Advanced Weight Loss Strategies
Strategies for Risk Situations relating to Food
You probably know better than anyone the types of situations where you might be most tempted to overeat or to eat unhealthily. It could be for example one or more of the following:
- When stressed or feeling down
- When celebrating
- Out at restaurants
- At particular times of day
- With particular people
- In particular situations.
So plan for these situations. Decide in advance what you intend to eat and how you are going to increase your chances of carrying through your plan. Don't expect yourself always to be successful, but do your best and acknowledge your successes even if partial. If you find a strategy or plan which works particularly well for you, then try to use it again.
Give yourself other things to do with your time to keep yourself constructively occupied if boredom may be a factor - take up a new hobby or plan to do things that you enjoy which don't involve eating.
Challenge Your Habitual Thinking
Do you have particular thought patterns which are contributing to your difficulties in eating healthily and sensibly? These might involve any or all of the following thoughts:
- I ought to be able to stop eating fattening foods but I just can't
- I must have something seriously wrong with me or I lack willpower
- It won't matter if I just have one of these...
- I've had one, now I can't stop
- I deserve to be fat
If you experience any of the above thoughts or other thoughts which are quite moralistic in nature - either putting yourself down or alternatively minimising your difficulties - then ask yourself if there are any Balancing Statements that you can make to yourself which will actually be more realistic and sensible and will remove the emotive explanation or justification you are giving for your eating habits.
For example, you might say to yourself:
'Losing weight is difficult because I have built up some eating habits which are hard to break. However, I do have a choice about the extent to which I overeat or eat unhealthy foods. I can choose to eat healthily and make small improvements over a period of time'.
The aim in formulating a Balancing Statement to say to yourself, is to find some words which are accurate, realistic and motivating rather than extreme or unrealistic. Try making up your own Balancing Statement and see what particular realistic motivating statement works best for you!
Monitor Your Weight
You should be able to tell if your weight is going down, as your clothes become a little looser. Nonetheless, people do manage to deceive themselves about the extent of weight loss (some people tend towards optimism and others towards pessimism). So weigh yourself once every week or fortnight - at the same time of day (preferably first thing in the morning) on the same set of scales, to ensure consistency. That way you will be able to see how you are progressing.
If the scales show that you are moving in the right direction, then give yourself credit - or maybe even reward yourself by doing something you enjoy (not involving unhealthy eating!).
If you stilll have difficulty in getting your weight down, don't beat yourself up about it. Try to think practically about what small changes you can make to your eating habits or lifestyle which will help you to get back on the right path.
Like This Page? Share it on Social Media:
- - - - - - - - -- - -
For downloadable ebook Self-Help Guides to different topics go to:
Self-Help ebook Downloads