I will do anything for weight loss... But I. WON'T. do. THAT!!!

Yep, as bad as I want to lose weight, there are a few things that I just won’t do.  Not everyone will agree with me.  And that’s fine.  These are my own opinions and this is just how I do it.  Throughout my weight loss journey, I’ve learned a lot of things, and most of this comes from that. 

1.       I will NOT cut out any food group from my diet.  I believe that you need some of everything- yes everything- fats, carbs, all of it, for your body.  Now that being said, I have reduced carbs in the past, I try to only have healthier fats, and I’ve severely cut the junk foods down.  I do not believe in diets that claim you don’t need certain things (ie.  Atkins, South Beach, etc.)

2.       I will NOT starve myself.  You need to eat in order to lose weight.  Sounds like an oxymoron (who you callin moron?!) doesn’t it?  Well, I believe that depriving your body of food is kind of moronic!  Your body needs food to turn it into fuel to work and do what it is supposed to do.  Along with this, I will not use shake “supplements” or bar “supplements” or anything of the sort to replace meals.  I take my vitamins and supplements, and I drink protein shakes and eat protein bars, but these do not take place of my meals.  Gotta get enough calories in.

3.       I will NOT eat food that I don’t like.  I was sitting in the break room at work the other day, eating my lunch when another person came in and started eating.  She said, “Ugh, this food is gross!  But it’s okay, because I need to lose about 20 pounds.”  It doesn’t have to be like that.  Sure, I’ve bought frozen meals (that I stay away from now) that were nasty, and I didn’t have anything else to eat that day, so I ate it anyway.  But I don’t bring food that I know I don’t like just to lose weight.  You can eat healthy and yummy at the same time.  Shocker, I know!  Find healthy ways to prepare your favorite foods.  If you don’t like the foods, you’re not going to stick with it.

4.       I will NOT diet.  This goes along with what I just said.  If you don’t like it or are depriving yourself, you won’t stick with it.  The changes I’m making need to stick around, so I’m not going on a diet that I will quit once I reach a goal.  That only means that the weight comes back.  Rocky and I made lifestyle changes years ago and we eat according to that. 

5.       I will NOT have an expiration date.  I had dinner with my dad the other day and he said, “So what have you been up to?”  I told him, “Working and working out… that’s all I have time for.”  To which, he replied, “Oh, getting ready for summer, huh?”  I told him, “Nope.  Getting ready for life.”  Now, it’s great to set goals and deadlines for yourself to keep yourself accountable.  But don’t stop after that.  If you stop, you go right back to where you were and have to start all over again when your next event, or next spring, or next whatever comes up.  I want to look good on a random Wednesday in February, not just for a certain time period or season. 

6.       I will NOT reward/sabotage myself with food.  I lost a lot of weight.  Then gained most of it back.  And now I’m losing it again.  When I gained it back, I had just taken a new job.  Everyone went out to eat for lunch ALL the time.  I had worked for over a year to get where I was.  I had worked hard.  I deserved a cheat meal.  I deserved to be able to have some of the foods I had gone without.  Yeah, and because I deserved so many cheat meals, I deserved to gain the weight back.  And that’s what happened.  Now, I work those meals into my plan.  I know if I’m going to have a cheat meal, I need to prepare for it before, and work for it after.  That may mean eating a lower calorie lunch, and getting an extra workout in.  But I’m not giving up all of my hard work this time. 

7.       I will NOT take a “magic” pill to lose weight.  Been there, tried that.  Didn’t work.  There are so many out there in the market.  You know why?  Because none of them work!  If they worked, people would catch on to it, and the one that worked would put the rest out of business.  It’s all marketing.  Quit putting crap in your body.  There’s no telling what long term side effects those things are going to cause.  Here’s what works:  A healthy diet and exercising regularly.  That’s it.  Those two things.  Period.

8.       I will NOT let anything stop me.  Working out is hard.  If it were easy, it wouldn’t be called work.  Pretty clever, huh?  Yeah, I read that somewhere.  But it’s true.  I have to sweat.  I have to make sacrifices.  I have to give up other things.  I have to rearrange my schedule.  I have to put some things on the back burner.  But it is worth it.  And it’s a mind game.  Get determined.  Don’t let anyone or anything stop you.  Make up your mind, and don’t accept anything less than your goal. 

And in honor of weight loss, here’s a little something something that I took this morning: