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RE: Everything I Knew About Health & Fitness Was Wrong... and How I Got My Energy Back
Great post, thank you for taking the time to do this!! Idk your availability, but I would be really interested in a step a day I could take to make myself healthier - maybe Day 1, cut out bread. - you talk about it a bit, and the goal is to cut out bread for the day, and less often.
Following! excited to see what else you post!
Thanks for reading! I think you could take a day by day approach, but my experience would suggest that the stacking of too many changes too quickly could lead to falling off the program. Personally I think it takes at least a week to install a new habit and that's what you're aiming for here with these changes... to make them permanent. If you try to make 7 changes over the course of a week, that could get real difficult, especially if any one day is a bit out of the ordinary (i.e., travel or involves a social event, etc.).
That said, if I did try to go day-by-day, this would be my order:
Day 1 - cut out all sugary drinks, except small amount for coffee (just because going to straight black coffee is hard if you're not used to it).
Day 2 - begin a daily walking regimen of at least 30 minutes - don't try to go right to hitting the gym hard, just tell yourself that you will do a minimum of 30 minutes of walking and try to incorporate it into an activity you already do rather than find an extra 30 minutes in your day (i.e., take that conference call while walking, walk to get lunch, etc.). Most people struggle to find 30 new minutes to add to their day so just figure out what activity can be done while walking.
Day 3 - substitute a protein shake for breakfast. Most people unintentionally carb load in the morning which will lead to more carb cravings during the day. By having a protein shake (make sure it is a low sugar shake) you will set your metabolism on a different trajectory and you will be surprised with how effective this one small change can be. Resist the temptation for mid-morning carb snacks and if you're really struggling to make it to lunch, eat a handful of mixed nuts.
Day 4 - add in a 5-10 minute morning stretch routine. Your body needs some movement in the morning, so try doing a couple simple yoga poses (i.e., downward dog, cat/cow, child pose) or some jumping jacks... just enough to get your blood flowing, but not so much that you're working up a sweat.
Day 5 - cut down on refined carbs. I say cut down because it is so hard to eliminate all at once. I would try to eliminate one serving of the following: bread, rice or pasta. It is amazing how many meals contain one or more of these, so just cut out one of them. If you're going for a sandwich, get it wrapped with lettuce or opt for the same fillings as a salad. If you're going for a big rice bowl, have it over greens instead. Skip the pasta salad side.
Day 6 - add in at least one serving of the following vegetables: broccoli, cauliflower or spinach. I say those 3 because they are so common and you can find them at almost any salad bar. Eat a nice big helping, and if your only option is a raw version of them, drizzle some olive oil on top.
Day 7 - add in some form of light resistance training. Again, no need to jump right into heavy weight lifting. I would recommend starting with some simple push-ups and air squats. Warm up with a stretch, then for push-ups go all the way to failure, record how many you could do and then track your progress against that number. Set a goal... for example, if you can do 20, set a goal of 50 and you'd be surprised how quickly you can get there. For air squats, do as many as you can in 90 seconds. Do a couple sets of each.
If you make those 7 changes over the course of a week and stick with it, I would almost guarantee you will see some amazing results after just a couple months. Once that has all set in, you can start with more dramatic changes. The key here is not to go to perfection on day 1, but to make changes that you can actually stick with over time. If you try to go too far too fast, chances are you will revert back at some point.
Please just make this a blog post so I can upvote it again, I'm already following you.