Three Keys to Lasting Weight Loss

While waiting to go into my dentist appointment today, I found a copy of People magazine to read in the waiting room. The cover highlighted two women who had each lost over half of their body weight. Both of them had weighed over 300 pounds!

The story talked about how they lost weight the "old-fashioned" way, by commiting and disciplining themselves to following good old diet and exercise habits. The story emphasized the fact that neither of the women underwent any type of weight-loss surgery to reach their goals.

What I found most interesting about the article was how one of the women stated that you can't expect to lose weight and never be hungry. I think she's right! So many fad-diets claim that following their program will be totally satisfying and you will never feel hungry. I think that's a bunch of bologne! In order to lose weight, you must use or burn more calories than you consume in a day. It is natural to expect that you will feel a little bit hungry when your body is functioning at a defecit like that and that's OK. There is a difference, however, between feeling a little bit hungry and starving yourself but the line really is NOT that fine.

So many of us gain weight simply because we feed ourselves anytime we feel sensation in our tummies. What we need to realize is that everyone experiences and stores emotional feedback and information somewhere in their body and for many people, that place is in their stomach! Our bodies are amazing things and they function very well on much less food than most people give them. If you are unhappy with your present weight, then you are probably eating more food than you need. It's that simple.

So what does that mean? Well, the first way to begin losing weight, without changing your eating habits, is to start exercising. If you are already doing that, then it is time to find ways to cut calories in your diet. Changes as simple as drinking water instead of soda, juice, sweetened teas/coffees or any other caloric beverage can cut 100-500 calories per day, depending on how much you drink! That's amazing!

It's actually easier to cut calories out of your diet than you think. Keep an honest food journal for one week to see exactly what kinds of food you are eating and start by finding lower fat and calorie versions of those foods to eat instead. Then progress to making healthier food group choices and choose more fruits and vegetables over processed snacks and desserts. Doing these things alone will definately get you started on the right track.

The most important thing about losing weight, though, is that it requires a permanent LIFESTYLE CHANGE if you want to maintain the results. Losing weight isn't about dieting or fanatic exercising. It is about finding a proper BALANCE of food intake and daily activity that will keep you healthy and fit. In order for weight loss to last, your plan must be realistically balanced with your lifestyle so that you enjoy sustaining it for the rest of your life.

I'm not going to lie. The truth is that at first, it is HARD WORK but it is some of the most important work you can do for yourself and those whom you love. After a while, you will find that you thrive on the structure and discipline that healthy living will offer because you will feel better, look better and ultimately move better! The benefits far outweight the alternative lifestyle of obesity, inactivity and disease. So here they are...

THE 3 KEYS TO LASTING WEIGHT LOSS

ß COMMITMENT
ß BALANCE
ß CONSISTANCY

The key to applying these principles to your lifestyle is based on a foundation of dedication, desire and priority. You will only achieve lasting results if you continuously make strides toward reaching your goal EVERY DAY. You need to make yourself, your health and your fitness a PRIORITY in your life. Who better to commit to than yourself! Investing the time it takes to eat a healthy, balanced diet and exercise your body every day will give you an enormous return on your life and enable you to further enrich the lives of the people you care for. Let’s take a look at each principle and how to apply it to your diet/exercise program.

COMMITMENT

The first step toward making a change in your lifestyle involves commitment. Without it, you are essentially wasting your time. I have a client who has been trying to lose weight for years. Her problem is that she doesn’t really want to do what is required in order for her to reach her goals. She doesn’t like to exercise and she considers making certain changes in her eating habits to be deprivation. As a result, she is living in a limbo between dieting and “treating” herself and dieting again to get rid of what she gained while indulging herself in these “treats”! In order to be successful, she needs to DECIDE once and for all whether or not she wants to commit herself to changing her lifestyle. If the answer is Yes, then half of the battle is already won! Even if the answer is No, she will probably end up losing some weight anyway simply because she is no longer cycling between dieting and “treating” herself. The worst place for you to live is in dieting LIMBO, which is where most women happen to reside. It is a frustrating place that is impossible to break out of unless you make the decision to commit yourself to living a healthier lifestyle.

BALANCE

The next step is to come up with a plan that is well balanced. Fad diets and eating plans are NOT BALANCED! Any plan that tells you to eliminate or focus on certain food groups is not healthy, unless you have a particular medical condition that requires you to do so. The diet industry changes information faster than consumers can keep up. I personally fell victim to the fat-free craze of the 90’s and following that diet threw my hormones totally out of balance – a problem that I am still working to correct. A balanced diet consists of appropriate servings of whole grains, lean proteins, dairy, fruits, vegetables and fats. There are many web sites which offer sound diet tips to help you piece together an appropriate, balanced eating plan for you! The key is to write out a plan that is well balanced and moderate and that allows you to eat foods that you enjoy eating. If you absolutely love pizza, have a slice or two of pizza once a week and stick to your plan the rest of the time. If you love chocolate, work it into your plan to have a single serving of high-quality chocolate every day or a few times a week. A single serving of any one food occasionally won’t throw you off track as long as the majority of the time, you are focused on your healthy, well-balanced eating plan.

The same goes for exercise! If your plan isn’t balanced or “do-able”, you are unlikely to stick with it! You should commit yourself to doing some form of exercise every day. Our bodies were meant to move but so many of us hardly do any activity aside from walking to and from our cars. That is a major problem! Creating a balanced exercise program means that it is balanced with the rest of your lifestyle. If you work from 7am – 7pm, it may not be realistic for you to exercise before or after work. You can, however, probably fit in a 30-minute walk at lunchtime or even a full 60-minute workout in a park or at a gym! There is always a way to work exercise into your day as long as you focus on keeping it balanced with your schedule and other demands in your life.

CONSISTANCY

The third and perhaps most important principle for achieving lasting results is CONSISTANCY. You will lose weight and keep it off permanently if you are consistent with your eating and exercise habits. It is the perpetual cycle of dieting or lapse in good lifestyle habits that will keep you struggling with the pounds you are trying to lose! If your approach is well balanced, then, with a heavy dose of commitment, persistence and dedication, you should be able stay consistent with your new habits!

Changing your lifestyle habits and living by these principles isn't always easy at first – I’m just trying to show you that it’s simple. It’s a matter of making the decision to do something good for yourself, and then honoring and respecting yourself enough to stick to it. You will have bad days and your head will try to tell you anything and everything to throw you off track. Just remember that you DO have control over your thoughts! It’s simply a matter of taking a moment to breathe and think clearly about your goals and your commitment to yourself before blindly going off course.

Feel free to use this blog as a place to come for support and encouragement along the way. Sharing your commitment to living a healthier life with other people will help you navigate rough waters much better than any bowl of ice cream that I've ever eaten!