Since I was a kid, weight has always been an issue for me. Growing up there wasn’t much talk about healthy eating habits and lifestyle, so when I was older I was sucked into the dieting world. From my early 20’s, I’ve tried pretty much every new fad and magic pill I could get my hands on not even concerned with the after effects. It’s only been in the last year when I realized that a lot of those things just weren’t working anymore, and I knew that the only way for me to feel better, was to be healthier. I had to change my thinking from losing weight, to making deliberate changes in my lifestyle to feel better and improve my health, physically and mentally. My weight has fluctuated from one extreme to another from weights of 127 to 219. It was definitely time to make some changes.
April of 2015 was the changing point for me. I was just under 200 pounds and felt miserable. I wouldn’t leave my house unless I absolutely had to, I stayed depressed, I missed many of my kids school and sports functions because of how I felt, and I had no energy to do anything. I stopped worrying so much about my weight (although it was a goal of mine to get some of it off) and focused on some simple changes that would have more permanent results, including:
- Drinking more water and less soda – I won’t lie and say I don’t drink soda, but when I do it’s diet. Cutting way back on the sodas not only helps with weight issues, but talk about feeling so much better cutting out all of the sugar. Water wasn’t something I liked to drink, but after drinking it a while, it came natural to me. A plus to this is that my kids all drink water before anything else and they actually like it.
- Vitamins – I’ve never liked vitamins because they always made me sick to my stomach. I decided to give gummy vitamins a shot, and have been taking them daily for the last year. I really feel like these have helped my energy level and just made me feel better overall.
- More Sleep – I’m a night owl, and that doesn’t work well when you have a little one at home to get up and tend to. No sleep means no energy, and the less you do, the less you feel like doing. Forcing myself to get more sleep, and even taking an occasional cat nap has also helped me be more active and healthy.
- Exercising – This doesn’t have to be anything strenuous. Even just cleaning the house, or walking 3-4 times (or more if you can) a week does wonders. During the warm months I walked a lot of miles. It’s refreshing and I found it to be very calming and helps to clear my head.
- Eating Healthy – you don’t have to starve or eat foods that are less than tasty to eat healthy. There are options out there that give you a healthy meal without sacrificing the flavor. Two things that make it easy to make a habit of eating healthy are to just not have junk food in your home, and secondly PLAN AHEAD.
Planning ahead is a big help for me. This basically just means that I try to always plan ahead for the week whether I’m going to be home or have things to attend for my kids. When I don’t keep healthy meal options in my house, it’s easy to go astray and grab whatever is available. This is why I always keep my freezer stocked with Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers. Healthy Choice offers a great variety of frozen meals that taste delicious, and they’re also extremely convenient……which is a plus for me! Most days it’s just me and my daughter here so I don’t cook a full meal for just us two. She likes her food, and I like mine. Keeping these on hand means I can grab whichever flavor I want, toss it in the microwave for a few minutes and I have a yummy lunch.
Healthy Choice also cuts out unnecessary ingredients in my food, which is one of the reasons I love these. They’re made with 100 percent natural proteins and no artificial ingredients. These aren’t your ordinary frozen dinners that have no taste and leave you feeling hungry and unsatisfied. The servings are perfectly proportioned and they come in these neat steam bowls that can actually be re-used. One of my favorite flavors is the Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers Simply Meatball Marinara ( I have to hide this one from my son).
They’re so full of flavor and because they come in these unique tray-in-tray steam cooking system, it tastes fresh, not to mention they are full of vitamins, nutrients, and protein. Need more convincing? Healthy Choice is the only major brand in the frozen meals section that can call 100% of its products “healthy” as approved by the FDA. Besides all of that though, look how delicious this looks (and it was)…..
These few simple changes have changed my life dramatically. It’s not about dieting, which is usually a temporary fix. It’s about creating good habits to live a healthy lifestyle because in doing so, you make more permanent changes and just feel better all around. Today, I’m not afraid to take a picture whether by myself or with my kids. Imagine them having very little photos with their Mom in them to look at when they’re older, that’s a sad thought!
You can find these at many retailers nationwide including, more than likely, your local grocery stores. I pick mine up at Walmart usually for just around $3.29. You can learn more about Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers on their Facebook page or at www.healthychoice.com (check for coupons if you like to be healthy AND frugal).
What steps have you taken, if any, to try to live more of a healthy lifestyle?
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
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