goHealth.org with Take Shape For Life and Medifast

What’s the best way to feel fuller, wash away toxins from your body, increase your energy, and even reduce constipation? Have a nice 8-oz glass of water. Better yet, for Optimal Health, try having eight or more each day.

Drinking plenty of water is a basic Habit of Health. Now that the weather is getting warmer, it’s very important to keep yourself well-hydrated, especially if you exercise. The body loses water not only through perspiration and urine, but also from breathing.

When they say that water is the stuff of life, they’re not kidding. According to Dr. A’s Habits of Health, water makes up between 55 and 60 percent of your body weight, and you can’t make it yourself; you have to drink it in. Every function of your body needs water to work. Water is what moves nutrients, hormones, antibodies, and oxygen through your bloodstream and lymphatic system.

You may not know it, but by the time you’re actually feeling thirsty, your body is getting seriously low on water. If you only drink when you’re thirsty, you don’t have enough water in your system to keep functioning at your peak. Keep it up, and you may find yourself getting headaches, getting constipated, or feeling more distracted or fatigued than usual.

And it’s no wonder: When you don’t drink enough water, your kidneys can’t adequately filter and eliminate toxins and byproducts of metabolism. As Dr. A puts it, your body is forced to recycle dirty water, diminishing the efficiency of every metabolic function.

Keep bottles of water with you when you’re exercising, and sip continually throughout your workout. If you’re exercising strenuously in a very hot environment, try water enhanced with electrolytes to replenish potassium and other minerals that you’re losing through heavy perspiration.

Water is essential for those working toward a healthy weight. A recent study showed that drinking two 8-oz glasses of cold water could increase a person’s metabolic rate by 30 percent for 90 minutes. In addition, often when we think we’re hungry, we’re actually thirsty, and a glass of water will take the edge off our appetite. A nice big glass of water-filled and refilled throughout the day-can help keep your body (and your healthy eating plan) in top form.

There’s life after weight loss, and it starts with Take Shape For Life Transition Plan. Once you’ve reached your weight-loss goal, it’s time to make the transition into lifelong healthier eating.

The idea behind the transition phase is gradually increasing your calorie intake over time, while re-introducing a wider variety of the foods.

In general, how long you spend in the transition phase depends on how much weight you have lost:

• If you lost less than 50 pounds, allow 8 weeks
• If you lost 50 – 100 pounds, allow 12 weeks to transition.
• If you lost over 100 pounds, allow 16 weeks to transition.

Your transition needs may be different depending on your gender, age, height, weight and activity level. You’ll be adding an additional 100 calories each week until you reach your goal calorie level.

The Take Shape For Life Transition & Maintenance Guide helps you create an individualized approach to staying at your new, healthier weight.

For lifelong weight management-and other benefits of Optimal Health, be sure to get copies of Dr. A’s Habits of Health and the companion guide, Living a Longer Healthier Life, and follow their guidelines for a lifetime of healthier eating and living.

Maintenance

Once you’ve completed your transition phase successfully, you’re ready to sustain your weight loss and improved health for good. Monitoring your weight, balancing your calories, making smart food choices, and staying active can help you keep what you’ve worked so hard to achieve.

Like the transition phase, the maintenance phase isn’t one-size-fits-all. Your gender, age, height, weight, and activity level will determine your calorie requirements. 

Hints for lifelong healthy eating

• Continue to eat 6 small meals a day.
• Continue to weigh yourself every week.
• Begin or continue to exercise daily.
• Make vegetables account for ½ of your plate at mealtime.
• Eat at least 2 servings of fruit each day.
• Choose lean cuts of meat in 4 – 6 oz servings (about the size of a deck of cards or a computer mouse).
• Bake, grill, steam, poach, and broil. Avoid fried foods and cream sauces
• Read food labels for serving size information.
• Drink calorie-free beverages, including plenty of plain water.
• Restaurant servings can be up to four times the size of a regular healthy serving of food. Get a“to go” box when you order at a restaurant and put at least half of your meal in the box as soon as it’s served. Or, split your meal with someone.
• Order sauce or dressing on the side, and use only a portion of it.
• Enjoy the superior nutrition of Medifast Meals as part of your lifelong approach to healthy eating.
• Stay in touch with your Health Coach and friends on Support in Motion, and reach out to new Take Shape users: It’s a great way to make your new beginning an inspiration to someone else.

If you start to regain weight

For an extra metabolism boost, try our Essential1: Calorie Burn products. Each serving of Calorie Burn Cappuccino or Calorie Burn Flavor Infusers^TM contains 100 mg of caffeine and 90 mg of EGCG to enhance fat burning and decrease appetite.

Essential1: Calorie Burn is specifically designed to help you break through a weight-loss plateau and maintain weight in your maintenance phase.

Here are some more tips to keep from regaining weight:

• Work closely with your Health Coach, who can help you learn to embrace healthy habits for lasting change.
• Watch portion sizes.
• Keep an eye on stress, and take steps to address the emotional issues that can undermine your success. Yoga, meditation, and walking may be good options.
• If you’re exercising, consider stepping up your routine in terms of duration or intensity.
• Surround yourself with your Bio-network, and plenty of healthy, supportive people who value what you’re trying to achieve.

Pay it forward

One of the most powerful things you can do to ensure your continued health is to coach others who are struggling to do what you have done.

Also, when you become a “walking billboard” for the Habits of Health, you are providing a powerful and inspiring success story that’s beyond words!

Let us know if you are interested in becoming a Health Coach yourself or if you would like to share your success story, click here.