HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED HOW OTHER PEOPLE LOSE WEIGHT AND KEEP IT OFF?

Losing weight isn’t easy and keeping it off is harder. BUT IT CAN AND HAS BEEN DONE.

Here are tips from people who have been successful:

•  First of all, eliminate the word “DIET” from your vocabulary. Diets don’t work. Eliminating foods or food groups doesn’t work. As soon as you say you can’t have something you want it ten times more. Moderation is key. Plan your indulgence and you will find it easier to eat healthier through the day.

• Create new routines and make it your lifestyle. (“If you always do what you have always done, you’ll always get what you always got, and you’ll always feel what you always felt”). To have sustainable weight loss you have to keep a healthy lifestyle.
• Eat cleaner foods. Basically what this means is to eat foods that are minimally processed or not processed at all. (Think about shopping the perimeter of your grocery store: produce, protein (meat, fish, poultry, deli counter), dairy. Then go down a few aisles for certain items (breads, oils, spices…).
• Accountability is extremely helpful. Checking in with a Weight Loss Coach or a buddy or your scale weekly helps you in measuring your success. I have said it many times over (unusual coming from a weight loss coach) check in with how your clothes are fitting and take the emphasis off the scale. Another form of accountability is the food diary. If you are honest with yourself (any why wouldn’t you be?), your food journal can tell you what and how much you are eating and maybe why you are eating. To make journaling a bit easier, pencil in what you’re planning to eat ahead of time. This will help with food shopping, meal planning, and ultimately meal prep.
• Practice portion control. I am not saying you have to weigh and measure everything you eat but think moderation. When you plate your food, half your plate should be produce, 1/4 protein, 1/4 (if having) starch. If you want dessert share one.
• Make exercise a habit. Exercise will spark changes in your body (clothes fit better), helps with your mood and stress management. If you can’t get into the gym take a walk, work in the garden. Again don’t strive for perfection.

The most important thing to remember is this is a journey. Unlike diets that have a beginning and an end, this is your new healthy lifestyle. When you think this way, if you have a slip (and you will) you will just get back on track. You don’t throw in the towel and think “I’ll start again next Monday”.

Embrace these suggestions and you too will have weight loss and maintenance success!!

Photo Credit: cookecenter.org

*Results may vary by member