Healthy Dieting

Why do you want to lose weight? Do you think this is a stupid question, or do you think the reasons are too obvious to warrant an answer? If you have been on any diet, you know the first few days are the easiest because you are strongly motivated. You have no desire to munch and you are a tower of strength when it comes to turning down fries. A few days later the story changes. You’re sick of cottage cheese and protein drinks, you’re craving a quarter-pounder, and you have no idea why you ever wanted to diet at all. During these “down” moments, a reminder like the one you are going to make will be helpful. If you can refresh your memory with all the reasons why you want to change your habits, your chances of giving in to temptation are greatly reduced.

It is much easier to control what you eat when you are concentrating on why you want to lose weight. When you can actually picture in your mind the results of your efforts, you are more likely to stay on course. On the other hand, it is next to impossible to resist an ice-cream cone when you are imagining how good it might taste. With this in mind I want you to put down on paper all the reasons that you can think of why you want this weight off. If you can think of more later, add them. To get you started, here are some reasons to lose weight that teenagers have told me:

• I want to look better
• I don’t want to feel uncomfortable around my friends
• I want to wear Lycra
• I want to sit on my boyfriend’s lap and not feel heavy
• I want to walk past a window and like the reflection V I want my mum and dad to be proud of me
• I want to feel good about myself.

Design Your Dreams

There are mental exercises or tricks you can use that will help make dieting or changing your habits easier. You have just completed one. You thought about and wrote down why it is important for you to lose weight. Take a look at that list again. Read it, and then imagine yourself as the person you described. Now go over the list you filled, the one that states how you would feel at your goal weight. Close your eyes and see that person. Really get into it and feel how you want to look. Do you have a clear picture in your mind? Is it hard to imagine? Does your mind keep telling you that you can never look like that? Keep trying. It will get easier. To help you out, do the following exercises. You will need to use the lists you created, so if you have not completed them, go back and do them now.

Mental imagining

It is easier and faster to achieve a goal if you can picture it in your mind. So, I want you to do what you just did in the preceding paragraph, only this time concentrate for more than a few seconds on your “image”. Sit down in a comfortable position and shut your eyes. Breathe in and out deeply 10 times, counting to five slowly with each goals are phrases like “brilliant achievement”, “enjoy life”, “quality work”, “experience God’s love”, and “always improve”. Get the idea?

Looking at this board every day reminds you of your goals and keeps you focused. Be creative. Add to it as you find pictures that better represent you and what you want. Remember, concentrating on your goals will help you to achieve them.

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