I am running a free 30-day December fitness challenge and one of my challengers shared that she had lost 7 pounds so far this month. It's a push-up challenge, and she shared that in addition to the push-up set that we do each day, she also cut out soda from her diet. Now keep in mind that today is December 15th. We are just now half-way through the month and she has already lost 7 pounds! This got me thinking about how one small step, one small change, can, day after day, lead to huge results.
I wondered, what would cutting just one can of soda out of your daily diet look like after a year? Well, I did the math. A can of Coke has 140 calories. Assuming you cut out just one can per day, everyday, for one year, you would be cutting 51,100 calories from your diet in a year, or approximately 14.6 pounds. 14.6 pounds! What would you be willing to sacrifice to lose 14 pounds? Probably a lot more than just one can of soda. This really got me thinking, what other small daily choices could you make that would, over the course of a year, create huge results. I could have kept researching on this topic for days. There are so many small choices we make in our daily life that involve our health and fitness. Here are just a few to get you thinking:
I already shared with you that cutting one can of soda out of your day can lead to a 14.6 pound loss over the course of the year. Not a soda drinker? What about coffee? Let's take a Starbucks mocha. Assuming you drink a coffee on the way to work every weekday, if you switch that mocha for a skinny mocha, 5 times per week, that equates to 49,400 calories over the course of a year, or just over 14 pounds a year. If you drink both coffee and soda, now we are talking about 28 pounds in a year by just making 2 simple choices.
I researched a few food options too. I'm a huge fan of potatoes, in all forms, but I recently started to switch out my potatoes for cauliflower once in a while, so I wondered. If I switched out mashed potatoes for mashed cauliflower (which tastes just about as awesome) just once a week, that can lead to a 1 pound loss per year. By switching out pasta for spaghetti squash twice a month, you could also lose 1 pound in a year. That may not sound like much, but that is assuming you change nothing else about your lifestyle. Just think about the results you could have if you also added a little bit of exercise? I looked that up too! Taking a 30-minute walk everyday could result in a 20 pound loss in a year.
I was surprised to learn that there was a calorie difference between regular beef and grass-fed beef. Did you know that a grass-fed 6oz fillet has 92 less calories than a corn-fed fillet? We usually eat red meat once a week, making a switch to grass-fed would be another 1 pound loss in a year. See how this is starting to add up?
How many of you measure out your salad dressing using a measuring spoon? You are definitely saving on calories by choosing to measure instead of eye-balling your servings, but did you know that by using a dressing spritzer, you would use even less dressing? I eat salads almost everyday, but I calculated the potential calorie savings based on eating salads 3 times per week. By using a spritzer, you could be saving yourself 6 pounds worth of calories per year!
One final small choice I would suggest would be to keep a food journal.
My Fitness Pal is an excellent phone app you can use. The act of righting down your food can help influence you to make different food choices. In one study that I read two groups of participants were following an exercise and eating plan. The participants who kept a food diary had an average weight loss of 26 pounds more than the participants who did not record their meals.
Take a look at your lifestyle. Do you have any habits that you could modify to improve your health? Pick just one habit to change and make the decision to change it! Focus on maintaining this one small change for at least a month, and then, if you are ready, change another habit. Take these small changes day by day and soon you will see the results you want!
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