Studies show that people who exercise consistently are much more successful long term with weight loss than those who don’t exercise.
If you haven’t noticed, a lot of people go on a diet, lose a little weight, then go right back to their old habits. They sit on the couch, eat Doritos and ice cream, and feel lousy. They gain all of their weight back (or more).
When someone is exercising consistently, even if they struggle with their food, they’re keeping their weight and health in focus. They may have a period of weight loss then a plateau, but if they keep exercising they can hang on to their weight loss. Usually they can return to a weight loss phase because they are exercising.
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When I begin working with someone who is significantly overweight, I hear a lot of negative self talk: “I don’t think I can ever lose this weight. I hate the way I look. I feel so big.” And so on.
How they think about themselves eventually comes out of their mouths and shows what is in their minds. How they think about themselves and their weight will direct their course when it comes to weight loss.
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Have you ever gotten behind writing receipts into your checkbook? Did you know exactly how much money was left in your checking account? Probably not.
How about your monthly bills? Do you know what they are and put money aside for them? Or do you just spend money and hope you have enough to pay them? Hopefully you have a budget to follow!
Well, tracking our money can be compared to tracking our calories. We have to know how much money we need, how much we can spend, and how much is left over.
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It would be very difficult, if not impossible, to live every day of your life without getting any sugar of any kind. Going out to dinner, having a work luncheon, or going to a friend’s house probably means food with sugar.
Even if you try to make the best choices, sugar is found in almost every product – including bread, crackers, sauces, dressings, etc.
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Did you ever hear the saying, “Give him an inch and he’ll take a mile”? Well, you can think of sugar the same way.
Take one bite of sugar and it’ll tell you to eat the whole bowl of ice cream, cookie, or candy bar. One little taste is never enough. The more you eat it the more you want it. The more you eat it the more you crave it.
For many people sugar is like a drug. They have ridiculously strong cravings for it – and when they do eat it they eat way too much of it.
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If you want to lose weight, you need to stay positive and truthful with yourself. A lot of this comes down to how you think about dieting and exercising.
Make sure you’re not falling into these pitfalls – or thought traps:
I’ll do better tomorrow. So many times people think they need to wait until a big deadline at work is over, or for a less stressful day to start eating right. The problem is that life always throws us curveballs. There never will be a “good day” to start dieting. You have to make each day a good food day despite your circumstances.
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Weekends are usually a bust when it comes to dieting and exercise. Everyone wants to kick back, have some R&R, go out to dinner, get together with friends, etc. Usually by the end of the weekend there’s been too much food and too little exercise.
Weekends are when people have time to do something for themselves. Instead of overeating and sitting around, why not grab that time and work on your weight loss? It’d be a great way to kick start your diet.
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Few people can lose weight alone. Even if they know what they should do, it’s hard to do it without someone alongside cheering them on.
If you’re feeling discouraged and frustrated with your weight loss progress (or lack of), try building a weight loss support system. This support could be the key ingredient to your success.
Here are 5 ways to get your weight loss support system in place: [More]
Vegetables are perfect for weight loss and good health! They are high in fiber, low in calories, and packed with vitamins. Vegetables help keep you full. They keep your bowels moving. And they ward off diseases, such as heart disease and cancer.
You don’t want to skimp on veggies. But did you ever get to the end of the day and realize you didn’t eat enough vegetables?
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Weight loss is a long journey with many ups and downs. There are a lot of challenges along the way. It’s how we handle these challenges, and how we think about them, that affects our energy to deal with them.
You may have had a bad weekend eating wise. You may have skipped exercise for the past three months. Maybe you’re just starting to work on your weight after a year of neglect.
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Getting enough protein is essential for a good diet. Our bodies use it to build muscle, bone, blood cells, and even hair.
Protein is also great for weight loss. It helps to stabilize blood sugar and stave off hunger.
Eating good protein sources, such as chicken and turkey breast, and extra lean beef is essential. Most of these meats, however, come in large packs. Who wants to thaw a whole pound of ground turkey breast when you only need enough for one burger?
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When you can’t do what you want – the ideal diet and the perfect exercise – do what you can!
One of my clients injured her knee this week. She had been experiencing great results in weight loss and fitness. With her injury she was unable to exercise for several days.
This injury seemed like a huge setback for her. She thought she had to skip training because of it.
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Over the years I’ve heard many mean things said to my clients from their spouses. Husbands watching over their wives’ food like hawks. “You shouldn’t eat that. Don’t make a pig out of yourself.” Wives telling husbands they look “pregnant” and so on.
In some cases spouses may truly want to help and be supportive. They may think their comments are encouraging their husband/wife to do better.
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We are up to our ears in renovations for our laundry room. It was in bad shape when we bought the house and needed structural and cosmetic work. We’ve ripped out paneling, hung insulation, moved outlets and plumbing, put in light switches, tore down a wall, and removed old flooring.
This morning as I was priming a new entry door, I sighed with discontent. I just wanted to be done. I’m tired of the mess, ugly exposed walls and dirty, hard work.
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Where most people have difficulty losing weight is with their diets. Food is too tempting. Every day they struggle to eat right – only to blow it on something.
To lose weight, however, you need a clean diet with healthy portions. Not too much, not too little, and good foods.
Here are 5 easy ways you can clean up your eating and be on your way to weight loss: [More]
When it comes to weight loss, there’s nothing more powerful than your food. Adding exercise is great, but what you eat has the greatest effect on the scale.
It takes some effort to change your eating habits, but once you get started it gets easier. Here are 17 ways to start you in the right direction:
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Did you have a calorie-laden weekend like I did? Too many special dinners and celebrations knocked me off course – but I’m ready to hit it hard this week!
If you had too many extras this weekend, don’t despair. Move on. Put it behind you and do what it takes to burn those extra calories off this week. You may not have a weight loss for the week, but if you work hard you can have a zero gain!
First, make sure your home is purged of all leftover junk food, sweets, snacks, cakes, ice cream, etc. You don’t want any temptation food hanging around.
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How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!
How do you lose 80 pounds? One pound at a time!
When you think about how much weight you have to lose, it can seem insurmountable. Where you want to be is so far away from where you are. You wonder if you can ever reach your goal.
This can feel very discouraging.
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The people we hang out with, live with, and work with all influence our behavior. These people are close to us and we often do what they do and go where they go.
When it comes to weight loss, this can be tricky.
Our inner circle of friends and family are the people we love the most. But they can also be the most detrimental to our health.
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Making changes is uncomfortable. It requires you to make conscious choices – and this takes effort. You have to think about what you want to do and then do it. You can’t just keep operating out of habit.
For example, if you’re always too rushed in the morning to eat breakfast, but realize you need to eat breakfast, how are you going to make this change? You’ll have to think about it the night before. Maybe you’ll set your alarm 10 minutes earlier so you have time to eat toast with peanut butter. Maybe you’ll place a banana and a packet of almonds on the counter with your keys. Whatever you decide, it’ll take extra effort to make this change happen.
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Your belief system is how you think and feel about life. It’s how you interpret situations and relationships. It’s how you perceive yourself and others. And it completely shapes what you think you can and can’t do.
If you’ve been overweight a long time, if you’ve attempted diets over and over only to fail, if you’ve lost weight and gained it all back…there’s a good chance you believe you’re doomed to be fat.
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People who accomplish great things don’t do it by happenstance. They do it intentionally. They plan it out step by step. They work at it doggedly day after day. Maybe year after year. There’s perseverance and tenacity and hard work involved.
On the other hand, did you ever meet someone who talked a big talk but never got anything done? Like they say in Texas, “They’re all hat and no cattle.”
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Weight loss is a pretty simple principle. You have to burn more calories than you take in. In response, your body taps into its fat stores for fuel.
Two ways we accomplish this: 1) Eat a healthy diet within our calorie range, and 2) Add daily exercise.
Now, weight loss can happen with diet alone, but it is much more efficient to add exercise. Not only are you using up more calories by adding exercise to your day, but you are adding cardio and muscular fitness.
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“My husband says to me, ‘Are you sure you should eat that?’ and it just makes me want to rebel,” one client told me. Another client shared a similar experience about her dad. When they sit down to eat together, he comments on what she’s eating and how much she’s eating. It makes her feel bad inside and angry.
Moms and dads, siblings, spouses, friends – our loved ones mean a lot to us. What they think means a lot to us. When they comment about our weight, it can be devastating. They may think they are helping by “encouraging” us to do better, but they are actually driving us in the other direction.
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It’s not too hard to eat healthy once you set yourself up for it. This means cleaning junk food out of your house and stocking your kitchen with healthy, whole foods.
Setting yourself up for healthy eating also means making good food behaviors your habit. Here are 7 strategies to get you started:
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