Hey guys! After taking a week off due to a family emergency and exhaustion after a long road trip, I’m back with tips to help both my ladies and gents get the healthiest and speediest fitness results you all are striving for.
For many of us, no matter how far along we are in our fitness journey—whether you’re just getting into fitness or trying to up the stakes, hoping to take your fitness to the next level, often times the toughest part is establishing new and better habits. Now, discipline plays a huge role in shifting your lifestyle. You have to train yourself. It’s not easy to push yourself past the pain when you begin to increase the weight, or when intensify your cardio session when you feel the burn, or when you reduce your calorie intake or sugar intake when you are carving those foods, and so on. Making changes in our health and fitness can very challenging physically, mentally, and emotionally. However, as most of us know, change and growth is never comfortable.
To post-pone your starting point is not going to make your journey any easier. If anything, it’s going to frustrate you early on because you are going to wish you started earlier. You are going to be anxious for results when you haven’t really practiced the new lifestyle long enough for your body to react. So, for those who are seeking discipline in their eating habits—hoping to reduce hunger cravings or rid themselves of junk food, and so on, here are some of my fail-proof tips:
- Drink your hunger away! I’m not talking about (soda) pop (I’m from Cleveland, we say pop) or iced tea loaded in sugar. When trying to reduce snacking in between meals, drink tea or coffee (I’ll keep it plain—it’s zero calories, gives me an energy boost, and my hunger cravings goes away until it’s time for my next meal).
- Fiber, fiber, and more fiber! Just because I try not snack doesn’t mean I never have anything in between a meal. For some of us, it’s not so much snacking that’s the problem, it’s more so the type of snacking. So instead of grabbing a snack loaded in sodium and unnatural sugar, increase your fiber intake by eating an apple. Fix yourself some homemade granola bars or energy bites (with oatmeal). It’s loaded in fiber—you know exactly what’s in it, and it’s just all around healthier than buying that store bought stuff. Also, you may be eating too many carbs, and carbs really aren’t that filling. Trust me, I can eat unlimited amounts of bread and still be hungry! Lol. So, think about lowering your carb intake and increasing your protein. Lean meats, fish, and so on.
- Water. Drink it. Often times, we deny ourselves water, and we begin to crave food. Now, most times, you aren’t actually hungry. Those hunger pains may actually be thirst pains. Try to drink a gallon of water a day. Trust me, you won’t be able to hold all that water and eat excessively. Switch it up, too. Feel free to infuse your water with fruit. It’s tasty and you won’t get bored with drinking it.
- Grapefruit—eat it or drink it. I love (pink) grapefruit. Sometimes I will juice and sometimes I’ll cut one in half and eat it. Grapefruit helps prevent our bodies from storing sugar and helps with appetite control, because it lowers our bodies’ insulin levels. It is also a source of fiber, and it’s low in calories; so feel free to eat or drink it as a snack. Honestly, grapefruit juice has a ton of benefits. If you’d like to know more, just comment below and I’ll gladly share with you.
- Stick to a schedule. This has been a great help for me. Although I have a workout schedule (I work out at the same times daily, except on Saturday and Sunday). I am more so speaking about an eating schedule. I’ve noticed that I eat less when I eat on a schedule. For example, I have lunch around 2 (no later than 2:30) every day whether I’m actually hungry or not. This way, I avoid overeating due to “starvation” lol.
- Exercise. Manage stress. Get rest. Exercise increases those “fullness” hormone levels—reducing food cravings. It also helps to manage stress. For me, depending on the type of stress, I either overeat (personal life stress) or under eat (work, finances, something like that)—not sure why, but that’s just how I react to stress. As for my last tip, get rest—proper sleep matters. It helps reduce stress, and thanks to that good ole’ (expensive, but awesome) Baylor education, I know that sleep impacts the hormones ghrelin (increases our appetite) and leptin (decreases our appetite). When we get less sleep our ghrelin hormone levels increases, therefore increasing hunger.
Guys, I really hope you found these tips helpful. If you want more info or have questions, feel free to comment below, message me on Instagram or Twitter, and I’ll gladly offer my 2 cents. Now, I only speak about what I know about, so if I don’t have an answer for your question, I will direct you to a person (or other resource) that I know will have the answer.
Keep grinding guys!
Until next time,
Peace.