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15
Suggestions for Success
15 Suggestions for Success
- Check with your doctor
or medical professional before starting any diet or exercise program. If you
feel that you’re straining, hurting yourself or working too hard for your
fitness level, then stop or slow down.
- Don’t crash diet. Don’t
focus on a weight or size goal. Instead, choose a lifelong eating and
exercise program – and then trust your body to know what size it wants to be.
Listen to your body, and give it what it needs. When it's
thirsty, give it water, not coffee. And when it wants a carrot, put down the popcorn and give it a
carrot!
- Learn what it is your
body needs. If you don't know what your body wants or needs, that's
understandable and normal. Everyone is born knowing nothing about nutrition,
and so if you weren't taught, you won't know. Try reading a bit about
nutrition to find out WHY the apple and spinach are good for you. One book we
really like and learned a lot from is "Doctor's Book of Food Remedies" - by
Selene Yeager, Prevention Health Books. This book
goes A-Z on various foods, medical conditions and necessary nutrients.
- Enjoy the process.
Feel pride in every small gain. On days when you just don’t want to do it,
focus on how proud of yourself you’ll be when it’s done. That feeling of pride
can be more addictive than
chocolate.
- Enjoy yourself now. Learn
to look in the mirror and say, “I’m beautiful.” We know that many parents
have banished this phrase from their children’s vocabulary, and it was
probably banished from yours, too. Allow us to give you permission to look
into the mirror and say, “I’m beautiful. I’m worthwhile.” It might be hard at
first. Just do it, laugh self-consciously, and then tomorrow, come back and do
it again. Be happy with yourself now. Teach your children to
say these things to themselves. Trust us on this --
they won't say it to themselves if you don't say it to yourself.
- Don’t do too much too
fast. Many people work too hard in the beginning and either hurt
themselves or become reluctant to do the program. Start small. Do it 6 days a
week, and give yourself a one-day break. Make small gains as you feel able. It
shouldn’t hurt, but it should be a challenge.
- Drink lots of water.
Watch out for cheap calories in liquid form that don’t hydrate you (soft
drinks, alcohol, coffee drinks, milk shakes). There are several reasons to
drink water: your intestines need water to process food; your skin needs water
to stay refreshed and clear; your spirit needs water to keep
from feeling depressed and tired; your joints need water
to keep supple and not achy; your body needs water
to help regulate its temperature and also to avoid asking for food; your
children need you to drink water to set a good example for them.
- Be prepared for certain
situations that make it difficult to eat properly (parties, dinners, ball
games, concerts, dinners out). Know what you’ll eat and when, and don’t beat
yourself up over treats you do choose to have.
- Banish “fat,” “diet” and
“diet products” from your life and from your vocabulary. You aren’t
concerned with fat anymore. You’re concerned with strong and healthy. When
your children ask you why you’re working out, you aren’t doing it to lose the
roll around your middle – you’re doing it to become strong and healthy. Watch
how quickly they pick up on the difference and incorporate it into their own
self-image.
- Find out what a portion
size really is. Look critically at restaurant portions – they’re usually 2
to 5 times larger than you need to be eating. One way to deal with the overage
is to ask for a box at the beginning. Cut out the part you know is too much
and put it in the box. That way, you won’t keep eating without thinking. Also,
consider which restaurant foods you eat without
thinking (bread and butter,
french fries, extra sauces, soft drinks,
super-size meals). Think about what you’re
eating, and ask your body if that’s what it really
wants.
- Consider giving up fast
food. It’s difficult to eat well in fast food places, and the food is
tremendously hard on your children’s bodies.
- Have vegetables and/or
fruit with every meal -- and eat them first. If
snacks are a problem, cut them out or replace them with vegetables or fruit.
- Make health a family
affair. Go to a gym together. Hike together. Go outside and play together.
Garden together. Set a good example for your children, and show them that
there’s more to life than video games or television. Your children might
complain at first, but they are naturally built to want to have fun, and they
will quickly come around. We can't emphasize it enough --
your children will struggle to learn how to live healthy if you aren't setting
the proper example for them. Give them the gift of teaching them a healthy
lifestyle while they're young. (See our pages on
Diet and
Nutrition and on tips for getting your young
children to eat properly.)
- Incorporate strength
training into your program. It will accelerate your pride and feeling of
fitness and strength.
- Every time you look in a
mirror – starting right now – feel proud, worthwhile and beautiful, and don’t
let anyone tell you otherwise.
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