1. Take It One Step at a Time “I was sick of making decisions. I needed to stop thinking,” says Toni, who experienced a common stressor of dieters. One of the frustrations of making a healthier change is that we try to take on too many things at once. Those changes are overwhelming to the point of creating guilt and self-blame. Toni’s solution: Find a simple program that was easier to follow. Precision Nutrition’s Lean Eating plan offered her a step-by-step process where she focused only on one goal at a time. Once she succeeded, she moved on to the next step. It was a philosophy she used to drop 46 pounds and pick up a $10,000 prize. Use the same mantra, and you’ll make the journey a smoother ride. 2. Slow Down and Savor Your Food Despite what many people think, the gym is not the cure-all for fat loss. The solution starts with your fork. That’s what Alvar found out during his transformation: He’d never learned how to eat. That might sound crazy, but there are techniques that make a big difference, like what to eat and what foods to combine. The easiest place to start? Chew more and eat slower. It’s one of the main lessons of Lean Eating, and research has found that slower eating can save you up to hundreds of calories per day. It might not seem like much, but it adds up fast. And for Alvar, that tip -- and several others -- resulted in 27 pounds lost. 3. Patience, Positivity and Persistence When you lose 117 pounds, people are guaranteed to ask for your secret. Meegan’s tip wasn’t directly related to food or exercise, but rather a change in outlook that revolved around the 3 Ps: Patience, Positivity and Persistence. Her key to success was realizing no one’s body is predetermined to look a certain way. “Most of my life I thought about fitness and sports as things I wasn’t good at. For a very long time I avoided them at all costs,” she says. Allowing yourself to envision yourself as someone else, and then accepting that you just have to make some changes to become that person is a motivating process that will guide you to what you want. 4. Compete With Yourself If you have a hard time staying motivated, follow Brian’s road to success. “I created competition wherever I went,” he says. “I’d go into the gym and see a guy busting his ass, and he’d automatically become the guy I had to out-work.” Brian did the same when ordering meals, making sure he was the guy ordering the healthiest meal at the table. The point wasn’t really to be better than other people, but to make the process of changing habits into a game that was fun, challenging and motivating. Brian’s approach helped him drop 32 pounds and add more muscle than ever before -- all at age 42. 5. Find Your Rhythm The hardest part of any fitness plan is getting started. So before you start, plot out your ideal day -- and then add in the healthy aspects. You can’t control weight loss, but you can control the process. Incorporate your healthy new habits in a way that works. For Katey, the rhythm was simple: Get up, make a healthy breakfast then hit the gym. Come home and fix breakfast for the family. Shower, drive the kids to school, come home and cook chicken and lean beef. Eat vegetables. Drink water. It became her schedule and one that she was able to follow easily. If you can make your plan part of your day, you can -- and will -- succeed. 6. Recover From Setbacks Part of losing weight depends on understanding that falling off the wagon is usually part of the process. “I was always on target until that one bad thing happened and it completely derailed me,” says Patricia, who lost an amazing 25 percent body fat at 55 years of age. After every mistake, instead of spiraling out of control, start clean. If you focus on habits -- and not on perfection -- then eventually those habits will become part of your lifestyle and will be easier to follow consistently. 7. Establish “No Excuses” Time We all know the most common complaint about why it’s so hard to get in shape: There’s never enough time. So rather than find time, you have to make time for your health. Kia created a “no excuses” time at 5 am so she could squeeze in a morning workout. “I want to spend time with my family,” she says, “and I can’t do that in the afternoon or evening if I’m working out. Besides, it’s something for me. I have so many roles as a wife and mother that I need that time.” Whether it’s time to make food, exercise or be with other supportive people, create a window where you have the time you need to succeed. 8. Chart Your Grocery Path Losing 100 pounds is a huge accomplishment. So big, in fact, that you might think it was a very complicated process. For John, his weight loss became much simpler once he learned how to shop. His advice: Stick to the perimeter of your grocery store. All of the processed foods -- like chips and cookies -- are typically in the interior aisles, while the good stuff like vegetables, meats and fruits are on the outside. It’s a simple tip, but one that makes it easier to avoid temptation and slip into old habits. 9. Accept Bad Gym Days Here’s an important fat loss fact that you need to know: More exercise does not necessarily mean more results. Furthermore, it’s completely normal if you don’t feel like going to exercise all the time. “I learned that sometimes you have to drag your ass to the gym, even if you don’t feel like going,” Kim says, “and while the workout may be slow moving and uninspired at first, once you’re there it’s super easy to finish.” As you go through the motions, go in with an open mind knowing there will be good and bad days. Your job is to approach both the same way, and make the best of the situation. 10. Prepare for Chaos If losing weight were easy, no one would struggle with the process. But oftentimes it’s not the diet or exercise that causes the issues -- it’s life. “It’s amazing what happened when I started becoming aware of my lifestyle,” says Steve. The biggest issue for most people is usually eating habits. You don’t have to go to the extent of pre-planning your meals (although that helps), but it’s important to pre-plan what’s available. If you mindlessly eat what’s around, you’re bound to fail. Instead, clean out your pantry and only give yourself good options to prepare. It makes your job easier and will speed up how fast you see results. 11. Use Doubts to Set Goals Losing weight is similar to becoming a new person, but that doesn’t mean your evolution eliminates your past. And that can be a good thing. “Sometimes I’d get that voice that says, ‘This is not who I am, I don’t belong in a gym, I can’t do this,’” Carey says. When this happens, write down the goals of who you want to be. This attitude reminder can help you push you towards becoming a better you, while still accepting and understanding your doubts. Simple affirmations such as, “I’m the type of person that eats healthy foods,” can be all the support you need to stay on track. 12. Involve Your Friends and Family Research shows that willpower and motivation usually isn’t the cause of failed fitness plans -- it’s a poor support system. While your friends and family don’t have to follow your plan, they should be aware of what you’re doing. During David’s weight loss, he tried so hard to be perfect that he drove his wife crazy. Once she understood that his changes were not supposed to harm their relationship, she became more supportive, and the pounds stared melting off. Not only that, but soon after she joined his effort and lost 40 pounds of her own. Just For Fun Source
