January is here and this Lose Baby Weight team can mean only one thing – New Year’s resolutions. Many of us will have one New Year’s resolution in particular – to lose weight, get slimmer and drop a dress size or two. But how do you plan to stick to your New Year’s resolution? To help you out and to keep you motivated, the have come up with the pledges that we are going to make in 2013 to help us lose weight and become healthier. Why don’t you try them too?
I Will Enjoy Treats
This might sound like a strange pledge to make when you’re trying to lose weight. But one of the most important things in sticking to a healthy eating regime is to be able to enjoy it and to be able to apply it to real life. If you don’t enjoy any treats and you cut them all out of your diet, it can make you miserable – and it can make you less likely to stick to your healthy eating plan. Include treats in your diet, enjoy them, learn how to eat them in moderation and you’ll be much more likely to eat healthily well into the future.
I Will Enjoy Food
Dieting is difficult, and if you are new to healthy eating, it can be bewildering as to what you can eat and what you cannot eat. It can be incredibly confusing and many people tend to stick to a few “safe” foods, such as plain chicken or fish, vegetables and boiled rice or potatoes. Because of this, dieting can actually make people fall out of love with food – and this is totally the wrong thing to do. You need to enjoy food – it is something that is designed to nourish us, but it’s also something that is supposed to be enjoyable and that should bring us together. Diet food can be boring, but it’s your responsibility to jazz it up and make it fun and interesting – add spice or herbs to your cooking, or snack on high flavour low calorie foods such as smoked ham or olives.
I Will Change One Thing at a Time
So you want to lose weight. How are you going to do it? Overhaul your diet and exercise regime, right? Yes – that is how to lose weight. But if you try to overhaul your diet and exercise regime all at the same time, you can be overwhelmed with the new choices that you have to make – which can make your new lifestyle all the more difficult to stick to. Change one thing at a time and get used to the change before trying to implement another one.
I Will Walk for At Least Half an Hour Every Day
Walking is one of the best exercises that you can do and it’s excellent for people who are completely new to exercise. Pound the pavements for at least half an hour every day and you can boost your weight loss and burn off plenty of calories. You’ll also tone your legs and bottom, and you’ll feel healthier and happier!
I Will Respect My Body
It’s perfectly normal to make a mistake when you’re on a healthy eating regime – you might overindulge or you might skip an exercise session. This can make you feel guilty, which can cause you to punish yourself, either through exercise, eating less or just by beating yourself up all day about your mistake. Instead of punishing yourself, respect your body and remember that making a mistake is all part of the process – you’re only human, after all.
I Will Drink Plenty of Water
To lose weight, you need to stay hydrated – and you need to learn to recognise the difference between hunger and thirst. Often, we can misread thirst signals as hunger signals and will eat instead of getting a glass of water, so start drinking water instead of going straight to the fridge. With time, you’ll learn whether you are thirsty or hungry, and the extra hydration will make you feel more alert – it will also help you to exercise, too.
I Will Focus on Nourishment, Not Fast Results
When we decide to lose weight, often, we want it all – and we want it all now. This can result in us taking drastic steps to lose weight, such as eating too few calories or signing up to a punishing exercise regime. Instead of focussing on fast results, focus on nourishment – giving your body the vitamins and nutrients that it needs to run and function. You need to restrict your calorie intake, but you also need to eat enough so that you can function properly.
I Will Weigh Myself Once a Week
We often hear that people weigh themselves every day. Often, we hear comments like, “I’ve put weight on!” or “I haven’t lost any weight today”. One of the main pledges that we want to enforce is that you should weigh yourself once a week and once a week only. Weighing yourself every day will cause you to fixate on the number on the scale, rather than your diet and how it is making you feel. Your weight also fluctuates by up to a kilo a day, so weighing yourself daily will not give you an accurate idea of your weight loss.
I Will Not Take the Number on the Scale to Heart
Sometimes, the number on the scale may go up by a few pounds one week, instead of down, even though you tried your hardest. When this happens, it can make it really difficult to focus on the week ahead and it can make you feel very despondent. Don’t take that number to heart – instead, take your inches instead and take them every two months. Even if the number on the scale is staying the same, your inches will have gone down – which will help to put everything in perspective.
I Will Love Myself
Instead of focussing on the exact number on the scale, you should focus on how losing weight makes you feel. Focus on the emotions, rather than the exact numbers, and learn to appreciate yourself at whatever size. The more confident you feel of your own abilities and the more confident you are in yourself, the happier you’ll feel.
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