02.03.10
Posted in Motivation at 6:49 pm by Administrator
I read the following story and realized how accurate it is for the weight loss journey.
This story is about Jonas Salk, who invented the vaccine that helped end polio. When asked about the secret of his genius, Salk credited his mother. One day as a small boy he was eating cookies and milk at the table and his mother warned him that his glass was too close to the edge several times. Sure enough, his elbow caught the glass and the milk fell flew to the floor. He noted that most parents would angrily point out that they had warned about this very possibility, but his mother took a different approach. She surveyed the situation and asked calmly, “Well, son, what have you learned?” He said that attitude allowed him to withstand the discouragement of a thousand failed experiments, learning from his errors instead of giving in to the feelings of stupidity, futility and failure. He faced doing badly long enough to eventually do well. (Source: Forgiving Ourselves; Getting Back up When We Let Ourselves Down by Wendy Ulrich)
There is a great lesson in this for your weight loss journey. Keep getting back up no matter how many times you make a mistake. You must forgive yourself for your mistakes and look at them as learning experiences. These experiences will help you find the right “success mixture” so you can eat healthy for life. This cure in unique to each person because we each have our own set of experiences and live in different environments. You are on a journey and part of that journey involves making mistakes. The key though is to forgive yourself for making mistakes and then learn from those mistakes. Ask yourself, “What have I learned from this experience?”
Each learning experience builds on the previous one. For instance, when you go through the pain of not eating after 8 pm for a few days, you are one step closer to your healthy lifestyle. If you slip up and eat after 8pm, then you turn it into a learning experience. What did you learn? You learned that if you don’t eat enough during the day at regular times, then you are more likely to eat after 8pm. So? Eat at regular times, so that you are not starved by the time you get home from work.
This is my own personal challenge. In fact, last night I ran 6 miles on the treadmill at around 8pm. As you can imagine, I was very hungry after my workout, but it was 10:00pm by the time I showered. Well, I had gotten into an old habit of having a cup of cereal before bed and I really wanted to do this again last night, but I decided to stop this habit. So, I had a protein shake instead. It was 120 calories instead of a potential 300 with the cereal. This was tough. I went to bed and found myself staring at the ceiling. I kept telling myself that I can do this and it will be easier tomorrow if I go through some pain today. It worked. Plus I massaged my points behind my ears to help. Now, I am going to use my new momentum to not do it again tonight. I am going to eat a good sized breakfast and lunch and then have a small dinner and perhaps another protein shake tonight. I feel great today because I succeeded in overcoming a repeat negative habit.
We all are susceptible to fall into old habits, but we can LEARN from these experiences. Now you have the mental tools to take them on. Don’t fall into despair and blame yourself. Instead, look at it as a learning experience and get back on track immediately. After all, this is your “Secret to your own genius”.
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Posted in Motivation at 6:48 pm by Administrator
Remember last week and the discussion about obesity being contagious? Well, healthy eating is also contagious. As you have gone through our program have you noticed that your family members are also eating healthier? I hear often about how spouses are also losing weight, because they are eating the same foods as you are. Everyone wants to be healthy. So remember, your example is having an effect on the people around you. Just be patient with them and don’t force them to make too many changes too fast. People like to make change, but not too drastic or it becomes stressful for them.
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01.27.10
Posted in Motivation at 10:30 pm by Administrator
Why would obesity be contagious? Our traditional view of contagious reminds me of someone who is physically sick and coughs on others.
This is where I had to expand my view of contagious to include the psychological. After all, isn’t a negative attitude contagious? Just turn on the news and you will feel the power of negativity. If this is so, then why not obesity? (By the way, if you want to improve your mood turn off the news.)
There are times when your partner influences you with their unhealthy eating habits. How many times have you been told “oh, come on, a little bite won’t hurt you”? There was a recent study that showed that when a person’s partner is obese, they are much more likely to gain weight themselves.
It is important for you to realize the impact others can have on you, but this doesn’t have to be the case. Why? Because you are in control of yourself. You can’t blame others for your behavior. And you can’t wait for them to change.
Don’t let the actions of the people around you determine your own personal goals or attitude. If you wait to “do it together” or until the other person is ready, it usually takes too long. Don’t get me wrong. I want your partner to be part of your support network and to encourage you. What I am discussing is what you do when they are not. You have to be your own leader. No matter what others are doing, you have to be your “own” person and make decisions for “your” health. Nobody is forcing you to eat healthier and lose weight. You “want” to eat healthier and lose weight. Isn’t that empowering? You will feel strong, independent and back in control of your life. YOU WANT THIS FEELING.
No more excuses or rationalizations. Ok, now let’s reinforce this with some strategies.
Strategy: Remind yourself why you are doing your nutrition and weight loss program.
The best thing you can do is write down your motivation for getting healthy and losing weight. This will keep you going when you hit a bump in the road or a weight plateau. This is part of what is called “reaching deep”. So, pull out a piece of paper and start writing down your goals. If you don’t write it down, then you don’t really want it. Here are some ideas.
What motivates you to lose weight?
• Upcoming wedding, anniversary or social event
• Feel Healthier again and have more energy
• Raise your children in a healthy environment, so that they don’t have weight problems later in life.
• Show your children the example by eating healthy yourself
• Regain a healthy and tone look to your body.
• Reduce or eliminate health concerns like high blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides, back pain, neck pain, poor sleeping, snoring, etc…
Strategy II: Express your needs to your partner
You may think that others can read your mind, but I am sorry to tell you, they can’t. So, just let them know your needs. For instance, tell them “you know I really need you to give me a hug right now because I had a rough day”. Or “Having all this junk food (name them) in the house, makes it very difficult for me to stay on my diet. Do you think we can start buying healthier snacks (name them, Wasa Crackers, brown rice, etc..) for the house?” Or if you eat for emotional reasons, then it is time to develop a vocabulary for your feelings. Find a close friend, spouse, relative, psychologist or counselor to express what you are feeling. You will feel a lot better afterwards.
So today, Recommit to your goals and remember that anything worth having is worth working for.
Strategy III: Change can be difficult, so be patient with yourself.
Too much change without some structure can create unnecessary stress. This is why we lay out your first two weeks for your meal plan. After that, our goal is help you learn the process behind the diet. That way you learn what foods help you lose weight and which ones can contribute to gaining weight.
So stay positive. This is why I end my emails with “stay positive”. When you are positive, you invite good things into your life.
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01.22.10
Posted in Motivation at 1:07 am by Administrator
Eating too much after 5 pm is one of the leading causes of weight gain and can be difficult to change for many people. Here is a typical example of a person who is caught in a cycle of busyness and stress.
They eat very little or nothing for breakfast. After all, they are usually running out the door to get to work, get the kids to school or just don’t feel like eating. Then the typical day whether at work or at home can also have stress, so our food choices may not be the best. Lunch ends up being rushed and then the food choices may not be the best. And by the time they get home, they are very hungry or starving? Why? Because you haven’t eaten enough during the day. Then at home, they are finally able to relax and then start eating. Unfortunately, they have a large dinner because they didn’t eat enough during the day and then snack while they watch TV, surf the web, etc.. That is when they really start putting on the weight. Why?
You have your Biological Rhythms backwards!
The worst time to eat a large meal is after 5PM. An average sized dinner at home can be between 700-1000 calories. If you eat out, check the nutrition facts and you will be shocked that you could eat between 1000 to 2000 calories. And that doesn’t include any after dinner snacking. The problem is that you are going to bed within a couple of hours and are usually not very active. Well, where do those calories go? Yes, you are right. They get turned into fat. In this routine it is easy to put on 1-2 lbs or more a month. If this is you, then you need to stop this cycle. It is the exact opposite of what you need to do to lose weight and stay healthy. It is better to eat a moderate sized breakfast and lunch so that you can burn the calories off with your daily activities. Then you have a light dinner because your activity is less at night and sleeping burns very little calories.
Strategy #1
Plan for tomorrow with the goal of eating more during the day so that you are not starving by dinner time. Eat a medium sized breakfast and lunch, then a SMALL dinner. Make sure that your dinner is less than 500 calories and eat before 8PM. After 8PM? Drink tea, water, sugar-free Jell-O or have the faux pancake recipe from your workbook.
Strategy #2
Eat a light dinner before 6PM and then go for an evening walk. It will start staying light later and walks are great for reconnecting with friends and family.
Strategy #3
The best way to minimize your calories at dinner is by eating only vegetables at night or have a Slimstyles Weight Loss Shake.
Strategy #4
Do something about your stress. You don’t need to have a high stress lifestyle. Start by massaging your acupressure points behind your ears and do the breathing exercises. Change the way you respond to your life. You have the ability to choose how you respond to life’s challenges. Choose to respond in a positive way.
Behavioral Lesson:
It is normal that the first few days are challenging because old habits die hard. The best way to overcome them, is to do something different like exercise and be ok with going to bed a little hungry. It will only last a couple of days and you will break a bad habit. Just imagine how great you will feel when you lose 2-3 lbs this week from eating SMARTER this week.
Preparation is Key: Action Step
Go through your panty and get rid of all the junk food. The first few days will be the most critical because you are the most likely to be tempted by your old “favorites”. After two days, go to the store and pick up the healthier options that we have discussed in our nutrition class, such as the WASA crackers or the Kozy Shack Sugar Free pudding. That way, when you get into the mood to snack, you’ll have healthy choices in your pantry? Plus, your family will have healthy choices from the panty. You will be a Health Hero. A health hero is someone who provides healthy choices to others and is a role model by making the healthy choices themselves.
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01.13.10
Posted in Motivation at 2:59 pm by Administrator
Perfect Solution Weight Loss, San Antonio’s Natural Nutrition and Weight Loss Discussion
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Posted in Motivation at 2:59 pm by Administrator
Welcome to the Perfect Solution Weight Loss blog. This is your forum to ask any questions and share with others your successes and challenges.
Each week we will add research articles and questions that will keep you motivated and inspired on your healthy nutrition journey.
You will find others who share the same challenges and can relate to your desire to eat healthy and live better.
Thank you for being part of our program. We will also post answers to your questions.
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