It happens to the best of us: you look in the mirror or step on the scale one day and decide you want or need to lose weight. You make up your mind. That’s it. It’s official. You are done being a size you don’t want to be. You will begin dieting and exercising and change your body…Then the next mealtime rolls around. You find yourself eating more than you should, sometimes not even thinking about the impact it will have on your body. Or maybe you do think about it, but in that moment the want-to for weight loss is superseded by the want-to for some tasty food. Or maybe you make it through the meal but have a hard time passing on dessert. Whatever your weakness, it can cause a battle within that leaves you feeling guilty and dissatisfied with yourself and your body. This situation can quickly turn into a cycle that can be hard to break. Read on for tips on how to arm yourself in advance for this battle with yourself.
Prepare for meals in advance – while this is not always easy to do, if you can make a list and shop for healthy meals in advance and plan each meal for the week, it can help prevent last-minute bad decisions based on hunger that interrupt weight loss.
Write everything down – this is one of those suggestions that is mentioned by almost all weight loss plans. If you don’t write things down, it is easy to forget extra calories that you may have consumed in drinks or nibbles while cooking, etc. Not only that, but when you begin to serve your food onto your plate or consider having a snack, you will be forced to think about it more than you would otherwise. The only way this works is if you are completely honest about everything you eat, and it typically makes the battle of whether to eat or not to eat a certain food a much easier one to conquer.
Don’t shy away from your motivation – As time goes on, there is no need to consistently remind yourself of the body you are changing. But in the beginning, when you are battling just to get started on your journey, a reminder of why you want to do it is a good thing. Whatever sparks that thought in you – be it a picture of yourself, the number on the scale, etc. – use it to your advantage. Weigh in several times a day if you need to, or keep the picture you hate of yourself handy to glance at it. Seeing what motivates you can help you stay focused when it counts, so you can not only win the battle of beginning your new lifestyle, but you will be better able to continue this change and ultimately get the results you desire.
Eliminate the temptations – as time goes on, resisting the bad-for-you foods you love will get easier. In the beginning, however, those daily battles with yourself can be limited if you don’t have temptations around you. Instead of having high calorie snacks in your cabinets, opt for healthier version of the snack foods you love. That way, even if you give in when you don’t want to, the damage to your efforts will be minimal.
Thanks for reading our blog! Keep great-tasting healthy snacks and other foods on hand to make your battle that much easier by visiting us at ThinSlim Foods!