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Weight Loss Tips :: Exercise and Weight Loss Programs
Good Habits Equal Good Health
Part 2 - Tips for Healthy Exercise and Weight Loss Programs
If you haven't read Good Habits Equal Good Health Part 1 already, I invite you to do so now. It sets the foundation for your overall success of losing weight as part of all healthy exercise and weight loss programs.
Okay, from Part 1 you've set your goals. You understand healthy weight loss plans include the critical element of rewarding yourself for following your exercise and weight loss programs. Not for how much weight you lose, but for following the programs. And the reward does NOT involve food!
Big brother is
watching you
Well, he isn't really watching you. You need to be watching yourself and recording a variety of things. In part one we talked about writing out your goals and keeping track in a daily log. We have an example log you can use on our best weight loss plans page.
Success following healthy exercise and weight loss programs also depends on your recording other things in your log. Calorie intake, servings of fruits and vegetables, exercise, and medications used. But in addition to these more obvious actions, keep track of when you do them and how you felt at the time. Were you looking forward to exercise or forcing yourself to do it? Why? What were you thinking? Was there something else you preferred to do?
What do you say when you talk to yourself? Are you mentally complaining about the sacrifices you're making? About how you can't eat what you really like? Or are you creating new habits and thoughts by saying how much you enjoy fruits and vegetables? How full you are after eating 3 or 4 ounces of meat. How much you enjoy this healthy lifestyle? And how much excitement and sincerity is in your voice?
Reviewing your records can be very rewarding as you see the progress you're making. And you will learn a lot about yourself so you can keep the weight off permanently in the future. You can skip this if you enjoy yo-yo dieting... if you enjoy losing weight, gaining it back, losing weight, gaining it back, etc.
Whether you consider it boring or a royal pain in the backside doesn't matter. Keeping track of all this is critical to the success of all healthy weight loss plans.
Healthy exercise and weight loss programs
help you avoid a chain reaction
As you know, a chain reaction is one thing leading to another and another. You start one domino falling and all those standing behind it also tip over. So complete and long-term success in your exercise and weight loss programs requires you to learn what causes the first domino to fall. In other words, what triggers you to eat poorly or to avoid exercise?
This means discovering what social or environmental events trigger your undesired eating. What excuse did you use to skip exercise? Then you change or avoid the events. For example, after reviewing those fantastic logs and records you're keeping, you may learn that you overeat whenever you watch television. Or whenever treats are on display by the office coffee pot. Or you eat poorly whenever you dine with a certain friend.
The solutions are obvious. Don't eat and watch television. Listen to some quiet music instead. When getting coffee at work, dash in and dash out. Do not pass GO and don't even pause to glance at the treats. It can be tougher with friends. Maybe you need to go out with the friends who encourage "fat" behavior less often, or go somewhere there isn't any food.
Read more tips on how good habits equal good health as well as success in your exercise and weight loss programs in Part 3 of this article.
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