The biggest secret to my success? A one year commitment to diet and exercise each and every day without any excuses NO MATTER WHAT for one year. (And of course once that year's up, you'll be fully entrenched in some great habits...but just focus on one year at a time.)
exercising a little or alot as consistently as you can. tracking everyday, if you did or didnt, and how many min. or more detail if you like.
that one was an important one for me.
listen to inside out weight loss podcast. its free. 1 episode at a time. do the mental hw for each one, one week at a time, or 1 month at a time. each person is different.
Eat foods you like. I don't like black beans so I don't force them down, I eat kidney beans which I find much more palatable. You should try new things but if I don't enjoy the food I eat, I won't stick with it.
Yes, I said it. If I didn't allow "cheat days" or "cheat meals" into my life, I don't care HOW thin I get - because I'll be miserable! Remember that one meal didn't make you fat - thousands did.
Water.
Planning.
Establishing an "I don't....." way of thinking:
My doctor advised me not to eat after 8pm.
The Food Doctor book I was reading advocated no starch carbs in the evening meal.
So I've combined the two and now make sure I eat my evening meal before 8, and that any carbs in it come from fruit or veg (not including potatoes).
I have absolutely no idea whether there is any lasting benefit in this but it is now just so automatic. "I don't .....do evening carbs and late meals". If nothing else, it encourages a disciplined mindset that helps with the other I don'ts ~ I don't drive to the outlying supermarkets, when a walk into the nearest one gives me minimum 30 minutes exercise; I don't eat sweets; I don't eat unexpected cakes; I don't estimate calories or carbs; I don't taste while I'm cooking; I don't eat what I don't pre-log. To me it doesn't feel negative, all the I don'ts give me huge freedom for all the I dos!
Find ONE form of exercise that you can ideally love, or at least tolerate. For me, that was discovering Zumba and beginning a long-lasting affair with my treadmill.
I'm on the DL with a busted toe right now, and I'm going NUTS!
My one tip: Make sure that whatever you do change, it is sustainable otherwise you will never stick with it for the long haul.
I'd take this a step further and say, your changes should be not something necessarily that you can sustain (because of course we can), but that you are WILLING to sustain. Willing. It's all in the willingness. Changes have to occur and we have to be willing to stick with them. We have to make them stick.
In other words, compromise with yourself so you're not giving up your old habits or old favorites, just accept that old habits will have to be tweaked, old favorites will have to be changed and substituted a bit, or maybe just as rare treats.
For example, what got me fat is night time snacking, junk food (pizza and Chinese buffet being the number one suspects) and my love affair with sweets. But you know what? I never had to give any of that up. I still enjoy my favorite foods and I still let myself snack in the evenings, but I have changed some crucial things.
I night time snack, but instead of eating fourth and fifth big meals, I plan and save my calories until the evening. And instead of eating absolute junk, I plan healthy snacks.
I refuse to give up pizza and Chinese food, but instead of biweekly meals, they're VERY rare planned treats, and yes, I do throw caution to the wind and indulge myself on those rare occasions.
I still love and enjoy sweets, but instead of making a batch of cookies and eating it all myself or eating half a pan of cake, I've found substitutes. I eat oatmeal everyday, and it always feels like a dessert to me. Oatmeal with cinnamon and splenda, oatmeal with sugar free chocolate syrup, oatmeal with fat free yogurt and fruit.
So I still indulge myself in the lifestyle that is fun and pleasant for me. But I've compromised with myself to make it a healthier lifestyle that allows me to maintain my weight without feeling deprived.
