Secrets of Success

Count the calories you didn't eat

Whenever I turn down a high calorie food instead of feeling deprived, I note it in my food diary and the calorie content of that food. On days where I very nearly don't go to the gym I note that down also. At the end of the week, I tot up how many extra calories I would have consumed/ not burned and take it away from my loss. Seeing the weight I would still be had I given into these impulses keeps me on the straight and narrow. Instead of feeling deprived, I feel empowered! :)

Snack Smart

Always keep frozen vegetables in your freezer, that way when you're hungry for a "snack" you can be eating in minutes AND getting 1, 2 or more of your vegetable servings taken care of at the same time! It's a delicious and satisfying snack with astoundingly few calories, even with a bit of butter added! Cauliflower and baby brussel sprouts are my personal favourites.

Get Over It!

Sometimes we make mistakes! On purpose or not! Whoops, I ordered fries as a side instead of fruit! I ate the whole meal at the restaurant instead of splitting it in half! I went over my count for today!

The trick is to NOT regret what you did. Things happen, choices are made, but they don't have to affect you if you choose to learn your lesson and move on. So your last meal was less than healthy--make your next one great! Today you were bad? Tomorrow, be awesome! It's a journey, not a race.

See Yourself at Your Goal

Visualizing your goal can help you achieve it. Actually *seeing* it is even better! I Photoshop'd a picture of my face on an athlete's body, printed it, and look at it when I don't feel motivated to exercise or if I'm tempted to eat something I shouldn't. Knowing what I *could* look like, if I stick with it, is really motivating!

Motivation...

"Fall down seven times, stand up eight" ~ Proverb

Staying flexible during the rough times of life

For me as long as I stay flexible with my workouts I stay motivated Let's face it we all have lives that have bumps in the road My life is more of murphy's law What can go wrong will go wrong - For me when my life takes a turn off my main course its just a minor detour. This is the time to go with the flow and make do with what time I have . Life happens don't worry over the bumps in the road.

Baby Steps

It is important to remember that being overweight or obese didn't happen over night and it takes building new habits, one at a time to over come. Fast break goals are those "baby steps" that we need. Pick something that you know will help make a difference and whittle at it--after a couple of weeks, add on a new goal to the first one. (If you try to change everything at once, it will probably burn you out and you will "give up.")

Don't give up on Spark People!!

Life sometimes sends obstacles to us--and these can be tough--time consuming or stressful or painful or destructive in other ways. That should not stop us from having success in improving our lifestyle and our health. If you have to, cut back on the time you spend here on the SP site. Choose a couple of parts that will keep you on an even keel--like logging in and tracking food and/or fitness. Eventually, you can become active in the community again as you deal with your life.

You CAN do this

No matter what is going on, no matter what mistakes you made today or yesterday--just stick with it. You are making changes in the way that you live and little by little, piece by piece, you will get this big job done and you will be so glad that you did this.

Borrowed from AA

When I'm having a particularly hard day dealing with cravings, I tell myself...."Just for the next hour, I will not eat that piece of chocolate".... or "just for the next half hour, I will not have that piece of banana nut bread", and then when I've made it through that far, I restate the goal..."just for another hour, I will not have that piece of cake".... breaking things into manageable units makes it easier to do, for some people.

BANISH GUILT!

Guilt is counterproductive, demoralizing and useless. If you deviate, learn from it and pick up where you left off. Don't use that as an excuse to throw in the towel and quit...

Erase a Bad Day

I have personally found (and have witnessed in my clients) that after a day where you either had little control over what you ate, or a day of celebrating and maybe indulging, that 3 things can erase your boo-boos quickly - Drink lots of water, eat lots of green veggies, and get moving! It's amazing how fast it works! Of course making sure you're taking your required vitamins and minerals and fibre as well! :) Easy Peasy!

Erase a Bad Day

I have personally found (and have witnessed in my clients) that after a day where you either had little control over what you ate, or a day of celebrating and maybe indulging, that 3 things can erase your boo-boos quickly - Drink lots of water, eat lots of green veggies, and get moving! It's amazing how fast it works! Of course making sure you're taking your required vitamins and minerals and fibre as well! :) Easy Peasy!

Erase a Bad Day

I have personally found (and have witnessed in my clients) that after a day where you either had little control over what you ate, or a day of celebrating and maybe indulging, that 3 things can erase your boo-boos quickly - Drink lots of water, eat lots of green veggies, and get moving! It's amazing how fast it works! Of course making sure you're taking your required vitamins and minerals and fibre as well! :) Easy Peasy!

Erase a Bad Day

I have personally found (and have witnessed in my clients) that after a day where you either had little control over what you ate, or a day of celebrating and maybe indulging, that 3 things can erase your boo-boos quickly - Drink lots of water, eat lots of green veggies, and get moving! It's amazing how fast it works! Of course making sure you're taking your required vitamins and minerals and fibre as well! :) Easy Peasy!

Erase a Bad Day

I have personally found (and have witnessed in my clients) that after a day where you either had little control over what you ate, or a day of celebrating and maybe indulging, that 3 things can erase your boo-boos quickly - Drink lots of water, eat lots of green veggies, and get moving! It's amazing how fast it works! Of course making sure you're taking your required vitamins and minerals and fibre as well! :) Easy Peasy!

Halloween candy, uh-oh

When at the store to buy candy for trick-or-treaters, take only the ones that you dislike.

Be selfish

Put your self 1st. Make fitness & healthy eating a priority. Stop shirt changing yourself. We all have responsibilities, but you have a responsibility to be your best for yourself and those that you love.

Think Like a Boxer

Boxers never give up. They can be getting a beat down and they never throw in the towel. So when I feel like my attempts at losing weight have failed, I try to think like a boxer and keeping coming back and working on it. Reaching my goal of being healthy is in me.

Get out of Bed on a Positive Note

As an emotional eater, I am constantly sneaking in positive reminders to myself in various formats. I particularly like when my mobile phone calendar alarm sounds off at 6:00am with a daily motivational reminder like: “Act as if today is a great day!” or “Act as if I am strong, lean, healthy, and sexy”.

Leslie Sansone: Look in Used Book Stores for Used DVDs.

I love Leslie Sansone. I have several of her DVDs. You can choose 1 mile on a day you don't have as much energy or go up to 5 or 6 miles by combining DVDs or repeating some miles. Her energy and positive motivation is infectious.
You can work out in your own home and you don't need a lot of room. No gym membership fees required. At the end of one DVD is a segment on fixing healthy breakfasts. By using the stretchy band during one of the miles you can strengthen your arms and core.

Drink & Think

Whenever I am tempted to eat something that would derail my efforts (a cupcake, a bag of chips), I make myself drink a whole glass of water. Usually by the time I've finished the water, I feel fuller and no longer crave the unhealthy food!

Don't forget to share the successes

I wrote a blog about the positives resulting from my weight loss and I have been so surprised in what it meant to so many. Make sure that you celebrate all of the little things with others. Those help them as much as they help you--they can keep everyone going.

Keep it Simple!

I've always beat myself up for failing in the past because I couldn't do it all day one. I decided this time I'm chunking this down and keeping it simple. When I get overwhelmed trying to make a bazillion changes at once, I bring it back to basics. ODAT doesn't seem like so much!

Take Control

Most people are going to get off track from time to time but I find that if I put the mistake behind me, not beating myself up for it but moving forward and getting back on track, I keep control of the situation, not letting the mistake control me.