What's Helped Me

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Do you take a vacation without planning your route?  Just like you would plan your vacation, plan your health journey before you even begin.  Are you going to count calories?  Are you going to watch fat grams?  Perhaps you're going to monitor your carbohydrates or do the exchange program.  Are you simply going to try to eat healthy?  BE VERY SPECIFIC!  Don't just say, "I'm going to eat less."  Whatever your plan, be certain it's something you can do for the rest of your life.  This is NOT a program.  Programs have a beginning and an ending.  This is a process.  Processes don't end.  Make sure you're realistic so you can follow the process for the rest of your life.  If you fail to plan, you plan to fail!

Journal, journal, journal.  It cannot be said enough.  I started TOPS (Take off Pounds Sensibly)® in January of 2001.  I lost 50 1/2 pounds by the end of the first year.  I had a tough time and gained approximately 15 pounds from January to June of 2002.  I truly believed it was the scale or my body, because I just knew I was eating right.  I decided to begin charting my food so that I could take my journal to my doctor and determine what medical reason was causing me not to lose weight.  However, the first week after journaling I lost 4 1/2 pounds!  Obviously I wasn't doing as good as I thought.  From June 2002 until June 2003, I lost 76 pounds and gained only a few times (with three vacations during that time!).  That's about an average weight loss of 1 1/2 pounds a week.  In 2001, before I started journaling, I averaged approximately 1 pound per week.  That speaks for itself.  Journaling should be something personal.  Do what works for you.  If you are an emotional eater, write down what you're feeling before you eat.  If you want freedom, write down your calories.  If you need structure, record the exchanges.  Try them all until you see what works for you.  I read on a wonderful website, Calorie King, that journaling prevents calorie amnesia and it truly does.  To make journaling really successful, make a commitment to write down what you're going to eat before you eat it.  It makes you accountable.  A wonderful journal is entitled My Food and Execise Diary by Allan Boruskek and it's very affordable.  He is also the author of the website above above.  A journal is something that could easily be made on a computer or out of a blank notebook.  At the minimum, it should include a place for the foods you've eaten, water you've drank and exercise you've done.  You may also want to include one or more of the following: grams of fat, carbohydrates or fiber; time of day or where the food was eaten; or any other information you wish to keep a record of.  There are several wonderful free online resources for journaling and those can be found on the Internet Links page.  I've also included a few of my favorites on the download page.  Save your old journals to refer back to in the future when necessary.

I always try to drink at least 8 - 8 ounce glasses of water a day.  Before I leave the house, I drink 2 - 12 ounce glasses.  If you do that, you've already drank 3 - 8 ounce glasses.  Whenever I use the bathroom, I drink a 12 ounce glass.  I have a water bottle with me at all times.  I drink a 12 ounce glass before every meal.  Even if there were no medical benefit to drinking all this water (recent studies have determined that it may not be necessary), it definitely keeps me feeling full and that, in turn, helps prevent me from overeating.  I generally quit drinking water about 6:00 p.m. so I'm not awake all night running to the bathroom.

Exercise is probably second only to journaling in degree of importance to me.  Exercise allows for forgiveness when you succumb to BLT's.  Not the bacon sandwiches, but Bites, Licks and Tastes!  If you work out on a machine that enables you to read, save a good book for only those times.  Because you're anxious to see the outcome of the book, you'll be more apt to go exercise.  You can do the same thing with your favorite magazine.  Other options are books on tape/CD, MP3 player, or portable CD/cassette players.  Music and reading will help the time pass.  Staring at the clock will not!  Always have workout attire in your vehicle so you're able to go at any time.  Schedule your exercise into your day.  If you don't have 30 minutes, do 10 minutes three times a day. See my 10 Minute Workouts for a few suggestions.  If you don't like "exercise", do other activities that will keep you moving.  Walking, playing at the park with your children or grandchildren, bike riding, roller blading, mowing the lawn, shoveling the snow, cleaning the basement or closets, working in the yard or garden, washing the car, etc. You can find something to do instead of sitting still.  Find a friend to exercise with if you prefer not to be alone.  If you have no alone time, take advantage of exercise to be with yourself uninterrupted and use that time for personal meditation.  Like a dear friend once told me -- Don't lay when you can sit; don't sit when you can stand; don't stand when you can walk; don't walk when you can run.  DO SOMETHING!

I always read the nutrition label of any food that I buy.  I usually cut myself off at two grams of fat per serving for cereal, four grams of fat per serving on snacks and nine grams of fat per serving for frozen or prepared meals.  Don't forget to add any "extras" when figuring the fat grams.  For instance, the mayonnaise that you add to a sandwich or the dressing you put on your salad.  Consider the size of the serving when looking at fat grams and calories.  Look for foods high in fiber.  It's healthy and you will feel full longer.  If foods are high in fiber (over five grams per serving), I will allow a little more fat and/or calories per serving.  Don't be fooled by labels that scream "FAT FREE!"  Fat free does not mean calorie free.  The bottom line is that 3,500 calories equals one pound whether it's fat free or not.

Always have healthy food available for snacking.  Don't buy any foods that you don't like because they are healthy for you.  If you don't like it, you probably won't eat it.  If you do eat it, why waste ANY calories on food you don't like?  That being said, it's still necessary to make changes to your diet to achieve your health and wellness goals and some of those changes may require you getting accustomed to eating new foods.  For instance, buy low-fat dressings, better cuts of meat, nonfat or 1% milk, etc.  See Instead of .. Try this .. for some changes that fairly easy to adjust to.  Please visit How to eat more fruit and vegetables for creative ways to add them to your food plan.  On that page is a link for the download page, which includes a chart to help encourage fruit and vegetable consumption.  Also, don't buy food that will tempt you in the belief that you'll only have one serving.  If you ate the whole bag before you started your journey, changes are you may if it's in the house now.  Don't be afraid to give up the good to get the great!

Never underestimate the power of a good support network.  TOPS (Take off Pounds Sensibly) ® is an excellent support network and very affordable.  Your support network should have the same goals as you.  If you find you're simply in a social setting, make changes.  Your support network should consist of people that share your successes and your temporary setbacks.  They should understand what you're going through.  Your support network should not be expected to give you motivation as that needs to come from within.  However, they should be motivating as motivation is contagious.  Think of your body as a car.  You are the gas; your support network is the oil.  You need both for the vehicle to run smoothly, but if the gas isn't in it, it doesn't matter how much oil or how good the oil is because it ain't gonna' go without the gas!  You are the most important factor.  If it's to be, it's up to me!

Don't bombard yourself with "rules."  Start slow.  Try journaling for one week; drink your water the next week; exercise three times the following week.  The important thing is to keep doing whatever you did the week before as you move on.  It takes 21 days to form a habit.  After a few weeks, your new "rules" will become habit and you're well on your way (or weigh!) to a healthier, happier lifestyle.  Don't look at any of these things as temporary.  If you do, then your sucess is temporary as well.  You need to realize that this is now your way of life.

Visualize challenging situations.  Buffet lines, restaurant meals, donuts or bagels at work, birthday parties, weddings, eating on the road, etc.  Imagine facing the situation and how you would like to handle it.  Being prepared is half the battle.  Now that you've envisioned it, you are better able to conquer it!  More importantly, visualize your success.  Imagine how you will feel when you reach your goal.  Picture how you will look.  What will you do when you are at goal that you cannot do comfortably right now?  One of my things was to ride on a roller coaster and fit comfortably in a restaurant booth.  Or imagine yourself shopping for a new outfit to wear for a special occasion.  Take it a little further.  How much will you enjoy dressing for this occasion?  How will everyone react when they see you?  Visualization is a wonderful tool.  You are only limited by your own imagination!

Reward yourself.  Let it be something that you normally wouldn't do for yourself or it takes away from the motivation of the reward.  You want the reward to serve as a reason to stay on track and to help you keep on keeping on!  A smaller size in a favorite clothing article, a charm for a charm bracelet, a favorite book, a night out at the movies, a DVD or CD, etc.  Make sure it's something that will remind you to stay focused.  One of my rewards was a food scale that I really wanted.  It was more than I would normally pay for a scale, but I felt it was worth it.  I selected some challenges for myself and when I was tempted to deviate from my plan the imagiry of that scale in my kitchen was all I needed to get refocused. 

Allow yourself flexibility.  Don't look at yourself as being "good" or "bad".  Don't consider yourself "on your diet" or "off your diet".  If you have an upcoming special occasion, adjust your food intake and increase your exercise a few days before and/or after the event.  Don't set yourself up for failure by promising "not to be bad".  Unless your doing something illegal or immoral or hurting someone else, you're not "being bad" and we really need to lose that good/bad mentality.  If you're vacationing, allow yourself to skip or postpone for a few hours drinking your water so you're not always looking for a restroom while driving.  Further, if vacation allows you to experience a food you normally wouldn't have an opportunity to taste, have some.  Just don't feel that you must partake of it everyday.  I enjoy a good ice cream in the summer.  In the past, I would get a combination of different candies in my ice cream and often get custard instead of ice cream.  I was unwilling to give up ice cream.  However, I now subsitute fat-free/sugar-free frozen yogurt for the ice cream and fruit for the candy that I did put in it.  I also thoroughly enjoy chips and dip.  Again, I didn't want to give this up so now I will have baked chips with light French onion dip that I prepare myself with fat-free sour cream and onion soup mix or light Doritos with salsa.  These are examples of allowing yourself flexibility.  Persistance - not perfection - is the key to success!

Don't allow yourself to get too bored.  If you're not excited about your plan, change it.  A lot of times when a plan is not working, it's simply because we're not working the plan.  Often times, this may be because we're bored.  Imagine your ride to work.  Day after day it's the same old thing.  You don't notice the scenery anymore.  The buildings and the billboards are "just there".  But then your way to work is under construction.  There's lane closures and back-ups.  If there was another way to go, you would take a different route.  When you switch back to your original route, it would be new and exciting and you'll notice the scenery because you're not bored with it any longer.  Your journey to Go To Health is much the same.  If there are "closures" or "back-ups", take a different route.  If you do the exchange program, starting counting calories.  If you're bored with your exercise routine, start doing something different.  Work out on a different machine at gym, take a different walking route or buy a new exercise video.  Just because something worked last year or last month or even last week doesn't mean it's always going to work.  And when you get bored with the new way, go back to the old.  It will be new and exciting again and you will probably have more success.

It may be hard to believe, but not getting enough sleep has caused me to go off my plan more times then I could count.  Recent studies have proven that lack of sleep is related to obesity due to hormonal imbalances.  Please visit the internet links page for additional information on this matter.  I make sure to get 7-8 hours of sleep a night.  My body craves carbohydrates during the middle of the day when I'm tired and generally other food does not satisfy the craving.  I just try to work through it, which doesn't always work.  This is the same when I'm trying to stay awake late at night or driving after long periods, which also tends to make me sleepy.  I really feel the need to eat.  Combat these situations with plenty of sleep.

Always think positive.  Surround yourself with positive people.  Replace "if" with "when".  Instead of "I can't", say "I'll try".  Remove the negative from your life.  Unfortunately, this will sometimes mean that you need to avoid certain people.  Don't think of how far you have to go; think of how far you've come.  It's not important where you've been.  What's important is where you're headed!  Sometimes success is getting on the scale when you're expecting a gain or simply not giving up - that's the greatest success!  When I have a gain, I tell myself, "I've maintained my weight loss for over five years!"  I'm not where I want to be, but I'm not where I was!

Set goals.  Be very specific and make your goals measurable.  For instance, don't say "I will exercise."  Say "I will exercise 30 minutes, three days this week."  Or instead of "I'll drink more water" say "I'll drink at least 48 ounces of water a day."  Challenge yourself but don't set yourself up for failure.  Conversely, don't make your goals so easy that you don't feel you've accomplished anything by achieving them.  For instance, don't commit to drinking two ounces of water a day or exercising for five minutes one day a week.  There's a fine line between challenging yourself and setting yourself up for failure, but if you keep setting and achieving goals you will find a healthy balance between the two.  Avoid absolutes such as always and never.  For instance, don't say "I will never have chocolate again" or "I will always drink all my water everyday."  Very rarely can someone never do something again or always do something every day.  No matter how we try, things come up that we cannot avoid.  Saying "never" and "always" immediately sets you up for failure so avoid that at all costs.  Remember that goals should be S-M-A-R-T (Specific - Measureable - Attainable - Realistic - Timed!)

Decide what you want before you go into the restaurant then don't open the menu.  Use online resources such as the nutrition link at Nutritional Information Services so you're informed on what's a healthy choice before you even arrive.  Order first so your decision isn't swayed by what someone else orders.  Try to avoid the appetizers or order them for your meal.  Split a meal with someone else.  Request that the bread basket be removed from the table and the bread served to the individuals that request a piece.  Order a broth-based soup to start your meal so you're less hungry when your entree' arrives.  If all else fails, order what you want but don't take the rest home.  Give it to someone else or throw it away.  Better to eat half an unhealthy meal vs. a whole unhealthy meal or having two days in a row in which you didn't stick to your plan.

Believe it or not, I treat myself once a week.  I know that everything you read says not to reward yourself with food and I actually mention it above, but this isn't a reward.  This is something that I've done all along and I don't consider it a reward because I treat myself regardless if I have a gain or a loss.  After weighing in, I eat whatever I want.  And I mean WHATEVER!  Don't let me mislead you.  This isn't a binge!  This is a treat.  This generally isn't healthy and no doctor would recommend this, but I'm discussing what works for me and I realize that it may not work for everyone.  When craving something throughout the week, I tell myself that I'll have it as a treat on treat day if I still want it then.  More times then not, I'll forget I ever wanted it.  Because it's impossible to remember all the foods that I said that would have on treat day, I eat far less as my treat then I would have eaten if I had consumed the food throughout the week.  My treat generally consists of something that I choose not to have throughout the week because it's a trigger food and might result in a binge.  For instance, a few pieces of pizza, a donut or piece of cake, or a candy bar.  If it's a craving that doesn't diminish after promising myself I'll have it as a treat on treat day, I'll allow myself to splurge a bit after doing extra exercise.  I've never wanted to undo the good I've done from exercising, and I've always been able to resist the craving when I've said this.

When I go to parties, weddings, family dinners, holidays, etc., I limit my eating to foods that I normally do not get an opportunity to eat.  For instance, my family's Christmas Eve holiday dinner consists of a special dish that I only get on that day.  Therefore, I make sure I select it as I walk through the buffet line.  Conversely, I would probably pass on something that I can make myself or have other opportunities throughout the year to eat.  At a wedding, I would pass by the mashed potatoes in exchange for the augratin potatoes as that is something I don't normally eat.  If we have a gathering at a family home, I always make sure my dish to pass is something that I can eat without blowing the process (i.e. veggies or baked chips with low-fat dip).  Also, most people will understand if you chose to bring your own food for such occasions.  I don't go to a bar-b-que without bringing my own veggie burger or turkey hot dog and light bun.  If there is something you really want, feel free to sample it.  Lastly, treat holidays like the special occasions that they are.  There are only four major holidays a year:  Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas.  Some religions have others, but again it's probably not many more days than that.  Eating whatever you want four days a year shouldn't have an effect on your journey to Go To Health.  If you do experience a gain, rest assured that once you get back on track that weight will come off.  It's not what you eat between Thanksgiving and Christmas that effects your health and wellnes goals; it's what you eat between Christmas and Thanksgiving!

Why do you want to lose weight?  Make a list of reasons and be very specific.  Not simply "I want to be thin."  WHY do you want to be thin?  My original list had over 60 reasons.  Some were very basic like I wanted to buy clothes because I liked them and not just because they fit.  Some were health related like I wanted to reduce my risk of developing breast cancer.  Others were very personal such as I wanted to see an ex-boyfriend that didn't treat me the way I deserved to be treated and watch his tongue fall out of his mouth!  Other reasons were because I was tired of being ridiculed, tired of walking into a room and wondering if I was the heaviest person in the room and tired of running into old friends and wondering how much weight I gained since I saw them last.  I was tired of hearing laughter from a stranger and wondering if it was directed at me.  Think if ANY reason that you can.  Don't feel that anything is too silly or too unimportant to include on your list.  Keep your list handy (in your desk, in the bathroom, in your car, in your purse, at work, etc.) and refer to this list often when you wonder why you're making the choices that you're making or when you're struggling to continue.  Update your list frequently as other things come to mind.  What may not have been important when you started your journey to Go To Health may become important during your journey.  For instance, wearing a size 14 is probably not important when you're just beginning, but when you wear an 18 or 20, that size 14 takes on a whole new meaning!

Pick up a book and read a story of someone who's succeeded.  It's nearly impossible not to feel motivated when you read a story of someone who's fought and won the weight-loss battle.  Day dream and see yourself at your goal weight.  Read a book of weight-loss hints.  Even if you don't agree with all that they say, it should get you refocused.  Phone a friend or someone that's struggling with the same issues as you.  Surf the net for motivational and inspirational websites.  Contact me!  Respond with helpful advise for someone else who's struggling.  Submit a comment to the message board and ask for assistance.  If all else fails, give in to your craving, but don't binge.  Failure is only the opportunity to begin again; this time more wisely! 

Okay!  You've tried every tool that you have and they didn't seem to work.  You've had a large gain and you're thinking of quitting.  Don't!  Begin again!  Get on that scale, accept the gain, get off the scale and start over!  And keep starting over as many times as it takes.  My story is a prime example of someone that's lost weight many times only to regain it and have to lose it again.  The most important thing to remember is not to dwell on the past; concentrate on the future.  The number you saw on the scale the last time you weighed could be the most you weigh for the rest of your life!  You can't have a better tomorrow if you are thinking about yesterday all the time!

Some of the suggestions noted above may not be endorsed by a health care professional or weight loss support group nor will they work for each individual.  I'm simply sharing what's worked in helping me to achieve and maintain my weight loss goals. 

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