Here are our top 10 tips for sticking to your weight loss. When reading these, it's important to remember that everyone is different and approaches weight loss in different ways. When you are reading through this consider which tips are most relevant to you?
1.There is no point in trying to lose weight if you don't learn the important skills you need for successful weight management, such as how to motivate yourself every day, how to find a balance with food, how to handle cravings and feeling hungry, and how to refocus when you make a mistake. These are skills you will need for life, every day!
2.Motivate yourself every day by reading a long list of reasons that you want to lose weight every morning. Stick this list someone visible. Maybe even have a copy on your smartphone and take a look at it during vulnerable times of the day
3.Always eat sitting down. Take your time when eating and enjoy every bite–whether or not you feel like it. It's much more difficult to allow yourself to eat off plan, eat mindlessly, or over indulge if you are doing this.
4.Research shows that those who successfully keep their weight off track everything they eat. Write everything down, it's so important to be able to look back at what you've eaten. Also report how you were feeling at the time to see if you can find some patterns in links between your emotions and what you are eating.
5.Stop looking for the perfect diet or the perfect combination of foods. Perfection doesn't exist; you need to find a balance. You can eat in a healthily and still allow yourself to have certain foods in moderation. If you're tempted to eat more of this food or go on to other foods you hadn't planned to eat, then consume it shortly before bedtime, brush your teeth, and get in bed.
6.Change your mind-set about food and eating. Eating is all about choice. You can choose to be slim or you can choose to eat whatever you want whenever you want. You can't have it both ways.
7.Prove to yourself that hunger is never an emergency (providing of course that you don't have a serious medical condition). Using Ideal Weight nutrition packs is a great way to do this. If you have 3 Nutrition packs and a light dinner one day you might feel hungry, but that's ok!. You'll find that hunger is only mildly uncomfortable, compared to real discomfort such as you might have experienced after a serious injury; that hunger comes and goes, lasting no more than 5-10 minutes at a time, and most importantly that hunger is certainly tolerable.
8.Teach yourself the difference between physical hunger (that empty feeling in your stomach when you haven't eaten for a few hours) and emotional hunger (which you will feel in your mouth or throat). Ultimately, you want to just label what you're feeling (hunger, craving, tiredness, boredom, or a negative emotion) and tolerate it without eating.
9.Plan your weekly meals in advance. Those who plan ahead are much more likely to be successful. If you haven't planned ahead, you might be caught unaware and eat something that you will later regret!
10.Always carry portable food so you don't get stuck out and about without a healthy choice. You can carry a piece of fruit, some nuts/seeds or perhaps even an Ideal Weight bar. By ensuring that you always have portable food, you are increasing the likelihood that you will make a healthy choice when you feel hungry rather than grabbing that packet of crisps or chocolate bar.