To bridge the gap and break the habit!

The 15 Secret Laws to Lasting Weight Loss

Anyone can go on a diet and see short term success.  The secret to lasting weight loss lies in simple daily lifestyle changes that lead to developing the habits that support positive permanent weight loss results.

1)      Stop thinking about ‘it’ all of the time.  People, who cultivate friendships, develop hobbies and discover the things that make them happy don’t have time (nor have the interest) to constantly dwell on their weight; notice that happy engaged people rarely talk about food or dieting either.

 

2)      Visualize yourself where you want to be.  Close your eyes and see your thinner, vibrant and healthier self, walking down the street, into a meeting or to a social event.  Be specific in your day dream!  What are you wearing?  What’s your attitude like?  What are you doing?

 

3)      Buy foods that are (mostly) from the Mediterranean diet. If you don’t know what they are google them!  Lean meats, low fat cheeses, fruits, nuts, vegetables, legumes and high quality oils such as olive and avocado oils. Red wines are also part of the routine of the Mediterranean diet. Avoiding refined sugars is also key...cookies, cakes, crackers, chips!

4)      Front load your day with calories.  Eat a medium breakfast, a large lunch & a small dinner. Also remember Japanese hara hachi bu ~ eat till you're 80% full, then stop.

 

5)      Let yourself actually get hungry before you eat. Having a snack is OK, but only if you’re hungry!

6)      Do not eat snacks all day long (on a schedule) if you are not hungry.  It has been shown that snacking all day slows your metabolism. Again, eat when you’re hungry, and eat healthy snacks.

 

7)      Eat what you want but always keep portion size in mind.  Imagine a pie chart.  The largest slice of the pie should consist of vegetables, grains fruits (50%) the second largest pie slice will be legumes and protein (30%) the next slice is dairy, fats and starches (20%) ~ if you evaluate your meal and the salad is tiny, the steak is huge and the pile of potatoes is also huge, then you know you’re off balance.  The healthy pie chart would show a large salad, a medium side of broccoli, one small slice of bread, one small baked potato and a small steak medallion.

8)      Stop drinking pop! Instead, drink pure plain water or drink water with lemon, tea (hot or cold), coffee or wine.  To bridge the gap and break the habit, you can drink diet pop, then juices, then start to cut the juices with water (always make this ice cold…always tastes better ice cold) then infused water and so on.  Fruit juice is not necessarily the enemy.  Once you are at a healthy weight, you can (and should) occasionally drink a high quality orange, cranberry or grape juice.

9)      Check your attitude and pay attention to your self-talk. If you hear yourself using defeatist language like (you’ll never succeed, or you never succeeded before) stop it in its tracks and immediately redirect it. Memorize your own comeback one liner like: if it’s meant to be it’s up to me!  Look into doing the 7 day mental diet by Emmet Fox ~ find it on google, it’s amazing!

10)   Get sleep!  Go to bed at the same time, get up at the same time…unless you are extra tired due to extra exertion, and always listen to your body! Stop burning the candle at both ends. Take a nap if you need one.

 

11)   Listen to your body.  If you feel drained and tired due to the meal you had the night before, then pay attention to what you ate and drank.  Your body is giving you subtle messages your whole life long. If you pay attention to these messages, you can live a longer healthier life. You may not necessarily need to be allergic to something for it to disagree with you. Keeping a food journal is an excellent way to see trends in your energy level & your overall health.

12)   Reward yourself often for your healthy victories!  In the beginning when you’re bridging the gap and breaking the habit reward yourself with small pleasures.  I used to buy myself a candle or go to a favorite store or take a longer lunch break and take a walk through my favorite park near the water.  It’s important to anchor your challenges with positive things and experiences.  It gives you strength and determination and ultimately turns you into a person who spends less time thinking and talking about food and weight. Now you’re on to bigger & better things!

  

13)   Make moving fun.  The problem with New Year’s exercise resolutions is that we vow to do things we don’t even like to do.  Identify a list of things you like to do.  Ride a bike, walk on the park trails, play team sports or use a video at home.  If you cannot think of anything, then ask yourself, “What did I love to do when I was a child?”

 

14)   Surround yourself with positive people.  Pay attention to how you feel after spending time with a friend, a co-worker or family member.  Do you feel disgusted or stressed or angry?  If so, you need to slowly limit the time you spend with them.  Do you feel happy, excited and hopeful?  Spend more time with these people and if they are few and far between seek to make friends with more people you admire and who seem to be happy, healthy and in charge of their lives!

 

15)   Find reasons to laugh.  Laughter is the best medicine and it does wonders for your health.  Look for humor in things, be funny, be around funny people, watch comedies and lighten upJ

 

Lisa Ekanger Your Hometown Realtor!