< PreviousTips on a nutrition overhaul:a Replace unhealthy kitchen items for healthy alternatives.a Invest in healthy cookbooks and explore healthy meal ideas online.a Design and stick to a weekly meal plan.a Incorporate lean protein into every meal.a When you’re ready to undertake greater goals, work with your Personal Trainer to determine your ideal daily intake of macronutrients and re-adjust your daily diet accordingly- PAGE 80 - SMART HEALTHY WOMEN MAGAZINETips on implementing exercise into your everyday routine:a Start small. Stand up when talking on the phone, and build up to adding squats. Then try and incorporate a daily 10-minute walk into your lunch break.a Invest in a Personal Trainer who will keep you accountable and help you to celebrate your wins.a Find a workout buddy with similar goals.a Seek out exercise that you enjoy - join a team sport, take up surfing or set up a weekly tennis comp with friends. This way it will never feel like an act of punishment.a Partake in incidental exercise such as parking further away from work or taking the stairs instead of the lift.SMART HEALTHY WOMEN MAGAZINE - PAGE 81a Surround yourself with the kind of people you want to be like.a Keep a diary of what you ate and how you move, and record how each action makes you feel.a Reward yourself for the wins - buy that top you’ve had your eye on, or try the fancy restaurant you’ve always wanted to go to.a Involve your kids - in both your exercise and in the kitchen. This new way of life will have a positive impact on the whole family.a Rest and rejuvenate. To be as productive as possible, you need to give yourself time to recover by ensuring you’re getting enough sleep, or treat yourself to a relaxing massage.a Avoid overwhelm. At times, there can be too much information, so try to simplify things and go easy on yourself.a Rethink how you socialise. Instead of going to a bar or restaurant, invest in bikes, take a homemade picnic to the park, or enjoy a game of beach volleyball with friends.a Let go of expectations. Working mothers in particular put a lot of pressure on themselves to be the perfect mum, wife and career woman. Know that you are enough, and that you’re doing the very best you can.1Pointers on how to stick to your new lifestyleSMART HEALTHY WOMEN MAGAZINE - PAGE 83It's not hard to decide what you want your life to be about. What's hard, ...is figuring out what you're willing to give up in order to do the things you really care about ―- PAGE 84 - SMART HEALTHY WOMEN MAGAZINE5 SCIENCE BASED HACKS TODIET RESOURCES YOU’LL KEEP FOR LIFEby Michele ConnollyIf you want to lose a few kilos then what’s the best approach? Should you give up carbs? Sugar? Gluten? Dairy?Well, you could try giving up any one of these food groups. But if you’re like many people, you may find you abandon the plan long before February.Those people are just weak-willed, lily-livered wusses, though, right?SMART HEALTHY WOMEN MAGAZINE - PAGE 85It’s seductive to think all it takes is strength of mind and you should be able to cut out a food group and shed unwanted weight. But the truth is your mind has its own agenda, and can sabotage your weight loss efforts like a neural Eve Harrington.How?For one thing, when you give up something you try to avoid thinking about it. But in a study called Suppressing Thoughts of Chocolate it was found that trying not to think about chocolate can make you more likely to have chocolate. So giving up something you love in order to lose weight can lead you to eat more of it. Excellent.For another, when you’re deprived of food it can lead to binging and disordered eating. Which will come as a shock to literally nobody who has ever been on a restrictive diet. - PAGE 86 - SMART HEALTHY WOMEN MAGAZINEThis is precisely what happened to WWII veterans after they suffered food deprivation as prisoners of war - so you can’t put it down to being a contemporary food issues thing.And as a nasty little kicker, metastudies have found that dieting leads you to become preoccupied with the denied food and also makes you more dissatisfied with life in general. So now you’re obsessive, binging, and miserable. Great.That explains why dietary New Year’s resolutions are so tough to stick to.So then, is it hopeless? Is there anything you can give up to help dislodge excess kilos?Don’t throw your protein ball at me yet - the answer, happily, is yes. You can give up certain foods without triggering your brain’s self-preservation instincts.But! You have to choose the foods carefully and relinquish them gently. SMART HEALTHY WOMEN MAGAZINE - PAGE 87Here’s howFirst, get in touch with what you love, and don’t deny yourself your favourite treats. Maybe for you that’s chocolate or ice cream or cheese.Second, when you really feel like it, have it. And enjoy it - without guilt.Third, when you don’t especially feel like it, let it go. There’ll always be another chocolate eclair. If you’re not really in the mood or this one is not the greatest, leave it.Fourth, once you identify the treats you love, say no to the ones you could take or leave. In fact, make this your mantra: if you can take it or leave it, always leave it. If you love red wine then skip the cocktails. If you adore cheese then who needs dessert.Fifth, give up calorie-dense food you don’t especially care for, rather than arbitrary groups that contain foods you love. If you don’t love cake, don’t eat it. Save yourself for the most pleasure.- PAGE 88 - SMART HEALTHY WOMEN MAGAZINEThe secret to New Year’s resolutions that become permanent lifestyle changes is to work out what you truly enjoy, reassure yourself you can have it when you really want it, and give up what you can pretty happily live without.That way you don’t have to suppress cravings, or feel deprived, or lose life satisfaction. And nobody’s head has to look like like a chocolate eclair.SMART HEALTHY WOMEN MAGAZINE - PAGE 89Next >