Tuesday Tips for Healthy Living

Eat six times a day. Set an alarm if you have to. By eating six small meals a day instead of three big ones, your blood sugar will remain steady throughout the day. Plus, you will be less hungry and less likely to binge. At each meal, eat a lean protein and healthy carbohydrate together. 

For example: 
Meal 1 - Shakeology smoothie. 
Meal 2 - Kashi Go Lean cereal with light coconut milk. 
Meal 3 - a piece of fruit, a tablespoon of peanut butter and a few Triscuits. 
Meal 4 - half cup of whole wheat pasta or brown rice with lean ground chicken or turkey and a vegetable. 
Meal 5 - 100% thin whole-wheat bread with almond butter. 
Meal 6 - salad of mixed baby greens and spinach or just spinach, cucumber, tomato, green onion, and low fat salad dressing made with olive oil and a combination of lean meat and healthy carbohydrate such as a tuna/egg salad sandwich on thin whole-wheat bread, chicken breast and Quinoa, or spaghetti with ground chicken or turkey, whole-wheat pasta and marinara sauce. 


If you're hungry later before bed, have a small snack such as a half sandwich, piece of fruit, yogurt, low-fat cottage cheese.

This is just an example to get you started. The main thing to remember is to combine a lean protein and healthy carbohydrate every time you eat your six meals. If you can't fit in six meals, get in at least five.

Tuesday Tips for Healthy Living

Eliminate or drastically reduce sugar from your diet. Cut out candy, cookies, sugary cereal, pastries, soda, soft drinks, sweetened creamer, etc. If you have to have sweets or soda, go for the sugar-free varieties. I know that aspartame and saccharin are bad for you. But if you are obese and sugar is one of your main culprits, the obesity will kill you before the artificial sweeteners will (in my opinion). This is just the first stepping stone. Take it one step at a time.

What I did at first when I eliminated sugar was I bought sugar-free varieties of ice cream, cookies, cereal, soda, and drink mixes. I made sure that I didn't eat extra amounts than I normally would just because there were less calories. That is important. Now I don't even buy these type of treats at all. I opt for fruit when I want something sweet to eat. Sometimes on a "free" day, I might indulge and have a regular brownie or a piece of cake or some other treat. I try to limit it to one day a week. 


Stevia is a great sweetener to use in coffee and tea. You don't even have to go to a health food store to get it anymore. Walmart now sells it and has a generic version.