Tuesday 24 January 2012

WEIGHT LOSS - MISTAKES TO AVOID



There are lots of people out there who 'wish to lose weight', 'secretly dream of thinner self', 'plan to lose weight', 'struggle to lose weight', 'lose weight and put it right back'. But the desire to lose weight, be lean and healthy remains a far fetched dream. So what's going wrong? Have you tried to examine...explore all those things that you might be doing wrong that prevents you from losing excess weight?

Two emotions you will encounter and have to deal with is frustration and hopelessness. Frustration builds when you are trying to lose weight, or have lost some weight, and then you feel deprived. You are tempted to eat high calorie foods that you have been staying away from. This sabotages your attempts at weight loss and you find yourself unable to fight the temptation. Then hopelessness sets in, and you might end up telling yourself, 'Its difficult to lose weight', 'I can't seem to lose weight'. 'I will never lose weight'. 

Firstly you have to tackle your emotions. Think of the number of times you have achieved near impossible tasks or put in relentless effort into accomplishing a goal. So the same way, you can lose weight if you put your mind into it. Well, the important thing is make a decision - that you will lose weight no matter what. Identify the weight loss sabotage signals and emotions that you haven't given importance to. What are they?

- Are you tempted to try out everything that's displayed in a buffet or at a party? - This imposes a huge and horrific strain on your digestive system, make it overwork. Plus you gain weight. 

- When you go out, must you really eat at the food courts or stop at pastry shops or icecream outlets and savour your favourite items, only to add on more calories? These outlets are established to spurn money. They don't care about your health. They tempt you, make you eat rubbish and you put on weight.

- Do you eat when you are angry, sad or upset? (people do that subconsciously in order to calm themselves). There has never been a case where anyone in this world has lost weight by eating when emotionally down.

- Is food an outlet for your negative emotions or unfulfilled needs? Then it's a dangerous outlet that will offer no solution except help you add on more weight. 

- Do you enjoy pampering yourself with food? That sort of pampering will keep you  from losing weight forever.

- Do you have super sized meals and servings on your plate? Down size your portions and you will get used to it. You don't need to eat a huge quantity of food. You don't need all those excess calories - they get converted to fat that sticks to you, make you heavy and prevents you from living life to the fullest. 

- Do you eat when you are bored or have nothing else to do? Try to find an alternative you could do, any hobby in your life you could pursue other than eating.

- Do you snack while watching t.v. or while surfing the net? Undo this awful habit. Watch t.v., surf the net, enjoy - but don't snack. If you are dying to snack have some salad, apple or orange.

- Do you feel bad to throw away left overs by your family and eat it all instead of throwing it away? After all, you took so much trouble to make the food? So what! Learn to throw left overs in the plate or if you ended up cooking more quantity than you require, give it away to a neighbour or friend.

- Do you secretly or openly dial home delivery and order all the junk food you enjoy? This self entertaining activity must stop. Save your money, get rid of calories.

- Are you unable to stay away from high calorie foods like french fries, burgers, pastries, sweets, cakes, fried chicken or other fried items? What is it that these foods can actually do for you other than give you a false sense of joy and excess weight. 

- Do you feel out of control? Sometimes life can be hard, challenging; while you try to tackle situations, no matter what...try no to use food to pacify yourself.

- Are you unable to say 'No' when someone offers you a high calorie food item? Learn to say 'No'. You are not going to offend anyone. You are trying to lose weight, so its important to use this word very often when it comes to food.

- Do you eat the same food you cook for the rest of the family and then say, 'I can't lose weight because its difficult to cook separate meals for myself? Introduce healthier meals for them. You could consume more salads, grilled or baked items and stay away from desserts - even if it means extra work. If you want to lose weight, you have to be ready to change your lifestyle and food choices. 

If its a yes to more than three questions, its danger sign that will be flashing red! You are turning your body into a garbage dump where all the right ingredients for disease is a recipe in the making. 

Don't be in a great hurry to lose weight. It cannot happen overnight or in a few days or a month's time. Give yourself 6 months to a year. Now that you know what's sabotaging your weight loss attempts, its about time to do something crucial. Eliminate all the high calorie food items, eat healthy, eat lesser portions, have a healthy breakfast and lunch. You can absolutely stay away from temptations without any suffering, if you have understood what's important and what's good for you.  Have a low calorie dinner or stick to fruits, soup or steamed veggies for dinner.   Change your attitude and outlook on food. You will lose weight. Don't go on fad diets. Weigh yourself just once a week. Increase your activity - exercise along with your diet, to facilitate weight loss. There is no pill or magic potion or gadgets to make you lose weight fast. You have to watch what and how much you eat, make lifestyle changes and exercise. Believe me, I've tried it, been through it and achieved it. So can you.

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