 With the holidays over and football season (and all the alcohol and junk food that goes with it) behind us, it’s time to get serious about your health (if you haven’t already). This is a great time of year to get back on track if you’ve made New Years resolutions and sorta gave up on them. Starting today will give you a great head start for the Spring (and on the rest of your life). Have you ever wondered… Why do so many diets end in failure? Why is it so easy to gain lost weight back? And why can’t you maintain your ideal weight at all times? If you’ve tried every quick-fix fad diet under the sun, you realize they can help you lose weight instantly. Unfortunately, keeping the pounds off usually doesn’t happen with these diets. Real weight loss comes with lasting, healthy lifestyle changes. So stop starving yourself or eliminating your favorite food group. Simply make the following lifestyle changes.  1. TV Time: Many people are in the habit of sitting in front of the TV for hours on end after a stressful day at work. Yes, you may be worn out and need a break, but sitting on the couch, zoned out, watching TV is not the way to lose weight. In fact, this is exactly how I gained almost 50 pounds in less than a year. If you must watch the evening news or see your favorite show, use the time to burn a few calories. Stand up and do some squats or lunges to work your legs and buttocks. Get on the floor and do some planks or push-ups. Any exercise is better than sitting on the couch. Make a change!  2. Sleep: Most adults need an average of eight hours of sleep each night -unfortunately I’m not one who gets that much sleep, but I’m working on it. Is that a lot more than what you’re currently getting? Then you may be interested to know that if you’re not getting adequate amounts of rest, you’re more likely to be hungry, overeat, and gain weight. If you’re tired, you won’t feel like cooking a healthy meal, and you’ll opt for fast (fattening) food instead. This very same lack of energy will also likely cause you to skip the gym. On top of that, sleep deprivation causes your metabolism to slow down, not something you want when trying to shed a few pounds.  3. Drink Choices: Lasting weight loss is about changes. Unfortunately, some of the changes one must make are difficult. If you’re one of the millions hooked on soda, alcohol, or other sweetened beverages, your weight goals may remain out of reach until you replace these drinks with water. You should also know that your brain often confuses thirst with hunger. So at the first sign of hunger, don’t grab a snack or calorie-filled drinks. Instead, grab a glass of water.  4. Breakfast: Want to know a secret to successful weight loss? Eat breakfast (and no, my breakfast doesn't look like that either). Try cutting calories by skipping breakfast, and you’ll be excessively hungry by mid-morning. As a result, the healthy calories you would have eaten at breakfast are replaced with calorie-filled snacks and an over-sized lunch. Once again, fitting breakfast into your busy schedule may mean dramatic lifestyle changes but it doesn’t have to. Here are some great ideas (and not so great ideas) for a breakfast on the run. Research shows that the habit of eating a healthy breakfast is key to losing weight and keeping pounds off. Get to bed 30 minutes earlier than usual and set your alarm 10 minutes earlier to give yourself time to eat breakfast.  5. Physical Activity: Generally speaking, weight loss is about burning more calories than you consume. Therefore, it should make sense to you that dieting and exercise must go hand in hand. If you want to speed up weight loss and keep the weight away, add or increase the amount and intensity of physical activity in your daily life. For many people, this is the most difficult lifestyle change of all, but the benefits are well worth it. And you don’t have to workout for hours a day. You can get amazing results in just 10-20 minutes a day without ever stepping foot into a gym or owning a single piece of workout equipment. When exercise is a normal part of your everyday routine, it’s more likely to stick, and your body will become slimmer and more toned. Once you do start working out, make sure you understand how you can get insanely better results from your workouts. The quickest and most permanent weight loss comes as a result of a combination of healthy eating and consistent, challenging workouts. The good news is that iIf you're feeling stuck and need help coming up with a plan and want a more personalized approach, you can call or email today for a free consultation to get you started on an online program that will improve your health and well being, and will get you amazing results. The bad news is, there's no football for another seven months. I guess that leaves me more time to get a workout in. *A version of this article first appeared on The White Collar Warrior.
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Photos used under Creative Commons from symphony of love, symphony of love, Pricenfees, massa's nutriclub, Keith Allison, gm.esthermax, H o l l y.