Have you ever heard of the phrase “It’s the little things that count”? Chances are you’ve probably shrugged the statement off, thinking that if you cheated your diet a little bit every day before bed or skipped a every other day that it wouldn’t have a drastic impact on your health. The reality of the matter is that little things over time grow into huge things that can impact you in an either a negative or a positive way, depending on how you choose to spend your time. Think of it in terms of a relationship: if your spouse does something you absolutely cannot stand, like leaving the toilet seat up or not cleaning their dish after dinner, and you say nothing, over time that little bit of annoyance will build up and you’ll likely explode. The same concept applies to living a healthy lifestyle. Author Darren Hardy explains this concept thoroughly in his book The Compound Effect, giving three best friends as an example. The first friend decides that every day he’s going to cut down 150 calories and start exercising a little every day, the second friend starts eating 150 more calories a day and spends their an hour extra every day watching TV on the couch, and the third friend changes nothing. While these changes may not seem like a lot, 150 calories here, a half hour of walking there, over time they can amount to a huge change. The first friend will end up losing 30 lbs after a year and a half or so, the second will gain 30 lbs, and the third will stay the same. What one do you want to be? It takes the same amount of effort to decide to eat 150 less calories as it does 150 more -- it can be as easy as using almond milk instead of creamer in your coffee, or replacing a daily soda with a bottle of water. Nothing major, nothing that is going to dramatically affect your daily quality of life. If anything, it will make it better! If you take this approach to every part of your life, you’ll be amazed at how quickly you’ll see results without putting in a whole lot of effort! Here are three tips you can do to maximize your fitness goals without overhauling your lifestyle completely: Go for a walk on your lunch break Walking for 15 minutes a day (not skipping the weekends) during your day is going to encourage your body to keep moving. When you start moving more you burn more calories, which can amount to lbs lost over time! During your lunch break is a great time to take a walk because it’s in the middle of your day which will give you a burst of energy to finish the day strong! Put a zero calorie sweetener instead of sugar in your coffee 1 tablespoon of sugar has around 50 calories! A lot more than you thought, right? So if you like your coffee sweet that means you’re probably consuming a good 100 calories (or more) that don’t really offer you any return (other than getting your sugar fix). Why not use a calorie free sweetener option like stevia? You won’t need to use a lot because it’s sweeter than sugar, and you get the same sweet taste without affecting your waistline! Swap out one processed snack a day for a fruit or vegetable Processed foods have all sorts of hidden ingredients, calories, and fat that can cause a lot of problems for someone who is serious about reaching their fitness goals. Instead of having a bag of chips, try crunching on some carrot sticks or celery. You’ll still get the crunch, but not all the fat and calories! Or instead of having some cookies, try a bowl of berries with whipped cream. You’ll still be satisfied! We hope these tips bring you one step closer to reaching your fitness goals but in the meantime stay tuned every week for great advice!
