Do you believe it's simple to lose weight? If you listen to the weight
loss industry, you've been told over and over how easy it is--just
take this pill, follow that diet or buy this piece of equipment and
everything will melt away in a flash. In fact, we spend over billions
each year on weight loss products and services and yet we're still
overweight. In light of this, is weight loss really that simple?
The idea behind weight loss is simple--burn more calories than you
eat. This can be accomplished by replacing a couple of sodas with
water and adding 20 minutes of walking each day. Sounds simple...and
it is. If it's that simple, why can't we seem to do it?
There are a number of factors that contribute to our weight gain that
you already know. But it's not just about finding time to exercise or
choosing the salad over the burger--it's about genuine commitment to
make healthy decisions every day....REGARDLESS of what's happening in
your life. If you're not ready to make some changes, losing weight
will be hard. Below are 10 things you'll need to look at in order to
get yourself on a healthy track.
1. Your Attitude. If you're only on a health kick to lose weight or
look a certain way, it will be hard to lose weight permanently. Why?
Because, what happens if you don't see results quickly enough? You
give up. Weight loss is a great goal, but unless you have something
else to motivate you, what's to keep you going if the scale doesn't
budge? It takes time to lose weight--how will you motivate yourself in
the meantime? Find more reasons to be healthy--having more energy,
dealing with health problems or wanting to live longer to be around
for your kids. Those are some darned good reasons, if you ask me.
2. Your Workouts. If you don't workout consistently enough, it's hard
to lose weight. Yes, it's possible to lose weight through diet alone,
but you'll likely hit a plateau. You don't need to spend hours in the
gym, you only need to set up a reasonable workout schedule that you
can follow each week. It's not about killing yourself with
workouts--it's about finding something you like and that you'll
continue with for the rest of your life. You have to be willing to be
more active on a regular basis--not just for a week here and there. My
Beginner's Corner can give you some idea of where to start.
3. Your Eating. Changing the way you eat is another thing you're going
to have to do for long-lasting weight loss. You need to be willing to
replace unhealthy foods with healthier choices--every single day. This
might mean:
Keeping a food journal
Spending more time in the grocery store reading food labels
Spending more time preparing meals
Saying no to extra portions
Making conscious choices about what you put in your mouth.
For permanent weight loss, you need to pay attention to what you eat
and make good choices more often than not. Maybe a structured diet
eventually ends, but healthy eating never stops...there will never be
a time when you're done eating healthy. You might feel you're
sacrificing the good stuff (pizza, fast food, etc.) and your life
won't be fun if you can't have those foods. Guess what? You can still
have them...just not whenever you want. Are you ready to make these
changes? Are you ready to stop giving your body the most convenient
thing available (and often the most fatty) and, instead, spend time
planning what and when you'll eat? Because that's what it takes to get
healthy...permanently.
4. Your Lifestyle. If you want a healthy life, you have to be willing
to change how you live. It doesn't mean changing everything overnight,
but simply being open to new ways of doing things. Some things you
might need to change for a healthy life are:
Daily Routines. You may need to get up earlier to prepare your lunch
or squeeze in a workout, use your lunch hour for exercise or go for a
walk after work instead of watching TV. Are you willing to do this?
Limits. You might need to set new rules for yourself limiting how much
TV you watch or how long you sit at the computer. You'll need to pay
attention to how you spend your time and where you're out of balance
so you can add more movement.
Your Pantry. I'm the kind of person who will eat an entire bag of
Doritos if they're in the house. That means I don't keep them in the
house. If you want to be healthy, you may need to get rid of those foods you just can't resist.
Your Schedule. If you're not willing to sit down and change the way
you live each day to include exercise, time to prepare meals and time
to nurture yourself with sleep, it's hard to lose weight. People use
busy schedules as an excuse not to be healthy...are you one of them?
If you're not ready to take responsibility for the schedule you've
created, it will be hard to lose weight.
5. Your Surroundings. Sometimes, you can't control the things around
you. At work, you may be surrounded by temptations--donuts, vending
machines and the like. That's just one thing you have to deal
with...but what about your home? Surround yourself with things that
will support you in your efforts to get healthy. That might mean
spending some money on home workout equipment, setting up a corner of
the house for your gear or commandeering the TV a few nights a week to
do an exercise video. Set up an environment that encourages those
healthy choices and reminds you of them--just walking into my kitchen
and seeing that bowl of fresh fruit is often enough to remind me of
all the healthy choices I'll need to make that day.
6. Your Support System. While getting healthy may be something you're
doing on your own, it's a big help to have a support system. At the
very least, family members who understand what you're doing and are
either willing to participate or help. If you have a spouse who wants
to continue eating the kinds of foods that tempt you, you need a plan
to deal with that so you can still reach your goals and keep your
relationship together. Try to surround yourself with people who
support what you're doing and avoid those people (like that co-worker
who always offers you a donut even though you refuse on a daily basis)
who don't. A workout buddy is also an excellent idea for support.
7. Your Spiritual and Mental Health. If you have other reasons for
being overweight--past hurts that you've used food to deal with,
depression or other problems, it's hard to lose weight. For many of
us, food is a comfort and something we've relied on all of our lives
to help us deal with emotional problems. If that's the case for you,
pinpointing those behaviors and what drives them is important for
becoming aware of what you're doing and why. A counselor can help you
with this or take some time to read about emotional eating. Be willing
to learn why you make the choices you make and to confront them.
8. Your Goals. If you've set impossible goals, you are guaranteed to
fail. Weight loss becomes hard to achieve if you feel like a constant
failure...who wants to feel like that? If that's how your weight loss
experience is, it's no wonder you keep quitting. The key is to set
reasonable goals. So what is reasonable? That's going to be different
for each person depending on your genetics, eating habits, exercise,
and metabolism to name a few. You're better off setting a long-term
goal (whether it's to lose weight or compete in a race) and then
focusing your attention on daily or weekly goals. Your weekly goal
might be to get in 3 cardio workouts, minimum. Pick things you KNOW
you'll achieve so you're always successful. It can be as small as you
like, as long as it's reachable.
9. Your Flexibility. You hear a lot about lifestyle changes, but it's
daily choices that really test you. What happens if you have to work
late and you can't get to the gym? Or what if you get stuck in traffic
and miss your fitness class? Any number of things can happen in a day
that may throw you off track. The trick is to be flexible. It helps if
you're always prepared--keep some workout shoes in the car so you can
stop off at the park for a quick walk. Keep some food handy so if you
get stuck in traffic, you get a snack in before your workout. Often
people skip workouts because something comes up and they simply aren't
ready for it or they aren't willing to give themselves other
options--can't do 45 minutes? Why not just do 10? Something is always
better than nothing.
10. Your Willingness to Fail. You will not be perfect every day. As a
perfectionist, I have to say that is a frustrating concept for me but,
the truth is, everyone (even perfectionists) has good days and bad
days. On the good days, you'll eat all your fruits and veggies, say no
to that pizza and do your workout even though you're tired. On the bad
days, you'll wake up late, forget to bring your lunch, have an extra
piece of cake at your friend's birthday party and skip your workout.
The bad days will happen if you're a human being. The trick is to
never give up, even when you mess up. You're not a loser just because
you make some mistakes...you're simply a person trying his or her best
to make good decisions.
