Five Small Steps to Staying Healthy and Fit

You might look at me and think being healthy and fit is effortless. I write a blog about it, I encourage others about it and I seem to always have the energy to get out there and work at it. Notice the word "seem?"

Little do you know that I'm no different than you, and most every other person that has to struggle to keep pounds at bay. Keeping my weight managed and staying fit is NOT easy - and I only achieve it through constant diligence. Read that again - constant diligence.

According to Rachel Johnson, Ph.D., M.P.H., R.D. of EatingWell.com, there are a few simple strategies to implement every day that will go a long way to toward staying healthy:

1. Take advantage of healthy convenience food.
Yes, this isn't ideal. It's more expensive than homecooked and contains additives. But it's inevitable that you'll have evenings where you're on the run and just grabbing food to satiate hunger. If it makes or breaks the difference between shoving a bunch of junk food in your mouth when you're in a hurry or eating lean protein, veggies, and whole grains through a prepackaged healthy meal - well, the latter makes sense.

2. Schedule exercise into your day and make it non-negotiable.
Let's face it, we schedule everything else in our lives, right? Sometimes down to the quarter hour! If you can schedule in doctor's appointments, meetings and school conferences, then your health is no different. When you arise in the morning, pinpoint the time of day that will work for fitting in a workout. Some people are able to make it the same time, every day (like going to the gym from 5:oo-6:00 after work) and others (like me) have such a crazy schedule that each day is different and I fit in a workout at various times. But it's a non-negotiable that a workout will indeed occur that day!

3. Don't waste calories on bad food.
Have you ever eaten something just because it's served - even if it didn't taste well? Be choosy! If you only get so many calories allotted in a day, don't waste the opportunity to taste delectable food on something that tastes like cardboard! One Thanksgiving morning, someone brought over prepackaged pecan sticky rolls for a treat. One bite and I knew the stuff was cardboard! And knowing that I'd be eating some delicious food later in the day, I opted for a bit of fruit instead. Bypassing the sticky rolls that didn't taste all that great freed me up to eat some delicious food that I wanted later. Choices, choices, choices.

4. Never travel without gym clothes.
This goes for whether you're going to work for the day, or going on a trip. If you're prepared, then you will be able to sieze those opportunities of freed time that sometimes open up unexpectedly. And since you've made exercise a non-negotiable (right?), then being prepared is one more step toward fulfilling that lifestyle choice.

5. Weigh yourself - and often.
Research actually shows that people are more apt to be at a healthy weight if they weigh themselves regularly. We all know pounds creep up slowly. Like a stalker. A two-pound gain turns into a five-pound gain and so on. It becomes overwhelming if left unchecked. I've given myself a five-pound leeway. I know what my upper limit is and if I begin to get close to that, well then I get extra serious about measures to keep it in check (exercise a little longer, or a little harder, or skip a higher-calorie food choice, etc.) By keeping an eye on the scale, you're able to take steps of intervention before you put so much weight on that you're in despair and overwhelmed.

Each of us have strategies that work for our particular lives and circumstances. My daughter jogs during her lunch break at work. I try to never refill a plate (take seconds). Find out what it is that works for you and establish it as routine. Make those small steps a natural part of your life - and who knows? You might just make looking fit easy to everyone else!