It takes dedicated hard work to drop a significant number of pounds. But afterwards it’s incredibly easy (and frustrating!) to find those pounds creeping back on.

Maintaining fat loss is certainly possible, however it does require that you remain vigilant with your healthy routine.

Here are 5 secrets to maintaining your amazing body transformation for life. Think of these as your own personal lifestyle rules and stick with them at least 90% of the time to keep your body healthy and hot.

Hot Body Secret #1: Don’t Eat Just To Eat

There is no place in your healthy lifestyle for mindless snacking. I’m talking about a tub of popcorn at the movies or a bag of chips in front of the TV. All the calories ingested from mindless snacking have to end up somewhere…and that somewhere is around your waist or on your thighs.

Snacks are fine when you are aware of how much you’re eating in order to balance it with the rest of your meals for the day.

Hot Body Secret #2: Stand (And Walk) When Possible

Have you heard the saying sitting is the new smoking? The idea is that a lifetime of sitting all-day-every-day is as harmful to your body as smoking. Think for a moment about how much of your day is spent sitting.

You wake up and sit down for breakfast. You sit on the drive to work. You take the elevator up. You sit for most of 8 hours at work. You take the elevator down. You sit on the drive home. You sit to eat dinner. You sit to watch TV.

That’s quite a bit of time spent sitting! Now imagine if you consciously stood for some of this time each day and took the stairs instead of the elevator. Over weeks, and months, it really adds up in calories burned, muscles engaged, and overall fitness and health.

Hot Body Secret #3: Avoid Sugar

I might sound like a broken record about this one, but that’s OK, I’ll keep harping on this point until more people listen. Our bodies weren’t designed to ingest large amounts of sugar on a daily basis. When you regularly take in excess sugar the results are always the same. You. Gain. Weight.

The tricky part is that sugar is all around us, so avoiding it takes real vigilance.

Start with your morning beverage of choice. Does it have sugar in it? Most of the beverages that are blended and brewed at coffee shops are simply vehicles for ingesting sugar. Find a beverage that you enjoy without any added sugar and stick with the rule of not drinking sugary beverages throughout your day.

Hot Body Secret #4: Keep Dinner Light

Who says that dinner should be the biggest and heartiest meal of the day? Instead, focus on enjoying light dinners that are centered around protein and veggies and avoid starches and carbs in the evening.

The recipe below for Beet and Grapefruit Salad is a great example. Add a grilled chicken breast to a serving of this vibrant, fiber-filled salad and you have a nutritious dinner that’s light and healthy.

Hot Body Secret #5: Always Exercise

How often do you brush your teeth? Do you sometimes take a few weeks or months off brushing your teeth? Um, no. That’s gross. You brush your teeth everyday as an ongoing habit because you know that the benefits outweigh the slight inconvenience.

Can you see where I’m going with this? :)

Exercise only truly works when you do it as an ongoing habit because you know that the benefits outweigh the slight inconvenience. It’s part of keeping you healthy. It’s part of who you are.

Hot Body Secret #2 above described how standing and walking when possible will help your overall health and shape. But what about those hours when you have no choice but to sit? In those moments, keep it tight!

When sitting, practice good posture by keeping your shoulders back, head up, and contract your core muscles by pulling your belly button in towards your spine.

This simple move will keep your core muscles engaged and will contribute to your overall fitness.

​How often does your dinner mostly consist of fresh, vibrant produce? The nutrients and fiber found in greens and veggies are vital and delicious! Give this salad a try and add some sliced, grilled chicken breast for added protein. Hopefully this recipe will inspire you to include more veggies and greens in every meal!

Courtesy of RealHealthyRecipes.com

What you need
Serves 6

3 red beets
3 yellow beets
3 grapefruits
3 mandarin oranges
2 tablespoons olive oil
⅛ teaspoon Liquid Stevia
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
6 cups Baby Arugula, fresh
¼ cup pistachios, chopped

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Trim the beets, wash and place in an 8x8 casserole pan with ¼ cup of water. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for an hour, until tender. Remove from the oven, uncover and cool completely. Peel the beets and slice into wedges.

2. Cut the ends off the grapefruits, and slice off the peel and the white pith. Remove cut into segments and peel the membrane off each slice. Reserve ¼ cup of grapefruit juice.

3. Whisk together the olive oil, stevia, vinegar, sea salt, black pepper and reserved grapefruit juice. Toss the dressing with the beets and grapefruit wedges.

4. Arrange the arugula on a platter. Top with the beet and grapefruit mixture and sprinkle with pistachios.

Nutrition
One serving equals 142 calories, 6g fat, 15g carbohydrate, 4g fiber, and 2g protein.

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