1st Commandment – Thou shall be active every day
Whether it is a hard gym workout, a bike ride, yoga session or even just parking your car a little further away than normal and taking the stairs instead of the lift we ALL need to move every day! Our bodies are designed to move, and many of our internal systems rely on movement to pump fluids around our body to stay healthy, i.e. the lymphatic system heavily relies on movement and muscle contraction to move lymph around to attack and destroy bacteria and other microbes.
2nd Commandment – Thou shall control portion sizes
The average plate size has massively grown over the past generation or two, and so too has the average serving size (and our waistlines). In fact I heard a story recently where a man returned to his elderly parents house and thought the main meal plate was an appetizer plate only to discover that these were the same plates he had used as a child and had eaten his main meals from.
3rd Commandment – Thou shall get organised
Getting organised and forward planning your meals is one of the most critical steps you can take to eating healthy. Junk food is fast, convenient and easily accessible in this day and age. Unorganised people keep these fast food companies very busy!
4th Commandment – Thou shall drink plenty of clean water
Keeping your body well hydrated is super important to your overall health and weight loss efforts. Even a small loss of hydration can slow your metabolism down. Always be mindful of your urine colour, frequency and volume. If it’s clear and there is a good volume -all good! If it’s very yellow and only a small volume – drink some more water.
5th Commandment – Thou shall leave food on your plate if you are full
A lot of us have had it ingrained in us as young children to always finish our plate of food. This can be unconditioned very easily. Listen to your body and STOP when you are full regardless of whether there is food on your plate or not. I guarantee if you do this consistently for a week, you will start serving yourself up smaller portions.
6th Commandment – Thou shall make it a lifelong lifestyle
The more drastic the changes you make to your diet and lifestyle, the less likely you will be able to maintain them if the changes are implemented too quickly. Replacing old habits with new good ones takes time. It needs to be done at a rate you can mentally process. Don’t try and do it all at once. Take it one step at a time and implement lifestyle changes that you can maintain lifelong.
7th Commandment – Thou shall avoid deprivation
Depriving yourself of a food you love is a sure-fire way to a “food-binge-blowout”. If you love fish and chips, why not make your own version at home with oven baked sweet potato fries and almond meal battered fish cooked in coconut oil. The internet is an amazing resource when it comes to creating healthier versions of not so healthy foods.
8th Commandment – Thou shall get to bed on time
Sleep is truly one of the foundation principles of health. Missing out on vital sleep hours puts our hormonal system way out of whack. Often our bodies try to compensate for being tired by craving sugar laden foods and caffeine for a short term boost.
9th Commandment – Thou shall eat slowly and savour each bite
Eating too fast is a sure-fire way to overeat. Mindlessly shoveling food down your hatch without actually enjoying it is really pointless. We are meant to enjoy our food. Looking at the colours, feeling the textures and tasting the flavours of our food all make us conscious of the eating process. Being present in that moment actually helps us to realise when we are full and have had enough.
10th Commandment – Thou shall never reward thyself with unhealthy food
This one is a bit of a common sense one, but it still amazes me with how many people break this commandment. If you are trying to toilet train your dog, and he goes a whole week without any accidents inside, would it make sense to reward his good behaviour with a pee on your carpet?!