8 Tips That Make the Difference in Your Health and Weight

Start Your Exercise Program with the Smallest Step

By Stavros Mastrogiannis

I know it’s tempting to take the biggest steps possible when we decide to get in shape, because we want to get in shape as fast as possible, so we figure the bigger the steps we take, the faster we see results = the more motivated we get. Unfortunately, the opposite happens. The more we do to get in shape the faster we burn out. The fact is results are never enough to keeps us motivated if the results were achieved through a method that overwhelmed us. The best way to get in shape is to start with the smallest step possible. Give yourself a chance to adapt the new change into your life, before taking a new step.

For example, let’s say you want to lose weight and in order to do that you would need to start an exercise program. Start by doing two very light weight training routines per week, which take less than 15 to 20 minute each incorporate three, 5 to 10 minute aerobic workouts. Make sure to pick an aerobic activity that you enjoy (or at least don’t hate).

Do this for few weeks before you intensify the workouts. Make sure at the end of the workout you always want to do more. Never workout so hard that by the end of it you are so exhausted you don’t want to workout again. Leave your workout with a good feeling. Don’t try to change your eating habits at the same time as you are trying to develop the exercise habit. Give yourself a chance to get used to working out before you start working on your eating habits.

Read other great tips and features selected by Beliefnet Editor Corine Gatti that will improve your life!

New Spiritual Diets

Healthy Foods to Feed Your Brain

8 Positive Things You Can Accomplish in 30 Seconds

Joel Osteen on the Power of Positive Words

Yes, Keep the Junk Food

I know many nutritionists recommend to their clients to eliminate all the junk food from their house. This way they remove all the temptations that could cause them to cheat on their diet. I say this is a big mistake. I find many of my clients who have eliminated all the junk food from their homes, can’t control themselves when somebody at work brings junk food to the work place. You don’t have to eliminate all the junk food from your diet in order to lose weight and improve your health.

Some junk food in moderation is fine. Secondly, you must learn to control yourself not your environment, because unfortunately the environment is not always under your control. The best way to cut down on junk food is to do it gradually. For example, you can start by making Mondays and Wednesday “Junk Food Free Day”. In other words, on Monday and Wednesday you will not have any junk food but on any other day you can have junk food guilt free. Once that becomes a habit, add few more junk food free days and so on. Make sure you leave one or two days per week that you could enjoy your junk food guilt free.

Walk

This is one of the most important habits you can develop as far as activity is concerned. When I lived in Karistos, Greece, we did not have gyms, and yet people overall where thin and healthy. What we did do was walk everywhere we wanted to go. Many families didn’t even own a car. The best way to develop the habit of walking is to start small. You can start by taking a 5 minute walk every morning or at your lunch break.

Don’t try to do more than 5 minutes in the beginning. The reason is if your goal was to do the recommended 20 to 40 minutes, you can come up with plenty excuses as to why you can’t find the time to do it. Having to do only 5 minutes is a lot easier to fit it into your day and much harder to talk yourself out of it. Over time, as you get used to walking and it starts to become a routine, you can add more time to your walks. Before you know it, you will be walking all the time.

Eat Light During the Day

I know this goes against the advice of most nutritionists. Think about this. When you eat a heavy lunch, how do you feel afterwards? Don’t you feel like taking a nap? That is a natural reaction of the body when eaten a heavy meal. Most of the bodies energy goes toward digestion, and that leaves you feeling tired. In Greece, when we ate the biggest meal in the middle of the day, we have a 3 hour break before we had to go back to work.

So we had time to relax after our lunch. Here, unfortunately we don’t have that luxury and for that reason, if you do get hungry during the day, eat light and keep the heaviest meal for dinner. Don’t worry about eating late. If you eat the right amount of food, it will not make any difference in your weight. A matter of fact, eating your heaviest meal at a time that you can rest afterwards will aid digestion.

Wait! Beliefnet has so much more to help you stay motivated, inspired, and even help you share a laugh. Check out our original content, videos, quizzes and more:

New Spiritual Diets

Healthy Foods to Feed Your Brain

8 Positive Things You Can Accomplish in 30 Seconds

Joel Osteen on the Power of Positive Words

Stavros is the author of The 8 Eating Rules. He holds an A.O.S in Culinary Arts from The Culinary Institute of America and degrees in Fitness and Nutrition with numerous certifications, including CPR, Nutrition Specialist, and ACE (American Council on Exercise) certifications as a Personal Trainer and Lifestyle & Weight Management Consultant.