to try and change your lifestyle!