Start Small

Just read a friend’s blog in which she said over the past couple of months, she has introduced little changes into her eating lifestyle to help improve her health: a few more low-calorie meals; yogurt in place of some desserts; introducing healthier items like oatmeal and fruit into her meals each week. It’s a wonderful plan. It’s hard sometimes, to go cold turkey – to get up one morning and decide you’re going to change the way you eat and how you see yourself and there will be no going back. Yes, there are those who can do it, but for those who find that too much change at once – it can set us up for a bad fall and then we end up going overboard in the wrong direction. A gradual change is a wonderful way to introduce and reinforce good habits into your life.

Why not do one new thing for yourself this week that is healthier? Maybe you slowly peel and eat an orange instead of scarfing down that slice of pie? Try a handful of nuts in the afternoon as a pick-me-up instead of that vending machine candy bar? Have a flavored bottle of water instead of that large cola.

It’s a start – it will help you feel in control of your life - and you are worth the effort. Do it for yourself.

No Quick Weight Loss Schemes

By now, you’re probably well aware of two major weight-related stories in the news. The FDA recall of the weight loss product Hydroxycut due to reports of liver problems that have claimed at least 1 life, and actress Kirstie Alley – famously seen on Oprah a couple of years ago after losing 70+pounds on Jenny Craig. A recent appearance on Oprah showed Alley has gained back all the weight she lost and then some. It’s so regretful that people get hurt by these artificial attempts at weight loss. It’s sometimes tough for people to accept, but it’s true. There is no real and/or healthy short cut to weight loss. It takes commitment, it takes discipline, and it takes a mental lifestyle change. That doesn’t include some quick-fix, “I lost 50 pounds in 3 weeks” diet drug or plan.

Save your health by doing it the right way – eating better and eating less. Put yourself first when it comes to your diet. Don’t finish what the kids leave on their plates. Don’t eat the leftovers in the refrigerator that nobody else wants unless they fit into your calorie count for the day. And don’t let getting into that wedding dress or looking good for your high school reunion prompt you to submit yourself to some diet scheme. When you go back to your old habits, (because you haven’t learned a new approach to eating), the pounds you might have shed will all come back, and maybe 5-10 more added to them. If done right, the weight does come off faster and easier than you may realize. And the effects last longer. Hopefully, a lifetime.

You do deserve better. Don’t you?