5 Keys to Help You Break Bad Habits that are Making You Fat
by Shin Ohtake creator of Max Workouts

Winter can bring about an entire change in your lifestyle. You get into hibernation mode: your activities decrease, eating habits change, even foods you crave changes. And while trying to survive the winter blues by eating a little comfort food here and there may not seem so bad...it can become habitual real easily.

Bad calories are always bad, but combine that with lack of activity, increased consumption (of bad calories), gray skies, seasonal blues and frigid temperatures and you've got a perfect environment for cultivating poor unhealthy eating habits that can add inches to your waistline. But like all habits, good or bad, it can be broken...it only takes 30 days to break and create a new habit. So, here's a few simple and easy tips you can immediately implement to help you turn poor eating habits into good habits so you can begin shedding those extra pounds of winter insulation today.

Sugar and fat...a tasty combination that can add up real quick. A little bit of this after lunch and a little of that after dinner and before you know it, you've a bit more than a little "winter insulation" around your belly! But that's not all...you've also "programmed" your body to accept and store fat easier! Your body is designed for survival, so when your body gets cold it needs to insulate itself and what better way to do so, than to feed your body empty calories that's easily stored as fat.

Remember, not all calories are created equal and so it shouldn't come as a surprise that not all calories are metabolized the same way either. For instance, take a cup of decadent hot chocolate with whip cream drizzled with nuts and fudge. My mouth is watering as I'm writing it...BUT it's highly processed and super high in refined sugars (ie. high fructose corn syrup) and has trans fats (ie. hydrogenated soybean oil) that are all metabolized by your body differently than real unrefined whole foods. These comfort foods and drinks quickly gets stored as fat, not to mention putting undue strain on your organs (ie. pancreas) as well as increasing bad cholesterol that can clog up your arteries causing heart disease.

So, getting your sweet fixin' is okay on special occasions, but if those "occasions" become more frequent and start to resemble more of a habit...it's time to break it!

Habit is unconscious when you're doing it, but when you're trying to break it and create a new one, you need to be conscious. When you're starting to create a new habit it's important to keep in mind that it needs to be easy, doable and repeatable. The easier it is to implement and keep up, the higher your success rate. This is why I kept the following tips, simple and easy. Try these tips out for 30 days and see how you do. I think you'll be quite surprised at how making just a few small and simple changes can add up to big differences in your life.

TIP 1:
Never miss breakfast. Always start off with a well balanced breakfast with plenty of protein in the meal.

Most people make the mistake of eating calorie dense, highly processed foods like cereals and instant breakfast or carb dense foods like bagels or muffins and wash it all down with even more sugar like orange juice.

Just as bad are those that skip breakfast all together and start the day off with a cup of coffee on an empty stomach and a dehydrated body.

Psychologically, it's vital that you start your day off right, and eating a well balanced healthy breakfast is key to doing that. Studies have shown that when you start off the day eating healthy, you're much more likely to stay that way throughout the day. Whereas, when you start out the day eating poorly or skipping breakfast altogether, you're much more likely to follow the bad habits throughout the day.

So first thing in the morning, drink a large glass of water. Your body's hasn't been hydrated for hours, it needs water...not coffee, not juice. Coffee is a stimulant and will suppress hunger...which is not good when you need to eat breakfast. Concentration of refined sugar found in juice will spike up your insulin, getting your body started down the wrong metabolic path.

When preparing your breakfast with proteins, eggs are probably the fastest and easiest food to make. But if you're not a fan of eggs, pick any other type of protein you like. You can also get protein from nuts, (whole) grains, (organic) soy and (organic) dairy** products as well. (**I'm not a big fan of dairy, but if you're not lactose intolerant or have any dairy allergies, you can use dairy as well)

Here's a couple of super quick and easy sample breakfast recipes:

Yogurt parfait
Mix 1 - 2 cup(s) of soy or plain yogurt (no added sugar) with one cup of frozen mixed berries and top if off with two tablespoon of chopped walnuts.

Scrambles eggs w/ veggies and a fruit salad
Mix 2 - 3 whole eggs, one cup of chopped up vegetables (you can use frozen veggies thawed overnight) in a frying pan (covered in olive oil or coconut oil) and add a touch of sea salt and pepper for taste. Scramble it all up for a few minutes and serve. Add 2 cups of mixed fruits (seasonal fruits such as berries, kiwi, peaches) on the side.

Protein power shake
Mix 1 cup of soy milk (almond milk or regular milk), 1/2 cup of soy or plain yogurt, one small banana chopped up, one cup of frozen mixed berries and 1 scoop of whey protein. (You can use any protein supplement of your choice)

**When using soy products, make sure that it's organic and non-GMO.
**When using dairy products (ie. milk, yogurt, whey) try to stick to organic milk products.

TIP 2:
Eat 5 - 6 small meals and snacks throughout the day. Preferably, consume your largest meal in the morning, medium size meal for lunch and a small size meal for dinner. The more you can adhere to this kind of eating pattern the better off you are. Try and finish eating by 8 or 9 pm...or give yourself 2 -3 hours before you go to bed. Your calorie expenditure slows down significantly at night, especially when you're sleeping, so much of late night calories get stored as fat. Therefore, the less you consume in the evening (after 8 or 9 pm) the better.

TIP 3:
When you get hungry in the middle of the day, between breakfast and lunch or between lunch and dinner, drink a large glass of water first and wait to see if the hunger goes away. Often times emotional hunger will subside after you drink water. If you're still hungry, have a healthy snack like a handful of nuts and a piece of fruit. I recommend combining foods high in fiber like fruits and vegetables (ie. apple, pears, carrots and broccoli) along with foods that have some protein and fat content (ie. almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, avocados). The combination of fiber and fat will satisfy your hunger and keep you full longer, while keeping your insulin level stable.

TIP 4:
Be conscious when you eat. Eat slow and chew well. Don't multitask when you eat. Be present and enjoy the food you're having. Eat slowly and pause for brief moments after every 2 - 3 bites of your meal. With each bite chew at least 10 times, this will slow down your eating and enable your digestive enzymes to kick in, allowing for better digestion.

TIP 5:
Exercise. This tip isn't about eating, but a vital part of a healthy lifestyle nonetheless. Try and get some kind of exercise on a daily basis 5 days a week. It's best to stick to an everyday routine, since it's the easiest to remember and you'll get in the habit of doing it quicker. Repetition is the key to success and forming a good productive habit is one critical aspect of it. Start with something simple and doable for you. It may be as simple as walking to and from work or going for a walk/jog during lunch time. Pick something that's easy to keep up and stick to it until it becomes part of your daily habit. Once it becomes a habit, you can think about doing a bit more and perhaps join a fitness class or participate in a fitness program.

Follow these 5 easy tips and kick start your way to a new healthy body and lifestyle. Remember that ditching your old bad habits is all about implementing easy, doable good habits that you can continue for at least 30 days. Once you make eating and being healthy a habit, you'll burn off your winter fat storage and get your summer physique back just in time. But even more importantly you'll get a healthy body inside and out!

Shin Ohtake is the author of the world-famous fitness program, MAX Workouts. To learn more about how you can get ultra lean and toned with shorter workouts, visit http://www.MaxWorkouts.com

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