“The definition of insanity: to keep doing the same thing and expect different results.”
This is one of my favourite quotes because you can apply it to so many things: losing weight, exercising, breaking habits, saving money, accomplishing a goal (big or small), etc.
Let’s talk specifically about weight loss. You have to be prepared to make changes to your diet & lifestyle if you want to lose weight. In a nutshell: these changes will most likely include incorporating more fruits & veggies, whole grains, lean protein, and healthy fats into your daily diet, exercising on a regular basis and cutting back on refined sugar, carbs, bad fats and alcohol.
There are also small changes that you can make everyday to help you shed those pounds or maintain your weight:
Don’t eat chicken skin. It’s loaded with calories & fat, and not worth it. If your chicken needs extra flavour; try dipping it in some salsa or hummus, or adding it to your salad with some lemon vinaigrette
Love fajita night? Swap out the tortilla for a couple romaine lettuce leaves. You still get all the flavour & protein from the filling, but will cut back on the carbs & calories.
Choose the healthy, low cal condiment option:
– avocado vs. cheese
– mustard vs. mayo
– hummus vs. mayo
– oil vs. butter (butter is better than margarine though!)
– salsa vs. sour cream
Have half a bun or no bun with your burger (saves almost 200 calories!)
Choose legumes (lentils or beans) instead of meat in your fajitas, chilli, stew, pasta & salad a couple times per week
Measure your cereal. Calories from cereal can creep up fast. I often do a combo of 2 or 3 different cereals; with most of it consisting of the lowest cal option, and than sprinkling the higher cal options on top (Jordan’s Muesli and Nature’s Path Organics are good cereal brands).
Have unsweetened vanilla almond milk instead of dairy milk every couple weeks. Consuming dairy milk all the time is not good for you, and almond milk is only 40 calories/cup vs. 100-150 calories/cup in milk (depends on if you drink skim, 1% or 2%)
If you need more liquid when sautéing mushrooms or making a stir-fry; add water or organic vegetable broth instead of more oil
Measure your oil – usually 1 or 2 tbsp is enough!
When it comes to accomplishing your goals in life; you have to be prepared to make a change in order to see results.
I too love that quote. I think you not not only need to make changes but to continue to make changes to see continued results (at least with weight/fitness). Nice post.
I agree – it’s so easy to get into a fitness rut, and before you know it your workouts aren’t challenging anymore. Or you find yourself cooking the same things for dinners every week and get into a rut. Thanks for the comment!