3rd Step to Weight Loss

Let's review shall we:

Step 1 - Be honest with yourself

Step 2 - Set yourself up for success

Step 3 - Know your obstacles

I'm going to sound like a broken record but please do not lose focus on your goal. Please know that every tiny step you take will amount to a great destination in the end. It may take a while to get there but it's all worth it when you arrive. Just stick with me here.

So have you ever gotten ready to leave for vacation and when you're on the plane you suddenly remember you forgot to pack your underwear? Or your toothbrush? Or some other essential toiletry? You made a checklist before you left that you read fifty times while packing just to realize as the jet engines fire up that you forgot to put something important on it (like undies and a toothbrush). There's your first obstacle for that vacation trip. So you freak out a little then you realize undies and toothbrushes are pretty common and you can probably get some at the airport your arriving in right? Obstacle conquered! This is the same idea with losing weight.

There are days when you planned everything perfectly. You ate perfectly, you worked out perfectly, you weighed yourself and 2 perfect lbs were lost and the night ends perfectly. Then there are days like... (queue scary music) ...BIRTHDAY PARTIES and THANKSGIVING DINNER where your perfect meal wasn't even a thought in your brain. Then you're gonna come home and do the most God awful thing we all do...You're gonna weight yourself to see how much damage you've done. Then you're gonna hate yourself 'cause you feel like a failure. Whoa-is-me. (OOOO so scary how I can read your mind)

Snap out of it! You didn't hate yourself when you left out undies and a toothbrush on your vacation checklist. All you did was make a quick plan to overcome that obstacle. That's exactly what you need to do when you have a "bad" day. You regroup, you pull out your notepad and you start planning your weight loss recovery. You don't sit there and wallow in it. You plan. (This is also good when dealing with every crisis).

So how do you recover from a bad day?

1) You plan out your meals for the upcoming week.

Take the time out and just do it. The quicker you can snap out of the food fest mentality the quicker you can recover. If you linger in the "bad" zone you'll do more damage.

2) You write down ideas on how to avoid overdoing it at the next party or planned "bad" day.

For example I promised myself that I will make an effort to focus on people more than the food. I also eat something filling and healthy before I go to the party so that I'm not sticking my face in the chip dip.

3) Don't weigh yourself for 4 days after the "bad" day.

Why is this important? Because our bodies are tricky. You can have the best meal ever but if there was too much salt your body is going to retain water and the scale is going to make you think you just ate at the Chinese buffet. Just don't torture yourself like this especially after knowing that you ate horribly.

When you hit an obstacle like a "bad" food day promise yourself you'll plan on how to recover.

Family is another obstacle but we'll get to that in due time. I really just want you to get over that hurdle of "Crap! I messed up, I gained 3 lbs in one night, I suck at this, and I'm just gonna have pizza for the rest of my life 'cause I'm meant to be overweight". Get over that please!!!

We're human, we weren't meant to be perfect, just keep moving on and you'll get to where you want to go :)