If you don’t read the labels you won’t know what you are putting in your body. But what does all that mean? Learn about portion size, calorie counts and nutrients from Lee and Carol.

Plus you’ll learn why it’s important to read the labels ahd how companies fool you with those big words and hide ingredients you are trying to stay away from. Tune in and you will become a label expert.

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I’ve also taken Nichols’ 10-step formula to another level and turned it into a helpful series of articles for you to use right now.

So let’s get started.

1. Reset Your Default Mode

Nichols begins by saying that many of you like to reside in “familiar discomfort.” That’s when you are so used to being stressed out about your lack of motivation to both get started and follow through on your weight loss plan that it feels normal. This is the part that you have to reset.

You must get out of this “normal” feeling and make a pact with yourself to do something about it. And not only do something by make a specific “something” plan, which includes when you will start, how much time you will devote to this plan and who will be on your support team to help you when the going gets tough.

Sometimes it’s more than just dealing with your situation, Nichols says that the first step is to admit that you are overwhelmed and acknowledge exactly where you are in this process. You have to start somewhere and this is a good a place as any. Your starting point is where you throw down the gauntlet and make a promise to yourself that this is where it all starts. You’ve admitted that you are lost in this process and you need help. Now you need to take the next step and put one foot in front of the other and get going.

Give yourself some time to really go through all the moving parts along with the people who have held you back and stopped you from achieving your weight loss goals.

Your assignment:

For this week, reflect on what has held you back and create some alternative strategies that will help you to avoid going through those situations all over again.

For example: If you couldn’t afford the gym before, can you this time? If not, what else will you do? You can clear out a place in your home to workout and get started there.

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McCormick.com’s Gameday Recipes

Here you will find plenty of recipes for snacks, appetizers, 30-minute meals, dips, main dishes and desserts. The recipes come with their nutritional breakdown. You’ll also find tips to make game day fun by sporting your team’s colors with your drinks.

11 Different Snacks from Health.com

You won’t lack variety in what you serve your guests with recipes from this site. What I like most is that they have pictures of all the dishes, so you know exactly what you are getting into, before you attempt to make it. They also have plenty of ideas for dips, desserts and the most popular dishes for super bowl partiers.

Make it Healthier with Healthland

Try these 5 ways to make super bowl snacks healthier.  You don’t have to incorporate everything, but every little bit helps and you might just learn a thing or two.

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It really isn’t important what percentage of energy during exercise comes from fat or carbohydrate. What matters at the end of the day is how many total calories were expended.

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Did you know that your fitness level decreases significantly after only three weeks of non-fitness activity? In fact, those muscles that you worked so hard to build up can shrink to one-third their size in as little as six weeks of inactivity? This is significant because muscle burns fat for energy and if there is less muscle, that means less fat burning.

OK so how do you keep fit, stay inspired and on track? Simple, you have to have a plan. I talk about creating a plan to get into shape, but now that you’ve achieved the fit level, you need to plan how to stay that way.

1.  Your Workout

Look at the workout that you followed during your “get fit” mode. How did it work? Is it something you can continue to follow or does it need some tweaks? Remember, it it’s too taxing on your time and your psyche, you won’t follow it and that’s NOT a good thing. Adjust as needed so that your new workout fits into your lifestyle easily.

2. What You Eat

Of course, you must place your diet and nutrition high on the priority list for staying fit. You probably won’t have to be as strict, but you can’t throw out all those great tips and tricks you leaned either. Just as with your workout, you will need to adjust your eating to fit your new lifestyle so that it fits seamlessly.

3. Your Friends and Family

Look around you, were your friends and family the reason you got fit or the reason you got fat? The people around you have a much deeper influence on you than you may think. Re-examine your relationships; ditch the toxic ones and replace them with people who will cheer you on to even greater success. I realize that there may be some family members like your mom, sisters or spouse that you can’t really ditch, but you can decide how you will interact with them and use them to help you stay on track.

This article is part of Optimum Body Sculpting’s “Wellness, Weight loss and Fitness” series. Check out the other articles in this series:
Wellness and Weight loss: How they go hand in hand

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