I have not worried about my weight since I was in college.  I drastically changed my eating habits years ago and never looked back.

I learned to recognize certain things about myself and know my weaknesses.  It’s not always easy to be healthy, but it doesn’t have to be hard or as limiting as people think either.

I am no expert by any means, but I have found certain things that work well for me.

1. No unhealthy snacks or desserts in the house.

I do not keep chips or cookies or crackers or ice cream in our house.  Otherwise, I would eat them all the time.  I buy them occasionally, as a treat, or if we are having guests over, but  I would be as big as a house if I kept this sort of thing in our house.

The only snacks I have are whole wheat pretzels, fruit, nuts and dried fruit.

And, I don’t care if I can get something free using coupons or playing the CVS game or whatever, if it’s full of sugar and preservatives and a bunch of crap I can’t pronounce, I’ll pass.

2.  Drink mostly water.

I pretty much only drink water.  Except for coffee in the mornings.  I don’t drink sodas or juice, except occasionally. They both contain a lot of calories and sugar.  I would rather get vitamins from the actual fruit rather than fruit juice.  As for sodas, well, unless it has rum in it, I’d rather just eat chocolate if I’m going to consume all that sugar.  And, yes I know there are diet sodas, but what the hell is in those anyway?  No thanks.

I will say that I do drink alcoholic beverages, but this is pretty limited as well.  I also indulge in chocolate soy milk, however I have to limit these or I will drink 1/2 gallon in two days.  No control!!

3.  Eat More Veggies and Beans!

Veggies and beans are a great way to fill yourself up without adding to your waistline.  I used to be vegetarian and although I do eat meat now, I don’t eat it on a regular basis.  When I cook stir-fry or spaghetti or chili or stews, they are nearly always with loads of veggies and no meat.   “Hearty” veggies like mushrooms, broccoli, potatoes (regular and sweet) and carrots are staples in our house.

Last night we had roasted sweet potatoes and black beans over rice.  Yum!  I also made some blueberry muffins (no refined sugar) for snacks for this week.

4.  Listen to your body.

If I am really craving something, then I usually eat it.  Otherwise, I find myself eating my way through the house trying to satisfy that one craving, when I could have saved myself a bunch of calories and fat just eating that one thing.  Now, that’s not to say I would do this all the time, but I think an indulgence here and there is fine.

Moderation is the key to life.

However, I will also stop eating something if I start to notice that it causes me to feel bad or sluggish.  I had to stop eating dairy at one point and noticed that I felt a lot better for it (not to mention I lost weight!).  Now that I can eat it again, I still don’t consume nearly as much as I used to.

5.  Learn to read food labels and ingredients before you buy something.

I don’t know how many times that I put things back after reading the ingredients and the sugar content on food labels.

Claims of “100% All Natural” or “No Artificial Anything” or whatever are often misrepresented once you read the ingredients and see there is actually hydrogenated oils or high fructose corn syrup (ingredients we avoid).

Many products that tout themselves as being healthy are not necessarily, once you have a closer look.

For example, many whole wheat and multi-grain breads are very high in sugar.  I’m sorry, but if I’m going to consume a bunch of sugar, I don’t want it to be in a sandwich or toast!  I would rather eat some chocolate!  So, read your labels and ingredients!

6. Be careful of “low fat” and “fat free” foods.

Many of the packaged “low fat” and “no fat” foods are full of all sorts of other junk/fillers and a often a lot more sugar than the original to make it taste decent.  Instead, I stopped worrying about the fat content and instead focus on eating healthier foods with real ingredients (i.e. ones I can pronounce).

I also make more things from scratch now.  Our food is fresher and contain more basic ingredients and less preservatives.

7.  Beware of sugar.

Sugar can be found in the most unlikely places, like bread, ketchup, spaghetti sauce, and all sorts of other foods.  Sugar content can be especially high in foods like juices, cereal, cereal bars, fruit leathers, and all sorts of other snacks.  Snacks for kids are often the worst!

We check the sugar content of everything we buy and try to limit our consumption.

For example, we like sweet cereal (we all have sweet tooths!).  So, to keep it healthier, the majority of our cereal is a very low sugar cereal, like Cheerios/Toasted Oats (1 gram of sugar per cup).  Then, we add a little of another one that is sweeter and contains higher sugar (our favorite brands are Kashi and Nature’s Path).

Though, I try not buy cereal with more than 10 grams of sugar per serving, preferring to stick to around 5 or 6 grams per serving as the highest.

8.  Use natural sugar substitutes when cooking and adding sugar.

When baking, look for recipes that use natural sugar alternatives like honey, maple syrup or agave nectar instead of refined sugar.

When adding sugar to things like coffee or tea, try Stevia.

9. Get Active!

I’m not saying that you have to work out 5 days a week, but finding ways to incorporate more activity into your day can work wonders.

For example, when I was working on a University campus I used to walk documents over to different departments when I could rather than send them interoffice mail.  It got me out of the office and I was able to connect with colleagues while also getting more exercise.

Now, as a SAHM, being active is not really a problem with a very active 3  year old and 9 month old!  But, it is hard to find time (and energy after a long day) to get real exercise.   Now that the days are longer, my goals is to have dinner as soon as my husband gets home so we will have time for a walk around the neighborhood before the kid’s bedtime.  I’ve ordered a double stroller so hopefully we can start this next week!

10.  Know what type of exercise works best for you.

I enjoy walking outside rather than going inside a gym, especially when it’s nice outside.  Maybe you enjoy classes verses working out by yourself.

I also noticed a few years ago that I can do aerobic activity all day long, but Pilates and Yoga are the types of activity that work best for me the best in terms of how I feel and how I look.  Pilates flattened my stomach far better than anything I’ve ever done before, so naturally…I stick with it.

Plus, I love it.  You have to enjoy it if you are going to keep doing it.  Try different activities and find something that works for you.

My husband tried yoga and loves it…neither one of us would have ever guessed that, but there you go.  You have to try different things, whether it be exercise or food to see what works best for you!

So, there you have it.  My best tips.  Like I said…I’m no expert, but I’ve tried a lot of things and finally found what works best for me.   I do feel strongly that the biggest obstacle for most is unwillingness to make a change and make sacrifices.

I used to assist in teaching weight management classes and this was by far the biggest challenge.  You have to be ready to make a change and nobody can make you do anything.  You have to want it for yourself or it’s not going to work.

Be sure to check back as I will be posting some great low or no-sugar recipes and snacks and tricks in the coming weeks!  Better yet, sign up for my RSS Feed, so you don’t miss them!

What are your best tips for staying healthy and trim?

This post is linking to Works For Me Wednesday at We Are That Family.

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05/27/2009 | Frugal & Green Living, Healthy Living.

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