Hey everybody! Thanks for stopping by.  This post is about what physical lifestyle changes have helped me to live a happier and healthier life, and I hope that these things will have the same effects for you!  So here are my 7 tips:

Eat Clean

This is so important! Whether you're trying to lose weight, gain weight maintain, or none of the above, eating clean will make you feel so much better because clean food is the best fuel for your body.  To be more specific, I would define eating clean as eating food that is naturally good for you.  It's that simple.  Vegetables, fruits, good carbs, good fats (yes, there is such a thing), meat, etc.  I don't really believe in weight loss diets, and I have no problem with preference diets like vegetarian, vegan, paleo, pescatarian, etc. I just don't know enough about them to point you in the direction of clean eating within a diet that's different from mine.  But regardless of your dietary preference, it is possible to eat clean. Feed your body good things and see what happens!

Train Dirty

So cliche, right? "Eat clean, train dirty".  But it's so accurate!  Fat = calories.  If you eat all the wrong things all the time, not only are you improperly fueling your body, but you're also making it hard for your body to let go of fat.  You can run 5 miles a day on the treadmill and burn a thousand calories.  But if you're eating the wrong things, you'll be stuck in a never-ending cycle of working out, eating the wrong things, and seeing no results.  They say that you can't out-train a bad diet and based on personal experience, I agree!

Now for my people who aren't trying to lose weight but might be looking to just build a stronger body, this is important for you too.  Like I said, clean food is the best fuel for your body.  So if you're doing cardio to strengthen your heart, weight training to build muscle, or working out with no specific goals in mind.  Whatever you're trying to do will surely be undermined by bad food.

Cheat

It's good to eat clean, but it's also good to cheat!  Research shows that having cheat meals helps you stay on track with clean eating.  If you deprive yourself of all the bad things that you like 100% of the time, it's so much harder for you to stay on track.  A cheat meal is also very different from a cheat day.  Now check out this article I found that explains the importance of cheat meals vs. cheat days perfectly.

Track Your Progress

I've said this before, but tracking your progress is necessary if you want to see change.  We look at ourselves everyday in the mirror, and seeing yourself everyday makes it extremely difficult to see change.  So track your progress!  Take progress pictures once a week, weigh in on a regular, write down what you eat and drink, whatever floats your boat.  Just make sure that you're tracking is somehow.  I like to track my weight with an app that pulls data from my scale and my Happy Planner fitness insert (if you're a planner person definitely check out the Happy Planner!)

Drink More Water

You know how I feel about water! And if you don't, check that out here.  Water really is the best thing ever.

Get Enough Sleep

Anyone who knows me knows that I don't let anything get between me and my 7 hours.  Every single night.  I'm happier and more productive, and my body functions better when I give it time to recharge. Sleep deprivation leads to a bunch of things to include depression, immune system deficiencies, weight gain, the list goes on (here).  If you want to do better, get more sleep.

Practice Gratitude/Kindness

This is my own personal addition to this list.  Focusing on what you have as opposed to what you don't and being nice to others will change your outlook on life.  I know because I've lived it.

So that's it!  Small changes to your actions and perspective could add up to big changes across the span of your life.  I hope you found this useful!  Thanks for journeying with me.