1) Reasons I have not been able to lose weight, maintain the loss and get healthy: (my reasons)
a) I over-indulge on holidays, parties and restaurants
b) I get side-tracked by another project and stop meal planning and exercising
c) I have days when I don't care
d) I miss a day and don't get back on plan
e) Stress of company coming
f) Stess of going on vacation
g) Don't have time to make something healthy
h) Family won't eat healthy foods and it limits my choices
i) PMS
j) I hit a plateau and get discouraged
k) Husband brings home treats for the family and I don't want to offend him
It's my fault I have not lost weight and I can plan for these obstacles.
2) Goals I would like to work towards:
a) Go from 185 lbs to 135 lbs
b) Go from size 16 to a size 8-10
c) Have normal blood pressure at my doctor's visit next year
d) Have more energy
e) Fit into my pretty clothes
f) Stop eating sugar (accomplished Jan. 2012)
g) Stop eating chips
h) Stop eating wheat
i) Keep between 1200-1500 calories every day, the rest of my life
j) Exercise every day (at least 6 days a week)
Have short term goals as well and what you will do to achieve them. Nurish the hope that this time you will finally lose the weight and keep it off. Commit to 12 weeks of working on these goals. What needs to change? Commit to change your relationship with food and get your life back.
3) How to do it:
a) Be mindful of portion sizes (never have more than 1 portion of anything)
b) Avoid unhealthy high-fat foods (no more than 30% from fat)
c) Exercise every day- eventually add strength training (ideas in the back of the book)
Keep the journey private except for your support system. Clean out your pantry, don't buy anything you can't resist. Pledge yourself to exercise every day. Only make changes that you can stick with forever. Stay away from trigger foods. Some of my trigger foods are: cheddar cheese, mozzarella cheese when I am making pizza, fries when I am making homemade fries, chips, nuts. It's OK to be hungry. If you are hungry and it's not time to eat: stop; evaluate (what are you hungry for besides food); wait 15 minutes and go do something else (like exercise). What situations cause you to run for food? Can you stop the situations from occurring? Can you replace food as the 1st choice for stress relief (like decaf coffee)? Plan what you will eat for the week ahead. Eat only 1 serving at a time. Change your unhealthy food habit for better food habits. Be deliberate. Don't eat in the car (fast foods). To help you not eat after dinner, keep busy until bed time.
4) When you hit a plateau...
a) Have you been following your eating plan?
b) Have you been exercising?
c) Is there another explanation?
d) Have you been eating enough food?
e) 6 Tips for Conquering Plateaus:
1. Keep your same calorie intake for the week, but mix it up; one day, eat 1,400 cal, another 1,200 cal. another 1,600.
2. Start lifting weights
3. Do a different type of exercise
a) Walk with Leslie
b) Ride the exercise bike
c) Treadmill
d) Gazelle
e) Swimming
4. Slightly change the balance of carbs, proteins, and fats that you eat each day- keeping calories the same.
5. Instead of 3 meals a day, eat 4 or 5, spreading the calories out.
6. Think about something else than your weight- it will eventually start to come off again. Think about others and what you can do for them. Put your relationship with God first.
5) Eating Out Tips:
a) skip the freebies (bread, peanuts, chips, etc)
b) skip the dessert
c) order the "light fare" choice or the vegetarian choice
d) Eat your normal portions sizes (probably half of what they give you)
e) Ask to substitute veggies or a baked potato for the fries
f) No cheese sauces
g) no fried things, choose grilled or baked
h) ask for no added butter
i) order first, so you don't change your mind from your healthy choice.
6) Maintaining Tips:
a) Plan meals and snacks for yourself and your family for the week.
b) Grocery shop from the list only
c) cook and freeze meat, rice, ground meat (for tacos, lasagne, wraps, soups, and chili); grate and feeze cheese; saute vegetables with chicken stock instead of oil; use a crock pot (Slow Cooker from Cooking Light Magazine).
d) When you stumble, go back to eating what you planned for your next meal.
e) success breeds success
f) Holidays/ Birthdays/ Parties: Keep your commitment to changing your eating habits and exercising regularly. Celebrate holidays with much excitement and ceremony- spend time with the family you love and are trying to honor, focus on their happiness. Communicate your love and appreciation for them in other ways than food and make food secondary. Set limits to what you will or won't eat for any given occasion. Have a small snack before you leave the house and drink water on the way there. Don't allow others to make you feel guilty when you limit your portions.
g) This can be the last time you lose weight. Continue following these guidelines the rest of your life.
h) Get rid of clothes that are too big for you, or alter them.
i) There is no going back. Cry out to God for help in prayer. Commit to making good choices.
j) Weigh yourself every day. Give yourself a 3 lb gain limit. then cut back on calories and exercise a little harder.
k) Have an accountability partner
l) rate your food- rate the enjoyment you'll get from the food against the enjoyment you are experiencing at your current weight.
m) You will look and feel better, be healthier, have better self-esteem and more physical energy.
n) Don't let down your guard. Watch your portions and fat percentage and keep exercising. Don't become complacent. Reaching your goal isn't the end- it's part of the process. The longer you are at your goal weight, the easier it will be to make the right choices.
The end.