6 Steps to Lose Weight and Feel Better

When you think about where to start, it can be helpful to list the things you can control, and to recognize the things you can’t control. This helps you choose your battles and prevents you from falling into a victim mentality, where you feel trapped by the things you can’t control and therefore don’t spend your energy resisting them.

You can’t control your genes. Your genetic inheritance, known or unknown, is written in your cells before you are born, and there is nothing you can do to change that. But you can change how those genes express themselves, and you can change whether those genes are “turned on” or “turned off.” The expression of each gene is a complex relationship between the genetic information included in that cell and the environmental triggers that either activate the expression of that gene or keep it dormant. The habits that form your day to day life have a lot to do with whether a gene will be activated or not.

If you weighed yourself this morning, you don’t have any control over the number on that scale. It was what it was, and no amount of regret or wishes will change that. However, you do have control over the number on that scale next week, or next year. Your future weight and long-term health will be determined by the choices you make, and instilling healthy habits will help you make choices to support your health.

If you have been diagnosed with a chronic disease or are living with a chronic health condition, that is not something you have control over. That diagnosis is a fact of your life. But the management of that condition is up to you. Once again, the habits and choices that you make can make a huge difference in how your body responds to that disease.

No one can control the number of years we get to live. We do, however, have a lot of control over the quality of that life. How deeply and fully we enjoy this life has a lot to do with the quality of our experience in the body that we have, and making choices to support a healthy body means that we can enjoy every year we get.

You can’t control other peoples’ words or actions. We are surrounded by other peoples’ comments, habits, priorities, and choices. You can choose how to respond to others, though, and you can center your own health and choices and expend your energy protecting your own boundaries rather than trying to persuade everyone around you to go along with your choices. The choice to prioritize your health is the choice to love yourself and everyone who loves you as well, and that can be done whether someone else agrees with you or not.

So now it’s time to pick your battles. Rather than waste your energy thinking about the things you cannot control, use your energy to form habits that will boost your energy, fuel your body, and support your health. These six action steps will help balance your hormones and get your metabolism working for you. They are simple steps. Simple is not always easy, but it is worth the effort. These six steps are things that everyone can do.

1. Prioritize your sleep.

Sleep is absolutely essential to your over all good health. It rebalances your hormones. It boosts your immune system. It rejuvenates your mind. Get good sleep.

2. Move your body.

If you hate to exercise, change the word. Don’t use the word exercise. Call it dancing. Call it biking. Call it walking. Find some way you love to move your body every day and do it.

3. Cut out sugar.

Sugar does nothing good for you. It gives you the roller coaster ride of blood sugar spikes and crashes. It causes inflammation. It gets you addicted to the dopamine released when you eat it. The momentary pleasure of sweetness does not equal the lifelong joy of good health.

4. Hydrate.

Water is the drink of life. Every cell in your body needs water to function properly. Aim to drink half to three quarters of your body weight in ounces every day. So if you weigh 200 pounds, aim for 100 ounces of water a day, at least. That’s a bit more than three quarts. Start early, schedule it throughout the day, and finish up by early evening so you can sleep all night.

5. Eat your vegetables.

Vegetables provide macronutrients, micronutrients, and fiber. Eat them. Eat a lot of them, in all colors, especially green. Try for a variety of colors every day.

6. Moderate your protein.

Most of us are eating more protein than we need. Too much turns to sugar and creates an acidic environment in our gut. A handy guide is to take a portion the size of the palm of your hand, no thicker than a deck of cards.

These six action steps can be your guide to reclaiming your health, your energy, and your vitality.