Changes That Make a Difference

Sometimes, we think the little things don’t make a difference when it comes to our health. The main issue many of us have is that it takes too long to see results from lifestyle changes and we don’t know if it’s working. When it takes multiple months to see results, we can get impatient and start to second guess what we are doing, questioning if it is ever going to work.

Sticking to lifestyle changes

How long do you keep going before deciding what you are doing isn’t working? That is a hard question to answer and one that can cause a lot of grief. I can tell you that I have found a few small lifestyle changes that have worked for me and I saw the results fairly quickly.

Not a fan of scales

I am not a fan of scales when it comes to weight loss. I think it’s better to gauge your health by how you feel, rather than the number on a scale. This is mostly because many people are gaining muscle while losing fat. This means the numbers may not match what you have really done.

Small changes in my food choices

However, I have changed my diet without working out too much due to taking it easy after having my first stroke. In this case, the scale really was a good tool. I started eating three meals a day and not snacking very much. I also cut out most carbs. I didn’t get to a level that would be considered keto, but I did make sure I did not allow my blood sugar to get above 120. There are a lot of vegetables and lean meats in my diet now.

Staying committed to new food choices

When you make these choices, you can eat more food, but consume fewer calories. Within a couple of months, I was down about 15 pounds. The best part was that I could see the difference in the mirror, and not just on the scale.

Easing into exercise after my stroke

Now that I am a decent time past the onset of my stroke, I have started adding in more exercise which has been showing in my appearance. I have started to look leaner and the loss of body fat is apparent. It’s not so much the amount of fat as the energy it has given me.

Feeling more energized

Once I started to lose weight, I have started feeling better and had a little more energy. An increase in energy is another great way to measure the success of your changes. When we carry more weight or have high blood sugar levels, we can feel more sluggish and tired.

Improving my sleep habits

One more thing that has helped me make changes to my body and showed results quickly was adding more sleep to my schedule. I am one of the first to say that I hate going to sleep too early because I have this weird feeling that I am going to miss something. I can tell you, what I miss the most by staying awake is having energy during the day. Sleep is one of the most important things you can do for yourself.

You can do everything right with diet and exercise, but if you don’t sleep the right amount, you can severely damage your body. Diet, exercise, and sleep are three things that should be used to complement each other. If one is working against the others, you will not experience the best results possible.

What are some small changes in your lifestyle that have worked for you?