Maintaining a healthy weight can be a real battle for many people.  Weight gain can occur so gradually that you don’t even realize you’re 20 pounds heavier until you see a photo of yourself.  The kids are busy, your job is hectic, and you’re worn out.  You’d like to lose those 20 pounds but don’t feel like you have the energy to do it.  Simply put, life gets in the way.

If this sounds familiar, it’s time to make some subtle changes to your daily life to make it easier to lose the extra weight and keep it off for good.

Just don’t stress yourself by demanding immediate results. Instead of aiming for quick weight loss, plan on losing weight the same way you gained it – gradually and over a period of time. The pounds will come off!

Follow these seven easy steps, and you’ll be losing weight before you know it.

1. Visualize yourself at your ideal body weight. 

The first thing you need to do is evaluate the way you see yourself.  Do you focus on your flaws or weaknesses instead of your strengths?   Do you put little value on your ideas and feel like others are more capable?  Do you like the person you see in the mirror?

If you have a poor body image, it’s harder to picture yourself at your ideal weight.  Visualization is a key component in both sports and life.  Athletes use visualization techniques to help perfect their skills.  You can use these same techniques in your everyday life.

Try to clearly imagine exactly how you look and how you feel at that weight.  Do this every single day.

2. Cut portion sizes. 

We tend to eat more food than we need.  Try eating 25% less food at each meal and see how you feel.  Chances are you won’t even be hungry, and yet you’ll be cutting a significant number of calories out of your daily diet.

3. Eat real food.

That means give up processed foods.  If you can’t pronounce an ingredient on the food label, don’t eat it. Stick with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins.

4. Walk daily. 

Aim for a minimum of 30 minutes a day.  Many companies are starting to encourage “walking meetings” where important decisions are made while on the move!  You may discover that you’re super-creative while you’re walking and talking at the same time!

5. Keep track of your weight. 

This doesn’t mean getting on the scale every day.  In fact, if getting on the scale is terrifying for you, don’t do it very often; but you need a starting point so you can track your weight loss.

You may choose a tape measure or an old pair of jeans to measure your success.  Once you start losing weight, you’ll actually look forward to stepping on the scale or zipping up those jeans.

6. Discover a form of exercise that you love.

Whether it’s kite-boarding, rock climbing, ballroom dancing or Zumba, get out and love what you’re doing. If it requires you to move your body, it counts as exercise … even if it doesn’t feel like exercise.

7. Never diet again. 

There are so many diets out there that make promises they can’t deliver. Instead, they leave you unfulfilled and craving foods.

If you simply eat the right foods (and not too much), cut back on the amount of sugar you eat, walk every day, visualize yourself at your target weight, and find ways to enjoy getting fit, your body will find its ideal weight and stay there.

So be patient and get moving.  Those pounds will drop off as easily as they showed up.

 

Get Moving, Be Healthy,

Molly

Originally Published in  GlobalFit‘s GO! Newsletter