10 Tips to Stay Slimmer & Healthier
I love these sort of tips. They are things I already know but need to be reminded of.
If you (like me) need to be encouraged to eat what’s right – this is for you.
One of the best parts of eating real foods is that I get to eat. I don’t like “programs” that tell me I can’t eat something. This is probably the main problem I had with the (Butt)Whole30. I actually loved the Whole30 even though I complained the entire time I did it.
If I didn’t have a milk cow & a grain mill I would be living in their book.
BUT I do have a grain mill and a milk cow. And they are giving me the healthiest whole wheat and dairy products in the world. I was pretty sad that the Whole30 people wouldn’t let me drink my milk (that I squeezed from an udder that morning). I understand “why” they are trying to unveil any food issues, allergies or reactions. Eliminating everything for 30 days & then slowly introducing them is eye-opening.
I have since decided that if they met me and my cow they would probably give me permission to drink the milk… but I don’t think they do house calls or take questions from the audience.
They would probably call me a brat and tell me to lay off the milk for a month.
Like I said, I don’t like people telling me I can’t eat something – especially something real, whole and raw like my milk.
Ya know?
Anyhow, I want to eat everything that God made (and I want to weigh what I did before I birthed 4 children). This is how I ended up eating the way I do. I don’t want to stop eating, diet or do without. I want cookies, bread, eggs, and bacon. Thankfully, when you raise these things you can eat them.
Don’t worry – if you don’t have a farm, just shop from one. Buy pastured meat, raw dairy, and your wheat in the form of berries (then you can grind your own grain into super healthy flour).
I don’t think about calories, points or fat.
BUT there are some things I DO think about.
Here are some tips to Help You Stay Slimmer & Healthier:
Stay Slimmer & Healthier TIP #1 – Get the mini-book
How to Eat (Mini Book)
If you haven’t already – download my mini-eBook “How to Eat.”
It’s free and covers how I eat and why. There is so much great information in this little book. It is an introduction to eating everything God created for food. It will tell you more about me and my personal story. It is a roadmap to food freedom.
Stay Slimmer & Healthier TIP #2 – Fast
We should all fast for at least 12 hours each day between dinner and breakfast the next day. You may already be doing this. It is a simple way to give your digestive system a rest. In our home, we typically don’t snack or eat after dinner. It all started because I hated everyone in the house in the morning.
I am typically the first one up and every day was the same: I awoke to a messy house, plates, and cups all over the living room and a sink full of dishes.
I would start my day cleaning up every else’s mess from the 9pm snack time. This was exhausting and aggravating.
DH is great. He is often my savior here in the home. He has the benefit of not living in my body and it’s raging emotions. AND he is more of an ‘outsider’ looking into these situations. That disconnect always gives him a point of view that I don’t have.
Tell me I’m not alone?
I had already tried mandating that everyone clean up after themselves, load their dishes and make sure the living room is in order at night. Nothing I was doing was working & all the kids claimed that they weren’t the ones leaving the dishes all over the house.
Some little troll was messing up my house at night – because none of my 4 kids ever did it.
I explained my dilemma to DH and he quickly resolved it. DH gathered the troops and announced to the entire household that there would be no more food after dinner. No snacks. No desserts. No bananas.
Eat your dinner because there is going to be nothing else until morning.
Have I mentioned how much I LOVE my husband?
Let me tell you this was a game changer.
First of all, there were no more kids asking me for food 30 minutes after dinner. Can I just give you a glimpse into my life…..
I spend half my afternoon making pasta from scratch. Milling wheat and baking homemade bread. I prepare their meals and serve it up in pretty dishes.
Then half the house spends another 30 minutes clearing, cleaning, washing and straightening up from the dinner explosion.
And they have the nerve to ask me for something else to eat 30 minutes later?
Do I look crazy?
Thanks to DH, no one eats in this house from the time dinner is over until the time breakfast is served. Glorious, blessed, marvelous husband.
NOW, I wake up to a clean house, a straight kitchen and no dishes in my sink.
And all of our bodies get a nice 13-14 hour rest from food.
Everyone’s happy (except maybe the kids).
For anyone who is upset about the no food rule I will tell you that we have 2 exceptions:
- If company is over. When we have guests the rules are off. There are usually snacks, popcorn, and desserts when we are entertaining.
- On weekends. If it’s a weekend we let them make desserts or have snacks after dinner.
Oh- one more thing on fasting.
Did you see the Meme about that?
Do you know what a ‘meme’ is?
Fun Fact: A Meme- a humorous image, video, piece of text, etc., that is copied (often with slight variations) and spread rapidly by Internet users.
Memes are all over social media and are good for a laugh sometimes.
Anyway, there was a meme I saw that was about the ridiculous winter we are having this year. It seems that winter won’t go away and leave us alone. Just when we think spring has arrived we get another 2 inches of snow.
I can’t remember the meme exactly, and can’t find it, but it was one of those “word” memes without a picture.
Here’s what it said:
“This winter is like a mad person who storms out of a room & slams the door but keeps walking back in and saying, “ONE MORE THING…”
Back to the thing about fasting.
Sorry for all the rabbit trails.
One of our customers came in the pawnshop last week who DH hadn’t seen in a while. The first thing we noticed was that he had lost weight. DH said, “You’ve lost some weight.”
The customer said, “Yeah, 120 pounds.”
WHAT????
Wanna know how he did it?
We did. When we asked him he said he did 2 things. (1) He stopped eating processed foods and (2) he stopped eating between 7 pm and 11 am.
And he lost 120 pounds.
Stay Slimmer & Healthier TIP #3 – Water
Drink lots of water.
I drink a lot. Someone said to me just last week, “You guys drink so much – do you ever eat?”
Ha!
We are usually sipping on something.
We drink filtered water (from our Berkey). We drink raw milk. We drink coffee. We drink fresh juice (usually 2 per day). We drink hot tea (caffeine free – mostly herbal). We even drink hot chocolate and milkshakes (remember – I have a milk cow).
Liquids are so important. As a woman, I feel like it is especially important. The health authorities commonly recommend 8 (8 oz) glasses per day. Staying hydrated prevents water retention. It flushes out organs. It keeps the kidneys, bladder and urinary tract healthy. AND water is known as the fountain of youth. Being dehydrated will do more than cause your fingers to wrinkle. Premature aging can occur due to dehydration.
Stay Slimmer & Healthier TIP #4 – Juice
Drink a fresh juice each day. I touched on this briefly in tip #3. We have a masticating juicer and we drink fresh juice regularly. Usually 2 per day. One green juice and one carrot based. I fought juicing for years and years. I simply wanted to chew my fruits and veggies – not drink them. And I don’t like smoothies (too much foam).
I am now reformed, and a dedicated juicer.
Juicing is a nutrient shot straight into the bloodstream. It provides loads of living foods for healing and protection. It can be used as a meal replacement or for snacks. Fresh juice is an easy (delicious) way to get plenty of raw veggies in your diet.
Stay Slimmer & Healthier TIP #5 – Cook!
Get in the kitchen.
You can lose an incredible amount of weight simply by not eating out. Restaurants are not nearly as concerned with fat, salt, sugar or general food content as you are.
So many of us are missing out on one of life’s simple pleasures. Preparing food. When you make your own meals, they will be healthier and taste better.
I think it’s interesting that we are living in a world where no one wants to cook anymore. You can buy your meals already prepared from grocers. There is Blue Apron, Hello Fresh and even local joints that will do most of the meal preparations so you can just go home and bake it.
I think these are great, healthy alternatives to eating out, but I don’t think it’s that hard to concoct the meals yourself from scratch.
I am in the process of building a new website that is going to be all about preparing simple, healthy meals. The recipes are straightforward and easy. Many of the dishes would be considered “recipe-free” because they are so basic. Most of the meals are prepared with foods and herbs I grow right here on my homestead. Noting exotic or weird.
The new site will be unveiled later this year and available to all Members of the blog. To learn more go here.
Stay Slimmer & Healthier TIP #6 – Hunger
Only eat when you are hungry.
Duh.
Although this makes perfect sense – I can not even begin to tell you how often I eat when I am NOT hungry.
Why do I eat?
Hunger Eating – This is why I should eat – because I’m hungry.
Recreational Eating – I eat because it’s fun! Yes, I love food and I love to eat.
Palate Eating – I eat because it tastes good.
Boredom Eating – Do you eat when you are bored? I don’t really do this, I’d rather grab a deck of cards & play solitaire. But I know that many folks do turn to food to escape boredom.
Situational Eating– I eat because there is food. I don’t have to be hungry, bored or even like the way it tastes. If there is a bowl pita chips on the kitchen counter I will eat them every time I walk by, just because they are there.
Because of DH’s surgery, I have lots of snacks available for him to munch on. There are bowls of pretzels, orange segments, strawberries and hard boiled eggs sitting around my house. I have gotten to the point that whenever I stick my hand into one of his snack bowls I say, “Get behind me Satan!”
Good grief. I have no self-control.
Stay Slimmer & Healthier TIP #7 – Eat Slow
Eat slowly and enjoy every bite. Because DH has always worked in retail he has mastered the art of the 4-minute lunch. It is terrible. He can eat a sandwich in 4 bites.
Take your time when you eat and enjoy it. This will give your body time to tell your brain when you are full and you won’t end up eating as much.
Stay Slimmer & Healthier TIP #8 – Stop when you are satisfied
Stop eating when you are satisfied – not full. This one is hard for me, especially if I am really enjoying the meal. We should all stop eating once we are no longer hungry.
During my 101 days of raising my own food, I learned so much. One of the experiences was that it didn’t matter if I ate some homemade crackers and a quart of green beans or a 3-course meal- both provided sustenance and carried me to my next meal.
A small meal was as good as a large meal.
Stay Slimmer & Healthier TIP #9 – Cut out sugar
Almost all of us are addicted to sugar. More on that here. Most of us probably have no idea how incredibly addicted we actually are. It is like a drug and terribly painful to break-free from. Since I came off my sugar addiction, I have been very guarded and careful to stay away from the toxic stuff.
If I am going to enjoy the occasional dessert, I save them for the weekends or special occasions. A good tip is to try to completely avoid all sugar during the week. When you do eat sweets make them yourself with fresh flour and real sweeteners. And eat a small serving.
Once you remove sugar from your diet you will be surprised how different you will feel about it. Once sugar is not a part of your life, you will probably not even be able to enjoy dessert anymore. They will just be TOO sweet. A bite or two is usually all I can eat.
Stay Slimmer & Healthier TIP #10 – Move!
Get some exercise or activity into your day. This comes for free if you have a farm or a garden. Getting outside and moving is great for your body, mind, and health. We all need the extra oxygen from the fresh (outdoor) air.
A few notes about activity:
- Sweat is great. I don’t use ‘normal’ deodorant. I don’t use any antiperspirant. There are numerous reasons I ditched the stuff. One of the many benefits of using a natural odor control is that I get to sweat. Yes, I said, “get.” Reasons I want to sweat:
- Sweating is a pore cleanser.
- Sweating removes toxins
- Sweating helps your immune system by flushing out those toxins that can make you sick
- Sweating can even kill viruses and bugs that can’t live above 98.6 degrees
- Be sure to drink plenty of liquids when you are sweating to replenish the fluids.
We can all be healthier by making just a few changes.
Here’s the recap:
- Fast every day for 12+ hours
- Drink plenty of fluids
- Drink a fresh Juice each day (or 2)
- Cook – home cooked is always healthier & it’s fun!
- Only eat when you are Hungry
- Slow Down – eat slowly & enjoy meals
- Stop Eating when you are satisfied (not full)
- Avoid Sugar
- Get Daily Exercise
Stay Healthy guys!
XO,
CJ
