Research It.

So here's my first official tip (ah! this is so exciting!):

Do your own research.

I'm serious. I know that seems like 1) an obvious tip and 2) why would you be reading this if I'm just telling you to go read other things!

I get it.

But no one lifestyle is the "right" one.

No one diet will help everyone lose weight (why do you think there are so many!)

No one exercise program will help everyone get the results that they want.

In your real life, you do this all the time. Through trial and error, you figure out what kind of movies, books, music, people, and so on that work best for you. We can't all watch the same movie, read the same book, listen to the same band and hang out with the same friends. That would be super boring, confusing, and it would end up making YOU super boring and confused.

The same is true when it comes to your OTHER lifestyle choices. Specifically, how you take care of your body, what you put into it, the energy you get out of it. What worked for me is 99% guaranteed to NOT work for you. Because we're not the same.

My (not so expert) advice:

1) Do research on yourself.

If you're looking to make any lifestyle change, try it out for a week. See how you feel. Remove things from your life, add things in. And when I say one week, I truly mean it. COMMIT to your one week.

Example: There are a multitude of reasons why someone might get frequent (insert problem here: heartburn, stomach aches, headaches, etc). Obviously something you're doing or giving your body isn't working well for it. The only way to truly determine what that "thing" is, is to try to remove or add different things in.

Doctors recommend this to patients all the time. Have you ever heard someone say they were going to do an elimination diet? I feel like someone new tells me that every week. It's because they went to the doctor, the problem wasn't obvious, and so, the doctor wants you to do the research to figure out what the program might be. 

Better Example: You often get stomach aches at the end of the day. Like clockwork, they tend to come right before bed. This has been your life forever. But you're ready to make a change! You do some of your own research (see what I did there), and come up with a list of 3 different possibilities of what might be happening to your body. Based on this list, you decide to cut out dairy products for one week. This means no cheese, yogurt or milk - three of your favorites. And definitely no ice cream - which is your number one favorite. But you decide to commit to one week to see if not eating dairy will affect how your body feels.

It might work. It might not. But kudos for you for testing out a theory on yourself. 

2) Read both sides of every story.

There are good points to every story. For instance, when it comes to working out, there are die hard runners who insist that running is the best cardio activity you can do. And there are others who claim that running is the worst thing you can do for your body.

It's so easy to get lost in all of that. Who the heck do you trust or believe?

Really, the answer is yourself. (You probably already guessed that).

Ang and I after The Glow Run.

Example: I love to run. I love the way I feel after a run - that sense of accomplishment. I like running races. I like discovering a new trail, reaching a new milestone. Those all feel good to me. But too much running, and my knees start to ache. My body feels tired all the time. The runs actually become HARDER, not easier for me. Trial and error has told me that a little running is great, a lot of running is hard on me physically and no running is hard on me mentally. I've found a great balance between both sides of that story - after doing my own research and deciding what's right for my body and my life.

So there you have it. My (not so expert) advice. Research it!

As promised, I'm going to post resources to get you started:

My favorite nutrition/fitness blogs:

Carrots N Cake
Calorie Count Blog
Mark's Daily Apple

Thanks for reading,

Samantha