Posted by Bob Greene on Fri, Oct 09, 2009
You want to lose weight. You want to be in shape. You want to live healthier. But for some reason, you just can't make it happen. Whenever people ask me for advice on how to overcome this issue, I often respond with a question: Why haven't you been successful at losing the weight? Many respond with a quick and easy answer, what I call a surface answer. They'll say something like, I don't have time or I feel guilty doing things for myself instead of my family. But often, it's something much deeper. Maybe you're unhappy in your career or you're feeling unfulfilled in a relationship, so you turn to food to cope. It could be that financial stress causes you to misuse food. It may also be an issue of self-worth. If you don't value yourself and feel that your health is worth the effort, then you won't hit the gym or go for that scheduled run.
To uncover what's standing between you and your best life, ask yourself five very important questions. Instead of simply answering them on the fly, sit down and ponder each question. Jot down your answer so you have a written reminder—you can refer to it whenever you need a motivation boost.
1. What are you really hungry for?
Many people turn to food when they're lonely, depressed, angry or bored. Try to figure out what causes you to overeat—a food and mood journal can help you spot any patterns. For example, maybe you realize that you cope with loneliness by overeating. You may know that you can't find companionship at the bottom of a bag of chips, but until you identify this as your particular problem, you won't be able to break the pattern.
2. Why are you overweight?
Again, surface answers like, 'I don't like the taste of vegetables' or 'I can't stand exercise' won't cut it. These are merely obstacles—not the real reason that you're struggling to slim down. Weight is usually a symptom of a larger, deeper problem. Many people use their weight as a security blanket, for instance. They worry that if they lose a lot of weight, people will be able to see them for who they really are. For others, it's fear that's holding them back—whether it's a fear of making a change or even finding success. You may have to do some digging to figure out the answer to this question.
3. Why have you been unable to maintain weight loss in the past?
Looking at your weight-loss history can be very valuable—you can pinpoint what works (and then incorporate these things into your current plan) and what doesn't (you'll know what to avoid as well as where your weaknesses may be).
4. What in your life is not working?
When life is out of balance, it's easy to stray from your healthy-eating or regular workout routine. Figure out the areas in your life that need attention and try to do something everyday to improve them.
5. Why do you want to lose weight?
The easy answer to this question is: To fit into a certain size dress or to look better. But to really stick to a program long-term, you'll need a deeper, more motivating reason. For instance, maybe you want to be around to see your grandchildren, or perhaps you're a new mom who needs the energy to keep up with her growing family. If you find a reason that has value and that improves your life, you're more likely to stay the course when you’re tempted to go off track.
For more motivation and weight-loss tips, check out TheBestLife.com.
Posted by Willow Jarosh on Mon, Sep 07, 2009
A powerful tool that can help you beat cravings and emotional eating is probably within your reach—a pen and paper. To get your cravings under control, grab a pen and paper and start making a list of non-food things you can do when you're feeling anxious, bored, sad, restless, etc. This simple piece of paper can snap you out of a snack attack because it gives you a number of fun things you can do instead of reaching for food when you're in an emotional state.
What my clients put on their lists vary. Here are a few examples to get you started:
Paint your nails
, read a magazine,
go for a walk
, do laundry,
take a bubble bath
, organize the photos on your computer
, call a friend/relative you need to catch up with
, go through your emails
, whiten your teeth
, head to a book store and browse.
Once you've made your list, keep one copy at home and another copy at work. If you tend to spend a lot of time in your car, you can also keep a copy in your glove box so if you get the urge to stop for fast food on the way home, you can pull over and look at all the things you have to do instead. Similarly, if you're traveling, toss a copy of your list into your purse or luggage. This way, you're covered no matter where you are. Then whenever you get the urge to eat because of emotions (rather than hunger), choose something off of your list to do instead.
For more weight-loss tips, join TheBestLife.com.
Posted by Willow Jarosh on Mon, May 04, 2009
On TheBestLife.com, there's an entire section to devoted to success stories—people who've lost weight and are now living healthier, more active lives. I love reading these stories, not only because they inspire me to live my best life, but also because they teach me so many important lessons about nurturing what's important to you and finding support and motivation.
A common thread I see throughout the success stories is the ability to take a perceived failure, assess why it happened as well as how to prevent it in the future, and to move on. I see this a lot with my clients—mistakes are simply part of the journey and when you learn from them and move on, you move forward a stronger person.
For example, although you'd like to eat healthfully at every meal (if you're following the Best Life plan, the weekly meal plans makes this a breeze), there will be times, for a variety of reasons, that you don't. You can either beat yourself up about it, which can actually lead to more overindulging in a sort of "to heck with it!" rebellion or you can learn from it and move on. I always encourage people to eat a healthy breakfast the day after overdoing it. It can be tempting to skip breakfast to make up for the additional calories, but in the long run, skipping breakfast just makes you want to eat more the rest of the day. And remember, try not to be too hard on yourself—instead, learn from your mistakes and move on, better equipped to avoid the problem the next time around.
Posted by Michelle Hering on Wed, Apr 15, 2009
We all have stressful moments (traffic, a tense work meeting, a burned dinner)—mine just happened to all come on the same day. On this day, my three-month-old son Reid had been awake and fussy right from the beginning—I had a chance to shower but that was it. My husband was late coming home from work and I hadn't heard from him. The dog was scratching to go outside, and oh, did I mention that it was 27 degrees outside?
I needed a break and I wasn't sure how to take one, so I cracked and fell into the pattern that Bob describes so well in the emotional connection section of the Best Life plan. I was grabbing food
from wherever I could find it and just shoving it in my face. I'm not even
sure I was really tasting what I was eating.
When I was finally finished with the food fest, I remembered one of Bob's popular self-help exercises, the Circle of Life, so I opened the book up and went through the exercise of examining my life. This was a blessing because hosestly, the breakdown came without warning. Looking over my life and evaluating the emotional connection I had to each area, I was able to identify a problem: I had no idea when my husband was due home each night. The fact that he was late wasn't a problem—I just didn't know how late he was going to be, which prevented me from mapping out my evening—when to cook and eat dinner, walk the dog, put the baby down, etc. I felt like my energy was quickly draining as I waited for him to come home. After we talked, I was able to develop a timeline so I could plan the rest of my evening, and that helped to get me back on track. From now on, we're going to communicate better about our schedules, and that should prevent any emotionally induced eating frenzies. At least that's one less thing to stress about!
To learn more about the Circle of Life and the Best Life plan, check out TheBestLife.com.