Trying to lose weight or get into better shape is daunting. Who doesn’t love to eat? The problem arises when a few days of indulgent eating or lack of exercise start piling up. Here are a few tips that prove it’s not as hard as it sounds:

1) Find substitutes for fatty foods. Of course there are diets that completely cut out any fat or sugar, but if you really feel the need to eat a snack, try the reduced fat versions. Herr’s has “Reduced Fat Kettle Cooked Chips.” There are “Reduced Fat Cheeze-Itz”, “Reduced Fat Oreos,” etc. I’ve completely switched over to these, and honestly the only difference is the flakiness of the chip/cookie, and it’s not even that much of a difference. The taste is usually still the same. Don’t be scared, try one out next time you need a snack and let me know what you think.

2) Keep Active. This could seem obvious, but I always hear the excuse “I just don’t have time to work out.” You don’t need to go to the gym five times a week. You don’t need to go hours at a time.

All you need to do is keep active. Play with your pets, play with your kids, walk to the store instead of drive, have a catch with someone, have a catch with yourself, shoot hoops, do jumping jacks for 10 minutes, do 100 sit ups over the course of a day, go for a 10 minute jog, walk around the block a few times, the list can go on and on. The point is that there are hundreds of things you can do to keep active, and that none of these things take any longer than 30 minutes a day.

I still recommend going to the gym, but remember the list above next time you want to make an excuse.

3) If you smoke, stop. I don’t need to explain why.

Enjoy your week!

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