1) Include cardiovascular exercise into your day. This can be walking, bike riding or dancing as long as it’s regular. It’s great for improving your fitness levels and reducing stress levels.

2) Drink enough water everyday. Remember to drink more if you exercise, drink caffeine or alcoholic beverages, eat refined foods or when the weather is hot. It is recommended that you consume your body weight (in kg) x 0.033 litres per day. [eg. 65kg x 0.033 = 2.15L].

3) Balance all your meals and snacks sensibly. Too much of any one thing never gets us anywhere!

4) Include weight training into your weekly fitness regime. Make sure you keep trying to advance yourself each session. Continually challenging yourself ensures that progression is always achieved.

5) Don’t eat heavy meals at night. Your dinner should be the lightest meal of your day. The last thing your stomach needs is a heavy meal to process. More often than not it leads to weight gain and a poor nights sleep. Eat the majority of your food at the start of the day, when your body actually needs it.

6) Plan your meals ahead of time or at least make sure you have the right foods available in the fridge and pantry. It’s much easier to make the right choices at meal and snack times when you are prepared.

7) Try and vary the foods you eat so as to ensure you get as many different nutrients as possible. All fruits, vegetables and grains contain different types of vitamins and minerals so variety is important. Remember, the more processed a food is the less nutrients it contains. That’s why it’s important to only consume processed foods occasionally. Often they actually take more nutrients from our system than they actually provide.

8) Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Whatever you eat sets you up for the rest of the day and can either make or break you in regards to energy levels. If breakfast is skipped or only a small amount of food is eaten (especially something sugary), then you are more likely to make bad food choices later in the day, have problems with energy and sometimes gain weight as you end up eating more food. Its amazing how eating the right breakfast can help you control your mood, energy, weight and decision making.

9) Stop adding plain white table salt to your foods. It is very processed and has lost a lot of its minerals in the refining process. If you do like salting your food then switch to natural unrefined sea salt which still contains all its minerals, just like nature intended. Alternatively, herbs and spices can add a lot of flavour to your meals.

10) Remove or at least reduce sugar from the foods and drinks you consume. The more sugar you eat the more you will crave. It is a vicious circle and can cause havoc to our energy system, digestion, hormones and waist lines.

11) Be sensible about your alcohol consumption. Alcohol free days and maximum number of glasses a week are often discussed and recommendations change regularly. Generally speaking every one knows that no alcohol is the best way to go. If you do like a drink try not to make it a regular or daily habit. Just like everything else moderation is the key. Alcohol can interrupt digestion, unbalance hormones, disrupt sleep and lead to weight gain.

12) Make sure you get enough sleep every night. Everyone is different but generally somewhere around 8 hours a night is optimal. Try and make it a daily thing. Don’t cut sleeping corners during the week and plan to catch up on the weekend. It doesn’t work. You need a good sleeping routine so your body and mind can find their balance.      

© Kylie Pogson 2006

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