Over the last 2.5 years I have been on a weight loss journey; Over this time I have made lots of little (and big) changes, here’s an example of one little one:
I used to drink full cream milk several years back but thinking about consumption, fat etc I decided to move on to lite-milk. This change was only noticeable in the beginning and has worked really well for me until about 2 months ago when I started on Almond/Coconut milk.
So for me, no matter what kind of food/diet regime I’m on/following at any given time (yes I mix it up) I refuse to cut out my morning coffee, and insist on having it with milk, because that’s how a drink my coffee, with milk.
My goal, and this weight loss journey is about long-term maintenance not short term wins or short term fixes. So I need to balance what I do and don’t do and know that it’s sustainable for me. I don’t believe in cutting out things I love so having my one coffee a day (or some ice cream, fish n chips or KFC now and then) I have still managed to lose weight and improve my overall health.
The reason for the recent milk change was about wanting to drink more coffee but not blow out my calories; I have been keeping track of roughly how many calories I eat/drink daily for about 2 years and this works well for me (I try to keep to 1000 – 1200 a day unless I’m having a naughty day). So when the weather started getting cold and I was wanting a nice warm pick me up (or 2) in the afternoon I was having a bit of a dilemma rationalizing the milk-calories versus what I could eat later, see I like a milky coffee which contains like 1/3 milk.
So one day I thought, let’s see if I can find a milk with less calories so I can have a second (or even third) coffee without totally blowing out my daily calories… So here come the trial and error to find what works best for me. Skim milk – no too watery; Soy and oat milk – nope too high in calories; Coconut milk – too watery; Almond milk – too watery. And then I found Coconut/Almond milk and it was milkier than their solo counterparts. There was a little adjustment in the beginning, mostly the colour of my coffees, but other than that I found a clear a winner. And this makes a huge difference in regards to my coffee desires and calorie intake; From 226 calories to 86 calories per 500ml (2-3 coffees) this is a big difference! It’s totally a win/win for me, I get more coffee and less calories.
Here’s how this little change and HUGE shift looks in numbers: From 226 calories a day = 1582 a week = 82,264 a year. To 86 calories a day = 602 a week = 31,304 a year (a whopping 50,960 difference!)
So the point for this long boring milk story is this: Small changes really do contribute to big shifts; Sometimes we might need to reassess the things we do or don’t do because tweaking it even just a little can make a big change over time.
This story is about changing milk for better weight loss/management and being able to happily maintain calorie goals without sacrificing the things I want. By making this change and changing the milk I put into myself I am now able to enjoy MORE of what I love rather than less.
Now imagine what other little things could be changes/tweaked in other areas of your life… This can be anything from an extra glass of water each day, being more creative, doing more exercise/activity, spending more time outdoors, or tweaking your inner self-talk etc. Remember just small changes can make a big difference… Here a few examples of how little changes can contribute to big shifts:
One extra glass of water per day = Assisting your body function by providing it with something it is unable to produce in the quantity it requires. Water is essential for your body as it helps your body function and is required for overall wellbeing. Fun facts about how important water is to our bodies – Overall we are about 60% water; Although numbers slightly differ from varying sources check out these percentages within our body: Our muscles are 70% water, blood is 80% water, and our brain is 85% water.
Just 5 minutes of creativity a day (whatever that may be) = 35 minutes a week of fun creative play contributing toward general wellbeing. An article by Forbe’s Magazine explains how creativity actually improves your health, “A creative act such as crafting can help focus the mind, and has even been to compared to meditation due to it’s calming effects on the brain and body. Even just gardening or sewing releases dopamine, a natural antidepressant… Studies show people who write about their experiences daily actually have stronger immune system function. Although experts are still unsure how this works, writing increases your CD4+ lymphocyte count, the key to your immune system”. (1)
Or 10 minutes of activity a day = 70 minutes a week = A massive 60 hours 40 minutes a year. Walking for example burns an average of 330 calories per hour so even just 10 minutes more activity a day = An extra 19,965 calories burned in a year (that’s two-thirds of the milk I drink).
Spending 30 minutes outside each day = 229 litres of fresh outside air. Did you know that: “Every cell in your body needs oxygen to function. When there isn’t enough to go around, your heart needs to work harder to make sure that what’s available gets to where it needs to go. Fresh air has plenty of oxygen, so a few deep breaths helps to bring in more of this vital gas to your body. This means your heart can relax, since it takes less effort to deliver what your body needs. End result? Your heart rate slows down, and your blood pressure lowers.” (2) How important is air? Well let’s look at it this way: We can go weeks without food, days without water, hours without heat (in extreme cold), but only minutes without air. And did you know that he brain uses about a fifth of your body’s total oxygen supply?!
A positive thought and/or a compliment to yourself daily = Exercising your neuroplasticity = “We can literally shape our drains with our thoughts which, as a result, will change the chemical composition in our brains creating dopamine and serotonin which make us feel relaxed and happy.” (3)
So what little change or tweak you could make in your life right now? You might think such small thing won’t make any difference so why bother, I have thought this too. But it really does matter, it really does make an impact, and it really does contribute to the larger shifts we aspire reaching. This can be anything from that extra glass of water each day, being more creative, doing more exercise/activity, spending more time outdoors, or tweaking your inner self-talk etc and just see what impact this has on you and your life over a week, a month, a year and so on, you might just be surprised about where you end up and what difference it actually has made. Remember, just small changes can make a big difference…
References:
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/ashleystahl/2018/07/25/heres-how-creativity-actually-improves-your-health/?sh=15eadabd13a6
- https://liwli.com/surprising-health-benefits-of-fresh-air
- https://www.alustforlife.com/tools/mental-health/neuroplasticity-help-your-flexible-brain-create-positive-neural-pathways-everyday
Healing Journey with Estelle 