A five-sided golf ball? I know. It sounds weird. But wait, read on.

Imagine a golf ball that can get you a hole-in-one – guaranteed! Interested? What if that ball had 5 sides – impossible? Yes. But what if all you had to do was polish each side consistently to enable it to move perfectly towards the hole. Would you do it?

This analogy is about keeping your eye on the ball on and off the golf course.  What you do off the golf course impacts your entire game. There are five main areas in your life that fuel or fail your weight, health & wellness. You need to focus on all five areas consistently. Working together, they control your hunger, energy and performance every minute of your day…let alone on the golf course! You can look and feel fabulous on the course, feel better in your golfing outfit, comfortable with all the twisting and bending, wear sleeveless tops and maintain energy throughout your entire game.

Get more sleep. Yeah, we know. It’s one of the first areas we let slide in our hectic lives. But as it turns out, everything stems from sleep – cells renew, your body burns more fat, memory gets sorted, hormones are produced that help control your appetite. These hormones register when you are full.  A lack of hormones makes you more irritable, contributes to bad moods and adds to your weight gain.

Eat regularly. The trick is to eat on a schedule. People who do, lose more weight. Make it part of your daily regimen to NOT miss meals. And make sure you don’t have long gaps between meals. In truth, your body needs fueling every 3-4 hours – otherwise, your blood sugar and metabolism drop, causing irritability, lethargy and cravings. And the one meal during the day that so many people skip? Breakfast. Make sure you take the time to eat breakfast – it boosts your metabolism (and fat burning) and brings your blood sugar level, and consequently your energy level, back to normal after sleeping. Missing breakfast will actually contribute to your energy depletion. And you’ll crave bad foods as the day goes on. Your metabolism also stays lower without breakfast, causing you to burn fewer calories and therefore less fat!

Take in Nutrients. The idea is to fuel your body with the food it needs. Think natural and fresh. Fruits and vegetables, fish, beans and nuts are especially good for you. Many of the processed foods or prepared foods we eat today are empty calories – depleted of all nutrients. Organic foods, foods that are in season or foods that are frozen when fresh are better for you. And don’t forget to add fiber and water. Both of these will help you feel fuller for longer periods of time and aid digestion.

Hydrate during the day. Develop a habit of consistently hydrating during the day – not just when you are out on the golf course. A 5% drop in your body’s water level leads to a 25-30% loss of energy. And even with mild dehydration, your metabolism slows down by 3%. You could even be eating more by mistaking thirst for hunger!

Finally, work on your core strength. You will play better golf when you are in shape and have greater flexibility. The most important factor is your Core Strength. Your core anatomy is where the majority of the movements within the golf swing occur. As a result, your core must be flexible, strong, and powerful in order to execute the golf swing correctly. Strengthening your core can be accomplished with a few simple but effective exercises each day. Wherever you are, move. Take the stairs, stand up while you’re  on the phone, walk around – you might even try a few jumping jacks! You’ll work your core and also benefit by boosting your metabolism, burning more fat and improving the quality of your sleep and your moods throughout the day.

The five areas described above fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. They are interlinked, each relying on the other. As with your golf-game though, doing these five things every day is not about perfection – it’s about progress. If you want less flab, and more fab, energy, confidence and stamina on the golf course – focus on these five areas today.

Dawn Peters can be contacted at Dawn@NakedHealthGrp.com –  or give her a call at 877.653.4584 (877.NKD.HLTH).