Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Lose Weight the Right Way-Lifestyle Change


My dear friend Sharon over at her blog 'Violet Cottage' has finally 'got it'. Where most women are still struggling and even more dangerously they are still buying into the 'diet wars' Sharon has realised that diets do not work. Let me say that again, DIETS DO NOT WORK.


Stop dieting NOW!

Instead change your lifestyle. It is not about what you eat but how much you are eating. Remember you are feeding your stomach NOT your entire body content. It is also a good point to make that your body needs fuel in order to give you energy too many 'fats' will make you sluggish and tired, not enough good fats will do the same thing. What is required is balance.

Another good point that Sharon raised is excercise. Now like my dear friend I hate and LOATHE excercise. The only gym we have here in my home town is a Uni-sex one and I'm sorry but there are some excercise positions that men do NOT want to see.

In order to get moving it is absolutely essential that you choose an excercise regime that suits your lifestyle and that you know you can persevere with. The excercise regime I chose was to dance. Not as in ballroom dancing but to simply put in a CD and dance in the privacy of my room. I love it because I can let myself go, noone is watching or laughing at me. I play two fast songs and then put a slow song such as Enya in order to simply sway and stretch and also catch my breath. It works for me. I find it fun therefore it is not a chore.

Do what works for you. Yes the key to successful weight loss is just that. Stop loathing yourself because you will sabotage your efforts to follow the latest 'diet trends'. How many times have you started diets only to fall away and go on an eating bender within a week or so? Many of us. Remember diets dont work.

Be realistic and plan on losing your weight over a year. Dont think you can go from a size 22 to a size 10 in 2 months. You will defeat yourself before you even begin. Throw out your weight scales. Yes ladies, throw them out. Sometimes we dont lose pounds we lose inches but the scales wont tell you that and from that comes disappointment and then an eating binge.

Instead lose weight by clothing sizes, so if your a size 20 plan to go down two dress sizes to a size 16. Dont think in pounds or once again you will lose heart. When you embark on your lifestyle change choose an outfit that is a little too tight and every month try that outfit on and see if it gets looser. That works much better than jumping on the scales only to find out after ALL your efforts you have lost ZERO pounds in 2 weeks. How many of us have fallen off the bandwagon when the crashing dissappointment hits us. You have starved yourself for a month and you have lost nothing? Once again out comes the cookies and icecream.

In finishing I'd like to thank my good friend Sharon who inspired me to write this. You go girl!

Let me know your thoughts on fad diets and have they worked for you?