“Ok, this year I’m going to do it. I’m going to stay with my diet, exercise more, and lose weight.” How many times do you say this to yourself? The holidays are over and perhaps you find yourself slipping. Here are a few tips to help you stay with your weight loss resolution this year.
- First, be honest with yourself. Most weight gain results from poor dietary choices along with decreased physical activity. Re-evaluate your diet and lifestyle. Are you making healthy choices? Acknowledge that you may have made some unhealthy decisions last year. Don’t beat yourself up over it. Forgive yourself and move forward.
- Set goals. Put them in writing and share them with family and friends. You will be more inclined to pursue them and you will receive needed support.
- Set achievable goals. Start with easy things like: using skim milk instead of 2% in your morning cereal, or using milk instead of cream in your coffee. How about increasing your exercise by getting off the bus one stop earlier, or using the stairs? These small things add up over time.
- Make your goals specific. Saying “I’m going to exercise more” is too ambiguous, and not easy to measure or follow. A more specific goal would be “I’m going to exercise for 30 minutes a day, 3 times a week.”
- Whatever else you use to keep yourself on track – Day-Timer, Palm Pilot, calendar – add exercise to your weekly plan. This ensures you make time in your schedule. You will also be more inclined to keep your “exercise appointments”.
- Enlist a friend or family member with similar goals to become your companion. Agree to keep each other motivated and support each other to reach your goals together.
- Don’t watch TV while you eat. Watching TV while eating interferes with the digestive process. Advertisements for high-calorie foods may tempt you to respond. In addition, the more TV you watch, the less time you have for physical exercise. It’s easy to remain sitting in front of the television after meals if you’re engrossed in a program.
You can identify many other goals. Write them down, tell a friend, follow them, and watch the pounds disappear.
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