I'm a firm believer in the fact that you can make your body do anything if you work hard and keep doing what you should!! BUT it's easier said than done right?
The challenging part is telling your brain to eat this and not eat that, to exercise and not be lazy, once you have your attitude right and you are determined and focussed, you can achieve great success.
Currently at this moment in time im lacking motivation and enthusiasm, I've spent my weekend devouring caramel popcorn, choc chip and vanilla sponge cake, cheesecake flavoured patchi chocolates and many other detrimental things, The upside to this is that im a moderate eater, i indulge but dont over indulge, the downside? I seldomely indulge, so right now im left feeling pathetic as if I have NO self control. To remedy this I am staying out the kitchen, I've eaten a good healthy lunch and now im sitting with water... Everytime I crave something I will drink water!
try it...it works for me everytime!!
MOTIVATION IS IMPORTANT!!!!
Sometimes, regardless of the fact that you know you should workout, you just somehow can’t convince yourself to. In fact, you have pretty much become a pro at convincing yourself otherwise. You are able to justify exactly why you don’t have to work out and why it’s ok for you to eat that entire bag of M&Ms — until the next morning when you regret that decision. Here are 10 ways to motivate yourself to stay on your fit plan.
1. Psych Yourself Up!:
Pretend you’re a boxer, a marathon runner, a professional athlete, be a fast running gazelle — it sounds corny, but it works. Get yourself in that mindset, be the boxer, get yourself pumped up, channel Rocky if you want. See it, feel it, see the environment you would be in. The point is to get your head in the game and out of your “I don’t feel like working out” head.
2. No-More Piggy Bank:
Every time I REALLY don’t want to work out, but do anyway, or every time I SO BADLY want a brownie but make a cup of hot water and lemon instead, I put R5 in my No-More Piggy, also called a “Fit Bank.” Once it adds up a bit, I get to spend it anyway I want! Then when I’m strutting around with my new shoes , I’ll be able to think “my workouts and fit mindset bought this for me…”
3. Photo at your Heaviest:
If you have an old pic at your heaviest, place it where you will remind yourself to get fit. So, if food is your issue: put it in the kitchen — on your fridge, in your pantry, in your freezer, on your counter — wherever you are going to see it before eating foods that you know you don’t need to eat. If your issue is exercise, put that pic on your closet door to remind you to grab your sneakers, put it next to your alarm clock so that when you go to hit “snooze” you see it and decide to get up and exercise instead.
4. Photo at your Thinnest:
Same idea, but reversed. Yes, this is a serious glamour shot, a picture of you flexing your muscles or looking sexy in a bathing suit. Why? Because some people are driven by the positive, and others are driven by the negative. What type are you?
5. Accountability Chart:
Create a chart, writing down your weekly fit plan, tape it to your refrigerator and every time you workout, check it off!
6. Tester Jeans:
If I’m on the verge of eating that or not working out when I know I need to, I just try on my tester jeans. They are my scale alternative when it comes to gauging my body size. For me it’s less how much I weigh and more about how I feel and how big/small I am. I know that the scale stresses me out and I obsess over the number. If I feel like my testers a little tight, I don’t even hesitate — I put that cookie down or I tie on my sneakers and head out for a run!
7. Skinny Jeans in the Kitchen:
Literally hang your skinny jeans in your kitchen or pantry so that every time you walk in to “see what’s new in the fridge” or do some emotional eating in hopes of making yourself feel better (which will ultimately make yourself feel worse) you see those skinny jeans hanging there and realize that, while those 10 seconds of taste bud bliss as you down that bag of chips will be heavenly — if you avoid that daily bag for a month, you will be slipping, as opposed to squeezing, into your skinny jeans. And in the end, nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.
8. Post-Its in the Pantry:
Find yourself opening the refrigerator door and eyeballing everything (as if you don’t already know what it’s stocked with), perusing the pantry, and riffling through the freezer, even when you’re still full from dinner? I do. Waaaaaay too often. I am great at late-night self-convincing that enjoying a few (or a heaping handful) of M&Ms is “okay” and that, no, I won’t regret it in the morning. Instead, I place Post-It notes with little reminders that I shouldn’t eat that cookie, alternatives to eating that cookie, and, worst case — the result of eating that cookie: weight gain.
9. Strip!:
If you’re having a hard time motivating, strip down to your eco skivvies and face yourself in the mirror. It’s not about looking for flaws, it’s about looking at where you stand right now and being honest about it. Yes, I could use a run right now. No, I really don’t want to paste that cookie to the side of my thighs…
10. Say It Out Loud!:
Yes, if you are about to mindlessly snack, take it out of your mind and make the announcement: “I am now eating this entire bowl of leftover pasta because I’m bored, not hungry, even though I know it will go right to my butt.” If not working out is your issue. Say “I am not going to work out right now because I would prefer be lazy and not address the fact that I need to get healthy. I am making the decision to prolong and even worsen my health and make my weight loss journey take even longer.” Chances are your statement will make you think better of it.
I’m not a big fan of “dieting” — a word that conjures up images of hunger and chewing on celery or doing some kind of fad diet — but I do believe in trying to eat a healthier diet.
Don’t diet, but do stick to a healthy diet, in other words.
But that’s easier said than done, as we all know. The healthy diet goes out the window around the holidays, for example, or when there’s a family party or a function at work full of unhealthy food, or when we go out to eat with friends, or when we go to a movie or amusement park or the beach, or when … well, you get the idea. There are lots of ways to get off a diet.
And there are just as many ways to stick to your healthy diet.
I’m not perfect, by any stretch of the imagination, and I often will give in to temptations. But I’ve gotten better over time, partially because practice makes perfect and partly because I’ve learned a lot of great tips!!
So today we’re going to look at a few of the tips and tricks that I’ve found useful in sticking with a healthy diet.
1. Know your motivation. I have a friend, who is getting healthy so that she’ll be able and well to have a lovely future and lots of opportunities. When she gets tempted by evil junk food, she asks herself whether she’d rather eat the sweets or look forward to a bright future. When you have a powerful motivation like this, and remember what choice you’re making whenever you face temptation, it’s easier to be strong when you’d otherwise cave in.
2. Take it in gradual steps. You don’t have to overhaul your diet overnight. I highly recommend changing your diet in small steps — just drink water instead of soda, for example, or eat fruit instead of candy or chips. Once you adjust to this small change, make another a week or two later, and so on until you’re eating much healthier a few months later. This small and gradual process makes it much easier to stick with a healthy diet.
3. Don’t be drastic. I’ve seen fad diets like the Cookie Diet, Atkins, the Banana Diet, and different cleansing fasts — and I don’t recommend a single one of them. They’re drastic, and very few people can last with them for a long time. And the fact is, while you might lose a lot of weight with a drastic diet in a short amount of time, as soon as you get off the diet and go back to eating unhealthily, you’ll gain the wait back. Don’t do anything drastic — make long-lasting changes
4. Choose foods you love. This is incredibly important. If you hate eating salads, don’t make salads a key to your new diet. I happen to love salads, but everyone has different tastes. Don’t eat foods just because they’re good for you — eat them because they’re healthy AND you love them. For me, that means berries and almonds and fruit and salads and yogurt and veggies , but for others it might be salmon and lean chicken and asparagus and walnuts. Find the foods you love that are healthy, and you’ll stick with the diet much longer.
5. Pack food. Always bring healthy food with you, wherever you go. Sometimes this just means packing snacks if you’re going on a few errands (I like almonds and fruit), other times you might want to pack more substantial meals and pack them with ice to keep them fresh. Packing your lunch to work is a great idea, along with a bunch of snacks to keep you satisfied all day without eating the donuts someone brought in.
6. Eat before you go. If you’re going out to a restaurant or party, eat a small healthy meal first. That way you won’t be starving and won’t need to eat a huge amount of unhealthy food. You can get by on a salad or some fish and steamed veggies or an appetizer or something like that, and still enjoy the company of your friends and loved ones.
7. Don’t get hungry. When you allow yourself to starve, you will often binge, because your blood-sugar levels are so low that you crave instant sugar (or refined flour). When you’re starving, you are more likely to indulge in donuts or cake. So eat snacks throughout the day, or small meals, so that you never get super hungry.
8. Choose healthy when you eat out. If you go to a restaurant or party, look for the healthy choices. I love a good salad bar (not drenched in fattening dressing), but you could also choose a lean cut of meat, grilled not fried, with steamed veggies, or some black bean or lentil soup, or something like that.
9. Indulge in little bits. I don’t believe in going extreme and not allowing myself to eat treats such as … mmm, chocolate cake. But the key is to eat healthy most of the time, and when you do indulge in a treat, do it in small amounts. Two or three bites of cake or ice cream, for example, won’t kill your diet but will satisfy your sweet craving. Eating a whole tub of ice cream? Not recommended. And someone close to me recommened a woolies vanilla yoghurt that tasted like ICE CREAM!! so maybe indulge on that instead of ice cream?
10. Eat small portions when you go out. If you go to a party with lots of food, try for small portions. Just eat until you’re slightly full, then have some water and talk with people without eating for awhile, then when you get hungry have another small portion, and so on. Try for the amount of food that will fit in your hand. If you space out several small portions over the course of a couple hours, you’ll feel satisfied but never take in too much.
11. Have tasty substitutes for your weaknesses. When I feel like eating something sweet, I’ll often have kiwis or fruit. My mum likes to mix fruit with yogurt, — a weird but satisfying treat. Whatever your weaknesses, find a substitute that will satisfy your cravings when they inevitably come up.
12. Clear your home of unhealthy snacks and foods. If you have junk food in your home, you’re more likely to give in at some point and eat it. But if you clear your home of these foods, you won’t have that temptation. Clear your fridge and cabinets of candy, baked sweets, fried foods, foods made with refined flour, fatty and greasy things like chips and fries, and so on.
13. Bring your own healthy food to a party. If it’s allowed, bring a dish to a party you’re planning on attending, and make it a healthy one.
14. Fill yourself up with water, fruits, veggies, and lean protein at a party. Lots of parties will have at least a couple of healthy options — some fruits or veggies, maybe some lean protein that’s not fried. I will fill myself up on these, even if they’re not entirely a meal, and then eat a healthy meal later.
15. Don’t stuff yourself. Make this your ultimate rule. Even if you break down and get fatty, fried food at a restaurant or party, just don’t eat until you’re stuffed. Try the Okinawan rule of eating until you’re 80% full. This way you can eat the unhealthy stuff and still limit the damage.
16. Don’t starve yourself. This might sound like the “don’t get hungry” tip above, but it’s bigger than that — don’t eat so little that you’re starving. For most women, that means don’t go below 1,200 calories a day — for men, it’s 1,500. But even those are too low for many of us. You only want to cut a moderate amount of calories from your diet — if you starve yourself, you’ll lose muscle, you’ll get unhealthy and you’ll end up falling off the diet eventually
17. If you indulge, burn it off. Sometimes all of the strategies above will fail. That’s OK. Don’t beat yourself up about it — just get back on the wagon, back on track. Look at it as a small bump in the road. And better yet, get outside and burn off the calories by running, walking briskly, playing sports, whatever it takes. Then start eating healthy again.
What are your favorite strategies for sticking with a healthy diet? Share in the comments!
