What is so different this time

All of us on this fitness/weight loss journey have been through our set of obstacles, we have all faced failures, many of us have been yo-yo dieters personally I could never stick to a plan more than a day sometimes I would quit after a single meal..so what is different about this time? How did I manage to reach a point where I am comfortable with making healthy choices? I have listed the first few that come to my mind

Be prepared: 

Planning and being prepared, it’s always good to know what to expect. Everything in the reality checklist is important. It helps me when I have everything straight no frills attached, if I know how much effort I need to put in or if I know not to always accept a scale victory I will be less disappointed which inturn will keep me moving, but instead if I am expecting to fall in love with exercising from day 1 or if I expect to lose weight every single day I might be discouraged when things don’t go as planned.

I used read about people who could think while running and loved it, when I started my running I was expecting the same thing and I was in for a rude shock I could not think at all most of the times I felt like I was dying because I had never done it before, now that I am used to exercising I have started to enjoy it but initially it was more about staying consistent without bothering about how I felt while doing it.

Acknowledge you are trying to lose weight and become healthy: 

Most of my life I wanted to lose weight but I never shared this with anybody, infact I tried to hide the fact so if I made plans of exercising or eating healthy I could never keep them up because whenever I was surrounded by people I would go back to my bad habits just because I did not want people to know. My exercise time would always be either very early in the morning or very late at night such that nobody would see me but I could never keep this routine up. The minute I told people, the minute I accepted that I needed a change, I could make healthier decisions about the food I ate and exercise I did. I could be more open about my decisions so I wasted less energy on what people thought and more on my health

Healthy food does not have to be boring: 

When I started my weight loss I was a food addict, I loved food, I enjoyed eating I could even say it was a hobby, so going on diet was usually difficult just because diet sounds boring, this time what I did was focus on what I enjoy most about food, I enjoy different textures in my food, I enjoy if my plate is colourful and I enjoy different spices. So that is exactly what I incorporated in all my meals. For breakfast I eat eggs most days but sometimes I make vegetable frittata, sometimes I add a side of spinach, mushrooms and carrots. If I have oats I add nuts and fruits (no sugar, the fruit adds the sweetness and nuts gives it added texture).My food is simple but it still is interesting. I roast my chicken with different marinade or spice rubs instead of adding the dressing. I add fresh fruit to my yogurt, have frozen banana instead of ice-cream. I think I can stick to healthy eating because I don’t feel deprived I don’t feel like I am on diet.

Strike a balance between your comfort zone while slowly expanding your comfort zone: 

One very important thing about improving in any aspect of your life is getting out of your comfort zone but for me it also about striking a balance. I remember the first time I went jogging I was very embarrassed because I was horrible and I could not get myself to go back to run, instead I started exercising at home behind closed doors (this was also outside my comfort zone because I had never exercised before) and then slowly after I got a little used to exercising I went back to jogging and then I could keep going back. Remember when you start your journey just getting up exercising and eating healthy is getting out of your comfort zone so take small steps, I prefer getting out of my comfort zone such that I can keep getting out and keep moving forward, make it challenging but not horrible, you should feel good after you are done not depressed, sad or embarrassed

Focus on the positive: 

You can’t fit in a new pant size every week nor will you see the scale change everyday instead try to focus on other positives, small things like saying no to chocolate, or running for a minute longer or making a healthy choice at lunch, skipping cream on your coffee. Each one of these small things counts towards getting you closer to you goal and each of these choices is something to be proud of because all of them take effort on your part. It's not easy to say no to icecream when all your friends are having one, it's not easy to go to the gym when it is raining outside but you did it anyway and that counts. If you can learn to feel happy about these small changes you will try to repeat your decisions the next day and the next day till it becomes a natural choice, because it makes you happy in a different way

There is lot more I can add to this list but then my post will become really long, so let's keep the remaining for some other time :)

Keep Reading I will Keep Writing 

Tanvee