You have finally made the courageous step of losing weight in the New Year. Here comes the difficult part – sticking to your goal. While your doctor will be able to develop a plan for you and offer crucial advice along the way, the other part of the strategy is for you to remain emotionally invested in the process.
As you can imagine, that last part is where so many begin to struggle. Saying you’re going to eat healthily and exercise is one thing – following through is another. In this article, we’ll run through some of the ways you can motivate yourself on your own time so you can maximize the effectiveness of your weight loss program!
Plan Your Week Ahead
Let us start with perhaps the most important aspect of your plan. Perhaps you have had a particularly rough day and you head home, tired and starving, and look for the first thing you can snack on. You may even decide to order out after spotting that flier for the local pizza place in your mailbox.
The best way to avoid this from happening is by devising your week of meals and snacks ahead of time. One way to do this is by cooking your lunch and dinner sometimes on the weekends so you won’t feel urged to make bad eating decisions! Of course, if you ever do dine out with family or friends, take a look at the menu in advance online so you can enjoy your food sensibly.
Avoid Getting Overly Hungry
One of the easiest mistakes people make is letting themselves get too hungry. This leads to you grabbing the nearest source of nourishment even if it’s an unhealthy option. Weight loss doctors know all too well this scenario can happen, so the solution is a regularly scheduled eating strategy throughout the day.
For example, here at BeLite, we encourage our clients to eat three meals, three fruits, and three vegetables a day each, starting with a nutritious breakfast. By skipping a meal, you’ll start to feel hunger cravings that grow and perpetuate for the rest of the day. Protein and carbohydrates offer the energy you need to keep your stomach from growling!
On that same note, you should learn how to feel content after a meal. There’s a difference between being satisfied and feeling stuffed. The best day to approach this is to gauge how you feel before the meal, halfway through it, and after you have finished eating. If this is difficult for you to assess, take it one day at a time to develop a reliable metric.
Keep Your Head in the Game!
Along with the suggestions we have offered, keep yourself motivated by listing out the reasons you want to lose weight and the emotions you will experience once you have reached your goals. At every step of the way, reward yourself with incentives for your achievements. Through this helpful piece of encouragement, along with proper advice from your doctor, you’ll be able to stick to your weight loss program and reach the finish line with your head held high!
