Eating small meals frequently helps reduce hunger and properly fuels your body. It also ensures that your body has balanced energy during digestion. Learning to eat every two to three hours is a great way to keep your healthy habits on track.

In Element 08 of Your LifeBook, Dr. Andersen designed a Habits of Health Clock to build into your routine, so you can create more optimal days on your journey to lifelong transformation.

Here are tips to follow when developing an eating schedule, so you can stay on top of your Fuelings and log your eating every two to three hours:

• Stick to your Fueling schedule. Set an alarm for two to three-hour increments after you eat your breakfast, so you are alerted throughout the day when it’s time to eat Fuelings and your Lean & Green meal. Remember to eat breakfast within 30 – 60 minutes of waking up to jump-start your metabolism!
• List your Fueling routine. Grab Your LifeBook, or food journal, and jot down exactly what you eat every two to three hours. Try to plan ahead by choosing which OPTAVIA Fuelings you will eat during the day, and what protein and vegetables you will eat for lunch or dinner.
• Determine the benefits. Keep a list of all the instant benefits of eating a Fueling every two to three hours with you at all times, and include your WHY, to keep you motivated. Here are a few to get you started: you may be less hungry in between meals, have more energy, or be less likely to overeat during subsequent meals.
• What have you gained from your journey? List the long-term benefits you have achieved on your transformation journey to date. Maybe you have gained better control of your weight and are more productive during the day now that you have solidified a firm eating schedule. Write down anything you feel has improved your overall health and wellbeing!

Ask me, your Independent OPTAVIA Coach, about other ways to practice healthy eating on Plan, during your journey to Lifelong Transformation, One Healthy Habit at a Time^®.

The recent era of technology has made life easier in countless ways. 

While your electronics can sometimes be obstacles in reaching optimal health and wellbeing, you can also leverage the useful tools in your smartphone to help you stay on Plan.

Here are some healthy ways to utilize your smartphone while working towards a health goal(s):

• Set reminders. Setting reminders during the day is a great way to ensure you incorporate the microHabits of health, like a healthy mind or motion, into your day. Try setting a reminder to take a short walk, practice deep breathing, and get up during the day to stretch and recalibrate
• Exercise your brain. During your drive to and from work or while going for a walk, try listening to an audiobook, a Habits of Health webinar recording, or a podcast. This new information will not only stimulate your brain, but you’ll learn something new and get the benefits of healthy movement!
• Track your sleep. Try the Sleep Cycle alarm clock! This app monitors your sleep patterns and gently wakes you up after at least eight hours of sleep, at your designated time in the morning, helping you feel refreshed! You can also track your sleep each night to ensure you reach recommended hours.

Ask me, your Independent OPTAVIA Coach, for more ways you can harness the power of your smartphone to help you achieve optimal health and wellbeing.

Living Out Loud

From the outside, Jami appeared to have it all: her high school sweetheart husband, two children, a successful corporate career, and a booming social life, just to name a few.

On the inside, though, Jami was unhappy. “I found little to no joy in any of my blessings because I was plagued by all of the side effects of my obesity. I 'hid' in mostly all-black clothes, could physically only wear one pair of shoes due to joint pain, and you most certainly would not find me in any social media pictures. My days were an endless cycle of slogging through life, pleasing everyone else at the expense of my own health."

Tired of her drained lifestyle, Jami decided to give OPTAVIA a try and start her journey to optimal health and wellbeing.

After six weeks on Plan, Jami became an Independent OPTAVIA Coach, making her mother her first Client. She began to see her life transform right in front of her eyes.

“I found freedom in living all the way out LOUD in all areas of my family/social circles and quickly learned that I was a lighthouse to guide others to their own breakthroughs. I stopped wearing all black and wore colors that reflected the joy I felt on the inside. I chose to show up on multiple social media platforms as my most authentic self.”

Jami is down 90 lbs^* down and loving the physical, mental, social, and financial stability OPTAVIA has provided her.^**