You don’t need to join a gym or hire a personal trainer to become fit. I did and it helped me tremendously but I realize that not everyone has that kind of disposable income. There are some things that everyone can do that are free and relatively easy.
Monitor Your Food:
We all eat more than we think we do. I cannot stress that enough! A bite here, a nibble there, and it all adds up. It’s helpful to track your food intake. I personally love MyFitnessPal by Under Armor. It’s free to download and use on your smartphone, you can connect to other users for support and the platform is extremely easy to set up and use. Whatever app you choose, track your food! You’d be surprised at how much you actually eat. This app also tracks exercise which then converts into calories burned, which means you can eat more during the day!
Sleep:
Sleep is SO important. You need to get at least 7 hours of sleep per night. The body repairs itself during this time, and studies have shown that good sleep is critical for weight loss. If you have trouble sleeping, talk to your doctor.
Carb Control for Diabetics:
If you’re diabetic, carb control is important. I personally eat 20-25 g carbs a day; most people require about 200g per day but I replace them with high amounts of protein and moderate amounts of healthy fats. By no means do you have to limit your carbs like I do but if you’re going to, make sure the carbs that you do eat are free of refined sugars and starch. All carbs that I consume are primarily non starchy vegetables. I don’t eat breads or pasta. If you do eat carbs, it’s best to pair them with something high in protein; this helps provide a controlled blood sugar increase rather than a quick spike.
Walk:
Walking is low impact, requires no equipment, no gym memberships, just a decent pair of shoes and if you live where I do, an umbrella. Start slowly, ten minutes at a time, and gradually increase the amount of time and distance you walk. There are many free phone apps that can track your speed and distance walked, those can be helpful if you want to track your progress.
Weights:
Muscle burns more calories than fat, so anything you can do to replace fat with muscle will help. You don’t have to join a gym to do strength training. There are a zillion great videos on YouTube that use everyday objects around the house to increase muscle. Spend some time doing some research on reputable trainers though, you don’t want to get injured following someone who really doesn’t know what they are doing.
Water:
So often we think we’re hungry when we’re actually thirsty. My rule of thumb when I think I’m hungry and it’s not mealtime is to drink a full glass of water and then wait 15 minutes. Nine times out of ten it turns out that I was simply thirsty. If I’m still hungry, then I eat.
My Journey to Health 