“LORD WE KNOW WHAT WE ARE, BUT KNOW NOT WHAT WE MAY BE” (Hamlet).
Think for a moment about what you can be, what you want to be and what you want to achieve and don’t limit yourself. Aim high! You have great potential to be the weight and shape and the person you want to be, you can be exactly whatever you desire. You know what you are now. Think and decide now what you can be!
This is successful thinking, and will lead you to successful weight loss.
Success: if you look the word up in the dictionary, you will find means “the continuous accomplishment of planned objectives which are worthwhile to the individual”. However, success is not just the achievement, it lies in the journey towards it. It is the result of attitudes and habits that you acquire on that journey. So, it is important to continuously be on a journey, to continuously set yourself goals and objectives, to push yourself and aim high.
If this is your first week on your weight loss programme, you have set yourself your first goal, you have begun that journey. If it is your second or third week you are well on your journey and may have reached your first goal. So you have set a second goal and you will find that this is the process until you reach the weight and the shape you want to be. This process is your “continual accomplishment of your planned objectives which are worthwhile to you”. This process is your success journey.
What are you learning on this journey? What are your attitudes and your habits?
Very simply your attitude must be belief! Believe that you can be whatever you want and you will! Whether you think you can or can’t you’re right! And, it is just as easy to think “I can” as “I can’t”!
Your habits should be changing as you go along this journey. With us, you will learn new habits and you will develop these habits as you go along.
Some habits may well slow down your success, so they do not need further development, they need to be changed. Listen carefully; see if any of them apply to you!
1. BEING TOO RIGID. Some of our members believe that being “perfect” will guarantee their success. You do have to keep to the plans very carefully but it is also important to be flexible. Life is bound to throw you the unexpected every now and then so if you can’t have the Friday lunch that your plan suggests, then bend a little, please don’t break! Don’t throw the plan out, don’t beat yourself up and especially don’t give up. Aim high, but do not aim for perfection. We are human so be human and be realistic with eDiets and yourself.
2. INVISIBLE EATING. They’re the little things you’re not even aware you’re eating. That piece of toast your child left, the small sweet he/she offered you, the taste of the dinner as you were preparing, the left-overs after dinner, the sample offered in the supermarket etc. etc. You may not be aware of these things, or you may think that they are so little that they won’t make any difference. They make a big difference. Make it a healthy habit this week to find out what little extra’s you are eating. How? Enter it in your food journal and find out!
3. UNDERESTIMATING PORTION SIZES. If I were to ask you how many Shredded Wheat Bite Sized there are in 1 oz. would you know? Would you recognize 1 oz. of cheese, 4 oz. of salmon etc.? Out of habit you have been putting cereal in your bowl, dinner on your plate and thinking that it doesn’t look “that much”. Portion control is one of the most important habits to learn when trying to lose weight! Another habit for this week – weigh your food and make sure the portion sizes are correct. You will really surprise yourself, you will learn and you will develop a good habit of recognising correct portion sizes.
4. BEING A MEMBER OF THE CLEAN PLATE CLUB. Some habits die hard and many members just can’t get used to the notion of deliberately leaving food behind, especially when we have paid good money for it when eating out! But as you’re downing every last morsel on your plate, keep in mind that you are probably eating more than your plan calls for. Is it worth it? You can thoroughly enjoy a night out without eating too much.
Get into the habit of leaving something on your plate, particularly if you know you have eaten enough and you feel that you have eaten enough. Stop eating when you reach this stage even if you think that it is a waste, it will not be on your waist and you will feel much better.
5. NOT EATING BREAKFAST. Another common tale. If this is you – why not? Habit? People who don’t eat breakfast often just think that they couldn’t eat breakfast but you really need a good start to your day. It gets your metabolism moving, increases the blood sugar after an over-night fast, increases your energy level and ability to concentrate and it sets you up to continue your day well. Get up tomorrow morning and start the habit of having breakfast.
6. TRYING TO PLEASE ANOTHER PERSON. Is this you? Trying to lose weight to please someone else OR falling into the trap of eating to please another person?. Neither habit is healthy for you. You are here because of you, you are trying to please you. It is great to have help and support from family and friends, but make no mistake about who this is for. It’s for YOU!
Eating to please someone else is really an excuse very often. Stand firm. Say politely “No, thank you”. This is all you have to say, no story, no explanation, just no, thank you!
Saying no, thank you to these outside influences means saying yes please to yourself. Yes please I want to lose weight. Yes please, I want to change habits. Yes please, I want to develop new healthy ones.
Yes please, I want to succeed. Yes, I know what I may be.