5 Small Mom Friendly Changes You Can Make For Big Results in Your Health and Fitness

It’s always nice to get a compliment right?  A few times recently when meeting new or potential clients I’ve heard “I want a body like yours.”  What a nice compliment!  And then just when I’m about to say “Thank you, let’s get to work…” I get the dreaded “too bad it’s not my job to workout all day” -whomp, whomp.

Yes, it is true that now a large part of my job involves staying active.  I’m very happy about that and admit I am lucky to do what I love!

I made it my New Year’s Resolution to make a change.  I spent most of my winter break from teaching working on a plan: studying, designing, trying out the most efficient workouts and simplifying healthy eating plans.  From all of that, the idea for Living Room Workout Club was born. Using the same basic principles below, I regained the strong physique and healthy lifestyle I had been missing.

You may actually be surprised at how easy it is to work simple, effective lifestyle changes into your everyday routine. Small changes can have BIG results if you are focusing on the right things.

Let me show you.

1. Drink lots of water 

Drink more water

Shoot for  ⅔ your body weight (lbs) in ounces of water each day.  Drinking plenty of water will improve your energy, aid in digestions, suppress appetite (sometimes when you think you are hungry you are really just thirsty), improve the appearance and elasticity of your skin, and much more.  Coffee and tea count towards your overall water intake, but be careful not to add sugar!

2. Watch sugar intake

Cut the sugar

The recommended daily intake of sugar by the American Heart Association is less than 25 grams added sugar per day.  Try to stick to less than 30 grams of total sugar per day. In addition to weight gain, too much sugar can lead to metabolic dysfunction and increased inflammation in the body.

If you feel like you are addicted to sugar, avoid it completely for a month. Slowly reintroduce only small amounts back into your diet. That is how I had to do it to get rid of my sweet tea and “have a little coffee with that sugar” taste buds.

Finally beware of hidden sugar sources like the following:

• Pasta sauce
• Granola/Energy bars
• Flavored yogurt
• Salad dressing
• Breakfast cereal
• Dried fruit
• Ketchup

Ladies, get serious about checking nutritional labels for sugar content.  What you see might surprise and anger you.

vitaminwater is promoted as healthy but just look at how much sugar it has!

3. Get regular

Top 10 Healthiest Sources of Fiber

There is this commercial on the local radio that says something like “maybe your big belly isn’t because you are fat, maybe you are just bloated.”  It makes me laugh every time, but there is some truth to that.  Bloating was one of my biggest issues.

To the point where I sometimes looked pregnant when I definitely wasn’t!

Three things help me regulate my digestion and beat the bloat: increasing my water intake, increasing my fiber, and taking a daily probiotic.  Recent studies show simply consuming 30 grams of fiber daily – only five more than the recommended amount for women – can be as effective a as more strict diets with tons of rules!

4.10-20 Minute HIIT style workouts

I did these efficient and effective workouts 3 times a week.  You can find all my favorites in the Weekly Workout section on the Living Room Workout Club site or  you can look back at some My Atlanta Moms Club Nap Time workout posts like “Not Your Traditional Cardio” or “Tabata What?“.”   This style of workout requires little to no equipment, increases your metabolism, is good for your heart, and most of all requires very little time!  Read more about the benefits here.

5. Add movement more movement to your day even if it’s only a little bit

Stop Doing Boring Crunches. Try These Core Moves With Your Stroller!

Hey, the bottom line is the more you move, the more calories you burn.

It does NOT have to always be what we commonly consider “exercise”.  We went for a lot of after dinner walks as a family, but I also tried to incorporate added movement here and there into my daily life.  Back then I didn’t know that name for it, but now I know it to be NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogensis).  Click here for more “neat” (yeah, I said it) ideas to incorporate movement into your daily life. Stay tuned next time for simple ways of adding a little extra movement in to regular mom life.

Again these are all changes I made while working full time with a toddler at home!  You can do it too!  However, if you are someone who needs a little more structure and accountability, these ideas are all incorporated in my MIND. BODY. SOUL. challenge.  Check it out here and join the next one!