When it comes to New Year’s resolutions, statistically speaking if you are like most, you may have already given up by now. So…if you are still plugging along, you are succeeding. Congratulations!
While I am one of the fortunate ones who lost a boat-load of weight, it did not happen on my first try. No shocker there, right? Like any habit that needs changing, dieting and weight-loss does not typically come easy. In my opinion, changing your diet is an especially had habit to break because we can’t go cold turkey. We still need to eat.
For example, if the diet we are attempting to follow is Keto, then we have to totally eliminate bread, pasta, potatoes, and all sugar. The hard one for me is potatoes. As long as I say, I can’t give up my potatoes, guess what happens? That’s right, sooner or later I find it difficult to give up potatoes and I fail… usually sooner, right?
Here are a few of the strategies I employed at the beginning of my weight loss journey to help me stay-the-course and remain committed:
- Have a strong desire and reason why. This should be personal, to make it strong for you.
- Create a vivid image of how you want to look, move as well as how people will perceive you and what you want your new activity level to be. Write it down. Refresh your resolutions and renew them often. Make it feel real… as if it already happened!
- Avoid, at all cost, negative self-talk. This killer will rob you of your dreams… ALL of them. Replace all negative with positive self-talk. Talk to yourself and say things like: I am succeeding, my knees are feeling better, I am feeling better, my blood pressure is going down, I am moving better…
- When going out to eat, think about the restaurant and plan your meal beforehand. Avoid, at least for now, restaurants where you know self-control might be an issue.
- I follow the Keto diet, so for every meal, I think about how I can reduce carbs and increase fats. I make it a game, and then I post it in My Fitness Pal.
- Realize that it is all just a journey… if you think that soon, this diet will end, then that is exactly what will happen. Your diet will end, and you will regain all your weight, and then some.
- It is okay to have Diet Variation, essentially cheat days, to give your system a break and allow your body to better adapt. This is especially a good strategy whenever you hit a plateau.
Remember that you are not alone in your journey or your resolutions. Please do not hesitate to call if you have any questions or need any help. Just in case you are not familiar with my own journey into total body wellness, below is a link to a blog where I share the details.
For better health, Naturally!