To begin with if you think you're going to diet through the parties you'll attend this month you're made of sterner stuff than me. My guess is though that you'll say no, no to all the yummy stuff you see but then when you're in the comfort of your own home you'll eat more things or worse things than you would at any party. Why be uncomfortable through one of the most fun times of the year? You know you have weight to lose, you've come up with a plan and if you stick with it you can really enjoy your holidays even if you gain a few more pounds? What?? How's that?
So starting today declare the weekends to be your free zones. If you're attending a party eat what you'd like. Politeness alone will likely keep you from eating way too much and if you do it without feeling guilty the food will be better, you'll have more fun and you can just kick your guilty conscience to the curb. If the party happens during the week well same rules apply. Enjoy the food, embrace the goodies and have a great time. Only while you're doing it remember you're saying goodbye, temporarily at least and possibly for a much longer time, to all that rich gooey food you love so much that it's gotten you to the size you don't enjoy.
During the week don't crash diet. No matter how bad you feel about what you've eaten don't do it. Eat normally. If you want to do something differently than consider making your portions smaller. Another thing you can consider is dividing your meals into several smaller meals instead of 3 big ones. Can't figure out the portion thing? Make it easy. Use a salad plate instead of a dinner plate, fill it up but don't have seconds. Have less dessert - you don't have to give it up but go ahead, eat it and enjoy and remember in 31 days you'll being saying goodbye to some of these things.
Do you eat cereal and fruit for breakfast? Eat your cereal with your coffee in the morning and save your fruit for a snack. Better yet - eat your cereal, maybe a little less and fruit for breakfast and add a slice of low fat cheese for a mid morning snack. Do you eat a sandwich and sides for lunch? Eat your sandwich and save your sides for mid afternoon. Spread your normal food intake out over the day instead of at 3 meals. Eat your dinner and save your dessert until 9PM or an hour before you go to bed. Try different combinations until you feel like you're eating constantly but don't eat more than normal. We'll talk about more things to try as we go through the month.
Boost your water! Did you start by drinking one glass a day - go ahead and work up to two glasses a day or if you're at two work up to four. Start early in the day. Have a glass between your cups of coffee. Have a glass with lunch. Grab a bottle to drink from in your car while you're at stop lights. Work it in. By the end of the month it would be great if you were drinking 8 glasses of water a day.
Move! You don't have to sweat but walk somewhere. Everyday - up and down the stairs, park your car two spaces further every day until you're in another row. Do something. Have a pet? Walk it, if it walks outdoors. Have a neighbor whose poor dog never goes walking? Ask if you can borrow it every day for a walk to help you get exercise. If it's cold wear a coat.
Know your numbers! That's a whole other blog post but start with your weight. When I was on my weight loss plan I weighed myself once a week on Wednesday morning, buck naked. Pick your day but keep it to once a week. Know that you'll go up and down normally within a five pound range typically. You'll have a pretty good idea after this month what you weigh and then you can plan, sanely, how much you want to lose. Don't weigh yourself daily and don't obsess about it unless you really aren't serious about making changes come January 1.
Be accountable! While you're out shopping for everyone else and everything else buy yourself a small notebook or take several pieces of notebook or printer paper and cut them into 4's and staple a bunch together until you have a book of 35 or so pages. You could track on computer but it's too easy to fudge the numbers and erase. On the first page write your weight and the date in ink! On the bottom of each page head a section called exercise and leave space to write down what you did for moving that day. Make a second section called water and write down 8 ones across the bottom and cross one off every time you drink a glass of water. At the top of the page write breakfast and leave space to list what you ate. Do the same for lunch, dinner, snacks and desserts. Don't worry about it but just write it down. Be honest - if you eat half the cookie dough and bake the rest, write it down. It's not a test and it won't help you if it's not the truth. At the end of the month you'll probably see a pattern of what you eat most often and when. It will help you plan.
There is a strategy I'll share tomorrow that may help you look even better by Christmas Eve than you do right now even as you eat your way through the holidays but you'll have to come by again for that.
I hope you have a really great time!
Till next time - Cheers!
HV13
I'm saying, "YES!"
ReplyDeleteThat is my decision. :)
I'm on board too.
ReplyDelete