Everyone wants to lose weight, and then be able to maintain it once they reach their goal weight. Most people dive into extremely restrictive diets, lose weight, but then gain it all back and then some. It’s a vicious cycle. How about losing weight in a healthy way and keeping it off once you reach a healthy goal weight?

That was my goal when I started my health journey. How do I lose weight and keep it off without spending 10 hours a week at the gym? I have the secrets and today I’m sharing the Top 3 with you.

Make Half of Every Plate Vegetables

You don’t need to make huge changes to see results. Eat what you already know how to make and is easy for you to do with your hectic schedule but fill up half of your plate with vegetables. Eat them first, then the rest of your meal.

Do this for every meal. Here are some real-life examples:

• Sautee veggies and top with your eggs
• make a green smoothie to pair with your egg muffin
• Have a salad with your sandwich
• Skip the bread and do an unwhich which is all your sandwich fixings inside some romaine lettuce leaves instead of bread
• Roast a buttload of vegetables and fill up half of your dinner plate with them, then add your protein and grain

I have hundreds of clients lose 15-30 pounds in 3 months with this one adjustment alone.

Move Your Body for 30 Minutes Daily

For faster results and much better health, making sure you move with intention for 30-60 minutes daily is essential. Did you know recent studies have found that sitting for 8 hours a day will kill you just as fast as smoking a pack of cigarettes a day? Movement, or lack thereof, makes a huge impact on your quality of life and you’re health. One goal most of us know about is 10,000 steps in a day. You don’t have to hit the gym hard, make it difficult, or time away from your family though. There are many ways to move in or outside of the gym.

• Take your dog for a 10-minute walk twice a day and a 10-minute walk on your lunch break mid-day
• Walk for 15 minutes twice a day
• Jump on the trampoline with your kids
• Swim and play water volleyball
• Rock-climb indoors
• Garden
• Dance party (alone or with your fav people)
• Youtube workout videos
• HIIT workouts (10-15 minutes and you’re good to go!)

Personally I LOVE going to the gym. I feel like I can truly unplug. I enjoy lifting weights especially. Cardio I don’t really enjoy so I watch HGTV while I do it or listen to a favorite podcast and the time flies. That’s just me though. If you loathe the gym like I know many people do, you have a ton of options. Just making it a priority each day and watch your health soar while the scale goes down.

Skip The Liquid Calories

Did you know that liquid calories easily add up to 700 calories per day for most people? No joke. You can easily lose 2-3 pounds per week just by drinking your coffee black and sticking to straight-up water. I know black coffee is usually repulsive. That’s because you’re consuming the wrong beans! $5-$10 bags of coffee are usually extremely bitter and burnt tasting. That’s why we have to add sweetener and creamers! When you have a GOOD bag of coffee beans, typically in the $15-$25 per bag range, they don’t need anything. They taste good all on their own.

Don’t like water? That’s okay. You can flavor them up with fruit and herbs! I have 6 recipes over here for you to look over.

Hate going to the bathroom all the time when you drink water? If you push through it for 2 weeks, your body adjusts and you won’t feel like you’re going to the bathroom every 30 minutes. My dad finally trusted me on this and did it and he goes “you’re right. You do start going less after 2 weeks.” If my dad says it, you know it’s true.