Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Things I've learned

I knew a lot about healthy eating before I started. I think most of us do. It's shared with us in every way possible, it's just up to us if we heed that advice and put it into practice, which is the hard part. Here are some things that I learned along the way that have made this possible for me.

Don't go "cold turkey". Don't start out so hard core that you are ready to give up the first week because all you've eaten is chicken and broccoli. Ease into it slowly. You will still see results and it will give you a place to make changes later when things get a little harder.

Treat yourself. I don't mean every day. I have learned that dessert is a treat. It does not need to be eaten every day (or after every meal for that matter). But, if you give up your favorite sweets, forever, you will probably feel deprived and want to overdo it. I keep a bag of hershey's kisses in the house for when I need some sweets. They are small and I can have about 5 of them without hurting my points allowance very bad.

Chew gum. I found the dessert delights gum that was sweet and kept my mouth busy for a while and that kept me from going to get something to eat just because I was bored. And that is one of my big reasons for eating, so it helped a lot.

Have a back-up plan. Lots of advice I had seen said that you needed a plan for your day so you knew what you were going to eat and didn't eat junk because you didn't know what else to eat. Well, I am a busy momma of three little boys, and I can barely think ahead to the next diaper change, let alone all my food intake for a day, but what I did have was a back-up plan. When dinner time rolled around and I hadn't figured out a nice healthy meal to fix, I would fix myself a sandwich. Regardless of what I gave everybody else to eat, I at least had something that fit well in my day. I found Healthy Life bread that is only 1 point per slice, used lunch meat and one slice of cheese.

Be prepared. I'm not talking boy-scout level preparedness here, but when you know you are getting ready to go somewhere that there will be food that isn't exactly on your diet, take some fruit (or a fiber bar) with you and eat it on the way. That way, you aren't famished and eating anything you see just because you need something. Then, if you want to have a taste of a couple of things, you can stop after just a couple bites. This goes for all those BBQ's, picnics, family get togethers, weddings, funerals, birthday parties, etc. If you give yourself freedom to forget the diet for these "special ocassions", you will end up having one every week and not have changed your habbits at all.

Fit activity in wherever you can. My outlook on activity has completely changed. Before, I would really hate having to be the one to drag the trash out to the road once a week and bring the cans back up, but now I am eager to do it because it's a small opportunity for me to move around a little more and be active. Walk to places that are short distances, like the park, store, or bank. For me, this ends up being easier than the car since I have to load everyone up in and out of car seats and carry them into each building.

Well, I hope some of this advice is helpful and something you can use to make your journey a successful one. Don't be scared, just jump in and do it.

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