Most of us need to change our eating habits and the more we read and learn the more important we realize this is. Getting started can be overwhelming and can and often does lead to failure. Maybe this is the year to take small steps and change our bad habits one habit at a time while we create new ones. During this process we also need to adjust our taste buds and what we turn to when we have a weak moment.
Week 1
The first week of the challenge is to drink more water or to drink the correct amount of water for our body. The calculation for this is to take our body weight and divide by 2 and drink that many ounces each day. Bob suggests drinking the first cold glass of water when we first get up to start the day right. In the first weeks challenge is to replace two sugary drinks or diet drinks with a glass of water. A slice of lemon, lime, cucumber or even a green tea bag will improve the taste of the water if you do not like plain water.
Week 2
Reduce unhealthy fats and to make better choices. Here is a diagram of a few choices we can make.
Week 3
Salt is in everything and the quantiy of salt or sodium can be surprising.
Cutting out salt intake from our diet. First is leaving the saltshaker sitting on the table and second is reading labels. There is more then enough salt added to our food that we do not need to add any salt before eating.
From the Rolling Strong Facebook Page:
Salt is everywhere: dumped into cans of soup, packed into hotdogs, and swimming in salad dressing and salsa. Here are a few easy ways to CUT BACK …..
1. If you are reaching for foods, choose products that are sodium free or low in sodium.
2. Make smart swaps.
3. At restaurants, ask your server which foods are prepared without added salt—and order those items
. 4. Substitute spices, herbs, and salt-free blends in place of salt.
5. Rinse canned foods to wash off some of the salt.
6. Check labels for sodium in all its form.
Week 4
Reduce Sugar intake and eat Healthy Snacks
Here is a tip from the Rolling Strong Facebook Page:
Sugar Busters, here is a tip: If a packaged food contains sugar in the first 3 ingredients, avoid it. If a packaged food contains more than one type of sugar, avoid it.
Week 5
Portion Control
Reading labels can be surprising to find that a teaspoon of something equals a serving or a 1/2 cup of something is considered one serving. I have learned to that when I get out my natural peanut butter to use a measuring spoon to get my serving or when I make something I use a dry measuring cup to serve our food. Using measuring utensils as servers helps to keep serving size in mind.
Week 6
Small Steps to make a life long difference
This week is to review everything that has been discussed in the past six weeks. Ideas were discussed to use the truck as a personal gym on the outside and also to remember the F.I.T. System on the inside of the truck.
Each week on Saturday morning Bob will be announcing the new health challenge on his free conference call at 9 a.m. EST dial in number (866) 951-1151 and the pin is 9720344. Each week there is a great topic that is geared towards truck drivers and our lifestyles while away from home. The calls last from 15 minutes to a half-hour.
The Rolling Strong Facebook page is full of ideas on how to make healthy choices and to get more exercise. Using our time and our mandatory half hour break wisely we have no excuses to not exercise.
Rolling Strong Facebook Page
In 2015 my goal is to continue to get healthier by taking better care of my body the correct way. A very dear friend said to me once "Do you want to diet or do you want to get healthy?" the choice has always been to continue to stay healthy. One way I plan to do this is listening each week to the Rolling Strong Conference calls Saturday at 9 a.m. EST. To join the call dial 866-951-1151 and enter passcode 9720344#.
#TeamRunSmart is joining the fight against cancer. This month we will be donating $1 to the Cancer Research Institute for each new member that signs up