The new year is a time where we tell ourselves "I can do it, I will go to the gym every day!", but in reality, that doesn't happen for most of us. Our lives are busy and we're already over-scheduling ourselves and trying to balance work, school, social life, and sleep. Adding a fifth category: gym, would make our hectic lives even harder. If you can fit in time to go to the gym, that's great. However, there are steps you can take to maintain your health without making the transformation to gym rat.

1. Eat more natural foods.

It sounds obvious, we know organic is better for us and we know that green leafy stuff many of us hate is actually beneficial to our bodies, but how often do you actually eat naturally? If you're wondering what is natural and what isn't, think paleo. Many many years ago when we were living out of caves and drawing pictures of mammoths on walls we would eat what we could either hunt or gather. You can't hunt or gather cheese. You also can't hunt or gather bread. Both of these things have to undergo a process before becoming what they are. To eat naturally, think grains, vegetables, and meat. The closer your food is to nature, the better it is for you.

2. Eat smaller portions.

Typically even if we eat healthy, we eat way too much. With constantly overeating we've actually trained our stomachs to think we need more food than we really do. If we're minimally active or inactive (like watching Netflix in bed all day) our bodies only need 1,200 calories to sustain themselves. The typically American eats roughly 2,200 calories which is 1,000 over what they should. When you eat just one meal out you're given huge portions that typically take up most of our daily caloric intake.Trust me, I know the picture below is depressing, but eating smaller portions (of healthy food) is an easy way to lose weight and retrain your brain and stomach to only eat what you need.

3. Write down what you eat and drink.

I'm not one for counting calories. It's more stressful than it is helpful in my opinion. However, I do believe we should be aware of what we are eating. Keep a log of your food and drink intake, then reflect on what you have eaten at the end of each day or week. The purpose of this is to truly bring awareness to what (and how much) you are putting in your body and to take note of changes you might need to make in your food routine.

4. Think about what you drink.

A lot of the time we don't think about what we drink as much as we think about what we eat, but many empty calories can come from what we drink. I like Starbucks as much as the next white girl but a grande mocha has 360 calories. If you're drinking that every day you'll gain a pound (3,500 calories) in about a week and a half. Soda, fruit drinks and yes, even alcohol have high amounts of sugar and calories. Don't try to cut corners by drinking sugar free drinks with artificial sweeteners. They've been proven to actually add on more weight in addition to causing other health risks like cancer. The safest and healthiest drink is water, which you should be drinking about 70 ounces of a day.

5. Stop eating three hours before you go to bed.

If you eat later, you'll typically end up eating more total throughout the day, but you'll also have trouble digesting your food. If you stop eating three hours before you sleep your body will have time to digest your food and you'll be hungry and ready for a healthy breakfast to kickstart your metabolism in the morning.