10 Things You Need to get Healthy
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When I started out on my health journey, I didn’t realize how much harder I made the transition from my old habits to better healthier ones. All you want to do is put your time and energy into living in that lifestyle of a healthier you, not in the small steps that lead to that success.
I’ve got you! I tried and tried again to get back to healthier weight and healthier mindset and it never stuck! I found it really hard to keep up with the extra steps to doing the things that would make me healthier. Well I finally gave in and got some apps, devices, and routines that worked for me, which led to a 15lb weight loss in about 6 weeks! And it was SO EASY! I will be sharing these easy fixes with you. The ones that I used to successfully lose weight to feel better in my own skin!
In this blog post, I will be going over the 10 items that made my weight loss journey easier:
The beginning
The strugglefest
The 10 items you need!
The apps and influencers to use and follow
If you have been there alongside me, trying and trying and failing at living a healthier lifestyle, read on and see results fast!
The beginning
I made attempts at living a healthy lifestyle a few times in my life. I always ran into problems maintaining the lifestyle due to lack of time and motivation to go the extra mile. I hated that the little things were preventing me from living the life I truly wanted. So I went on social media to see if there were tricks, tips, and hacks for what I struggled with. And it turns out the answers were all hidden in plain sight!
Now I find that my healthy lifestyle change is something that is relatively easy to maintain and I can’t even see myself going back to my old ways. I make healthy meals, I’m more active throughout the day, and feel happier for it!
So without further ado, here is my story:
The strugglefest
I have one of those personalities that really makes me feel like my spirit animal is Garfield, the cat. I like to eat. I want it to be in my mouth as quick as possible and I definitely don’t want to put time and effort into it.
The obstacle of my inner Garfield can be hard to overcome when you’re trying to lose weight and generally become healthier. This is why I was previously unsuccessful with my health endeavors. There were so many small steps I had to take to make my healthy foods and getting my a** up and active.
I was SUPER upset every time I felt myself slipping into my old habits, so I turned to social media for help. After spending HOURS on Pinterest, Instagram, and Snapchat, I finally figured it out!
I needed to actually invest in myself and get the gadgets, gizmos, and thingy-mabobs that they used to make their meals and to track their health!
The 10 items you need!
After so much time with my face glued to my phone researching why I am so unsuccessful and ultimately unhappy with my lifestyle changes, I got 10 items that were decent quality to make meal prepping and exercising easier. I found these items, while initially seemed like a waste of money, were what made the difference for my success. Read ahead for the 10 items that could change your life!
Okay, so these are the things my inner Garfield swears by. The items are not listed in order of importance because they are all necessary to me.
I cannot tell you how many times I was estimating how much food I placed on my plate and was off because I didn’t want to dirty a measuring cup. This led to overeating and not being able to stay in a calorie deficit. Meal prepping requires enough cutting boards, dishes, and knives to be washed already! I could not handle another second longer of cleaning things, so I invested in a kitchen scale. Weighing your food and drinks gives you a more accurate representation of what you’re putting into your body so you can keep track better.
I also NEEDED quality pots, pans, and cookie sheets to decrease the time it took me to clean up after meal prepping. I had old cookie sheets and it would take me a million years to clean anything off of it. Same for my sauté and sauce pans. My non-stick pans were scratched up and useless and I became worried about teflon poisoning, so I got new pots and pans!
And for Pete’s sake, use quality knives. It is minuscule in the grand scheme of things, but using knives that actually did their job efficiently, made things less frustrating. AND USE A VEGETABLE CHOPPER!!! It changed my life. I don’t cry when I chop onions, it halves the time it takes to prep the produce for meals!!
Now for staying active and not absolutely hating it, I got a few things that made me appreciate working out, which led to me doing it more often. And all of this led to consistency turned success!
I recommend getting a yoga mat to do some light yoga, pilates, and to aid you strength training. Strength training is something I prefer over cardio so I invested in resistance bands to use at home. I had an injury and was seeing a physical therapist and she recommended I get a set and use it at home for treatment and also prevention. If you have back problems like me, get the resistance bands and do some yoga stretches at least a few times a week! You will see a difference, I promise!
For cardio, I like running, but I only like it if it’s nice weather, I’m not too hot and sweaty, the planets and the stars all align, and I’m wearing my Mizuno running shoes. Just kidding. Kind of…
If I don’t have a lot of time and want to do a quick HIIT type of workout or it’s raining outside, I will jump rope under the covered patio in my backyard! I will go at a fast pace for 5-10 minutes (with breaks) and so my workout is done in 10-30 minutes.
All of these things made it so much easier to implement those healthy habits that led to a better lifestyle I’ve been able to maintain!
The apps and influencers to use and follow
These items sound like maybe it’s a waste of money, when you can “just get over it and do it” like I used to tell myself. But I’m here to tell you that these items actually allowed me to lose 15lbs in a healthy time frame.
Learn from my mistakes and jump right into a successful health journey! Be that version of yourself that you want to be so bad and invest in this person!
A day in the life with the 10 items I’ve listed above means fewer dishes to do, halving your meal prep time, having the option to dump and bake or slow cook your food, and having items like your resistance bands and running shoes on hand to make the process quick, easy, and smooth. It was an easy decision for me. Make your life easier and invest in yourself!
Once I got ahold of the items I found health influencers like Rachel Paul, RD or Katie Austin using, I saw a difference right away. It was exactly what I was looking for. My inner Garfield felt heard and was happy I added these items to my life.
Satisfy your inner Garfield (or other spirit animal). Let yourself be you, be lazy if you want, but turn it into something productive. Meet your goals and live your dream life. Think about what that dream life you is. Is it living a more balanced lifestyle where they ate dessert every day but also got their nutritious meals in? Are they staying active so they can keep up when traveling and doing fun activities like zip lining? Well, this is what I want for myself. I want balance but I don’t want to sacrifice a ton of time and effort to maintain that life. Do what’s best for your dream self! Show up as them. Make decisions they would make. Soon you’ll actually be that person without even thinking about it! I urge you to make that first step towards your dream life today.
As always, I am hoping, praying, and wishing the best for you all! I hope you have a good rest of your week! For some motivation or humorous videos on my daily life living a healthy lifestyle, check out my Instagram here!
xoxo Jen
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