How do people get to a place where they find themselves 20, 30, 60 or even 100 pounds or more overweight? How did I get to this place? One word: permission. With every poor choice made, we gave ourselves permission to make that choice. Most of the time, that included giving ourselves permission to use an excuse like "I'll make healthier choices tomorrow" or "being fat is in my DNA; there isn't much I can do about it so I'm not going to try real hard to change it" or "this one 44 oz soda isn't going to matter that much" or "I don't have time to exercise" or, my personal favorite, "I'm too tired (or stressed, etc) to eat healthfully today." Giving ourselves permission to use and accept excuses is the easy, weak way to live life. I'm ready to be strong!
"When faced with a challenge, look for a way, not a way out." -David Weatherford
My son made a batch of cookies last night. It was still the weekend, so I enjoyed eating a few. This morning, there were still a plate full of cookies sitting on the counter. Normally, I would give myself permission to use a few good excuses and gobble a few right up. But today, I gave myself permission to be strong! Being strong feels good!
Monday, June 28, 2010
Friday, June 25, 2010
Why "The Plan"?
Diets don't work. We all know this. We have read the articles. We have mothers, sisters and friends whom we've seen ride the diet roller coaster up and down over the years. Maybe we ourselves have taken that trip; starved ourselves to lose weight only to gain it back again once we can no longer stand the starving!
Diets don't work because they aren't realistically sustainable. Most diets require that you drastically cut back on your caloric intake, cut out whole food groups, or even drink fake vitamins and minerals in the form of a grainy shake; all lifestyle changes that are not permanent.
Diets require you to make hard and uncomfortable changes to lose weight. We either don't stick to the regime of the diet because it is so uncomfortable and so we never attain our goal, or we persevere until that goal is reached only to resume our previous lifestyle (remember the one that made us unhealthy in the first place?) and gain the weight back.
We know diets don't work, so what is a gal (or guy) to do to achieve her health and fitness goals? She needs to commit to changing her lifestyle... for LIFE. If you are a person who would like to become healthier, the only way to achieve that goal is to let go of the things in your life that have made you unhealthy and embrace some new things that are healthy. Replacing negative habits with positive ones is the only way to truly change your health for LIFE and get you off the roller coaster for good!
"The Plan" I have laid out will help you attain your goals of health and maintain that health for LIFE. The parameters are easy to stick to and easy to follow through on. You don't have to say a permanent farewell to your favorite treats; you just see them in moderation on the weekend! You don't have to join a fancy gym filled with intimidatingly fit people; you just have to get up off your tush and move around for a minimum of 30 minutes every day! You can do that!
I don't plan on losing 20 pounds in 20 days like some diet plans promise. I don't plan on dropping 3 dress sizes the first month. I believe in the old adage "slow and steady wins the race." Incorporating these changes in my life and committing to a healthier lifestyle takes time. Losing weight the healthy and permanent way takes time as well. I'd much rather take a month to lose 4 pounds that stay off FOREVER than a week to lose 4 pounds that I know will be found again....
I am committing to living my life healthfully! I am excited to see results, but I am even more excited to feel the results! I hope you'll join me!
Diets don't work because they aren't realistically sustainable. Most diets require that you drastically cut back on your caloric intake, cut out whole food groups, or even drink fake vitamins and minerals in the form of a grainy shake; all lifestyle changes that are not permanent.
Diets require you to make hard and uncomfortable changes to lose weight. We either don't stick to the regime of the diet because it is so uncomfortable and so we never attain our goal, or we persevere until that goal is reached only to resume our previous lifestyle (remember the one that made us unhealthy in the first place?) and gain the weight back.
We know diets don't work, so what is a gal (or guy) to do to achieve her health and fitness goals? She needs to commit to changing her lifestyle... for LIFE. If you are a person who would like to become healthier, the only way to achieve that goal is to let go of the things in your life that have made you unhealthy and embrace some new things that are healthy. Replacing negative habits with positive ones is the only way to truly change your health for LIFE and get you off the roller coaster for good!
"The Plan" I have laid out will help you attain your goals of health and maintain that health for LIFE. The parameters are easy to stick to and easy to follow through on. You don't have to say a permanent farewell to your favorite treats; you just see them in moderation on the weekend! You don't have to join a fancy gym filled with intimidatingly fit people; you just have to get up off your tush and move around for a minimum of 30 minutes every day! You can do that!
I don't plan on losing 20 pounds in 20 days like some diet plans promise. I don't plan on dropping 3 dress sizes the first month. I believe in the old adage "slow and steady wins the race." Incorporating these changes in my life and committing to a healthier lifestyle takes time. Losing weight the healthy and permanent way takes time as well. I'd much rather take a month to lose 4 pounds that stay off FOREVER than a week to lose 4 pounds that I know will be found again....
I am committing to living my life healthfully! I am excited to see results, but I am even more excited to feel the results! I hope you'll join me!
The Plan
The basic plan is this:
-Eat healthfully during the week
-No eating past 8 or 9 pm (depending on when you go to bed)
-Junk food only on the weekends
-Move for a minimum of 30 minutes every day
-Strength train 3 times a week
That's it! So simple and, more importantly, so do-able!!
The break-down of the plan is this:
-Every day all my carbs will be 100% whole grain.
-Every day I will eat a minimum of 3 fruits and 3 vegetables
-During the week, all my protein will be low-fat protein
-No junk food during the week (no processed foods, butter/margarine, mayo, ketchup, sour cream, cream cheese, refined sugars, white flours, soda, fried foods, etc.) On the weekend, all junk food is fair game (you will find, though, you will eat a whole lot LESS junk food even though you have "permission" to eat all you want.)
-Every day I will move for a minimum of 30 minutes to get my heart rate going: I will go for a walk, hike, bike ride, use an exercise machine, go up and down the stairs, dance with the kids or even walk in place for a MINIMUM of 30 minutes every day....even Sunday
-3 times a week I will do strength training which could mean lifting weights, popping in a yoga or Pilate's DVD, working with resistance bands or even doing simple calisthenics to increase muscle tone.
-Eat healthfully during the week
-No eating past 8 or 9 pm (depending on when you go to bed)
-Junk food only on the weekends
-Move for a minimum of 30 minutes every day
-Strength train 3 times a week
That's it! So simple and, more importantly, so do-able!!
The break-down of the plan is this:
-Every day all my carbs will be 100% whole grain.
-Every day I will eat a minimum of 3 fruits and 3 vegetables
-During the week, all my protein will be low-fat protein
-No junk food during the week (no processed foods, butter/margarine, mayo, ketchup, sour cream, cream cheese, refined sugars, white flours, soda, fried foods, etc.) On the weekend, all junk food is fair game (you will find, though, you will eat a whole lot LESS junk food even though you have "permission" to eat all you want.)
-Every day I will move for a minimum of 30 minutes to get my heart rate going: I will go for a walk, hike, bike ride, use an exercise machine, go up and down the stairs, dance with the kids or even walk in place for a MINIMUM of 30 minutes every day....even Sunday
-3 times a week I will do strength training which could mean lifting weights, popping in a yoga or Pilate's DVD, working with resistance bands or even doing simple calisthenics to increase muscle tone.
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