Bring it back to the basics: simple steps to attain and maintain a healthy weight.

At Citrus Pear, we know there’s more to healthy eating than counting calories and dieting—it’s about fostering healthy relationships with your food. We believe in approaching nutrition intuitively and giving your body what it needs, rather than depriving you of what you want. We also understand that if your goal is weight loss, it can be frustrating, difficult, and overwhelming to make the “right” choices.

We encourage less focus on the number on the scale and more emphasis on health and wellness habits that will ultimately lead to not just weight loss, but stronger mental, emotional, and physical health as well.

Here are five tips to keep in mind when trying to reach your health goals:

1. Get enough sleep

2. Manage stress

3. Eat balanced meals and snacks

4. Move your body

5. Plan for the long game

Sleep on it

Why is sleep important when it comes to health and weight loss? It's a scientific fact that sleep is important for overall health. It's not just important to get enough sleep, it is also essential to get quality sleep. Studies have shown that poor sleep quality is associated with increased fat in the abdominal area. Studies have also shown that when we’re tired, we make poor food choices, leading to skipping meals and/or overeating. Most adults should aim for 7-9 hours of quality sleep per night. So, turn off your phone, put down the caffeine, and catch those Z’s!

When in doubt, Zen it out

Between juggling work, family, and other commitments, it’s easy to become stressed out and busy. While acute stress could potentially lead to weight loss, chronic stress is shown to lead to weight gain. This is basically because the body reacts to stress by releasing hormones which can lead to fat accumulation and potentially insulin resistance, resulting in high blood sugars, and a cascade of other harmful effects on the body.

Relaxing can be easier said than done, and everyone manages stress differently. Some of our chill-out methods are:

• Journaling

• Meditating

• Exercising regularly

• Eating a well-balanced diet

• Limiting social media

• Visiting with a licensed therapist

• Positive self-talk

Learning how to manage your stress, and what works best for you, takes practice. But you can do it and your body will thank you!

Create Healthy Habits, Not Restrictions

When trying to lose weight, it’s important to eat balanced meals with plenty of protein, healthy fats, fiber, and complex carbohydrates. This will activate the body’s built-in mechanism to regulate insulin and keep you feeling satisfied.

Many people trying to lose or maintain weight are usually on a “diet”. Many diets are restrictive forms of eating, difficult to maintain, and can lead to strained relationships with food. Whether it’s calorie counting or restricting food groups, it’s likely to be another source of added stress. Sticking to wholesome fresh foods, reducing your intake of processed food, refined grains, and sugar, with a focus on intuitive eating, is beneficial to help you meet nutritional and weight goals, while leading to more balanced plates. This is where Citrus Pear can help. Our meals are balanced with healthy proteins, fats, carbohydrates, and vegetables, making dinner decisions a breeze.

Look who’s walking now.

When thinking of weight loss and the role of exercise, you probably already have a preconceived idea of what kind of exercise “counts”. Challenge this thought and replace it with"movement”, because ALL forms of movement count. Multiple studies have shown that in addition to helping achieve a healthybody weight, regular exercise may improve the health of obese individuals independent of weight loss. In a nutshell, obese individual who exercise regularly are generally “healthier” than those with a lower body weight and don’t exercise. The most important take away is that when incorporating movement into a daily routine, you need to make sure you are doing something you enjoy and can see yourself doing on a regular basis.

Work in progress

To summarize, weight gain and weight loss are both multifaceted. In other words, there are various causes and relations as to why someone might gain weight or why someone might lose weight. Best advice is to implement changes you will be able to maintain on a long- term basis. This is more than just losing or maintaining weight, it is a lifestyle change.

References

Sweatt, S. K., Gower, B. A., Chieh, A. Y., Yang Liu, & Li, L. (2018, July 25). Sleep Quality

is Differentially Related to Adiposity in Adults. National Center for Biotechnology

Information. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6204309/.

Sweatt, S. K., Gower, B. A., Chieh, A. Y., Yang Liu, & Li, L. (2018, July 25). Sleep Quality

is Differentially Related to Adiposity in Adults. National Center for Biotechnology

Information. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6204309/.

Tomiyama, A. J., Mann, T., Vinas, D., Hunger, J. M., Dejager, J., & Taylor, S. E. (2011,

May 1). Low calorie dieting increases cortisol. Psychosomatic medicine.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2895000/.

Gardner, C. D., Trepanowski, J. F., Del Gobbo, L. C., Hauser, M. E., Rigdon, J.,

Ioannidis, J. P. A., Desai, M., & King, A. C. (2018). Effect of Low-Fat vs Low-

Carbohydrate Diet on 12-Month Weight Loss in Overweight Adults and the

Association With Genotype Pattern or Insulin Secretion TheDIETFITS Randomized

Clinical Trial. JAMA, 319(7), 667–679. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2018.0245

Petridou, A., Siopi, A., & Mougious, V. (2019, March). Exercise in the management of

obesity. Science Direct. https://www-sciencedirect-

com.libproxy.lib.csusb.edu/science/article/pii/S0026049518302270.

‍