If you are not ready to make big changes to your lifestyle and would prefer to start off small, there are a few things you can do to still get great exercise results – to lose weight and feel great, taking one step at a time.

1. Set yourself weekly goals, where each week you have a new goal, but continue to do the one from last week. Here are a few examples:

• Go for a 30 min walk 3 times this week
• I am going to not eat anything that comes out of a packet this week
• I am going to eat veggies at every meal this week
• I am not going to each anything with Dairy in it – no milk, no yoghurt, no cheese
• I am going to walk for 30mins 5 times this week

2. You have to want to make a change (any change) – you need the right mindset. If you don’t have that, it won’t work. So get your mind right first and you are half way there!

3. Do more incidental exercise – take the stairs, walk up the escalator rather than just standing there watching the world go by, park further from the door at the shops, if you have stairs in your house – forget things so you have to go up and down a few more times a day, run around with your kids at the park or beach, or why not have some more special cuddles with your partner!

4. Clean out your cupboards/fridge of all the crap – it is actually really liberating, I bet you find things you didn’t know you had! If there is no crap in there, you can’t be tempted! Once you have done that, stock it full of healthy things!

5. Try a new food or a new clean eating recipe each week – what about quinoa, or chia seeds, avocado, or have porridge rather than sugar filled cereal, or have an omelette instead – fill it with veggies!

6. Start to reduce the amount of sugar you eat – work on taking cereals, lollies, cakes, biscuits, sugar out of your tea, reduce the amount of fruit you eat etc. Ideally treat yourself once a week to a treat!

7. Remember the 80/20 rule – in two forms – be good 80% of the time (eat clean and healthy 80% of the time and treat yourself 20% of the time – which usually equates to 1-2 meals/treats a week. The second one – 80% of your results is based on what you put in your mouth, 20% is exercise.

8. Reduce the amount of wheat in your diet – start 1 meal at a time and eventually take it out for 2 weeks and see if you notice a difference.

Replace	With
White rice	Brown rice
Cous cous	Quinoa
White bread	Sour dough bread
Breakfast Cereals	Homemade muesli or oats/porridge

 

9. Reduce the amount of dairy in your diet – start 1 thing at a time. When you are ready, take it out of your diet for 2 weeks, and see if you notice a difference

Replace	With
Milk	Oat Milk, Rice Milk, Quinoa Milk, Almond milk (although is quite sweet   with sugar in it)
Yoghurt	It’s just for 2 weeks! After that only have organic natural yoghurt and only have it 1-2 times a week
Cheese	Have it as a treat

 

10. Increase your exercise – start with twice a week and build up to 5-6 times a week. As a minimum you need 1 rest day a week.

11. EVERY TIME you exercise, push yourself to your limits – give it YOUR 100%, whether it be while walking/running, or doing strength training exercises. Pushing yourself  through the pain will make you stronger in both body and mind and you will reap the rewards, physically and mentally, when you realise you can achieve things you may not have thought you might be able too!

12. Try something new – an outdoor workout, a bootcamp, a different class at the gym, walk or run somewhere new, try Mummy Bootcamp @ Home.

If you start with the small changes, and start noticing results, imagine if you made more of the changes faster – imagine the results you could achieve! YOU CAN DO IT! Start TODAY!

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