At our house, having over-indulged a bit recently in the summer eating festivities, we have decided to use the rest of the summer to get on track with our health conscious lifestyle.  This means getting more physically active again, and getting our eating in check. 

As we were weeding our flower garden on Sunday, I was thinking a lot about the similarities between maintaining a garden, and maintaining a healthy body.  I do not particularly enjoy weeding the garden, and often times wait so long to do so that it is overgrown with weeds.  This makes the task undoubtedly more difficult and takes much longer than if I would more consistently work at it.  I feel the same right now about my weight loss efforts.  Having lost over 100 pounds feels so good.  But to get to this point took a lot of time, energy, concentration and hard work–on a consistent basis.  So that is my goal for this month.  Not to be perfect–just consistent.  Taking care of myself and “weeding my garden” one day at a time.  Will try to update again soon.

And when I have the urge to put something in my mouth, I have taken to chewing sugarless gum–Trident orange is my preferred gum for the moment.  My husband and I literally go through several packs a week when we are battling the urge to eat–it really helps.  Sometimes just having something to chew on or to sip can make all the difference for us.  Okay–off to boil some water!!!

 A real key to getting back on track is fitness–when I excercise, I feel better. When I feel better, I eat better.  The eliptical and treadmill combined with a little Stevie Wonder have helped me to start moving in the right direction again!!

Back at it today!!!!!

The following post fits so nicely–thank you to Melissa Thomas, Coordinator of the Great Lakes Weight and Wellness program (the program that I started with last April).  Thanks so much Melissa for sharing your thoughts!!!

DEVELOPING WEIGHT LOSS MOTIVATION

 Most dieters will have some degree of motivation as they have already decided to take action. The problem for many is keeping the levels high enough to prevent any relapse. Work through some of the following ideas and see if these can increase your desire for success!

LEARN TO ACCEPT SELF:

  The most common reason people lose interest in exercise / dieting is due to unrealistic goals. Some see the images in the media or television and this coveys the message of how we are supposed to look, adverts enforce these images with false promises like “you too can have a body like this!”, and we believe it! When the desired goals aren’t reached we’re made to believe we have failed. We need to put these images into prospective and realize that most of the population just does not have the genetic predisposition to look like the models in the magazines, plus most images are now adjusted by computers to look better than they actually are.

Learn to love yourself for who you are, not who you wish to be. Acknowledge that you need to improve your health or weight, but believe that you will do what you can to be the best you can possibly be. The constant pressure and stress of trying to turn yourself into someone you physically cannot be will stop, and it’ll be an enormous weight off the shoulders. You will be surprised at how good it will make you feel and how this can help drive your motivation to make realistic improvements. When we understand and appreciate our bodies, we are able to work with them, not against them!

FOCUS ON POSITIVES NOT NEGATIVES:

  Many of us have a tendency to look at our bad points, however, once you start to accept yourself it will be easier to focus on the positive side more. To make it easier, try writing a list of all the good things you’ve done or what you like about your physical self. Practice running these positives through your mind regularly, it may take time but its surprising what you can believe if it is said enough times –

·         if you don’t reach a goal when you want, just focus on the fact that you will get there in time

·         remember how far you’ve come, not how far you need to go

·         if you miss a workout one day don’t worry, just go back with more vigor to improve

·         remind yourself that a worthwhile pay-off lies ahead in an improved you

·         remember that exercise is improving your health and fitness and will help increase longevity, even if you don’t see results immediately

·         remember exercise has many psychological benefits including renewed confidence and improved self esteem

·         any type of action always drives motivation

·         SET GOALS:

Setting goals has the advantage of focusing on what you intend to achieve.  A goal acts as a form of mental contract with yourself.  Your degree of motivation will drive you to complete that contract. If the goal is too hard to achieve it can affect your success, so set realistic goals. The subconscious mind does not distinguish between big or little, it only knows success or failure. If you set a goal of four training sessions each week but only complete three then the mind sees this as a failure. For this reason you must set small, reachable goals. When you attain each goal it gives momentum to increase the level of motivation further.

Try these tips:

·         write down your goals

·         set easy goals often so you create a habit of success in the mind

·         set measurable goals – I will lose 2-4 pounds each week. This gives you something to go for

·         tell friends and family about your goals for motivational support

·         make any routine fun and exciting to help maintain interest

·         try new challenging goals to stop your normal routine from becoming a chore

·         reward your success on reaching a goal

·         think positively, replace thoughts like “I can’t” with “I can” and “I will”

·         don’t set goals that are too much too soon

The longest journey begins with a single step!

For right now a weight-maintenance goal is the plan.  Typically during very stressful times in my life I turn to food for support and end up gaining weight.  So continuing to stay the same for the next few weeks would be a huge success for me.  

Some examples of setting non-weight related goals are below:

*increasing fitness a specific # of times per week

*increasing water intake

*developing a meal plan for the week and sticking to it

*keeping a complete food journal

Here’s an article about Setting Realistic Weightloss Goals