And that's a big reason I gained weight in the first place. Taste, first and foremost, along with a desperate need for convenience to aid me with with my busy schedule which at the time felt out of control. I loved fast food. I also loved my chocolate, soda, sugary foods, etc (way too much for my own good). And I also gained weight because I often dreaded most types of exercise. The mere thought of "exercise" made me cringe. If that weren't enough, I would often use food for comfort during stressful times.
But after doing some serious homework on the subject of food I started to see that I can absolutely have my taste, and be healthy too! I even found out that I can still eat a little bit for comfort sometimes while continuing to lose weight as long as it is healthier foods. I just needed to substitute the garbage for the good stuff, and do it in a way that still tasted great and was convenient enough that I didn't wind up grabbing junk food again simply because it was "more convenient" to do so. As you're aware, there are so many different options available to us all, if we have a look around rather than succumbing to the fast food and junk food monsters. Yes even healthy, and very good tasting substitutions for the sweets.
In fact, now I much prefer the taste of the healthier food I eat over fast food especially since I found ways to make it taste even better than fast food without all the harmful belt busting ingredients. And to be honest, it just makes me feel a whole lot better knowing that I am taking better care of myself and my health. The "feeling better" also helps me get past the occasional fast food craving. At the same time I still do allow myself to splurge sometimes which I will explain later.
In addition to all of the above, I've finally come to the point now where I fully accept that if I want to have a thinner, more attractive body, while also taking much better care of my health, and at the same time make it last long-term, this is going to have to be more about making a real and lasting lifestyle change for myself rather than just another half-hearted attempt at "quickly trying to shed the pounds."
Here is my new lifestyle, and how I continue to have the willpower and motivation to lose weight 40 pounds later:
2. I take a multivitamin. I take GNC's Mega Men vitamin because of all the vitamins I've taken, I feel the best taking them. The "Sport" version also includes a little energy boost in it too. Feels great taking them, and they help the metabolism a bit. (Again, I like simple, so I order them online and let the UPS guy bring them to me.) Why add one more trip to the store that I don't have time for? He gets paid, GNC gets paid, I get my vitamins, and everyone's happy.
Here is the their version for women too: Women's Ultra Mega
Here is the their version for women too: Women's Ultra Mega
3. I primarily eat lean meats instead of beef. I primarily eat chicken and tuna. I will on rare occasion allow myself to splurge and eat hamburger or steak, but I generally stay away from beef altogether, even though I do like it a lot. It's just not as heart healthy as the other meats and it also sabotages weight loss efforts as per many articles I've read, not to mention trial and error in my own weight loss attempts in the past. I found all kinds of great ways to prepare chicken in meals and even found some really great tasting preboxed preps for making chicken like "Romano's Macaroni Grill" which is usually located near the hamburger helper and chicken helper in the grocery store. I highly recommend the "Chicken Picata," "Garlic and Herb," "Alfredo Linguini" for starters. Those meals made me completely forget that I was switching from beef to chicken because when prepared right they taste absolutely awesome! Plus there are a gazlillion recipes out there on how to cook chicken, as you're aware. The thing is, for me, I like to make one big batch that will last me for four meals or more, so that way I don't feel like I am "constantly cooking." This also aids in making it less tempting to reach for the "easy food" since, there's already 4 or more fully prepared meals sitting there waiting for me. What could be easier than grabbing that, right?
Website on the benefits of eating lean meats: Benefits of Lean Meat
Website on the benefits of eating lean meats: Benefits of Lean Meat
*As you're aware, there's a certain minset I've been using which is behind the ways I am doing these things for myself... For example, I know I like "easy to grab food" because I don't like to cook, so I compensate for my tendency to want to be impulsive with the above and more I will explain below.
4. I stopped using sugar all together and replaced it with something just as sweet, Splenda. It seriously works. That stuff is so sweet I've completely forgotten about sugar entirely. I have gone back and fourth years ago with this. I had the routine of staying away from sugar but then living with a girlfriend who swore by sugar got the best of me for awhile and I blew up like a baloon! I went from a size 32 in jeans up to size 42 in no time flat! Sugar, in short, distorts the metabolism. I don't care what all the health "experts" say about sugar. I stay the hell away from it, and I lose weight because of it. And that includes drinks like Gatorade and soda... If I am doing a very vigorous workout, a little gatorade is ok for fast absorbtion, but generally I stay the heck away from gatorade because it's loaded with sugar, and it's sabotaged my hard work in the past, every single time. Again, Splenda is super sweet, grain for grain just like sugar. You can even bake a cake with it! There's just never any good reason to use sugar, not in my life anyway. I've even begun to just add it straight to my water, just a little bit, and it really makes a difference! Water is way "less boring" that way, and it really makes it taste a lot better! But again, with water, some tang, or crystal light, or other things work great too for flavor. Watch out for clothes stains and even kitchen counter stains with the Crystal Light though! That stuff is hard to get out!
Here is a very compelling write up and set of videos about the harmful effects of sugar on our bodies which is definitely eye opening and worth a look: http://macrobiotics.co.uk/sugar.htm
Here is a very compelling write up and set of videos about the harmful effects of sugar on our bodies which is definitely eye opening and worth a look: http://macrobiotics.co.uk/sugar.htm
5. I make a point of avoiding "High Fructose Corn Syrup" as often as possible! And for me, that's pretty much everyday. I treat it like "the plague" that I only taste once in awhile. And this leads me to explain the discovery I was talking about. I was just roaming around the internet reading health blogs one day and I came across someone talking about how different food ingredients can completely sabotage our weight loss efforts. I tested this theory out and that is no joke! High Fructose Corn Syrup, and other variations of it, absolutely positively do sabotage our weight loss. And the way I know for sure is because I prepared one of those Romano meals that I mentioned above which has very little, if any in it. I ate a reasonably sized meal and felt completely full. I "Felt completely satisfied" after that meal. Then on my next few meals I prepared one of those "Wan Chai Ferry" chinese meals with the sweet and sour sauce as the main sauce that mixes right in with the dinner and low and behold I ate a much larger helping, but the worst part is, I was still starving! "What the heck?" I said to myself. "This has to be a coincidence. Maybe I'm just imagining this. " So the very next day I did the same thing, and had the same exact result. If that weren't enough to prove it to me, I then over the next few weeks made some other meals with high fructose corn syrup in it and low and behold, they also made me want to gobble up a double sized helping, as well as left me feeling hungry still! All I can say is that it was right there under my nose this whole time and never really paid much attention to it. I thought something was just wrong with my appetite all these years. I thought something was wrong with me, that I was overeating so much when it came to dinners like this. The irony on top of all of this is that I found out if we were to absolutely gorge ourselves on much healthier meals, we would not gain nearly as much weight! In fact, on days our bodies have been put through a reasonable amount of physical stress, I doubt we would gain anything at all! Now I am not saying I don't occasionally enjoy a meal with some of the bad-stuff in it (high fructose corn syrup) because it is ubiquitous, and found in more store bought foods than not, but when I do I approach it as exactly that, the bad-stuff; the saboteur, if you will. And when I eat that meal with it in it, I pay very close attention to how I feel. If I am not feeling full after a reasonably sized meal, I stop, and if I am still starving, I go grab some fruit, and some other things I will mention below. Here is a great article on the damaging effects of high fructose corn syrup: Damaging Effects of High Fructose Corn Syrup
Informative website on the many long-term benefits of walnuts: Health Benefits of Walnuts
Informative website on the many long-term benefits of antioxidants: Definition and Health Benefits of Antioxidants
I incorporate those into my eating habits, and in fact, I highly recommend "Dole - California Whole Pitted Dates" if you like dates too. I recommend "Sunsweet - Antioxiant Blend" dried fruits, which also come in a bag the same size as the dates. And for simplicity, I also recommend the already bagged and shelled walnuts! Did I mention I love simple? Something I can stick with? Something I can live with?
The KINDS of fruits and antioxidants I use and am giving as an example are optional, but fruits and antioxidants themselves are not. That's because we need antioxidants but equally important to our health and also our weight loss efforts is we need sugar! I know, it sounds like a contradiction right? But I trust you understand what I am saying here. We are stopping with the candy and junk food now, but our bodies still want "Sweet, and Sugar!" but we are now giving our body what it really needs, naturally occuring sugar from the fruits instead of that processed junk that only serves to destroy us from the inside out.
IMPORTANT BEFORE YOU READ THE NEXT PART: The main point of this next part is that I have a healthy alternative to junk food that tastes great to me, and helps me avoid having to cook as often, which really feels like a daunting chore most of the time for me. You can of course come up with your own healthy quick things to eat, and have a LOT more of them. It doesn't have to be yogurt, but from what I understand, yogurt does really help the metabolism and digestion.
Informative website on the many long-term benefits of eating yogurt: The Benefits of Yogurt
Informative website about Splenda: Benefits Of Splenda Over Natural Sugar
8. When I am hungry for no apparent reason, I am usually thirsty. I guzzle water 9 times out of 10 before I will even consider running to the fridge for some food. Back to rule #1, drink plenty of water. It really fills you up before it's time to eat again! Our bodies need a lot of water to shed weight through elimination, as well as through promoting a much more optimal metabolism. Water also makes everything run so much smoother in our bodies. I've noticed I didn't even get sick once this year during the flu season, and I am willing to bet that staying hydrated as had a lot to do with helping with that, for example, as well as all the antioxidents and so fourth. I used to get sick all the time, now I haven't so much as had a cold in over a year which is totally awesome. So before I grab some food just to satisfy what I "think" is just a random food craving, I make sure to guzzle a bunch of water or sweetened water mixed with flavor etc, and sure enough, 9 times out of 10 I am usually right (even though emotionally and physically it doesn't feel that way) I am actually just thirsty. This one little trick has saved me countless unnecessary binges no doubt, and there is nothing wrong with making that water taste better either to satisfy the pallete. Remember the psychology I use on myself also includes the understanding that there is no miracle drug that is going to do it all for me, so a little conscious control is definitely in order. But what I am trying to get across here, is that everything I do, I do it in such a way as to minnimize the conscious struggle that we all seem to face with "having to do this or that because we know it's the healthier choice" to the point where it not only becomes routine, it also becomes very enjoyable! Another thing I also tell myself when grabbing for that water is "It's cool, I'll be eating again soon anyway. But for now, I'm just going to satisfy my 'camouflaged thirst' and get back to business!" Speaking of getting back to business, that leads to the next important thing... Website about how drinking water burns calories and also helps stop binge eating: How to Lose Weight Drinking Water
9. I stay busy! Nothing makes me want to eat more, usually, than just coasting... I have a daily set of goals which I want to accomplish, every single day which keeps me on the go constantly. I choose things that get me the most inspired and excited in terms of career and even long term dreams (for the weekdays), hobbies (more for the weekends), and all other aspects of life thrown in the mix as well. If you don't have your own written goals right now, long term and short, perhaps consider having a seat one day and start brainstorming on paper. You more than likely will amaze yourself with what comes pouring out on paper. And as you've heard a thousand times before, some of the most successful people in the world have written goals, and I certainly aim to be no exception to that rule in my life. And then of course I throw the necessities on the list too and take care of those in the process too. The point is I keep moving and give myself very little if any reason to "entertain myself with food." Also, with a philosophy which borderlines on "Eating to live instead of living to eat," I stay right in the middle. In other words, I still feel food should most definitely be enjoyed, however, I also do my best to keep in focus what is actually going on with my body, and I know that my body needs what it needs - no more, no less. And that leads to the next part: Portions.
10. I eat reasonably sized portions. And stop eating when I am full! It took me awhile to get to the point of eating reasonably sized portions for various reasons I will mention in a moment. As I became more confortable with the new food styles routine, I then began to pay more and more attention to my food cravings and how they relate to the portions I was eating. Everyone has heard how eating 5 smaller meals per day is better than 3 huge ones, right? It's true, but I'll be honest, I am to the point now where I don't even pay attention to how many meals per day I eat. I just pay attention to when I am hungry, what I have recently eaten (to keep in mind to include all the necessary things like fruits and veggies within at least a few days period and so on), and how big the portions are when I eat.
When I eat, I make sure to pay attention to "how full I am feeling" the whole time. I make very sure to watch how I am thinking when I am eating and get to that crossroads in the meal where I hear my parents voice from childhood subconsciously kick in like an old record and say "You should finish what is on your plate!" or my grandmother's favorite one, "Come on, Nick, you can eat a few more bites; it's bad to waste food." (Lord forgive her, she endured the depression in the old days.) Because you see, anyone who has any common sense about themselves realizes that it's far more destructive to their bodies to not waste a little food, when we feel full. But I did one better and killed two birds with one stone. I don't waste the food. I cover it and throw it back in the refridgerator! Yes even if it is "just a few more bites," but that's just me trying to "save the planet" and "make everyone else happy" so I'm sure you'll do just fine using your own best judgement.
The point of all this is if there is still some food on my plate, even just one more little bite, and I am full, I stop eating and guzzle some water! Which by the way, drinking plenty of water with your meals is the next thing...
11. I drink plenty of water before, during, and after meals. It helps the metabolism break down and assimilate food much more efficiently. Not only that, but it helps us get fuller faster, and on top of it makes us feel much more satisfied after a meal. Especially when High Fructose Corn Syrup is avoided. Water really is extremely important to my new lifestyle and I make sure to drink a lot of it.
Now this Jack3d supplement really supercharges my day, let me tell you! Yet, because I am very sensitive to stimulants I had to be very careful in picking out this product. It combines energy with creatine all in one very "non-wasteful" powder mix. And the way I knew this one would finally work for me without making me all jittery is that I spoke with one of the GNC guys at the store itself in person. This guy is a regular body builder obviously because he looks like his shirt is going to rip open at any moment, revealing a tatoo of the location of his secret underground harem where he keeps all the poor women that fall for the old "rock solid ab" trick. So he goes on to say "Yeah Jack3d was good for me at first but I plateau'd on it; meaning he wasn't feeling the "extreme buzz" from the stimulants after awhile with it and so he switched to a much more aggressive product. It took me about 10 seconds to think it over and I said "Perfect, I'll take it!" And here's the thing about it, if it isn't enough "power" for others who try it, just add one more scoop in the morning. No brainer for us non-map bearers. And sure enough, this product has worked miracles in my life. What it does is it boosts my metabolism and get's it moving and waking up almost instantly after waking up, but equally important is that it gives my muscles that "extra pump" when I use them, and loads the muscle system with some very important elements, but most importantly "Creatine Monohydrate." And you've heard it's important to build muscle to lose fat right? It does really help a lot, obviously. And so this little trick has helped me reach very real and lasting milestones in my efforts. And I don't know about you, but I really really really dislike wasting my effort. Nothing frustrates me more than putting in months and months of effort only to be disappointed. I love results! And I wasn't about to make the mistake of not doing this whole weight loss thing right again, this time.
Here is an excellent article which outlines the many benefits of using a creatine supplement like the one I use: Top Benefits of Creatine
I get my metabolism moving right away, every morning as a habit now. I feel completely off, and wrong if I don't, which is a great thing because my body thanks me 10 fold everytime I choose to stick with the "right thing to do," and so do my emotions for that matter!
13. I am patient. I used to be in a huge hurry to lose weight. And everytime I tried to lose weight with that kind of mindset I inevitably failed because the faster I took off the weight, the faster I gained it back, and then some! Keep in mind, my weight loss so far has taken place over the course of 7 to 8 months so far. Even right now as I type this, I still have somewhat of a gut to lose. I feel fat, still, after already losing 40 pounds! That's because I am still not quite at the target I am going for yet, and for other various deeper reasons which go beyond the scope of this point. And the point is, I have had many moments where even though I have lost 10, 20, 30 pounds, I still look down at my stomach sometimes and feel some discouragement, can you believe it? In those very moments I say to myself "Look, you've come so far with this, you've been doing great. You can still stick with your plan and keep going from here, and you will get there, even if it feels like you can't picture it right now!" Everyone has their own inner dialogue, but the point is to go easy on yourself and stay encouraged, even in the darkest of moments. Why? 2 Reasons, because you know it's been working! and... You really and truly want very badly to get to that weight you're most comfortable at! Another thing I do is take a moment to compare "how much more comfortable I feel now, compared to 10, 20, 30, 40 pounds ago," and then all of a sudden I feel much better. I realize that most of my failed lifestyle change and weightloss attempts in the past have failed, because I wasn't dealing very directly with the emotional aspect of it. And now I am, and it's made all the difference in the world. In other words I have given up "Being in a big hurry to lose weight" because this isn't only about losing weight anymore, this is about lifestyle change! So since I have changed my lifestyle for the rest of my life, I don't have to worry anymore if I will be skinny or at the weight I am most happy with. Why? Because I know that eventually, as long as I am staying with my lifestyle change decision, I will most definitely get there, which is such a freeing, and awesome feeling let me tell you! All I have to do is follow my current routine and live my life, and I know that beyond a shadow of a doubt, I'll be at the weight I desire within a reasonable amount of time without putting myself through the nightmare of "dieting" and working out like crazy to get there.
14. I am forgiving of myself, and persevering when I mess up. And I am willing to "try again" when I feel like I have screwed up and failed. When I screw up, and believe me, I have... When I do, however, I just take a step back and evaluate the situation as honestly as possible ( and that also means being honest with myself about the good stuff too. Not just the bad! ). And what I basically say to myself is "Look, you screwed up this time, that's ok, because look how far you've come already! (Yes even if I screwed up 3 times in a row on the first week, or 5 times, or 100 times!) Just the desire itself to change, is a huge accomplishment, in other words. And if you've read this far, you're obviously in the same boat of wanting to make a serious change as well, so congrats to you! Moreover, in those moments, I continue to evaluate the raw facts about what has been happening with my body... I gourged myself, yes, with a bunch of junk food... But I also took really good care of my body up to this point for x amount of time, and so now the little step backwards is only one little backstep among 10 very positive steps forward.
In other words, here is a real example: I will be going along just great when all of a sudden there is just no getting around it, I AM going to grab some candy, in fact, I am going to buy 3 candy bars and a soda and just go to town with it! Talk about impulse? This is not a unique thing... We all struggle with this from one degree to another! For me, after so many times I have disallowed myself a little "treat," I need to splurge from time to time! Which leads to the next part...
15. I give myself the occasional "extra food fun" I occasionally crave. Because remember, as I said, 1 step backwards cannot possibly compete with 10, 20, 30, 40, positive steps forward, right? So I will every so often, after having been doing very well, just go grab some chocolate, or go eat some fast food, or go out to a fine restaurant and live it up! I pig out! And yes of course I feel a little bad about doing that, still, everytime I do it... But I continue to shed the pounds because I give myself a treat now and then, give myself a break, and am forgiving of myself for doing so. And it's most especially easy to forgive myself when I know that the pounds continue to come off regardless!
Anyway I used this for the first part of my weight loss and lifestyle change venture and I cannot possibly explain in words how envigorating and energizing it began to feel after only 5 days of using it. I definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to get a serious jumpstart in the right direction beause first of all I do believe that with a "cleaned out digestive system" I lost a lot more weight much faster even long after I stopped using it because now my body was functioning a lot more optimally with all those parasites and toxins removed. And on top of that, I have read that some of the most famous people who have lived the longest were found to have a clean colon. Funny subject to talk about, but it's true. And I plan to do this once per year for the rest of my life. It just made me feel extra-incredibly healthy when I did it for one thing, and living a long healthier life sounds like a great plan to me, so I myself am willing to add this to the list of things that will help me achieve that, because I really do honestly believe it works fantastically well. And the thing I liked most about ordering from this particular company, is that they didn't "slam" me with automated reshipments, as well as if I had a question or wanted to make a return they were very polite on phone when I called. Here is a link to the one that worked well for me: Ultimate Colon Cleanse
17. I take a very laid back approach to exercise! I know, hard to believe. I still can't honestly believe it myself yet until I take a moment to scan back over all of the above... And then it makes perfect sense. You see, I have heard people say over and over all my life "Just get regular exercise and you can eat whatever you want!" And well... I tried that, over and over and over, and it just did not work. Why is that? Well if the metabolism isn't following suit, those of us that don't have the metabolism of a hamster, and at age 30, 40, and up I might add, have to be responsible like the rest of us "metabolically average" people about what we are doing with our bodies. I stopped letting the "freaks of nature" talk me into believing that I had their same type of body and that it "it must obviously be something I am doing wrong here with my exercise." Nah! Not eeeeven by a longshot was I doing something wrong with my exercise. What I was doing wrong was I was believing in the BS. What they were telling me, in other words, might have been true for their "freak of nature - hamster-like metabolisms" but for an average human being's body, things have to be approached just a bit different! I can almost guarantee, however, that we people with the average metabolisms who choose to eat much healthier and take better care of our bodies in our lifestyles, are going to feel 100 times better than those who don't, including Mr. and Mrs. hamster pants. 
And when I started the pushups, I was so out of shape that I had to start with what is commonly called "girl pushups" or "modified pushups" where my 4 points of contact with the floor consisted of my knees and hands, instead of being on my feet and hands. For a motivator, when I didn't feel like doing it at all, I told myself "Just drop and do 1, how long could that possibly take? And... It's a start!" so I did... And then I did 5... And on and on... But here is the best part... I learned to do "Mini's" as I call them. It's more like a half pushup in range of motion, similar to the idea of crunches for abs, which I never do by the way because I strongly dislike situps period. So with the mini's I was able to do a ton more pushups by only coming half-way up from the floor and then dropping back down. The result is my muscles got a much longer workout and a much harder chest pump. I can't explain it really beyond that because I am no personal trainer by any means, obviously, but it just worked and added to my motivation to want to do them... I think because it allowed me to do more of them as well. And with that Jack3d suppliment I told you about? Be prepared to feel an awesome pump in your arms, and in your legs for that matter any time you use them a good bit. In fact:
18. I take a (Muscle pump - creatine energy boost) supplement (for me there is no better than the Jack3d supplement) not only in the mornings, but then another scoop right before I do any kind of (more than normal walking around the house or at work) exercise, such as a semi-long walk, some pushups, and so on. And believe me, I feel it, and it feels great. And I also know my muscles are getting a great pump and most importantly, they are going to burn more calories gradually over time.
Note: I do take a break from using this supplement from time to time for a few weeks or even a month and just switch to having a little bit of coffee here and there for a little extra calorie burning as well as energy. And I also wanted to mention that I'm not claiming that Jack3d is a perfect supplement by any means, and it most certainly can be replaced by more cost saving and even more effective solutions. I just use Jack3d for simplicity sake and because it works well for me. Here's a link to more information on Jack3d: USP Labs Jack3d
Note: I do take a break from using this supplement from time to time for a few weeks or even a month and just switch to having a little bit of coffee here and there for a little extra calorie burning as well as energy. And I also wanted to mention that I'm not claiming that Jack3d is a perfect supplement by any means, and it most certainly can be replaced by more cost saving and even more effective solutions. I just use Jack3d for simplicity sake and because it works well for me. Here's a link to more information on Jack3d: USP Labs Jack3d
20. I get plenty of rest. I used to stay up two days straight, and often. That's how much of a busy-body I can be. (And imagine that, so busy all the time, yet so fat!) But now I've learned that our muscles do 90% of their recovering and building while we sleep. And on top of that, getting enough sleep is so critical, obviously for a bunch of other reasons. But for weight loss, sleep also helps reduce overall stress. Our minds also need to "take a break" and rewind everything that happened in the day. Without enough time to do that, stress can overload us and we most definitely feel it. And that sabotages our weight loss efforts. Good amount of sleep = lose more weight, period.
More information on the health risks involved with not getting enough sleep: Sleep Habits: More Important Than You Think
22. When i use butter, and I do often, I use "I can't believe it's not butter" because guess what? It contains a lot more of the "right fats" ingredients very much like olive oil does. And it also tastes great. So great, in fact, that I can't believe it's not butter! And I can really enjoy it because it actually has the "right fats" in it that we need which are a lot healthier than those that are in butter. And just because we grew up on using butter, doesn't mean that it's "right" and "good" for us. So this is yet another case of substitution without sacrificing good flavor and taste. And it has really helped me reduce the "bad" calories in my daily intake.I Can't Believe It's Not Butter - Website
23. I make sure to eat plenty of vegetables and fruits, but have only recently begun to do that. I was losing lots of weight before by just the above fruits I mentioned, but I recently decided to add that now to what I am doing so because I know we need a lot of helpings of both in a day to maintain a truly well balanced diet. And since I just love convenience, and strongly dislike inconvenience, I buy it all in cans! How lazy is that? Well I know uncanned probably tastes better, and this is just me, but I otherwise wouldn't eat them much at all so in my opinion this is 95% better than not eating them at all. And those sound like very good percentages if you ask me!
25. I make an occasional peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It's for those times when I "sort of want something sweet, don't want my other healthier sweets replacements, but also don't want to all out splurge and harm my body completely with junk food, chocolate, or candy. Plus, it's still very healthy especially with wheat or rye bread! Peanut butter is practically pure energy too and loaded with protien. I don't make these all the time, and I usually try to get a walk in shortly after or around the time I have one. And as you're aware, it's not the PBJ sandwich here itself that is making my weight loss successful, it's my using something to take the place of another, and that other thing being the unhealthy candy and junk food which provides our bodies with very little, if any nutritional value. Health Benefits of Peanut Butter
26. I make it a rule to never, ever eat within 2 hours before bed. And I am super strict on this one. I have seen study after study on how the body turns it into fat, as well as on how then we don't even get a good nights rest because the body is slowly trying to do the heavier breakdown digestion while we sleep which also effects the quality of rest we otherwise would have gotten. So I make it a rule I never break unless I just absolutely positively cannot stand it. If it comes to that "can't stand it feeling," I will drink some water first, and then even make some green tea with the splenda sweetener, and I usually feel much better and can then go nod off feelng between 70% to 100% better. And If I still simply can not stand it, I will eat a little but from some canned pears, just a few slices, a little bite of cottage cheese since it breaks down fast, and drink more water. I would rather have to get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, in this worst case scenario, than to both gain weight and still have a restless night of sleep if you know what I mean.
Article: Do Not Eat Before Going To Bed
27. I always remember that convenience is among the top contributors towards my motivational success. "If it's easy, and it works, it's for me!" That's often what has been the "make it or break it" factor in whether or not I chose to stick with the plan simply because I often feel that I don't want to fuss with the hard work that originally seemed to be involved with eating all the healthy and much better tasting foods. And let's face it, with our busy lifestyles these days who wants to make things more complicated than they need to be especially when all we are really talking about is food! Let's keep it in perspective here, right? Remove the majority of the guess work, make it simple and practical for ourselves, and we're well on our way towards discovering the many joys and benefits that go hand in hand with living a much healthier lifestyle!
28. I habitually use my reasoning skills to provide myself with honest and realistic encouragement, especially when I'm experiencing feelings of discouragement. There is nothing that can sabotage our efforts towards making a positive change in our lives quite like self doubt, and situational doubt. And in these moments when I start to lose faith in whether what I may be doing is going to work, or in whether any of the effort is even worth it, I realize that it's in those moments I'm not focusing on the bigger picture. And the bigger picture for me in terms of this lifestyle change, was and always has been the original inspiration and desire I had for change in the first place. And basically that is to live my life in such a way that I not only look and feel great but also still enjoy convenient and very good tasting food, have ways of getting enough exercise that are fun and enjoyable without having to use redundant feeling exercise equipment (which otherwise normally feels about as fun to me as listening to nails scratch down a chalkboard for 30 minutes), as well as still being allowed to splurge sometimes and even go out and enjoy fine dining which I absolutely love to do in moderation! So for me, I've found it's important to revisit those inspirations often, and even include in my line of thinking, other recollections of other times where I have already succeeded in what I was doing. All of that stuff combined seems to give me plenty of encouragement to keep things rolling along smoothly. And if someone is spiritual and/or has faith in a higher power, for example, without getting into any heavy religious discussions, a little help from there too during times of doubt and discouragement couldn't hurt.
29. Putting it all together: The general way I think now is like this: "I have my baseline of correct and good eating habits which I do regularly and are totally easy to stick with because I've found things that are healthy for me and taste great! And I have that "occasional" laid back exercise I do, along with the little bit of supplementation and everything else that is helping me continue to burn calories and lose weight. And now that means that on occasion if I want to eat some of my favorite "not so healthy" foods, well then not only can I do so without feeling guilty anymore, I do so while still continuing to lose weight. And when it comes to a much healthier and happier lifestyle where we know we're going to have to make some adjustments, what honestly could be easier to approach than that?
30. Gradually growing into being fully happy and satisfied with this new lifestyle: And so now I've come to the point where I've really found my niche in dealing much more responsibly with how I treat my body and I'm feeling so much better for it in every way possible. I still have my occasional self doubts such as "what happens if I slip and don't want to do this anymore, and fall back into the same old bad habits that I used to have," and on and on... And here's the thing about all that, "why on earth would I want to go back to a lifestyle where I am eating food that not only does my body harm all the time, but doesn't even taste as good as the foods I'm eating now? Why would I want to feel miserable again? Why would I want to feel sluggish again? Why would I want to feel fat again? Give up the good feelings I get all the time from living this better lifestyle? You've got to be kidding me! The obvious answer is "of course I don't, and wouldn't!" And all it takes is an occasional reminder that this new lifestyle is of the utmost priority; because I know if I slide back into the old ways, all I have waiting for me is pure disheartening misery! And on top of that, even if I slip and fail somehow in the worst case scenario, there is always tomorrow to start all over again, but this time with the knowledge that I know exactly how to succeed because I've done it before! Moreover, knowing that I will have to go through the entire process again, and that I definitely will because the same thing happened last time I got fed up with a less satisfying lifestyle, makes it all the more practical that I just stay with it right now and never let it get to that point. And I firmly believe that committing to staying "proactive in life" rather than "reactive in life" is definitely key in being ultimately successful all aspects of our lives. And once all those thoughts are firmly in place through having experienced the newer, happier lifestyle which actually satisfies everything to include: great taste, convenience, as well as the invigorating feeling which comes from eating much healthier better tasting food, not to mention the great ongoing sense of accomplishment, I know for certain that is something easy to become "satisfied, comfortable, and completely content with over the long term" as I now am.
Article: Do Not Eat Before Going To Bed
27. I always remember that convenience is among the top contributors towards my motivational success. "If it's easy, and it works, it's for me!" That's often what has been the "make it or break it" factor in whether or not I chose to stick with the plan simply because I often feel that I don't want to fuss with the hard work that originally seemed to be involved with eating all the healthy and much better tasting foods. And let's face it, with our busy lifestyles these days who wants to make things more complicated than they need to be especially when all we are really talking about is food! Let's keep it in perspective here, right? Remove the majority of the guess work, make it simple and practical for ourselves, and we're well on our way towards discovering the many joys and benefits that go hand in hand with living a much healthier lifestyle!
28. I habitually use my reasoning skills to provide myself with honest and realistic encouragement, especially when I'm experiencing feelings of discouragement. There is nothing that can sabotage our efforts towards making a positive change in our lives quite like self doubt, and situational doubt. And in these moments when I start to lose faith in whether what I may be doing is going to work, or in whether any of the effort is even worth it, I realize that it's in those moments I'm not focusing on the bigger picture. And the bigger picture for me in terms of this lifestyle change, was and always has been the original inspiration and desire I had for change in the first place. And basically that is to live my life in such a way that I not only look and feel great but also still enjoy convenient and very good tasting food, have ways of getting enough exercise that are fun and enjoyable without having to use redundant feeling exercise equipment (which otherwise normally feels about as fun to me as listening to nails scratch down a chalkboard for 30 minutes), as well as still being allowed to splurge sometimes and even go out and enjoy fine dining which I absolutely love to do in moderation! So for me, I've found it's important to revisit those inspirations often, and even include in my line of thinking, other recollections of other times where I have already succeeded in what I was doing. All of that stuff combined seems to give me plenty of encouragement to keep things rolling along smoothly. And if someone is spiritual and/or has faith in a higher power, for example, without getting into any heavy religious discussions, a little help from there too during times of doubt and discouragement couldn't hurt.
30. Gradually growing into being fully happy and satisfied with this new lifestyle: And so now I've come to the point where I've really found my niche in dealing much more responsibly with how I treat my body and I'm feeling so much better for it in every way possible. I still have my occasional self doubts such as "what happens if I slip and don't want to do this anymore, and fall back into the same old bad habits that I used to have," and on and on... And here's the thing about all that, "why on earth would I want to go back to a lifestyle where I am eating food that not only does my body harm all the time, but doesn't even taste as good as the foods I'm eating now? Why would I want to feel miserable again? Why would I want to feel sluggish again? Why would I want to feel fat again? Give up the good feelings I get all the time from living this better lifestyle? You've got to be kidding me! The obvious answer is "of course I don't, and wouldn't!" And all it takes is an occasional reminder that this new lifestyle is of the utmost priority; because I know if I slide back into the old ways, all I have waiting for me is pure disheartening misery! And on top of that, even if I slip and fail somehow in the worst case scenario, there is always tomorrow to start all over again, but this time with the knowledge that I know exactly how to succeed because I've done it before! Moreover, knowing that I will have to go through the entire process again, and that I definitely will because the same thing happened last time I got fed up with a less satisfying lifestyle, makes it all the more practical that I just stay with it right now and never let it get to that point. And I firmly believe that committing to staying "proactive in life" rather than "reactive in life" is definitely key in being ultimately successful all aspects of our lives. And once all those thoughts are firmly in place through having experienced the newer, happier lifestyle which actually satisfies everything to include: great taste, convenience, as well as the invigorating feeling which comes from eating much healthier better tasting food, not to mention the great ongoing sense of accomplishment, I know for certain that is something easy to become "satisfied, comfortable, and completely content with over the long term" as I now am.
Final Thoughts:
If you've read this far then you obviously must have a strong desire yourself to make some positive changes and I commend you for that. There are so many different ways to achieve the same results when it comes to making positive and lasting lifestyle changes that works perfectly for each one of us as individuals. And while I feel that my layman's way of improving my own health has felt "perfect for me," and was designed by myself to fit around my own personal lifestyle, I sincerely hope that you can take some things from my article that will benefit you too while you're making your own personal lifestyle change and improvements. Here's to continued success!
If you've read this far then you obviously must have a strong desire yourself to make some positive changes and I commend you for that. There are so many different ways to achieve the same results when it comes to making positive and lasting lifestyle changes that works perfectly for each one of us as individuals. And while I feel that my layman's way of improving my own health has felt "perfect for me," and was designed by myself to fit around my own personal lifestyle, I sincerely hope that you can take some things from my article that will benefit you too while you're making your own personal lifestyle change and improvements. Here's to continued success!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.