It has been a long road, friends. I have been SO TIRED of being on my weight loss grind. It has been over a year since I have had my head firmly planted in the realm of “I need to lose weight, and I MUST do something about it NOW”.
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Since moving my bags to this weight loss realm, however, I have realized 5 things that I need to do to keep that scale moving in a downward direction. Now, I have vacillated between my consistency in doing these things, but I have come to realize that these things must be done if I am to continue to make progress on this journey. Here it goes:
1. Meal prep
Nobody (certainly NOT I) wakes up and eats healthy without work. I will never wake up and eat healthy without a PLAN. I am sure you all know the cliché: If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. I have found this to be consistently true in my eating. I have to have spent the money, planned the meal, have the fruit and vegetables on hand, and have an idea of what I am going to do with the ingredients in my cabinet. All must be in reach. I am still working on how to actually do this all the time, but I know that it works.
2. Regular weighing
No scale avoiding here. I have learned that I need to get on it at least once per week. Even if it hurts. I must know the number. Knowing gives me a small window to make a shift, to change my behavior, to plan a different meal. When I was in weight maintenance season (much, much, more fun!!!), I had a 5-pound range. As long as I was in that range, I was considered safe. Since I have been focused on losing weight, I see the scale as accountability. I don’t always want to know, but I need a friend who will tell me the truth. I have found the scale to never lie (at least not without a little help from me). The honesty, even when it hurts, has been an incredible help to keep me from not gaining weight.
3. Watch the snacks
I love snacks. Love them. I, however, find myself to be easily deceived when eating them. I am prone to misjudge the amount and impact of what was eaten. I always think that it is just a “little bit.” Also, I think that this won’t make that much difference toward my weight loss progress. LIES!! Since early summer, I have restricted my snacking between meals to the weekend. I eat 3-4 times per day during the week. That leaves room for 3 meals and 1 snack. Once I started to do that, I found several things to be easier: 1) my sense and feeling of hunger before I ate a meal, and 2) maintaining my weight.
4. Consider my eating as an act of worship
If I consider what I eat to be a reflection of what I think about God, I am instantly shifted into a new place of accountability. I have been blessed to have knowledge, means, and an environment to access foods that are nourish my body. If I choose not to use those resources, then I am just either being lazy or negligent. I know better and I am learning to honor God with all that he has given me.
5. Don’t ignore fullness
There is no weight loss when I am also experiencing the sensation of “having eaten too much.” Over the years, I have learned that must be in tune to my body’s physiological signals of hunger and satiety. I must choose to listen and I have to re-center my body’s stop sign as a signal to not be avoided. As I have learned to do that, I have made significant progress in maintaining my weight.
6. Daily physical activity
I know–this sounds like a bit much! However, my mind shifted once I realized that daily physical activity could include just a walk around the block. Since then, I have really worked to move more days than not, even if its just a 30-minute walk. In fact, that “walk” has been the easiest thing for me to do, rather than feeling pressured to make daily gym visits. It can be done!
This journey is so LONG friends, but God has been faithful to keep sending me help along the way. Thanks for all your support. I’m going to keep moving. I hope you will too.
