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Tag: healthy eating

clean eatingdieteatcleanfamilyFitnessHealthy TipsLifestyle

TRANSITIONING

MARCH IS THE MONTH OF TRANSITIONS

This week has been mentally tough for everyone.  With the threats of snow and the cold weather it can be challenging to remember why we are restricting ourselves from all the comforting foods we could be having.  but this is the time you have to constantly remind yourself that summer is going to sneak up on you and when it does you want to be ready.

In only a couple of short week we will be taking the coats off.  Think back to a time when you were not ready to reveal yourself.  It could have been last spring or last week on vacation.  When everyone is taking coats off and you wished you could keep yours on because you were not mentally or physically ready to reveal what was underneath.  March and April are transition months when the weather changes from Cold-to Warm – to Some very Hot Days.  Think of this as your transition months as well.  you want to take where you are right now and continue on with where you want to be.  When it’s hot you want to be ready for it and when coats come off and shorts go on you want to be following the same transition from winter to spring to summer.  you don’t want to be that one person walking around with a winter coat on or a long sweater because you didn’t do what was good for you right now.

Think about and motivate yourself for what you have coming up in the Spring and Summer.  Whether it’s Graduation parties, Vacations, Bar Mitzvah or Sweet 16.  Keep reminding yourself that you are preparing right now to be and feel the best you can for what’s ahead.  Shop online for spring and summer outfits and bathing suits.  It doesn’t always have to be a special occasion it can just be that you want to be prepared for the BBQ and Beach season that you love and want to be ready to enjoy.  When it’s 90 outside you don’t want to be in cover ups and long jeans.  You want to be feeling good and confident in your skin and your clothes.

Living the program makes you happy.  When you get through these tough weeks you will feel so much better and you will feel the mental strength that comes with staying strong and on your path.  When you follow your program and you get through these tougher weeks the results will be amazing.  The sun will be warmer and you feel better and you look better and act better.  We have had a lot of returning clients in the last two weeks. Some come back just to reboot – others may have let vacations and holidays get the best of the them  — some just feel better when they come in.  But what I have learned from all of them is one thing they all seem to say — Being on program feels so much better than being off program.  It doesn’t matter if they weren’t cheating everyday – it’s really not about that.  It’s about having the control, and that amazing feeling of lightness in your body that you feel when you live the program.  As soon as they had the feelings of being off for an extended period of time whether it be 2 weeks or 2 months they realized that they started to not feel well — feeling sluggish, out of control, and just not as happy as when they are on program.  It doesn’t take long both mentally and physically to learn that your body responds best to living the program.

When you don’t do the right thing by your body it takes away confidence and self control.  You quickly fall into sabotages and bad habits and before you know it you look back and think why did I do something that made me unhappy/  I was so happy on program and doing the right things for my body and mind.  Yes – just like this week – it may sometimes feel restricting but that is such a better and easier feeling than not being able to get your pants on or feeling the lack of confidence when you are walking into work or attending a party.  Or most important just feeling miserable in general because you just don’t feel good about yourself or your health.

The truth is feeling good about yourself and eating healthy is the most important thing you can do.  It sets up your day anyhow you perform in it.  From taking care of your family, to being productive at work.  When you don’t do the right things and you don’t feel good about yourself it affects everything including your confidence.  It’s not always easy but you must make it a priority to stay on your path.  I see you all and read the texts and I know when you are on and feeling good you are completely different from being off and not feeling good about yourself.  So while March may be challenging and difficult I can assure you that the challenge of staying on program is going to be a lot easier than the challenge of entering into Spring and Summer in a body that you don’t feel good in.

The First Step to Transitioning is Deciding that you are

Not Going to Stay Where you Are!

~Love to Live Healthy with Josephine Fitzpatrick

FitnessHealthy TipsLifestyle

Start Thinking About Shorts Season Now

Yesterday it snowed several inches again on Long Island. It seems like winter is never ending, but now that we have transitioned from February to March, shorts season is right around the corner and Spring Break is just a couple weeks away. Now is the time to put in that extra effort toward reaching your goals, not in May. As soon as the temperature starts to increase and little bits of green grass start to replace the inches of snow, you will wish you has started thinking about spring and summer sooner. 

 

 

Focus on the habits that will get you there. Choose to eat a healthy breakfast every morning, pack healthy snacks for during the day, exercise consistently, make a healthy grocery list, plan your week on Sundays or any tasks you want to take on. Don’t worry if you can’t get everything right at once – that is why you are starting now while there is plenty of time to build healthy habits and get results. Instead of saying something vague like “eating right” make it more specific and attainable, like cutting back on sugar or snacks, having fish a couple times a week, switching coffee for tea in the morning, etc. These little changes are your building blocks for not just summer weight loss, but a sustainable fitness plan that can become your healthy lifestyle. 

 

 

The last thing you want to do is wait until it’s too late and then go on an extreme quick-fix program. These programs not only instill an unhealthy relationship with food and exercise, but they seldom work or offer long term solutions. If you try to make an extreme change in a short amount of time, you will be more likely to gravitate back to your old habits. Slow and steady wins they race, and also continues to feel the benefits long after crossing the finish line. Working hard for your weight loss goals will not only ensure your good habits stick, it will also make you less likely to back track when you remember all that you went through to get where you are. When you go on a quick fix diet you don’t experience the value of hard work and realize what you are capable of. The journey is just as important as the destination. 

 

 

Whether you are new or coming back to exercise and healthy eating, even beginners will experience great results. You have the time to get stronger, build endurance, develop technique, and change the way you eat little by little, all while losing weight. For those of you who are already hard at work and on the right track, now is the time to put in the extra effort. When it’s time to put on that bathing suit or summer dress, you will be glad you did. 

 

~Love to Live Healthy with Josephine Fitzpatrick

 

Innovation Weight Loss and Fitness

8031 Jericho Tpke Woodbury, NY 11797

469 7th Ave Manhattan NY 10018

FitnessHealthy TipsLifestyle

Make Healthy Eating A Way Of Life

Right now you are eating healthy and clean as part of your weight loss plan, but there are so many reasons why you should make these healthy changes permanent. You will experience many health benefits when you lose weight and eat healthy, such as arthritis relief and the prevention of diabetes and heart disease. Don’t think of healthy eating as a just a way to get that number on the scale to shrink. Think of your weight loss plan as a way to change your eating habits for good and make them part of a healthy lifestyle. 

 

 

One of the worst parts of any diet is being hungry. With clean eating, portions aren’t smaller – they’re healthier. When you take the time to eat at the right pace and let your body register when you are full, you will realize that a healthy amount of food at each meal will always keep you satisfied. This is why clean and healthy eating is so effective – it’s not about eating less, it’s about eating right. Healthy eating will keep you feeling full throughout the day and keep you away from unhealthy snacking. Other diets restrict you and even eliminate entire food groups just to help you shed weight, but they don’t offer any long term solutions. Healthy eating is a way to lose weight that is sustainable. It will make you lose weight without depriving your body of anything it needs.

 

It may feel like you have to work at it every day, but the small changes you make are actually making a big difference. Each time you resist an unhealthy food you are craving, you are overcoming that feeling of need little by little. The same way you can’t lose a large amount of weight overnight, you can’t change your eating habits overnight either. It takes as much mental work as physical work to make your healthy changes permanent. 

 

This may sound crazy, but the last thing you want to do is try to be perfect. You can’t put too much pressure on yourself and lose your focus every time you slip up or hit a bump in the road.  You just have to get right back on track when you make a mistake. One unhealthy snack or meal won’t undo all your healthy efforts and it doesn’t mean you have to give up or start over. The same way you go back to healthy eating after a cheat day, you just have to go back to the plan after a misstep. Don’t put too much thought into it. Life is always full of ups and down, you just have to bounce back. You don’t have to be perfect to be healthy. 

 

Making healthy eating a way of life is all about eating with purpose. Don’t eat something because you crave it or because it is in front of you. Eat when you are hungry and eat to fuel your body. You chose to lose weight for a good reason – stay on that path and make heathy eating your lifestyle.  

 

~Love to Live Healthy with Josephine Fitzpatrick

Innovation Weight Loss and Fitness

8031 Jericho Tpke Woodbury, NY 11797

469 7th Ave Manhattan, NY 10018