2nd Step to Weight Loss

The 2nd step to weight loss is much easier than the first step:

Set yourself up for Success!

You're probably thinking "Well duh" but don't you dare "duh" me!

The truth is that often we go into a diet and workout plan spontaneously. We have a bad weekend of self loathing and depression and suddenly decide that Monday is the day our life will change. We're motivated, we're pumped, we're ready to lose our first five pounds and then we open the fridge and find nothing good. Then we feel let down. We start to think how we really wanted to start but life slapped us in the face once again.

Well guess what. It wasn't life that slapped us in the face it was our own unpreparedness. Often times the biggest battle in losing weight is breaking bad eating habits. The only way to break a bad habit and to deal with the withdrawal of it is to arm ourselves with the proper tools.

First thing first:
I'm not going to tell you what to eat but I will give you some clues.

1) If you look on the package and it has 100 ingredients in it - don't eat it. For example:

Hostess Cupcake - (I had one a couple of weeks ago so I know this and I was grossed out). Has a million and 3 ingredients (I didn't really count) and one of those ingredients was "vegetable and or ANIMAL shortening". Come on people!!! If I wanted bacon with my cupcake I would have made some.

2) If you look at the food and can identify every ingredient in it just by looking at it - eat it. For example:

Apples, Oranges, Pears, Rice, Celery, peanuts...catch my drift?

3) Try to go Organic as much as possible. I could go on and on and on about how our food is grown but you're better off watching a movie such as "Food Inc". I'd guarantee you it'll open up your eyes and you'll demand better quality food for your body.

4) If you're unsure how to make these great foods pick up some recipe books. Or just Google some low calorie recipes. Here's my favorite website www.calorie-count.com. It will tell you the calorie content of a bunch of foods, it has recipes, you can sign up for the community so you can talk to people and get advice, you can read about transformation stories. Awesome Awesome and Awesome!

Now that you know what food to buy and how you're going to make it go out and get a food scale. It has been so invaluable in my weight loss journey and it's cheap! I think I got "The Biggest Loser" scale for $20...maybe even less at Bed Bath and Beyond (they send coupons - I bet you can print one online!).

Now plan out some meals for a couple of days so you know what to expect. Figure out how many calories you should be eating (www.calorie-count.com, click on Tools, click on calorie target). Try to make 5 small meals - Breakfast, snack, Lunch, snack, Dinner.

Last but maybe THE MOST IMPORTANT thing is a food journal. Make it pretty, make it special, or manly ( I don't know gentlemen ...I just know I'm a girl and I love pretty notebooks), make it your best friend. This is going to be the mirror that you hold up to yourself everyday that keeps you focused on your goals. You're going to tell your food journal your deepest darkest secrets, desires, complaints, frustrations - OK maybe not all that but at least tell it what your eating, how much, and the # of calories. This will keep you true to Step #1 (I'll wait till you page through my blog so you can find it...waiting....waiting...really people??? you can't jump to step 2 without looking at step 1 - fine I'll tell you) HONESTY!

This doesn't have to be difficult. It just takes some planning. You don't need a food scale right away, you don't have to buy hundreds of dollars of food to pack your house with. All you have to do is plan. Plan for the first week and by Friday plan for the next week. Remember my blog "Small Steps Bring Huge Change"? (You really should have read it) - It's the small steps that we can do everyday that will lead to huge changes in our future. If you just plan a meal a day in advance and keep doing that every day, in 2 weeks you will see the weight come off!