Posts Tagged ‘Eating Habits’

Make Your New Years Weight Loss Resolution a Success

Sunday, January 4th, 2009

We are days into the New Year 2009.  Have you started you diet yet?  Or have you gotten back on the weight loss wagon? Let me ask why did you do it?

This probably seems like a silly question.  Your reason for losing weight determines whether you are successful or not. If you are serious about losing weight for yourself, for your health, for feeling better and feeling better about yourself, then half the weight loss battle is won.

The other half the battle is eating and exercise.  Your is essential for success.  What you eat, how much you eat, and when you eat – that is your eating plan. Some people like to prepare their own meals and it even works for some people.  For others, like me, it is just one more way to cheat by snitching bites here and there while cooking. And how do you cook just one portion for one person? I can not.

Portion control is a key to a successful eating plan.  Eating this amount and only this amount each day.  Do not snitch extra snacks between meals.  Drink WATER.  First you must learn what a portion is by size.  Next you must get used to eating that amount for a meal. I have learned by practice what makes a balanced meal and what size portions are. By realizing that my food plan includes everything my body needs to be healthy, I am able to listen to my body when I get that hungry feeling.  I am able to analyze what I really want, like sleep, socializing, comfort, thirst, or even actual hunger. This makes it easier to not binge. I can address what I really want.  If I am hungry, then I can snack on some celery or carrots or cucumbers or drink some water or diet drink like crystal lite until it is time to have my next meal.

For me, the very best way to maintain portion control as well has to have well balanced meals is to go with a prepared meal plan. I have lost weight and change my eating habits by using this type plan.  NutriSystem has one of the best and most flexible plans available.  Their system of distribution allows you to participate almost anywhere. You get to choose your meals which allows you to avoid those foods you do not care for.

The other important factor is exercising.  It is a must to exercise at least 30 minutes a day above your daily activities. Choose an exercise you like, that you enjoy doing. If you don’t exercise, you may lose some weight, but you probably will never reach your goal.

Let’s get going.  The New Year is already underway. Start on your weight loss journey today.

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Early New Years Resolutions Before Christmas.

Thursday, December 18th, 2008

Are you making your list of New Years Resolutions?  You probably are not doing it consciously, but how many of you are thinking, oh well I can start after the holidays.  Buy it now, pay later, Eat it now, lose it later.

While that sounds OK, it leaves you with two things.  Extra fat to lose and more debt to pay off.  If you are really serious about getting to your healthy weight, you cannot diet only when it is convenient.  There is no miracle pill or exercise that will take the extra pounds off over night, nor will it keep them off.

I generally do not encourage taking supplements to lose weight.  Truth is, there are some ingredients that do help you lose weight.  The key word here is helps.  It does not take off the extra weight, it merely helps you to take it off while you are changing your life habits.  Zinc and Chromium are two essential minerals that we do not get the minimum daily does of in our daily diet.  These are two ingredients in a lot of supplement.  Zinc and Chromium not only give your body what it needs, but also aides the body to shed the extra weight.

To lose weight and maintain weight you have to change your eating habits, your activity habits, and your thinking habits.  I am not going to list the eating changes as I have listed many of them in other posts.  Basically you have to eat less, eat smarter, and drink water.  You have to move more.  And you have to give yourself a break.  You have to change your attitude or relationship to food.

When you do get ready to make your New Years resolution, when it comes to losing weight I suggest that you make the resolution to improve your attitude about yourself, to increase your activity or exercise through the year, and to work on changing your eating habits.  Make a resolution to get a good nights rest each and every night.  But do not sabotage yourself by making a resolution to diet for three months to take off 50 pounds with the idea that after you reach your goal its over.

Weight maintenance is a way of life.  It becomes more and more important the older you get.  Just as you have to keep your mind active to maintain your mental abilities, you have to keep your body active to maintain your health, strength, movement, and weight.  As your life slows, you have to adjust your eating habits.

Habits are not made in a day, nor are they changed in a day.  We must work on them every day.  In fact, we need to consciously continue to practice our new habits more through the holiday season so that we do not practice our old habits.

I find the holidays are filled with tons to do and not enough time to do it, which leads to grabbing food at the fast food place to save time and because it is convenient.  The same habit that helped me to become overweight.  Food and goodies show up every where as co-workers bring treats to work to share.  Bedtime gets later and later, even though the alarm sounds at the same time every morning.  Exercise routines get tossed aside as I drop in my recliner exhausted from the day.

I cannot afford to wait until New Year’s to continue on my weight loss journey.  I have worked to hard to get this far.  How about you?

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