The Greek island of Santorini, located in the southern Aegean Sea, is home to breathtaking sunsets and cliffside towns with narrow, cobbled streets. It is currently one of the top tourist destinations in the world, hosting millions of visitors each year, with only 15,000 permanent residents.

Those permanent residents are easily distinguished from tourists. Just look for the most agile and lean, moving swiftly through the hard-to-navigate, steep terrain. The people of Santorini are in phenomenal shape.

Living in a cliffside city means walking up hundreds, if not thousands, of stairs every single day. For many it means pushing or carrying crates of water up steep inclines to homes and hotels, since the tap water is unsafe to drink.

Live in Santorini and you’d quickly have a chiseled, beach-ready body.

It really goes to show you that your lifestyle creates the body that have. And while I don’t expect you to drop everything to move to a cliffside town in order to achieve your fat loss goals, there is a valuable lesson here.

The truth is that regardless of where you live, your lifestyle is something that you control. If you want your body to look or feel differently, then all you need to do is change the daily habits that make up your routine.

For the people of Santorini that means fighting gravity by moving their bodies up and down cliffsides every day. For you it could mean adding in that hour of exercise that you’ve been telling yourself you should do. Or cutting out that sugary snack you gravitate towards after dinner each night.

Here are 5 lifestyle factors to consider…

1. TV Time: Many people are in the habit of sitting in front of the TV for hours on end after a stressful day at work. Yes, you may be worn out and need a break, but sitting on the couch, zoned out, watching TV is not the way to lose weight.

If you must watch the evening news or see your favorite show, use the time to burn a few calories. Keep some hand weights next to the couch and work your biceps and triceps. Stand up and do some squats or lunges to work your legs and buttocks. Get on the floor and do some sit-ups to tone your abs or push-ups to tone your arms. Make a change!

2. Sleep: Most adults need an average of eight hours of sleep each night. Is that a lot more than what you’re currently getting? Then you may be interested to know that if you’re not getting adequate amounts of rest, you’re more likely to be hungry, overeat, and gain weight.

How does this work? Something like this.

If you’re tired, you won’t feel like cooking a healthy meal, and you’ll opt for fast (fattening) food instead. This very same lack of energy will also likely cause you to skip a workout. On top of that, sleep deprivation causes your metabolism to slow down, which promotes fat storage.

3. Drink Choices: Lasting weight loss is about changes. Unfortunately, some of the changes one must make are difficult. If you’re one of the millions hooked on soda, alcohol, or other sweetened beverages, your weight goals may remain out of reach until you replace these drinks with water. You should also know that your brain often confuses thirst with hunger.

So at the first sign of hunger, don’t grab a snack or calorie-filled drinks. Instead, grab a glass of water.

4. Breakfast: Want to know a secret to successful weight loss? Eat breakfast! Try cutting calories by skipping breakfast, and you’ll be excessively hungry by mid-morning. As a result, the healthy calories you would have eaten at breakfast are replaced with calorie-filled snacks and an over-sized lunch.

Once again, fitting breakfast into your busy schedule may mean dramatic lifestyle changes. But research shows that the habit of eating a healthy breakfast is key to losing weight and keeping pounds off. Get to bed 30 minutes earlier than usual and set your alarm 10 minutes earlier to give yourself time to eat breakfast.

5. Physical Activity: Weight loss is about burning more calories than you consume. Remember the people of Santorini and their all-day exercise! Therefore, it should make sense to you that dieting and exercise must go hand in hand. If you want to speed up fat loss and keep it off, add or increase the amount and intensity of physical activity in your daily life.

For many people, this is the most difficult lifestyle change of all, but the benefits are well work it. Aim for 30 to 60 minutes of intense exercise on most days of the week. When exercise is a normal part of your everyday routine, it’s more likely to stick, and your body will become slimmer and more toned.

The quickest and most permanent weight loss comes as a result of a combination of healthy eating and consistent, challenging workouts.

I’m here to help you meet your fitness and weight loss goals.

Call or email today to get started on a fitness program that will get you on the fast track to your best body ever.

These five lifestyle changes aren’t always easy to make, and change won’t happen overnight. Chances are, you’ll have occasional setbacks. But don’t give up!

Each day is a new beginning, and it starts out with no mistakes in it. Begin each morning with the resolve to not only stick with your healthy eating habits, but your lifestyle changes as well.

If you aren’t happy with your current body then feel free to reach out to me. It’s my goal to help each and every one of my clients achieve their best body ever.

You’ll see quick and satisfying fitness results when you join my exercise program.

Call or email today – let’s get started!

This summer salad is a refreshing way to serve chicken. Tender mango chutney, creamy Greek yogurt and fresh, crunchy greens make this one tasty meal. While typically creamy dishes contain loads of fat and extra calories, this one stays healthy with the use of nonfat, plain Greek yogurt. Enjoy!

Courtesy of RealHealthyRecipes.com

What you need
Serves 5

1 teaspoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch ginger root, minced
1 small red onion, chopped
1 small red bell pepper, chopped
2 ripe mangoes, chopped
Juice from 2 limes
1 Tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Dash of nutmeg
Dash of red pepper flakes
1 ½ cups non-fat, plain Greek yogurt
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
Dash of salt and pepper
3 cups cooked chicken breast, chopped
4 cups salad greens

Instructions

1. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic and ginger root and sauté for a minute.

2. Add the onion and bell peppers and sauté for a few minutes.

3. Add the mango and spices. Continue to sauté for another 5 minutes, until everything has softened.

4. Turn the heat down to low, cover and simmer for another 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Chill for 20 minutes in the refrigerator.

5. Combine the yogurt, mustard, salt and pepper together in a small bowl. Place the chopped chicken in a medium sized bowl and mix in the yogurt blend.

6. Prepare each plate with a pile of greens topped with a scoop of chicken and a spoonful of chutney.

Nutrition
One serving equals 286 calories, 6 fat, 185mg sodium, 22g carbohydrates, 3g fiber, and 35g protein.

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