“One Should Eat to Live, not Live to Eat”
-Cicero, Rhetoricorum LV
1. Carry your list of reasons for healthy weight with you. Remember all of your important health and personal reasons for losing weight. You will look better, but your motivation for losing weight should be your health too, not only your appearance. When you feel good, you’ll look good, too.
2. Get yourself ready
- Estimate how much fat weight you need to lose. Plan on roughly 10 to 25 pounds. Weight loss above these limits is more likely to be water and muscle than fat.
- Clean up the kitchen. Eliminate all cooking oils except cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oil and canola oil.
- Empty the house of high calorie foods, except a few in mini-size packs for emergency cravings.
- Add some bowls of fruit.
- Paste a calorie guide on the fridge.
- Buy a non-stick stainless steel wok.
- Buy a blender.
- Get exercise gear and a good pair of walking shoes.
- Buy a weight scale that calculates body fat. The Tanita body fat scale is excellent.
- Eat only when you are hungry. Don’t eat for emotional reasons.
Here are several coping strategies to deal with your emotional hunger:
- Anger - talk to the person or address the problem, take a walk, call a friend.
- Anxiety - do deep breathing, yoga, meditation.
- Boredom - exercise, see a movie.
- Fatigue - take a nap.
- Loneliness - call or e-mail a friend.
3. How to Get Back in Touch with your Hunger
- Eat slowly.
- Eat three meals and 2 or 3 snacks to make sure that you are never too hungry or too full.
- Wear clothing with waistbands – a reminder to stop eating when it feels tight.
4. Tips to keep you going
- Exercise.
- Snack on low-calorie-density snacks.
- Find time to shop and prepare meals.
“Those who think they have no time for healthy eating will sooner or later have to find time for illness”
-Edward Stanley, English Statesman
- Cook a week’s worth of each meal and freeze portions for your busier days.
- Ensure you are getting enough protein throughout the day.
- Meditate – the easiest way to begin is to sit quietly for five to ten minutes at a time, breathe deeply, and try to empty your mind of thoughts.
- See the big picture – your success at weight control is the result of meeting many small, achievable goals. A few mistakes along the way can’t undo all the positive changes you are making.
- Focus on fundamentals - major fundamentals produce major results.
- Do your cardio, lift weights.
- Combine foods properly.
- Burn more calories than you consume.
- Eat five-six small meals and never skip meals.
- Keep your fat intake low, but include small amounts of good fats.
- Eat natural foods and avoid processed and refined foods.
- Eat more complex carbs, fruits and vegetables.
- Eat lean proteins with each meal.
- Think positive.
5. Tips for shopping smart
- The most frequently purchased foods are placed farthest from the store doors, which forces you to pass many other tempting items.
- Don’t forget to eat and to feed the children before shopping.
- Refuse to be tempted by free samples.
