Simply Water
Water for a Snack?
Water is a great beverage no matter which diet plan you choose to follow. It quenches your thirst, and helps flush out toxins in your body.
If you are in the habit of snacking during the day, your mouth is used to having something to keep it busy. Why not give it water?
At about 3:00 in the afternoon when dinner is still a couple of hours away, try a nice, cold glass of water. It will help take your mind off of snacking and fills the gaps between meals.
What’s wrong with soda or diet soda?
Tooth decay, diabetes, and even cancer, along with a wide variety of other ailments are blamed on soda by some scientists and health advocates. The reason is simple. The main ingredient is high-fructose corn syrup, which is pure sugar. The remaining ingredients are chemicals.
You might ask, “What about diet soda, it doesn’t have any sugar?”
That is true; however it has more chemicals than regular soda. Many scientists believe these chemicals and artificial sweeteners in particular should be studied more thoroughly. There is a general consensus among those in the medical field that artificial sweeteners are at least partly to blame for the obesity epidemic the world faces today.
Water doesn’t cut it for you?
There are many people who do not like to drink plain water. So how do you start drinking more water?
It helps to make small changes, like any other healthy goal. If you typically drink two glasses or cans of soda per day, replace one with a glass of water. After a month or so, replace the other soda with water.
Want to make your water more palatable?
Try adding a slice of fresh citrus. Another option is the flavored or carbonated water that is now widely available. Make sure to look at the label to avoid additional sugar or artificial sweeteners. Filtered water, mineral waters, carbonated or non-carbonated, are another appealing alternative.
Another alternative to midday snacking is to have a cup of coffee or tea – No added sugar, sweetener, or milk. Too much caffeine can have negative effects, such as making you jittery or affecting your adrenal glands; which can interfere with your hormones and contribute to insulin resistance and weight gain.
Alcohol also has drawbacks. It is primarily a carbohydrate which contributes to weight gain. Of course it is widely known that alcohol also inhibits your decision making abilities…which makes that bag of chips or greasy burger look even more appetizing.
What it boils down to is that water is really the best beverage for your body. It helps you stay healthy and feel better. It helps hydrate your cells, cleanses your body and helps you lose weight.
Technorati Tags: water, lose weight, snacking
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Portion Control The Key To Losing Weight?
How many times have you heard that the key to weight loss is portion control?
The problem is that many of us do not know the difference between a portion and a serving.
Packaged foods and restaurant foods are usually two to three times a normal serving size.
Studies show that we will eat what’s put in front of us. And so much has “been put in front of us” that we perceive oversized meals as normal.
Many of us have lost the ability to “eyeball” a true serving size. This is why portion control is so important in your weight loss and maintenance phase.
Calories do count so when making your meal choices and practicing portion control – Choose lower calorie foods more often than higher calorie foods.
My dad used to always say “I live to eat”. If this describes you, learn to “Eat to Live”. Learn proper portion control. Obtain and maintain your ideal weight. You’ll live a longer healthier life and will truly be able to enjoy life!
What’s the difference between a portion and a serving?
A portion is how much food you eat at a meal or a snack.
A serving is a standard amount set by the U.S. Government or the amount of food listed on a product nutritional label.
So portion control actually means how many servings you eat at a meal or snack. A portion can be one serving or four. It all depends on how much you decide to eat.
A serving on a food product may or may not correspond with the standard amount. Servings on product labels are not recommendations of how much you should eat. It is simply a way of letting you know the nutritional values in a certain amount of food.
If you look on a box of macaroni and cheese, the label lists a serving as 1 cup. However according to the USDA a serving of macaroni is 1/2 cup.
The USDA recommends 6-11 servings bread, cereal, rice and pasta. So if you eat one cup of macaroni and cheese and count it as one serving, you are doubling your food intake. It’s worse if you eat the whole box of macaroni and cheese.
The FDA recommends that daily we should eat …
6-11 servings bread, cereal, rice and pasta
1 serving size = 1 slice of bread, 1/2 bagel, 1 oz dry cereal, 1/2 cup cooked cereal, rice or pasta
3-5 servings of vegetables
1 serving size = 1 cup raw leafy greens, 1/2 cup chopped vegetables, 3/4 cup vegetable juice
2-4 servings of fruits
1 serving size = 1 medium apple, banana, or orange, 1/2 cup chopped fruit or berries, 3/4 cup juice
2-4 servings milk, yogurt and cheese
1 serving size = 1 cup milk or yogurt, 1 oz natural cheese, 2 oz processed cheese
2-3 servings of meat, poultry, fish, dry beans, eggs and nuts
1 serving size = 3 oz cooked lean meat, poultry or fish, 1 egg, 1/2 cup cooked beans, 2 tablespoons peanut butter, nuts or seeds.
While practicing portion control, you’ll want to keep the above servings in mind. If you are attempting to lose weight staye in the lower range of the servings per day.
Tip: Many overweight people eat too fast. Often times it’s like we are trying to be the first one to finish eating. When I was a little girl … I tried to eat as fast as my mom. It’s really silly when I think back on it. Why not try the opposite – try to be the last one to finish eating. By eating slower, you’ll enjoy your food more and get full on less – which makes portion control easier.
Measuring & weighing our food constantly just isn’t practical. Learn to “eyeball” standard portion sizes. Once you’ve mastered this simple technique portion control will be easy at home and when dining out.
Portion Control thru Serving Sizes
An easy way to recognize a serving of food is to compare them to common objects.
| 3 ounces of meat or poultry is the size of a deck of cards |  |
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3 ounces of fish is the size of your checkbook |
| 1 ounce of meat is the size of a matchbook |
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1 pancake is the size of a CD |
| 1 cup of salad greens or 1 medium fruit is about the size of a baseball |
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1/2 cup of rice, pasta, potatoes and ice-cream is the size of 1/2 of a baseball |
| 1 1/2 ounces of cheese is about 4 stacked dice |
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1 teaspoon margarine is the size of 1 dice |
| 2 Tablespoons peanut butter is the size of a ping pong ball |
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1 piece of cornbread is about the size of an average bar of soap |
| 1/4 cup raisins is about the size of 1 large egg |  |
Another way to determine serving size is by using your hands.
A salad should be about the size of two fists
A medium baked potato about the size of a fist
½ cup of potatoes, pasta or rice is the size of a clenched fist
1 cup cereal flakes is the size of a fist
3 ounces lean meat, fish or poultry should be the size of the palm of your hand
1 ounce of cheese is about the size of your thumb
1 teaspoon of oil is about the size of the tip of your thumb
I don’t like using the hand method for portions simply because our hands are all different sizes. Think of an average womans hand when using this method. My husbands hand is literally twice the size of mine … so if he used his hand, he’d be eating double the amount that he should be.
As you continue to practice proper portion control with the correct serving sizes, it will all become second nature to you.
Enjoy Your Weight Loss Journey!
Technorati Tags: Portion Control, Serving Size, Eyeball Portion, Eat to Live
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How To Repair Metabolic Damage
By Tom Venuto author of “Burn the Fat – Feed The Muscle”
If you’ve lost weight too rapidly or if you’ve followed a very low calorie “starvation diet” in the past, then you may have damaged your metabolism.
Once this occurs, it can become extremely difficult to achieve any further loss of body fat at all. If you’ve ever experienced a “weight loss plateau” where the scale won’t budge, even when it seems like you’re working hard and doing everything right, then you know exactly what I’m talking about.
The good news is, metabolic damage can be “repaired.” All it takes is the right combination of metabolism-stimulating exercise and metabolism-stimulating nutrition (NOT just a “diet”), all done consistently over time
The big irony is that most of the diet programs that claim to help you get rid of excess weight, only end up making it harder for you in the long run because they use harsh metabolism-decreasing diets and not enough exercise (almost never any weight training).
It may take a little longer if you’ve been a “diet dummy” and you’ve really messed things up with severe starvation dieting, (especially if you’ve lost a lot of lean body mass), but it’s never hopeless. Anyone can increase their metabolism.
Most people get an almost immediate boost in metabolic rate when they make a few important changes to their eating and exercise routines. However, the results are not going to be “overnight.” Give it a little time…
Within 3 weeks your metabolism will already be more efficient. Within 6-8 weeks, it’s burning hot. Give me 12 weeks of consistent diligent effort, sticking with all the metabolism boosting strategies I teach, and your metabolism will become like a turbo charged engine, and I’m not exaggerating when I say that.
What’s most important for upping your metabolism is CONSISTENCY in applying the nutrition and training principles every single day.
That includes:
• Meal frequency: eat 5-6 small meals per day
• Meal timing: eat approximately every 3 hours, with a substantial breakfast and a substantial post workout meal.
• Sufficient Caloric Intake: maintain a small calorie deficit and avoid starvation-level diets (suggested safe levels for fat loss: 2100-2500 calories per day for men, 1400-1800 calories per day for women; adjust as needed)
• Food choices: Select natural, unprocessed foods with high thermic effect (lean proteins like chicken, turkey, egg whites and fish are highly thermic, as are all green vegetables, salad vegetables and other fibrous carbs)
• Cardio training: Push up the intensity a bit if you really want to get a metabolic boost. Walking and low intensity cardio is fine, but higher intensity is more metabolism-stimulating
• Weight training: The basic exercises that include the largest muscle groups or even call into play the entire body as a unit (squats, split squats, deadlifts, stiff legged deadlifts, overhead presses, rows and full body core exercises) will have a much greater metabolism-stimulating effect than isolation exercises (concentration curls, crunches, calf raises, etc)
The weight training is extremely important in cases of “metabolic damage” because this is the stimulus to keep the muscle you have and begin rebuilding new muscle tissue, which is the engine that drives your metabolic rate.
The men don’t usually have a problem with the weight training, but I still hear women say they don’t want to lift weights as part of their fat loss programs. Well, people who wont lift weights can expect a very, very long metabolism “repair process” if they achieve it at all.
Consistency is the key.
Nothing will undermine the “re-building” of your metabolism like inconsistency. If you stop and start, or skip meals and workouts often, you will not even get off the ground.
After your metabolism is back up where it should be, it takes continued “stoking” of the metabolic furnace to keep it there. Once you get your metabolic engine running, you’ve got to keep feeding it fuel or the fire will die down.
Picture an old fashioned wood burning stove…
Imagine you’re in a cabin up in the mountains in the winter. It’s cold in there and you want to keep the cabin warm. Can you achieve this by feeding the fire once or twice per day? Nope. Not enough fuel to burn, so not much heat is generated.
What if you just toss an entire pile of wood in the stove all at once? Will that work? Nope. Lots of fuel, but can’t all be used at once… it just smothers the fire and the excess just sits there.
How about if you throw some tissue paper or crumpled newspaper in the stove, will that work? Nope – too quickly burning.
You have to keep putting small amounts of wood (the right type of fuel) on the fire at regular intervals or the fire burns out.
It’s also difficult to get the fire lit again. In the case of metabolism, it’s like going through those initial few weeks of overcoming inertia all over again.
Your goal is to get your metabolism burning hot and keep it burning and this cannot be achieved by missing meals, missing workouts or with sporadic, infrequent training.
I have only seen a handful of cases where all these things were done properly and there was still a longer “repair” process.
For example, one case was former ballet dancer. At 5′ 5″, she was previously 110 lbs and had increased to about 145 or so. She didn’t want to reach her previous 110, but find a happy medium of about 125 lbs.
I figured with 20 lbs to cut, this would be a simple and predictable process, but she had a challenging time (and I didn’t know why at first).
I later found out that she had been anorexic and bulimic for many years. This had caused a lot of damage, and although she did reach her goal, it took about twice as long as we had anticipated.
The good news is, even in this extreme case, the same nutrition and training principles worked! It just took a little longer. And by the way, her program included some serious training with free weights and she ate a lot more (clean) food than she had ever eaten before. No “starvation!”
Trying to starve the fat with crash diets is what causes metabolic damage in the first place! You have to Burn The Fat And Feed Your Muscles!
About the Author: Tom Venuto is a lifetime natural bodybuilder, an NSCA-certified personal trainer (CPT), certified strength & conditioning specialist (CSCS), and author of the #1 best-selling e-book, “Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle.” Tom has written more than 200 articles and has been featured in print magazines such as IRONMAN, Australian IRONMAN, Natural Bodybuilding, Muscular Development, Exercise for Men and Men’s Exercise, as well as on hundreds of websites worldwide. For information on Tom’s Fat Loss program, visit: BurnTheFat.com.
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4 Lies We Tell Ourselves
When we decide to better ourselves health-wise by going on a diet to shed unwanted pounds and inches, we typically tell ourselves we’ll eat better and exercise, etc, etc More often than not we only live this way for a very short period of time.
We don’t have to lie to ourself.
Start by setting small goals and by being honest with yourself. If you can’t be honest with yourself, who can you be honest with?
Only you can control what you put into your mouth, how much and how often.
Only you can control what kinds of exercise you’ll do, how often, and how long.
You know yourself better than anyone else ever could, so start there. If you absolutely hate to run don’t tell yourself you’re going to run a mile every day. If you love cheesecake don’t tell yourself you’ll never have another slice! It’s not very likely to happen.
Start small and work your way to a better you day by day. Choose an activitly that you enjoy and that you are likely to stick with. Resolve to only eat half of a slice of cheesecake instead of the whole thing. Stop taking seconds, or eat it less often.
Little by little you can overcome your personal weaknesses and become the person you know you are inside. Strong, fit, and HEALTHY. You should NEVER do anything unhealthy to lose weight. Resorting to starvation or diet pills or anything like that will only leave your body starving for whatever nutrition it can get, even if it is bad.
The 4 Lies We tell Ourselves are:
- Diet Foods and Diet Drinks are better for us
- Lowfat foods are good for us
- If we starve our self we’ll loose weight faster
- We can not stray/cheat on our diet or else we’ve blown it
1. Diet Foods and Diet Drinks are better for us
Switching to diet soda is not going to change anything – It’s loaded with sugar substitutes and other unhealthy chemicals. A recent study found that those who drink diet sodas are even more likely to be fat. Instead of changing to diet soda, limit your carbonated drinks. Cut back and eventually you will find yourself able to go all day without one, or even just one a day (remember, think in baby steps-obtain one small goal at a time). It’s all right to have a soda every now and then – But for the most part you should drink water, milk and juices.
Diet Foods are not created equal. You need to read labels. Many diet foods are LOADED with sodium. Some have more calories than it’s natural counterpart.
2. Lowfat foods are good for us
There is a common misconception that lowfat foods are better for us – therefore we tend to eat more of them than we would of “regular” foods. First of all, they may have removed a lot of the fat from those foods but usually they packed it full of sugars or other ingredients that are just as harmful to us, only different. Secondly, if you eat MORE just because it is “lowfat” you are doing yourself an injustice because the lowfat versions typically have the same if not more calories as the “regular” version.
3. If we starve our self we’ll loose weight faster
Regardless of how many times and ways it’s said, many people resort to starving themselves to lose weight. They figure “I only need to lose a few pounds, so I just won’t eat very much for a week.” By eating a very minimal amount of food, you are starving your body of the nutrients and vitamins it needs just to sustain itself.
The less you eat, the slower your metabolism will become making it easier to gain and harder to lose. Your body will go into survival mode where it will begin to turn your muscle into fat to keep working. These things will happen even in a very short period of time.
Instead of starving yourself choose to work out a little more (or start walking). Cut back on your fat and sugar intake. Eat more fruits and vegetables which feeds your body with vitamins and nutrients you need. You’ll stay fuller longer and you’ll be speeding up your metabolism.
4. We can not stray/cheat on our diet or else we’ve blown it
No matter how many times we’re told “never say never,” we do. Over and over again.
You’re human. Accept that it is okay to make a mistake, learn from it and move on. Don’t give up on your plan entirely just because you blew it during a meal, or even an entire day. If you go on vacation or there’s a holiday and you over-indulge, it is NOT the end of the world.
This is not a free pass to cheat on your diet or disregard it alltogether. You still need to be mindful of what you are putting in your body. Allow yourself some leeway if eat a little too much or have a piece of cake. It’s going to happen occasionally, because you are human but it doesn’t mean you’ve totally blown it and you’ll never get to your goals.
Do not let yourself fall into the “never” trap-”I’m NEVER going to lose this weight so I might as well get used to being fat and enjoy eating as much/whatever I want to.” That is a “never” attitude. You need to believe in yourself or you don’t really have much to believe in at all. YOU CAN DO IT!!!
By Staff Writer Amy Cravin
Technorati Tags: Diet, Goals, Diet Soda, LowFat, Healthy Eating
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Benefits of Online Weight Loss Programs
Anything you need can be found online in today’s world…even a diet plan!!!
You CAN lose weight online, and we’ll tell you what the best weight loss sites are.
Many new weight loss programs pop up online constantly, and many of the well known (and not so well known) diet programs have websites as well.
The Internet is a great resource to keep their members up to date on news and activities.
One reason online weight loss programs work is because online support is just as effective as going to physical meetings, according to numerous studies.
One advantage of choosing an online plan is having information and support 24 hours a day. Not at a specified meeting time, but whenever and wherever you need it.
Many weight loss sites contain interactive tools as well which help you with your plan, such as message boards and forums. These are places where you can communicate with other people going through the same things you are, at any time day or night.
You will also find many successful dieters there that more than happy to cheer you on and offer encouragement, just when you need it the most!
Another benefit of online diet programs is that it is sometimes easier to admit to your shortfalls (like eating a dozen donuts or a gallon of your favorite ice cream) anonymously. Some things are easier to share, especially insecurities, when you are not face to face. You will find many of the people on the weight loss forums have been there before, or are going through it as well. You can support each other.
You will also find calorie counters and a BMI index on most weight loss websites which help you keep track of your progress. Once you reach your goals, it is also a great way to maintain your weight. You can find these tools on health related websites and other sites that tie in with weight loss as well.
The best sites for online weight loss are the ones that have nutritionists and health professionals that assist you during this process. Many of them allow you to email them for personal assistance or advice. You can also use the site and services to help you maintain your weight once you have met your new, healthy goal.
eDiets.com consistently ranks #1 amongst dieters because they offer everything you need to successfully lose the weight and keep it off. They even have a real live nutritionist you can call for personal advice!
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Lose Weight Naturally
We all want to lose weight naturally. We want the weight to magically slip away. It seems as if we gained all of our weight overnight – so there should be some sort of magic pill, right?
The truth is it took time for us to gain those unwanted pounds and it will take time to lose them.
There is no secret to losing weight. To obtain and maintain our desired weight we must eat less and exercise more. Think about it, every single weight loss program from Atkins to the Zone have one factor in common. Each program reduces caloric intake in one way or another.
One problem we encounter is the word “lose”. We are brought up to be winners not losers. In your journey to obtaining your goal weight, think of all that you will WIN … when you lose those unwanted pounds.
- You’ll win a healthier body
- You’ll win an energetic spirit
- You’ll win self confidence
- You’ll win the body you want
What does the term “Lose Weight Naturally” mean to you?
I’ve found that this term can mean different things to different people.
Do you just want to change a few habits and lose weight?
If you’re struggling because of emotional eating then check out DietWatch 12-Lesson Program
Do you think of it as losing weight by ONLY eating natural foods?
Angela Stokes lost over 160 pounds by going raw. Read her story at RawReform the Natural Way to Weight Loss
Do you think it means losing weight without dieting?
If sugar cravings are destroying your best intenitons to eath healthy and lose weight then you need to read Stop Sugar Cravings and Lose Weight Naturally.
According to the American Heritage Dictionary the word naturally means:
In a natural manner
By nature, inherently
Without a doubt, surely
To lose weight naturally you need to begin by making wiser choices about what goes into your mouth. Our weight is determined by how and what we eat 90% of the time.
Below are some examples of simple changes that will reduce your caloric intake and help you to lose weight naturally.
Eat a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables
- Eat fresh fruit in place of drinking juice
- Cut out the sugar and/or cream in your coffee
- Cut off visible fat from your meat
- Use mustard instead of mayonnaise
- Make delicious omelets out of egg whites
- Eat an open faced sandwich by omitting 1 slice of bread
- Eat smaller portions
Believe in yourself because you can do it!
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Mindless Eating – Why We Eat More Than We Think
Brian Wansink is the author of the new book “Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think
In his book, Brian Wansink discusses some of the hundreds of food studies he has conducted over the years. His conclusions are that when we become more mindful of the choices we make, that we will be able to live and eat better.
All day, every day we are making choices about what, when and how much to eat. Most of these choices are made mindlessly. In his book, Wansink states that we make an average of 200 food choices per day! (It’s hard to imagine that we actually make that many choices a day. Maybe we should try counting our own choices.)
Mindlessly eating packs on more calories and pounds than planned snacks do. Multiple studies prove that we eat what’s there, whether or not we are hungry.
Think about your own habits. How often have you said to yourself “I can’t believe I ate the whole bag of cookies” … or the chips or the container of ice-cream, or that large platter of food at the restaurant?
Though not new, here are a few tips to end mindless eating:
- Buying in bulk often results in eating more – As soon as you open a package of cookies, chips etc portion them out in baggies.
- The longer you sit at a table the more likely you’ll eat more – Eat only in one place and leave as soon as you are finished eating.
- The more choices we have, the more we eat – At a buffet only place two items on your plate at a time.
- Don’t clear the bones – Studies show that when eating chicken wings people ate 30% more when the bones were continually cleared from the table
- Low fat foods could be hurting us – According to a study people eat an average of 28% more calories while eating low-fat snacks.
Why do you want to eat?
Is your hunger physical or emotional?
If you felt a sudden burst of hunger it is more than likely emotional. Physical hunger is usually gradual.
There are cues all around us to eat. These include who we are with, smells, food packaging and serving sizes. Being aware of these cues may ward off mindless eating.
To my surprise even music can affect our eating behaviors. Listening to songs with a soft beat or classical music can cause you to eat slower (as a result you eat less). Listening to music with a fast beat or rap makes you eat faster (consequently you eat more).
Become aware of what and why you are eating – this will help you to overcome mindless eating.
You can be in control of what you eat by beginning to make conscious changes of what when and why you are eating.
According to Wansink there are five danger zones, He lists them as (1) Meal Stuffing, (2) Snack Grazing, (3) Restaurant Indulging, (4) Party Binging and (5) Desktop Dining.
Wansink’s goal is to raise consumer awareness of why and how we eat. By learning what situations trigger us to eat, we can gain better control over our food choices. The book discusses the psychology of eating and what motivates us to overeat.
While the book Mindless Eating helps us to become aware of why we eat, it is NOT a “weight loss diet program’. It can be used as a great resource tool in helping you to achieve and maintain your weight loss goal.
Remember losing weight permanently requires lifestyle changes. Lifestyle changes will put an end to mindless eating.
Technorati Tags: Mindless Eating, Emotional Eating, Brian Wansink
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Wake Up Thin
Does it feel like you just woke up one morning with all those extra pounds?
You went to sleep and woke up much heavier than you ever thought you would be. You hardly notice yourself in the mirror anymore.
When did that double chin creep up on you?
Has your face always been so round?
Oh my gosh what happened to your waist? Is it even still there?
Hurry, hurry go back to sleep so you can wake up thin.
For most overweight people this is just what it feels like happened. In reality it really took months and years for you to pack on those extra pounds.
One bite at a time, you consumed more calories than what your body used. So your wondrous body started storing fat for the famine that it knew was coming.
These extra nibbles became a habit …
A lifestyle that you never even thought twice about. You might even ask yourself …
“I eat healthy, why am I so overweight?”
Pasta, breads, whole grains, milk, dairy products and meat are healthy foods and provide your body with many nutrients it needs.
You became accustomed to eating a little more at each meal …
If you eat a mere 100 extra calories per meal – it totals 300 calories a day.
Doesn’t sound like much, does it?
Take that 300 and times it by 365 days in the year. Oh my, that totals 109,500 extra calories in a year.
Now, we all now that one-pound of fat equals 3500 calories, right?
So now we divide 109,500 by 3500 …
WOW, that’s an additional 31 pounds of fat you are now carrying – just by eating an additional slice of bread, or a second helping of just about anything at a meal.
You have a choice to make, if you really want to wake up thin …
You need to change your habits. Create a new lifestyle for yourself by consuming 100 fewer calories per meal.
It’s not much … and it’s really easy to do. It doesn’t really take much willpower or sacrifice. All it takes is patience. Remember to love and accept yourself along your journey to a thinner lifestyle.
By learning to eat just 100 less calories per meal, you’ll be creating a new habit … a new lifestyle AND One Year From Now …
You will wake up 31 pounds thinner and think to yourself. Gee, I’ve lost so much weight. It seems like it just happened overnight.
If you want to follow a sensible weight loss plan, to get those pounds off quicker, check out our Honest Diet Reviews now and find a program that will work for you.
Technorati Tags: Wake Up Thin, 100 Calories, Gained Weight Overnight, Easily lose 31 pounds in a year
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Are Your Loved Ones Hindering Your Weight Loss Efforts?
Sometimes our loved ones can hinder our weight loss goals. Often times their intention is not to hinder us.
For example: I love donuts. There was a time in my life when I simply could not say “no” to them. I would wind up binging on them – I could eat 4 to 6 donuts with no problem at all.
I began a weight loss program. I was following my plan to the tee. Then on Saturday morning, my husband brought home some donuts:
“Here honey, I thought you’d enjoy these.” I continued to devour every last crumb. My husbands intention was not to make me go off plan. He wasn’t even thinking that I was trying to lose weight. He simply wanted to do something nice for me. Your loved ones could be hindering you by tempting you with seconds, cooking your favorite foods, or buying your favorite ice-cream.
- Identify your loved ones behavior that is sabotaging your weight loss efforts.
- Identify your loved ones reasons for that behavior.
- Are they trying to do something nice for you?
- Do they feel appreciated when you eat their cooking?
- Are they bringing in the ice cream for themselves, not realizing that is making you lose track of your goals?
- Tell your loved one what you need from him/her.
You need to be assertive. Tell them exactly what you need from him/her and why. I told my husband … “I really appreciate the fact that you love me so much, that you brought donuts home. However as I can’t seem to say “no” to them, I would appreciate it even more if you could restrain from bringing them home. A hug from you lets me know how much you care and appreciate me.” I told him in exactly what I needed and why. I showed him I appreciated his gesture, and gave him an alternative action so that his needs would be met as well. If you are a little apprehensive about approaching your loved one, ask yourself why. It’s probably one of two reasons:
- You like having someone to blame for your failures. It’s easy to say “I keep blowing it because my wife is such a good cook and demands I eat seconds.” Or “My husband is so nice to me he keeps buying me doughnuts, if I tell him to stop, he may never buy me anything again.” If this is you, you need to decide how important reaching your goal really is. Take responsibility for your own actions and stop blaming others.
- You don’t know how to approach them or you don’t want to hurt their feelings. If this is the case then you need to practice … in front of the mirror, to a friend, or even to the dog. Picture yourself telling your loved one exactly what you need from him/her to help you achieve your goals.
Remember, more than anything else, your loved ones want YOU to be HAPPY and HEALTHY, and will do anything in their power to help you achieve your goals.
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Recognizing Obstacles to Weight Loss
Plan to Lose Weight by Setting Goals.
Goals are rarely without obstacles. If they were easy to attain and without obstacles, you would likely already be doing them, right?
Here are three tips to help recognize and overcome obstacles so you can attain the goals you set for yourself.
Tip #1: Acknowledge that there are obstacles – it won’t be easy. Any goal you have set for yourself will likely have obstacles.
The first step to overcoming them is simply acknowledging that fact. Know that you will have tough times. Know that it won’t be easy. Know also that despite the obstacles, you will reach your goals.
You will get through, around, or over the obstacles. They are there for a reason. Whether it is to teach you a bit about yourself, to make you appreciate your success when you attain it, or to make you stronger – each and every obstacle you encounter has a positive side to it.
Tip #2: Educate yourself on what obstacles you’re likely to have. When you create a goal, you have a few things you can do to help plan how you’re going to attain it. Educating yourself on potential obstacles is one of the best ways to prepare yourself for success.
Research your goal; if you want to lose weight, what are common obstacles you might encounter?
For example, cutting back on sugar may cause some cravings to surface. Cutting back on caffeine may cause temporary irritability, and taking on a detox diet may cause temporary digestion issues.
Find out what obstacles you’re likely to encounter so you can be prepared for them. When you’re prepared for them you can overcome them more easily.
Tip #3: Plan how you’re going to overcome the obstacles. Once you understand what potential obstacles you might face, you can plan how you’re going to tackle them.
For example, if you know that you’re going to be dealing with sugar cravings, you can have a protein bar solution in your purse, desk drawer and glove box of your car.
If you’re dealing with giving up caffeine and you know you’re going to have headaches, you can plan a few days off of work, grab a bottle of pain relievers, or brace yourself to power through the headaches knowing the reward is on the other end.<
When you recognize potential obstacles, it gives you the power to anticipate them and plan how you’re going to handle them so you aren’t tempted to give up on your goal.
Recognizing and planning for obstacles empowers you to succeed.
By staff writer Amy Cravin
Technorati Tags: obstacles, , goals, lose weight
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