Diets are everywhere. Keto-esque diets like Atkins, Calorie counting like Weight Watchers, the list is endless. And it stinks! When we think of diet many of us think of many rules and deprivation in some area. And after loosing some pounds the bounce-back comes all too quick. There goes the effort of constant desire being eradicated within a short period of time. Or even worse: after some time the diet doesn’t work anymore, despite all discipline.
But what if there was another way? Can you have pizza AND loose weight? Can you eat ice-cream and still get slim?
It can work if you do something for it. The answer is up to you. But let me show you how to get there, first.
Set up yourself for success
The most important step is to set yourself up for your task. And you need three things for that:
Patience, because it will take time to get where you want to be. That’s OK. You can do it! Soon you will find out how rewarding the path is. And that it’s more important to walk the path than anything else.
Kindness: Many times someone who is a little chubby or obese will get hateful comments. That’s bad and hurtful, but it’s reality. These comments are the thoughts of others. You need to reject these thoughts! Be kind to yourself! Don’t pressure yourself to loose x pounds in y weeks. Because you are on your path you can be kind to yourself. You will get there. And you can be patient. Because two order four weeks more won’t make a difference. You will get there!
Reflection: Some people say reflection can not be learned. But that’s wrong. Thinking about yourself and your decisions might be hard at first. Every time you reflect you train your ability and get better. Another type of reflection you will need is the one of you in the mirror. When you give yourself a small motivational speech. (More on that later)
I recommend a small notebook for writing down your successes. You can start the notebook anytime but long-term it will help you to keep track of your achievements and thoughts.
Redefining your aim
Where are you heading? And what do you want? These are some questions that will help you move forward.
Why do I look like this? What have I done wrong? These question don’t help you. You can throw them away or reject them. They deal with the past and the past is not important anymore. You are on a new path and you will overcome any obstacle that is on your way. With patience, kindness and reflection.
One thing you want to do is to (re)define your goal/aim. Maybe now your goal is the bikini silhouette or to loose 10 pounds or to get rim of some chubby areas. These and other are all valid objectives. Take yours and write it down on a piece of paper. Don’t throw away that paper. We will need it later.
So let me help you define a some new goals/aims.
Almost everybody likes to get some help. And this is where we start. Someone will help you. Someone very important. Someone without whom your life won’t be possible. The single most important person in your life: you!
So your first part is: I will help myself…
Then what we all want is to feel good with ourselves and feel good being ourselves.
Then your next part is: …to feel better/to feel more healthy/to feel stronger…
And of course it’s important when this happens: Every day,….
So this or any combination can be your new goal:
Every day, I help myself to feel better. OR Every day, I help myself to feel more healthy.
We can build up on this. For example: Two times every week, I help myself to get in shape.
Please write down one, two or three kind goals, either in your notebook or on another piece of paper.
We need something that explains how we achieve that goal.
I need to postpone this one a little. But I promise you that we will get to it in time.
So, you want to help yourself?
That’s good news! You have made some important steps.
What can you do to help yourself? Well here is some important advice:
Learn about yourself
Making a small food diary or keeping track of your food will give you a good overview where you are at.
Match your lifestyle with your goal
I need to be totally honest with you: The key is exercise. And persistence is key.
No matter what you eat and how much, exercising will take you to where you want to be. Remember to be kind to yourself! It won’t help you to hit the gym three times a week or torture yourself with long runs.
If you choose to dial down on the ice cream and/or pizza or other high calorie foods then that is an intelligent decision. But whatever you do….
Take it slow!
Not eating ice cream for four weeks and jogging for four weeks might show of some quick results. But then we are dieting. We don’t want a diet. We want a better healthier lifestyle. So it is very important to take it slow! We have time and after two weeks the brains starts accepting a change as new habit.
So maybe a smaller goal can be to reduce the sugary treats to one per day. (Maybe later to 2-3 per week)
Treat yourself and treat yourself well.
A lot of people – especially in office or sitting jobs – lack proper movement. But if you haven’t had any exercise for years you need to start slow! How about a walk?
Taking a walk is easy enough and has more benefits than being a basic exercise. You can take a walk to refresh yourself, to go sort out your thoughts or to enjoy your environment.
Every opportunity to walk is free and easy exercise. Even if it’s a bit hard in the beginning it will get easier.
Our recommendation is a 30 minute walk for starters. Take your rest in between if you need it, just try to get to 30 minutes walking time. It’s worth it.
Take the next step
Maybe walking is too easy or you want to achieve more in the same time. Then you can progress to either fast walking or light jogging.
Stay tuned for the next part
Today you’ve made some important steps. Remember to keep track your food for about a week. And read your new goal(s) every now and then. See you next week when we continue with being tired of diet.
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