SUCCESS DIRECTLY RELATES TO THE EFFORT YOU APPLY
Weight loss must become your lifestyle. To keep weight off, stop viewing food as a reward. Did your parents reward your potty training success with M&Ms? Did they reward your good behavior with cookies or Skittles? Did they promise you a treat when you went shopping? Did your grandma give you pies and cakes when you visited her? Did your family members reward themselves with dinner in nice restaurants for their birthdays or anniversaries?
We live in a society that views food as a reward. Because of this, people eat when they are emotional. Are you going through a breakup? Eat a carton of ice cream and you’ll feel better, right? Wrong. Eating a carton of ice cream will put weight on your hips and cause you to crave bad food in the future.
Instead, start looking at food as fuel for your body. If you see food as fuel, you’ll pay attention to how much of it your body needs to be efficient and to function. You’ll stop overfilling your gas tank.
Is your excuse that you’re too busy to prepare meals? Why not take one day per week to cook and freeze healthy foods so that you can pack them in your lunches for work? If you find yourself tempted to eat junk food at home, don’t buy junk food. You’ll better control your cravings if you don’t expose yourself to unhealthy things.
Do you find yourself drawn to products that help you lose weight? Products that claim to be light and fat-free? Most of these are gimmicks. Manufacturers sling around such words to sell products, but we’re smarter than that. We realize that the unpronounceable ingredients on the label are simply toxic garbage that our bodies don’t need. If you can’t pronounce it, you probably shouldn’t eat it.
Do you enjoy dining out? Look for healthy options. Most restaurants are conscious of Americans’ efforts to lose weight, and note healthy items on their menus. Chicken breast without skin is always a good option, as are fruits and vegetables. Fish is almost always a good alternative to heavy carbohydrates, pizzas, pastas, and processed foods. If you want dessert, try to find something that’s yummy but that comes in a small portion. Or why not share dessert with a friend?
Are you tired of eating the same bland foods over and over? Look for creative ways to make your meals more exciting. Spices can improve flavor without adding junk that your body doesn’t need. Most spices are natural and provide herbal health benefits, like a reduction in cholesterol and heart disease.
Other options to break up your food routine include wild game, seafood, and unique vegetables. Try different methods, like baking, boiling, blanching, broiling, marinading, grilling, frying, steaming, or caramelizing.
Two other important changes you must incorporate into your lifestyle are stress reduction and exercise. Keep in mind that 3,500 calories becomes one pound of fat. Exercise will burn off those calories; so long as you burn more calories than you take in, you’ll lose weight. It’s simple math. If I eat a couple of McDonald’s Big Macs and then drink soda all day long, I’ll likely take in at least 2,500 calories in one day. What if I did that every day for a week? If I had a sedentary lifestyle and my body naturally burns only 1,250 of those calories, I could gain two or more pounds per week! Ouch!