If you already own or are thinking of investing in a Jack LaLanne Power Juicer than you are already on the right path for better health. If you are at the point where you think dropping a few pounds would benefit you, then you’ve come to the right place.

I once weighed 100 pounds more than I do right now and have learned a few good do’s and don’ts along the way.

DO:

• Consult your doctor. Schedule a physical and/or conference so you can determine based on age/height and other health factors how much your target weight should be. While there you might want to discuss a reasonable calorie target per day.
• Consider your goal to lose weight more as a lifestyle change rather than a diet. A diet mentality usually back-fires. Reframe your thinking, instead of saying, “I can’t have that,” say, “I choose not to have that because it doesn’t serve my needs.”
• Eat! Focus on healthy fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low fat yogurt, healthy fats like avocado and legumes like beans to keep satisfied. Worry more about getting healthy stuff in rather than the foods you might miss.
• Treat yourself. Everyday find a little treat of around 150 calories to look forward to. A 1/2 cup of frozen yogurt, a small glass of wine, a square of dark chocolate. Having something to look forward to will help ward off the desire to binge.
• Seek support. Find others who are also interested in leading a healthy lifestyle that you can vent to/celebrate with and exchange ideas for exercise and recipes with.
• Exercise! Even just 10 minutes of slow walking a day (more or less depending on your fitness level) helps to burn calories, boost mood and keep you motivated.
• Dust yourself off. Everybody slips up or wanders off track. It’s fine. It’s not about being 100% perfect all the time it’s about being able to recover as soon as you can. Just because you over did it at dinner last night doesn’t mean the whole week is doomed. Learn from the event, dust yourself off and keep going.
• Juice! Don’t forget to start your day with your favorite juice - it’s a great way to ensure you are getting as many vitamins and nutrients in your day as possible.

Don’t:

• Over do it. If you’re just starting out, start by making little changes rather than trying to do everything in one day. You need to ease into your new world or it’s going to be too overwhelming. If you haven’t worked out in ten years, a two hour boot-camp style workout may hurt more than help.
• Restrict calories too much. If the doctor recommends 1800 calories a day - then shoot for 1800 calories a day. Do not try to cut down to 1500 because you think it’ll give you quicker weight loss. Again, it’s going to backfire. It’ll either slow down your metabolism and foil your efforts or you’ll be so hungry that it’ll be impossible to stick with.
• Get too obsessed with the scale. In my journey I had many weeks where the scale didn’t budge. Sure it bothered me a little bit but my clothing was fitting better, my energy was up, my blood sugar, cholesterol and blood pressure was improving. When it comes to eating healthy and exercising there’s a lot of great benefits that is aside from the scale. The scale eventually catches up.
• Beat yourself up. Do the best you can. This is not a sprint and there’s no time limit here. Focus on persistence and perseverance rather than perfection.

Do you have any tips to share?

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