 Motivation - Recommitting: Anyone with Me? |
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I started a few weeks ago trying to lose about 40 pounds. I did pretty well for a couple of weeks. I drank lots of water, enjoyed salads with miniscule amounts of dressing, snacked on fruits, and lost a few pounds. Then, somehow, I misplaced my various big water bottles, the weather got too hot to do much outside, I got a few invitations to dinners . . . Well, you can imagine what the scale told me this morning. So I'm taking another run at it. How can I recommit to my weight loss program?
Here are some tips from the HysterSisters about recommitting to a weight loss program after “falling off the wagon.”
- Make a backup plan for how you will get your exercise in if the weather is too unpleasant to do it outside. Buy an exercise DVD to do in your living room. Hop on the treadmill. Walk in the mall instead. Swim or do water aerobics. Do a lot of housework. Just don’t use the weather as an excuse to stop moving!
- If it’s hot outside, take a spray bottle of water and spritz yourself from time to time to stay more comfortable.
- Get up earlier to do your outdoor exercise before it gets hot.
- Don’t let self-consciousness about your weight or appearance keep you from going to the gym.
- Go grocery shopping and buy only healthy food—lots of veggies and fruits, fish, chicken, etc. Toss out or give away all the “bad” stuff in your home so that it’s not there to tempt you.
- Do something productive to burn calories, like housework, mowing the lawn, or cleaning horse stalls. Getting something done while exercising is often more motivational than spending an hour on a tedious exercise machine feeling bored. You’ll also often keep at it longer if you have a task that you want to finish.
- Don't de-motivate yourself by setting your goals too high. If that gets you going, then do it, but don't do it as a way of beating yourself up. One of my main goals is to improve bone density—what a great reason to work out.
- Some days I think I wake up and go crashing through life, having completely forgotten my commitment to losing weight and getting in good shape. A few days later, I snap out of it and wonder what went wrong. Maybe something really simple, like a post-it note on the bathroom mirror, would be an easy way to remind ourselves to make that decision to be healthy every day. I used to have a battery-powered plastic pig that you'd put in the 'fridge; it had a light sensor, and whenever you'd open the door, it would grunt and oink. I need another one of those.
- Instead of concentrating on how we look, we should think about feeling better. I have worked in the field of aging for 20+ years and have seen both good and bad aging. I am so beat down when I think of how awful I look that I just can't muster what it takes to look good again. But if I think about wanting to feel better, no stiffness, creaking bones, or shortness of breath—that is more motivating for me. Vanity gets me every time. I can avoid mirrors and buying clothes, but there is no denying how I feel. So I think I will concentrate on getting healthy.
- Start out small and work up from there. Reward yourself along the way with reasonable treats or new clothes in smaller sizes.
- Go to a pool. Many high schools have pools, and some of them have public hours after school. There are also municipal pools in a lot of places that have very economical annual membership rates.
- If you can’t lose weight because a medication you’re on causes you to gain weight no matter what you do or make it extremely difficult to lose, don’t let that be your excuse to stop trying. Maintaining instead of gaining is a victory in this case, and you will be getting healthier, even if the scale doesn’t show it.
- Don’t think about the end goal; think about smaller goals instead, which will keep your morale up. Telling yourself that you need to lose 50 pounds in a year can be discouraging because it seems like so much and will take so long. But telling yourself that you will lose two pounds this week seems much more do-able. Then set the same goal again for the next week, and the next. If you do that and can lose those two pounds per week, you’ll actually lose your 50 pounds in just six months!
- Find ways to celebrate and socialize that aren’t food-focused. Have a pedicure party at a local salon with a group of girlfriends. Go dancing instead of eating out. Go shopping and buy a new outfit for every ten pounds you lose (park far away from the store!). Go to an outdoor art show or festival. The possibilities are endless.
You can do it!
This content was written by staff of HysterSisters.com by non-medical professionals based on discussions, resources and input from other patients for the purpose of patient-to-patient support.
Gerald Harkins, M.D.
Department of OB-Gyn
P.O. Box 850, H-103
Hershey PA 17033
717-531-6447 |
Tali Rombro, M.D.
1801 University Drive, Suite 201
Omega Building
Parkland FL 33071
954-755-1411 |
Nonnie-Marie Estella, M.D.
295 Varnom Ave
Hanchette Bldg 3rd Floor
Lowell MA 01854
978-459-8300 |
Brooke Slaton, M.D.
Omega Women's Center, LLC
1801 University Drive, Suite 201
Coral Springs FL 33071
(954)755-1411 |
Andrew Villa, M.D.
1950 W. Frye Rd
Chandler AZ 85224
480-895-9555 |
Sherri Levin, M.D.
929 Gessner Suite 2100
Houston TX 77024
713-464-4111 |
Paige Brainard, M.D.
5550 E. Hampton
Tucson AZ 85712
520-721-8605 |
Jennifer Cova, M.D.
7700 Washington Village Drive Suite 210
Dayton OH 45459
937-433-6513 |
Marshall Bovelsky, M.D.
200 Banning St
Suite 320
Dover DE 19904
302-674-0223 |
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-- January NewsletterPost Hysterectomy Fitness and Health is the theme of our January, 2012 newsletter at HysterSisters.com. Visit this link [ More]...
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