I want to start off by saying this, with certainty… You have so many opportunities to achieve the life you want, and in my experience, the answer is in: FIRST knowing what you want” (with clarity, and knowing your “why”), envisioning your dream/success, and then taking gradual baby steps to achieve your goals. And consistency is key. There are always some elements that are up to fate, but there is so much we can achieve with enough intention, motivation and a little support.
If this year, you’ve realized YOUR HEALTH is a top priority, you know you want to positively and definitively upgrade your health this year (in a way that does not require suffering nor excess restriction, and actually LASTS), but you’re not sure where to start, I’m here to help!
After a decade of experience as a health coach, I can share 7 key steps to embark on a successful health journey:
FIRST OBSERVE AND REFLECT. Before deciding on any specific diet /meal plan or dietary goals that you set for yourself, FIRST observe what you’re eating each day. Observe for at least one week, ideally two, exactly what you are eating and drinking, how much, and how you feel after your meals, digestion and energy-wise. This can give you so much insight into what tweaks you need to make. Any plan you decide to follow has to be personalized to your needs, and for that, you need to be clear on your starting point.
TAKE BABY STEPS. Focus on baby steps; Set one mini goal per week. If you set 10 health goals at once, or decide to try yet another restrictive diet, you are setting yourself up for failure. It took us years to develop our current habits, so yes, it takes time to change and maintain them, too. Usually, I like to work with 2 to 3 mini goals per week, it can be 1 goal for food and 1 goal for exercise, for example. If you add a 3rd, usually I’d make it a mini goal for stress reduction or better sleep. But start small. Remember how much you can take on successfully each week depends a lot on you. It needs to be something you can do without stress, and that you know you CAN reach from the get-go.
PERSONALIZE YOUR NUTRITION PLAN. Every person and every metabolism is different, and it’s VERY important to honor this. One of the biggest mistakes I see is people wanting to do the exact diet or exercise regime that worked for their friend or following a strict plan (often extreme) from the latest diet book that came out. But it won’t work for you unless you can personalize it to your metabolism, your lifestyle and your needs. Also, it needs to be flexible so you can adapt it to different stages in your cycle, or adapt to your energy and stress levels any given day. It’s key to maintain a close connection to your body and constantly ask yourself what feels good, what helps your digestion and energy levels, vs. what makes you bloated or tired. Then use this information to personalize your diet and exercise plan. Also, working with a health coach can help a ton!
NUTRIENT DENSE WHOLE FOODS. This should always be your first step when embarking on a healthier diet. If you just focus on minimizing processed foods, and filling your plate with colorful nutritious foods from nature, in particular, foods rich in vitamins, minerals, fiber and antioxidants, you will already be doing so much for your overall health and wellness. Aim to eat a wide variety of vegetables, fruits and other plant based foods, as well as other foods from nature including animal proteins. When buying packaged foods, stick to foods with 1-2 ingredients, tops 5-10 but ingredients that are real foods and not chemicals. Cut out as much as possible processed sugar, flours, baked goods, and all packaged foods with tons of ingredients and preservatives. Lastly, eat organic when possible to minimize your toxic load.
BALANCE BLOOD SUGAR. Taking this one step further, you’ll want to make sure each meal is supportive of blood sugar balance to avoid large glucose spikes. This is absolutely key for weight loss and preventing health complications and disease. I share lots of tips HERE but in general, some starting points are: making sure each meal has tons of fiber, protein and healthy fats. If you’re eating starchier carbs, eat them last, after you’ve filled up with fiber-rich veggies and some protein. Avoid eating starchy carbs on their own, and limit the portions of starch and sweet foods overall. Also, staying active and getting enough sleep always helps with glucose regulation.
OPTIMIZE GUT HEALTH. Equally as important as stable blood sugar is optimizing the health of your gut. It helps to first observe your daily gut health (are you pooping daily and are they “normal” stools? are they often stinky? do you get bloated often or gassy?, etc.) and it can help to test to see if you have gut issues like SIBO or IBS. Regardless of detected gut isssues, there are many things you can do to support your gut health that will help you a lot in your health journey. It can be almost impossible to reach and maintain your ideal weight and health goals if we don’t have a healthy gut, trust me! HERE are my best tips for great digestion, and HERE is more info on the importance of adding pre and probiotics for gut health.
CLEANSE. Apart from taking these baby steps on a gradual basis, and setting up your personalized nutrition goals with a focus on blood sugar balance and gut health, it also helps to do a detox (7 to 21 days) once or twice a year. Why? They have tons of benefits can help jumpstart your health journey for the year. And so many times, people start working on their health/wellness goals but fail because they have too much inflammation, unknown food sensitivities, hormonal imbalances, etc., that prevent them from achieving their weight loss and other goals. So doing a cleanse first to help reduce inflammation, identify sensitivities and start balancing your gut and hormones - can help a LOT. (I’m leading one starting very soon!) I also highly suggest to include some degree of Intermittent Fasting. In my detox programs, we avoid eating for 12 hours every night, as a minimum. Use your detox as a stepping stone and make sure you keep building on your weekly healthy habits.
Just following these 7 steps can be the KEY to finally have a much healthier year, and finally feeling confident in your body and happy with your level of wellness. If you want support (it’s always the best way!) schedule a free discovery call with me HERE.
To find out more about my upcoming detox, go here and/or also CONTACT ME HERE.
To your healthiest year yet! Love,
Mariana