Chiropractic care may be focused on the diagnosis and treatment of mechanical disorders of the musculoskeletal system, especially the spine but chiropractors understands that patients are so much more than just spine. This is why they always say that they aim not just to relieve pain but to improve your overall health. In order to achieve that, you need to feed your body healthy foods that contain vitamins and nutrients from vegetables, fruits, lean meat, whole grains, and healthy fats. But when it comes to nutrition and eating right, there is a lot of misleading information, based on faulty logic which will only lead you astray. So how do you actually know when your diet is working and healthy for you? Here are the signs that you should look out for so you can stay motivated to reach your fitness goal.
You Actually Enjoy Your Meals
If you find yourself excited about the healthy food you’re about to eat, that’s one solid indication you’re doing it right. A lot of people, especially when trying to lose weight, fail with their diets because they force themselves to eat nutritious foods that they don’t like. At first it may work but there’s no way you’d be able to stick with it when you drag preparing the meal and almost gag at the food. There’s a lot of healthy foods that you can actually find delicious. So turn to those instead of copying someone else’s’ meal plans. Know that they may have been able to stick with it because they like the taste of kale or broccoli. Find other vegetables, fruits, etc. that suits your taste, otherwise you’d keep cheating on the whole diet soon and binge on unhealthy foods to “reward” yourself for eating those healthy foods.
The Weight Loss Goal You’ve Set Is Realistic
Biting more than you can chew is a surefire way to failure. Understand that you didn’t gain the excess weight that you have overnight. So do not assume that the transformation will happen overnight too.
Set goals that you know is within your capability and probability. Now what does that mean? It means the goals that you should set, both short and long term, should be realistic and achievable. If you normally eat out due to your busy schedule and have never exercised before, then don’t plan on home cooking 3 meals a day 7 days a week and/or going to the gym every single day on top of that. Chances are, you wouldn’t last a week and you’ll drop the whole weight-loss goal.
Cooking your own food is the best way to limit things and be more in control on what you feed your body. But if you’re really busy, then just commit to cooking at least your own dinner and packing your own snacks at work. Once you’ve gradually worked out your schedule to that and have gotten used to it, then you can slowly try wake up a little earlier and make your own breakfast. This way you have two main meals and snacks that are healthy and then accept that packing your own lunch may not just be feasible since you don’t have more time to cook in the morning and allow yourself to grab whatever’s convenient in your cafeteria. Planning it this way makes it easier to accomplish thing more often than forcing yourself into unrealistic goals and then beating yourself up when you can’t do them. That just defeats the purpose of the whole thing.
When it comes to exercising, especially if you have an office job where you sit a lot, admit to yourself that you may not be able to do it as consistently as you would like to. So don’t be disappointed with yourself if you can’t go to the gym every day. Just find ways to move more wherever you are. They say sitting is the new smoking. Not only can sitting for an extended period of time cause health issues, it also a reason why you might be struggling to shed pounds since insufficient physical activity leads to that. So if you have a deskbound job, even find ways to interrupt sitting or squeeze more exercise in your routine like taking the stairs to your office instead of the elevator counts as workout. Sedentary lifestyle causes some people not only gain weight but also develop musculoskeletal conditions which can make losing weight even more difficult. If this is your case, better consult a chiropractor right away to address your condition accordingly which when treated can help you lose weight in the process.
You’re Not Irritable Or Frustrated The Whole Time
A lot of dieters try to cut back all kinds of different foods that they deem unhealthy especially carbs. They think that it will make them gain pounds. This results to an unbalanced nutrition which affects mood and cognitive clarity. Carbs, in moderation and healthy alternatives, is definitely not a villain in your weight loss goal. In fact, you should only limit bad carbs as much as possible and eat the right carbs to give your body fuel to power through the day or through an intense workout. Stick to fruits, vegetables, and small doses of whole grains if you hope to maximize fat loss to get your much needed daily dose of healthy carbs.
Your Clothes Fit You Better
Weight can fluctuate a lot. So weighing yourself everyday isn’t exactly helpful when it comes to seeing progress. In fact, it may even ruin it for you if you’re not seeing changes on the numbers or seem to be gaining weight when you could actually be growing muscles (muscles are heavier than fat). This is why others prefer taking progress photos since they’re more reliable than the scale. But another way that you can tell you’re actually losing weight is with your clothes. If you have old clothes that you can’t zip anymore or the buttons seem like they would snap, try them on again. This time you may be able to zip or button them without struggle or sometimes they may have become looser.
You Get A Restful 7-8 Hours Of Sleep
You’ve probably familiar about the dieting myth of not eating after a certain time at night. Although that’s not entirely wrong, it’s still pretty inaccurate. What you should avoid is eating heavy meal too close to bedtime because it may make it difficult for you to fall asleep. However, nibbling on a light snack that’s still within your daily calorie intake is totally fine.
If you’re having trouble sleeping or aren’t getting enough hours on the bed, that affects your diet as well. Aside from not being able to train at your best, lack of sleep inhibits your body’s ability to store glycogen, increases your body’s level of cortisol, and create damage in your growth hormones. All of these affect muscle growth.
You’re Not Afraid Of Having Fat In Your Diet
While some people fear carbs, others fear dietary fat. What they don’t realize is that the healthy form of fat helps lower hunger, improve your well-being, reduce cholesterol, and help give you long term energy. Fats from unprocessed sources such as nuts, oils, nut butter, seeds, avocado’s, and fatty varieties of fish are actually your friends not your enemies.
You’re Drink More Water Now
You may think that this is counterintuitive because it’s often the water weight that makes you look bloated. However, drinking adequate amount of water helps suppress your appetite so you’re less likely to overeat. Aside from that hydration is important for your kidney to function properly which helps you easily burn the fat that you consume. So if you’re always chugging down water instead of soda or coffee, you’re doing better than you think.