I can proudly say that I am in my best shape of my life as age 48, but in my past, I wasn’t as healthy and happy as I am now.
I was overweight and had an eating disorder, but after I had my second baby when I was 33, my life changed.
I was introduced into fitness. Fast-forward 11 years later, here I am.
When transformation happen in our life, there are few important factors.
1, clear vision of your future
2, information or mentor to tell you how
3, enjoyment on your new routine
If your new year resolution was to become healthy and happy, then your vision is set. Now I can show you information how to create your sustainable, healthy lifestyle.
Have you heard that “abs are made in the kitchen”?
That is so true. After several national level bikini competitions in the past, I know your nutrition is the most important for your transformation. 80% of how you look is coming from eating, 10% is from exercise and last 10% is your genetics.
I have experience of trying many kinds of diet programs, but I always ended up gaining more weight. So I started to research how I can create healthy eating habits.
The 80/20% rule. This means, 80% of the time you eat healthy whole food, 20% you allow yourself to have enjoyments like wine, chocolate or pizza.
I used to do extreme diet and never able to maintain my weight, but since I started to incorporate 80/20 rule, I am comfortably maintaining my healthy lean body and happy.
Pay attention to the food label and avoid processed food high in sugar, fat or sodium because they create unnecessary cravings as well as decrease healthy gut bacteria to cause many health issues.
Drink more water because 70% of our body is made with water. Detox your body, boost your metabolism rate & fill your stomach to avoid over eating
What, how often & how much should we eat? It is all depends on your age, fitness level, your goals and your health condition.
I can only show you what works for me. My eating habits before were very embarrassing but when I look back, I just didn’t have any knowledge on how to nourish my body.
I used to never have breakfast but lots of coffee, then have instant noodles at 3 p.m., then busy driving my kids for after-school activities, then take-out food for dinner. But now I put a priority on healthy eating.
Put a priority on your healthy lifestyle. Dedicate one to two days to plan your healthy eating. Create menus and make grocery lists with your family, then prep.
Making your children involved in meals equals education for healthy life skills.
If you are too busy and have no time to cook, that’s no excuse.
Use a meal prep service or buy healthy deli food from the store. There are many great healthy choices nowadays.
Here it is - you decided to become healthy, now you know what to do.
Ryoko Donald is a Burnaby-based fitness & yoga trainer, motivational speaker and author.
