Tips To Help You Stay Focused

These are some things that I did and do to help me stay focused on what is important, which is my health and my sanity!

Tip 1: Make your calendar your best friend and don't disappoint it. 

I started my health regimen by picking 5 days a week, and immediately booking off 1 hour in my calendar, to designate as my "work on my health" time.

I do Monday, Wednesday, and Friday as my "workout go to the gym days," Sundays to do my food shopping and "meal prep" for the week, and Thursday I do some stretching and meditation for my mental health.

I put those days in my scheduler, and treat those times as if it were an important executive meeting or a hair appointment. I would never, EVER, miss my hair appointment!   :)

Make those "blocked off" days & times have an important meaning to you; figure out what is important to you. Is it your health in general? Is having more energy important to you? Is lowering blood pressure important to you? 

I actually schedule things around those times now. It has become habitual for me to put me first.

Most women are going to gasp at that last sentence.  

I know, I know -- the concept of putting ourselves first is foreign to most women. We, as women, naturally want to take care of and nurture others first. We always tend to put ourselves last. This is why we suffer with our weight, our mental health, our energy levels....you name it.

It is not selfish to put YOU first. If we become sick, we can't do the things that need to get done... like our professional careers, taking care of kids, pets and running the household and all the other various things we women do! 

When I first started my health journey, I still found myself reverting back to my old thought patterns and habits. I would always find an excuse not to go to the gym, or to not eat healthy. So scheduling that time really helped to put me in the right mind set, that this WAS important! I NEEDED to do it. After all, my health depended on it! 

I mean, let's get real.... we would never have time to go to the gym.... we must MAKE the time.

Tip 2: EAT

You should always eat your first meal within 1 hour of waking up.

Example Breakfast: 1/2 cup eggs, 1/2 cup oatmeal, 1/2 grapefruit & 8 oz water

You can also have a cup of coffee or tea with your breakfast.

Tip 3: PLAN PLAN PLAN

If you fail to plan, you already plan to fail!  YOU MUST PLAN YOUR FOOD! You can't out-train a poor diet -- I can not stress this enough.

Designate a food preparation day. I go grocery shopping ONCE a week ( I loathe grocery shopping!) and I prep my foods for the week.

I separate snacks, make salads, make steamed chicken or tuna, rice - etc.  I have a "snack" basket I keep on the counter with all my snacks for the week.

So the whole week all I do is grab and go.  Everything is already done.  It takes me about 3 hours total to do the groceries, put it all away, cook, prep, and package. 

Once that's done, it's done. I don't have to worry about anything as far as food goes for the week! YAHOO!  

My entire family is doing this - and I have a husband and three boys! So if I can convert them into doing this, anyone can do it.

Example Snacks: 1/4 cup almonds or 3 celery sticks with 2 tbs almond butter or  8-10 ounces of a protein shake. Make sure to have 8 oz water with your snack!

Example Lunch: 3 oz tuna packed in water. 2 cups of bed of greens, tomatoes, chopped celery, green onion, and fresh cilantro. Drink 8 oz water!

Example Dinner: 4 to 6 oz of meat (chicken, turkey, bison, or fish), 1 small sweet potato, 1-2 cups veggies -- like broccoli, green beans, cabbage and don't forget your 8 oz water!

Tip 4: Keep the motor running

Eat every 2.5 to 3 hours. It's the key to speeding up your metabolism!

Eating too little forces your body to switch into conservation mode and burn fewer calories, which means you're more likely to hang onto body fat.

Under-eating can cause your body to break down muscle mass for fuel, which also causes a metabolic slow down.

Unless you want to wind up thinner but flabbier, eating enough and at regular times is key.

Tip 5: Water is the essence of life!

Drink plenty of water!  Drink half your body weight in ounces.  So if you weight 150 pounds you must drink 75 ounces of water.  

Tip 6: Supplement 

Take supplements.  I use NOW. They have the GMP seal.

Good Manufacturing Practice...read more about that here... CLICK HERE

Here is what I take and why:

Multivitamin (the NOW brand recommends two gel caps), Omega's (1500mg per day), ChromeMate (200 mcg 1 per day), R-ALA, (200-400mg per day 1-3 per day depending on body composition - ask your coach) and Silymarin (1 per day)

Multivitamin: provides the body with vitamins and minerals that are missing in most of today's foods.

Omega 3: helps lower cholesterol, helps cardiovascular system, brain food! Stabilizes mood, and improves fat metabolism.

ChromeMate: helps body metabolize sugar, prevents muscle loss, and increases your body's metabolism

R-ALA: powerful antioxidant - reduces aging effects and helps metabolize sugars, fat burner!

Silymarin: cleans and detoxes liver, helps overall digestion effectiveness, a healthy liver equals better fat metabolism!

Tip 7: SLEEP

Get plenty of rest!  Deep REM sleep is when we produce the Human Growth Hormone... also known as our body's best natural fat burner! 

Tip 8: Create habits 

Last but not least...stay consistent! Consistency creates habits. Habits equal success.  If you have a bad day where you slip up, don't beat yourself up! It happens to the best of us! Just start fresh again on your next meal/workout. Just tell yourself you CAN do this and you are worth it!

We have this beautiful thing called "Life". Live it to the fullest and healthiest you can!