Posted by Stephanie Clarke on Mon, Jun 08, 2009
It's easy to let your heating-eating habits slide when you're away from home or hanging out with friends and family. Admittedly, even as a nutritionist, I still struggle with this (especially because my family likes to eat!). If you veer from your regular eating schedule of calorie-controlled, balanced meals, it may seem that slip ups are inevitable. But go into a tricky food situations without a plan to stay on track, and you could be even worse off. (I know this from experience!)
Because warmer weather often means more parties, barbecues, and travel, here are some tips that help me (and my clients) stay on track.
1. Plan. Go into any occasion with a plan to stick to your diet. This starts with making a promise to yourself to stay conscious and mindful of what goes into your mouth. Planning also means not skipping meals to save calories for later, as this usually results in eating more high calorie foods later on.
2. Motivate. Remind yourself what is motivating you to eat healthfully or make the right choices or ot skip your workout even when you really don't feel like lacing up your sneakers. Think about your strongest motivators and write them down on a little card you can stick somewhere convenient (like your wallet). You may never need to look at it, but writing it down makes it more likely that you'll have committed to it.
3. Reward. Everyone likes to be rewarded when they do something well—and there is no one better to give you a pat on the back than yourself! Try to brainstorm a couple of ways that you can reward yourself for making the right choices. Rewards can come in all kinds of packages (with the exception of food packages.) For example, maybe you saw a really fantastic dress that you have been dying to buy but can't justify the expense right now. Your reward can be putting a certain amount of money in a jar towards that dress each time you overcome a challenging situation. It is a lot easier to turn down a piece of cake or second helping when you have something else to look forward to, especially something that will last longer and give you a lot more pleasure. Personally, I'm saving up for classes at an amazing Pilates studio in New York City.
Posted by Michelle Hering on Tue, Apr 07, 2009
After you have a baby, the celebrations you hold typically focus on your little one and the important milestone he reaches—his first steps, his first words, his first birthday, etc. I'm not saying that these aren't important, but I've realized that I have completely ignored myself for the last few months, and haven't once congratulated myself on any progress I've made getting back into shape.
One of the problems is that when I think of celebrating, I automatically think of going out to eat and enjoying an indulgent meal and dessert or having a fun umbrella drink. Because I'm breastfeeding, the umbrella drink won't really work. As for the other option, who has the time or energy to really go out to dinner? And even if I did, by the time dessert rolled around, I'd barely be able to keep my eyes open to enjoy it!
So how do I show myself how much I appreciate the work I've been putting in? I found the answer on TheBestLife.com while I was perusing the Articles Library. I happened to stumble upon the story, Healthy Ways to Celebrate Your Success, which provided tips from experts on how to treat yourself without using food or alcohol. I picked up quite a few suggestions, which are practical for me as a new mom (no day-long spa trips, sadly!), are healthy for both me and baby (bye-bye umbrella drinks) and don't take a lot of thought, money or time. So, from now on, I'll be setting aside five to 10-minutes of downtime everyday, during which I'll take a nap, meditate, relax, read a magazine, take a bubble bath or simply go for a walk with the dog. These may not seem like much, but as a new mom, 10 to 15 minutes of alone time can really revive your spirits. Plus, each of these things allow me to give myself a little (well-deserved, if I do say so myself) pat on the back without setting me back or interfering with my efforts to get back into shape. Now that's something to celebrate!