Five Steps to Lose Weight and Be Healthier

Five Steps to Lose Weight and Be Healthier

I have been overweight nearly my entire life. My school years were particularly painful as the "fat kid" in class. Now, at 30 and recently divorced, I finally decided to take control and become a healthier me. Here are my top five changes that helped me lose 60 pounds last year.

1. Focus on Getting Healthy, not Losing Weight

I had started diets before and nothing worked for me. I always gave up and went back to the same way I had been eating after about a week. Last year was different because I began to think about the life choices I was making. Instead of considering how I could lose the most weight or worrying about what the scale said, I began to ask myself, "What is the healthiest choice I could make right now that could impact my life? How will this choice make me feel?"

2. Drink Water

I used to drink soda or juice with nearly every meal. However, I found that the fastest and easiest way to be healthier was to axe the soda or juice and drink only water or skim milk. Why? "6 Reasons to Drink Water" from Web MD explains, water "helps maintain the balance of body fluids" and "can help control calories."

3. Listen to Mom: Eat your Veggies

My diet before consisted mainly of bread, potatoes and pasta. Now, I radically changed what was on my plate by filling up on veggies and proteins and skipping the extra carbohydrates.

4. Get a Move On

When I observed my healthier friends, I found that they were much more active than I was. So, one of my goals to being healthier was just to move more throughout the day. I went for walks. I chose to climb the stairs instead of using the escalator. Played outside with my daughter. Anything to get my body moving.

5. Become More Aware of Your Bad Eating Habits

Self-control here is key. I began to take notice of times when I would mindlessly eat anything. I tend to eat out of boredom when I am watching TV or tired, so when I would find myself standing at the open fridge during those times, I knew just to tell myself, "You're not hungry. Back away slowly."