You know that old saying, “Try not to think about an elephant”, then all you can think about is an elephant. Why does it feel exactly the same when it comes to food and weight loss?
Have you ever noticed that the food cravings kick in when the fast food ads come on? Right before dinner time and if you’re hungry they seem twice as loud and twice as colourful. Or what about being on a low carb, high protein program? By day 3 couldn’t you just murder a sandwich?
It’s the same for everyone. If you want to make changes though, getting a little uncomfortable now and again will be a part of the process. Having a goal, maybe a memorable birthday, a school reunion, an upcoming holiday are all great motivators. Having a health buddy has proven to be the best motivator of all. Someone to walk with or someone to talk to about your lifestyle change challenges. With so many medical conditions associated with obesity, do you really need an excuse not to?
97% of those who embark on a weight loss journey fail. But here’s the thing, do you want to feel the same in 12 months’ time? We all know what the answer is to that. So how do we MAINTAIN and SUSTAIN a size that keeps us comfortably fitting into our clothes?
This cannot be stressed enough!!! Try to take an hour or so on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon and pre-prepare as much as you possibly can. It will start with your meal planning, according to your dietary changes. This will then require a trip to the market. It’s then up to you to chop, dice, slice, mix, bake, pack or start as many meals as you possibly can.
Do not let lack of food preparation be your downfall. Everyone who is successful in a dietary adjustment to their lives will tell you the same – be organised!
But what does that look like?
Packing lunches the night before – without exception, no matter how tired you are (this is where it may get uncomfortable sometime)
The wrong foods don’t seem as much of a temptation when all you are looking at is the right foods. To some extent, it will feel like organisation overload but try it for at least 7 days and see if it assists your week in running any more smoothly.
If you are the shopper and provider, do not feel as though you still need to buy the undesirable food that everyone likes if that’s too tempting for you. For example, if your weakness is biscuits, buy biscuits in portioned snack packs and put them into a drawer or cupboard you don’t have to see when you open it 20 times a day. You don’t have to apologise, you shop, prepare and cook, that’s enough! They’ll all get used to it.
If ice-cream is your Achilles heel but the family won’t stand for no ice-cream in the house, buy them any flavour they like, as long as it’s not a flavour you like! Again, they’ll get used to it.
Don’t have the special little things hanging around in the cupboard IN CASE someone drops in. There will be some sort of treat you can make on your new regime and generally we know when people are coming to minimise the temptation.
Eventually, everyone will get some sort of a sweet craving so make sure you have something small to munch on at your witching times that coincide with your new eating regime.
Most people have one night a week that’s takeaway. Make sure you know on Sunday afternoon what you will be having on that takeaway night, even if is the following Saturday.
One thing is guaranteed. Everytime you open your premade lunch at work you’ll want to give yourself a big thank you hug. Every time you come home and at least half of the ingredients are chopped for dinner you will be high fiving yourself. No one ever said, “No, the preparation and organising thing isn’t really working for me”.
Lastly, deprivation has never worked as a long-term eating strategy. Hunger is not your friend when temptation is around, so give yourself every chance and don’t be hungry.
(Source: https://evolveweightlossexperts.com )