Judith S. Beck, PhD, our Feel Great Weight motivation guru is director of the Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy and Research; associate professor in psychology and psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania; author of The Beck Diet Solution: Train Your Brain to Think Like a Thin Person.
Look at the small picture. Concentrate on just losing 5 pounds at a time. When you lose the first 5, celebrate, then decide if it’s reasonable to lose another 5, and so on. Focusing on a big number can be overwhelming; in bite-size chunks, it will seem more manageable.
Sack sabotaging thoughts. “It’s OK to eat this because I’m celebrating.” “I don’t have time to work out.” Sound familiar? These kind of thoughts can derail your best efforts. When you catch yourself making self-defeating excuses, shoot them down by saying, “If I want to be healthier, thinner, and more energetic, I have to follow my diet-and-exercise plan.”
Ditch that all-or-nothing mentality. Instead of scrapping your program when things get hectic, “Look over your upcoming week and plan how to fit everything in,” Beck says. And remember, five minutes of exercise is better than none.
Plan for curveballs. You’ll be stuck at work late one day and won’t have time to sear fresh fish and steam veggies. “Keep a stash of healthy convenience food so you can grab a protein bar or heat up a low-calorie frozen dinner for busy times,” Beck says.
Comments (8)
As far as “celebratory foods” go, besides questioning whether it is a legit celebration, I also ask “does this look like the best fill-in-the-blank that I’ve ever seen and will be so worth it?!” If the answer is no, or not at least pretty close, I don’t bother. If needed, I dig out a piece of really good dark chocolate from my purse and savor it. I always stick in a piece when I’m going somewhere that temptation will also be.
I fall asleep and then wake at 3 or 4 o’clock. I am ravenously craving bread or something carb. Not sweets. Any suggestions?
I heard before that not all carbs are bad. Like if you’re craving bread, go for whole grain instead of white. You’re body uses more calories to burn whole grain than white. Also, Make a sandwich with one slice instead of two and top if it off with tomatoes, lettuce, sauteed veggies in olive oil etc.
Good tips, but on the one that says “sack the sabotaging thoughts,” I think it’s an unhealthy black-or-white thought process to have to say “I can’t eat this, even though I’m celebrating.” I think it’s more appropriate to CHALLENGE thoughts, as in asking yourself, “Is this an actual celebration (ie, birthday, wedding, Christmas), not just a ‘get-together’?” Then, going further, and making sure that any food that you don’t normally eat is properly portioned (ie, a slice of cake, not two or three).
These are great tips. My favorite toning woman
tip to stay motivated is to prep everything – cut up veggies, cook chicken/fish, portion out nuts/cheese for snacks – in an hour or two on a Sunday. Then put everything in reusable containers or baggies, group 1 days’ worth of meals together in the fridge, and you can just grab and go in the morning and when you get home from work.
Great practical tips for everyday use. I found that aside from the day-to-day issues, I also had to address some underlying emotional issues to lose weight. I enjoyed this article on losing weight by seeing the big picture.
What healthy snacks can I get to have on hand. I am a pastor and quite often I get caught bot being able to keep a schedule or eat rightm
Thanks
These are excellent tips! One of the most important tips here is to plan for curveballs. This is inevitable. Having healthy snacks on hand is a great thing to do. Even in your car. Have some raisins or a healthy snack pack of rice cakes on hand. Munching on healthy snacks when you get the urge will not only keep you from binging but it will also keep your metabolism going.
MyEatingHabits