Thoughts that Thwart Weight Loss

1. You can’t lose weight because there is something wrong with you. Do you tell yourself that you’re overweight because of a personal flaw or characteristic? Are you weak? Do you believe that you don’t have enough will power? People who are unsuccessful at losing weight tend to believe that there is an internal reason for their failure, and an external cause for success that they simply haven’t found yet. On the other hand, people who are successful tend to externalize failure and internalize success.
2. You believe the problems keeping you from losing weight are permanent. You may think that whatever is “wrong with you” is always going to be wrong with you. You’ll never have more will power, for example. However, people who successfully make lifestyle changes that allow them to lose weight view their personal shortcomings as temporary obstacles that can be corrected with education, practice, planning, support, or personal growth.
3. The things that prevent you from losing weight prevent you from succeeding in every area of your life. If you believe that your lack of will power, for example, is a permanent problem that prevents you from losing weight, you may find confirmation of that belief in other areas of your life. Maybe you set a goal to save money and fail to meet it, and then you remind yourself that it’s because you don’t have enough will power. The problem with this cycle of negative thought is that it can become very difficult to identify behaviors that aren’t working and learn from them so that you can make positive changes.

If these thoughts sound familiar to you, it’s time to change the way you talk to yourself when no one else is listening. Remind yourself of successes you’ve achieved in life. Affirm that you can learn to change old behaviors and create new ones. Taking control of your inner monologue is the first step toward changing your outward appearance.

5 Tips To Fight Holiday Weight Gain

1. Eat breakfast. Not only will eating a health breakfast help you resist the urge to overeat during the day, breakfast-eaters report being able to maintain a better mood and higher energy levels throughout the day, which you’ll need to get through all your holiday chores.

2. Drink water. Getting plenty of water is an excellent way to fight off fatigue and keep your weight in check. It will also keep your stomach full at holiday parties.

3. Avoid alcohol. Alcohol is packed with empty calories. It’s also a natural depressant and can interfere with the quality of your sleep.

4. Fill your candy dishes with healthy snacks. Skip the fudge and rum balls and set out a bowl of fruit, crackers, pretzels or low-fat hard candy.

5. Pick healthy carbs. Fall and winter months tend to increase your cravings for carbohydrates. Plan to have healthy carbohydrates around for midday snacks to satisfy these urges.

You’ll find temptation from Thanksgiving to New Year’s, but you don’t have to give in. Make the commitment to maintain your weight through the holidays and start the next year ahead of the dieting curve.

Tips for Enjoying Holiday Eating Without Gaining Weight

Have a plan. Before you head out to a holiday party or sit down for a family holiday meal, decide ahead of time how you’ll face potential weight loss obstacles. Decide to make healthy choices before you’re faced with tempting foods.

Use your plate as your guide. Let your dinner plate help you monitor your portion sizes. Fill half your plate with vegetables and split the other half equally between proteins and carbs. If you have to go back for seconds, stick with fiber-rich veggies to feed your hunger.

Eat before you go. Never show up to a holiday party hungry. If you haven’t eaten in hours, you’re more likely to overeat without considering calories and fat or sugar counts.

Be a picky eater. As you survey a buffet table, pick out your favorite foods instead of sampling one of everything.

Avoid alcohol. Alcoholic drinks are loaded with empty calories that offer little or no nutritional value. Common mixers also tend to come with their own faults in the form of extra sugar or fat.

Avoiding weight gain during the holidays doesn’t have to be all about depriving yourself. Instead, focus on being selective about what you eat and be mindful of your portion sizes.

Tips for Enjoying Holiday Eating Without Gaining Weight

The holidays are about friends, family and, in many cases, food. How can you survive the winter holiday season without gaining weight?

Take a break between courses. If you’re eating at a restaurant, ask the server to hold your main meal until you’ve finished your soup, salad, or vegetable appetizers. Allowing yourself time to feel full will make it easier to avoid overeating.

Be a healthy host. If you’re in charge of cooking the holiday meal, prepare a meal that’s healthy for you and your guests. Opt for a sit-down meal with time between courses instead of buffet-style eating. Offer plenty of vegetables as appetizers and side dishes.

Move around. The more physical activity you can fit into your busy holiday schedule, the better. Suggest a family walk to take in the neighborhood light displays after eating and pick a parking spot at the mall that’s farther away from the door.

Defend against food pushers. Some people seem to get offended if you don’t eat everything they’ve prepared, and these people can be quick to assure you that there’s no need for you to cut back during the holidays. Start off by complimenting them before telling them you’re done eating. “I love your pie, but I’m full.” If that doesn’t work, insist on taking what you can’t (or won’t) eat home. Be cheerful but firm and simply repeat yourself until they get the message.

Your effort and resolve will be rewarded when January 1st comes around and you find that you’ve been able to enjoy the holidays without abandoning your weight loss goals.

8 Ways To Avoid Stress Eating:

1. Watch for warning signs of stress such as irritability and muscle tension.
2. Before you eat, ask yourself why you’re eating. Are you hungry, stressed, or bored?
3. Identify your comfort foods and keep them out of the house.
4. Keep a journal of what you eat, when you eat, and how you’re feeling. Look for patterns of stress eating so that you can anticipate and overcome them.
5. Practice relaxation skills, such as yoga, massage or meditation.
6. Get adequate sleep. Being overtired can cause additional stress.
7. Engage in regular exercise. Physical activity can reduce stress levels.
8. If you find yourself tempted to eat when you’re not hungry, distract yourself with another activity.

Take steps to reduce the amount of stress and anxiety in your life, but know that you will always have a certain amount of stress. Plan ahead and make yourself a list of alternative options for dealing with stress before the desire for stress eating comes up.

Boosting your self esteem can make it easier to lose weight because you understand that you’re worth the tough choices. A healthy self esteem also makes it easier to overcome any obstacles or set backs as you work towards your weight loss goals. What can you do to improve your self esteem?

4 Ways To Boost Your Self Esteem

1.  Avoid negative self talk. Be kind when you talk to yourself. The negative statements we make to ourselves can often become self-fulfilling prophecies.

2.  Avoid “should” and “must” statements. Talking to yourself in ultimatums can create unrealistic expectations for yourself and others.

3  Forgive yourself. Accept that everyone makes mistakes. Don’t let your mistakes define the way you see yourself. Give yourself permission to let your mistakes go.

4.  Focus on the positive. Once you stop talking negatively to yourself, you can replace that inner monologue with a more positive focus. Make note of your recent successes. Build on your existing strengths.

Remember that your thoughts are powerful and have a direct impact on your long term weight loss success. Work on feeling good about who you are now and the weight loss results will come in time.

While eating as a response to stress is a normal reaction, the long term effect to our weight and health is catastrophic. Once this awareness is front and center it means we are actually able to address it–and hopefully do something to change this habit pattern. When food becomes a way to soothe, it can be difficult to replace–but it doesn’t mean that it is impossible to do so. 

To combat this habit pattern, you can use a two-pronged approach. First, try reducing your overall stress level so that you experience less pressure in the first place. This means learning how to take your body down from a heightened state. Meditation and deep breathing can both be helpful tools. Second, you will need to replace eating with another form of coping. Some people find that journaling is helpful, since it often provides some clues as to what events trigger these feelings in the first place. Others substitute behaviors for eating, such as phoning a friend to vent or doing a few yoga moves. These techniques can help fight eating as an emotional response to stress.

Both Yoga and T’ai Chi are known for having a relaxing effect, so they may be something to try out. You can join a class if you want to, but there are also tapes and DVDs available that you can do at home. In general, exercise tends to help the body release stress and relax a bit. Meditation is another great way to keep things even and it can be done almost anywhere. You can try visualizing a pretty scene and just let your mind unwind, or try to think about each muscle group in your body relaxing–one area at a time. Many people also enjoy listening to music to help them feel good. Try a few of these techniques and see if any of them have a positive impact on you. Then you’ll have a coping strategy or two that you can rely on!

People in support groups for bariatric surgery can be there for one another in a way that family and friends cannot. They face many of the same challenges, and the group offers a “safe place” for them to blow off steam or share funny stories. It can be nice to know that others are going through a similar situation. If you are going to have lap band surgery, why not check in with your doctor and ask if there is a support group that you can attend in your area. Not only is it something that can help keep you on track, but you might even make some life-long friends along the way.

1. Strengthen your calf muscles by flexing and pointing your feet. If your are standing, flex one foot at a time.  If sitting, try doing both feet at the same time. Repeat 5 to 10 times per leg.
2. Now add an ankle rotation in to help relax the muscle and lubricate your ankle joint. Flex forward, back, circle left, and then circle right to complete the exercise. Start with a few repetitions and build up how many you can do comfortably.
3. Bicep curl. Use a light hand weight if you have one; if not, you can always use a paperback book (Yellow Pages Perhaps?) or a can of soup. Simply hold the item in your hand and raise and lower it, keeping your elbow by your side.
4. Now take the same item and raising it up over your head, then back down. Switch arms when you are ready to switch the phone to your other ear and do the other side.
5. Finish with some shoulder circles to help relax the muscles.

Just doing these simple exercises every time you are on the phone will really help you add activity throughout the day. Keep a white board or piece of paper by the phone to keep track of the number of repetitions you perform.  Pretty soon you’ll be looking for a reason to call someone!