This is an excerpt of my Free Weight Loss Plan, the Don’t Go Broke Weight Loss Plan.
Plan Ahead
Weight loss does not happen by accident. You have to plan to lose weight. Most of the weight loss strategies discussed in The Don’t Go Broke Weight Loss Program require planning.
You must plan your meals and workouts ahead of time. You must plan what you are going to eat or not eat at a social gathering. You have to plan what restaurant you are going to eat at if dining out. You must plan how you are going to eat healthy food and workout while traveling.
You need to plan what you are going to purchase at the grocery store before you get there. You have to plan to eat every three to four hours and to sleep more. You should even plan to indulge in unhealthy food options once in a while.
Planning eliminates excuses. I am sure you have a million reasons for why you are not eating less and moving more. Most of them are not valid and can easily be remedied with planning.
Decide what you are going to eat during the week on Sunday and then go to the grocery store with a list. Now, you have eliminated the excuse that you have to eat out because you do not have food at home. Set up a small inexpensive home gym. Now, you have eliminated any excuses that you cannot afford to workout.
Make a list of all of your “excuses” and plan them out of existence. Plan! Plan! Plan! To succeed you must plan.
Discover Your Eating Triggers
In order to eat less, you must learn what makes you eat more. Take an honest self assessment. What situations, emotions, or activities trigger your overeating? You may eat more:
- When you are depressed,
- When you are watching movies,
- After coming home from work, or
- When you are out with friends.
Once you know what your “eating triggers” are, you can make changes.
- You can speak to a health care provider about your depression,
- You can eat single servings of healthy popcorn while watching movies,
- You can work out after work before you eat, or
- You can bring healthier options to social gatherings with friends.
My “eating trigger” is stress. The more I am stressed, the more I eat. During medical school, I ballooned to 330 pounds because I would eat constantly while I studied. Physicians deal with a tremendous amount of stress while studying, training and working.
Initially what I did was remove unhealthy foods out of my kitchen. This way I only had healthy options to grab when I was stressed. This strategy helped me lose weight.
Weight loss can be enhanced and better maintained with strength training. For more information on my favorite strength training tool, read my review of the Bowflex SelectTech Dumbbells.
Photo by cesarastudillo.
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