Weight Loss for Life
Keep the Weight Off – Forever!

Have some practical goals to aim for

Besides the obvious one of achieving your weight goal, why not pick some other, fun goals to help you on your way? A favourite one for many people is to buy an fabulous item of clothing in the size they’d like to be, and plan an fantastic night out to show it off.

Other people know their ultimate goal when they start a weight loss programme and for many it’s a wedding they want to lose weight for. The danger with this is that they’re thinking short term, rather than aiming to be slim for the rest of their lives. By all means have your wedding day as a fabulous reason to lose weight, but remember to think beyond the day itself. By changing your eating habits in the way set out in this plan, you are equipped to do just that.

What about having an exercise goal to aim for? Maybe there’s a half marathon being held that you could enter, or you may prefer a more modest goal like being able to play badminton regularly without getting puffed.

Whatever extra goal you choose, make sure you write it on your progress chart, so that you will see it regularly!

Tell friends – find a healthy eating buddy

Harness the power of teamwork! Make yourself accountable by telling friends of your decision to eat healthily and lose weight, and ask that they enquire regularly about your progress. People are more likely to accomplish goals if they are accountable to somebody else and have to report their progress. Make sure you pick friends who have a positive encouraging attitude, but who won’t be soft on you.

Even better, find a friend who is willing to learn healthy eating and lose weight alongside you. You’ll have support and encouragement along the way, and somebody to celebrate your success with.

Affirmations

Affirmations can be a very effective way of changing ingrained thinking. You may have some unhealthy patterns of thinking that could interfere with changing your habits successfully. I’m not referring to issues like depression that we looked at in Module 5, but rather the insidious way many people have of putting themselves down. “My body is fat and unattractive”. “I’ll never lose weight”, and so on. It ends up being a self fulfilling prophecy, and it just isn’t helpful to think in this way. Let’s look at how regular use of affirmations can help.

What are affirmations? They are positive statements, phrased in the present tense, which you repeat as often as you like to re – programme both your conscious and subconscious thinking. Why must they be positive? Because your mind picks up on the key words, so if you say “I don’t want to be fat” – being fat is what it focuses on and this is not the best way of breaking old patterns. Better to focus on slimness and health! Why must they be in the present tense? Because ones phrased in the future, such as “I will lose weight” always mean that the action of losing weight is deferred to some date yet to come, at least as far as your subconscious is concerned.

So let’s look at some examples of positive affirmations. Try:

• I am slim, healthy and happy.
• I eat nutritious, delicious foods that are good for my body.
• I achieve my goal weight easily.
• I enjoy taking great care of my body.
• Exercise is fun and keeps me in great shape.

You can practise affirmations anywhere – in the shower, driving to work, whatever suits you. For maximum effect, they should be said out loud, with a confident, positive tone. Try it and see!

Prefer something more visual?

For some people, visual aids work better than affirmations. One trick that many people have found helpful as a motivational aid is to create a Motivation Board.

Think of all the reasons to lose weight that you thought about in Module 1. How could these be represented in picture form? Buy a large sheet of cardboard from any stationers, and start cutting out appropriate pictures from magazines, etc., that will act as an incentive for your healthy eating programme and that you can stick on your Motivation Board. If an overseas backpacking trip is your motivation, cut out pictures of your dream destinations from holiday brochures. If it’s your wedding, stick on pictures of lovely bridal dresses. If it’s health and fitness, find pictures of healthy, athletic individuals doing your chosen sport.

Make sure that you include pictures of healthy food on the Board as well – create a riot of colour with purple grapes, orange carrots, and green vegetables – make it as visually appealing as you can. The aim is to get the Motivation Board to represent both the healthy food that now forms the basis of your diet along with the reasons why you want to lose weight, all in one big, fantastic, colourful motivational aid. Find some large, stick on numbers from your stationers, or cut out numbers from magazines, and make sure your goal weight is prominently on the Motivation Board too.

Place the Motivation Board somewhere prominent, such as your bedroom wall, so that you have a constant visual aid of what’s you’re aiming for.

When temptation strikes…

You’re only human, and changing ingrained habits can be difficult at first. There will be moments when you’re tempted to go back your old, favourite foods, and maybe you’ll give in to that temptation. Don’t let one slip ruin your progress! Acknowledge that you ate something that wasn’t in your plan, and go back to eating healthily. Think about whether there were any stress factors that led to your lapse – were you unhappy and in need of comfort food? Remember what we said in Module 5 – are there any issues that need professional help from a counsellor? Were you rushed and grabbed at the nearest thing to satisfy your hunger? Think again about how you can slow down your life, or carry healthy snacks with you.

If temptation is lurking, but you haven’t yet succumbed, have one of the healthy snacks from Module 3 and look again at your list of motivating factors. Distract yourself – phone a friend, do some housework, whatever will work for you.

Remember you don’t have to completely deny yourself. Yes, I know I said about that feeding cravings can keep alive unhealthy habits. However, there’s a danger that if you totally deny yourself, your cravings may carry on nagging at you, getting more and more persistent. And there’ll always be the special social occasion where you’d like a sweet dessert. If you follow the basic plan, eating plenty of complex carbohydrates, fruit and vegetables, then your cravings for junk food and sugar will subside in time. If the basic foundation of your diet is good, then an occasional deviation from that won’t hurt.

If you remember that it’s not a disaster if you occasionally eat chocolate or have a burger, then you won’t feel as if you have to attain some impossible ideal of healthy food, and nothing but, for ever and ever. Relax and don’t be too hard on yourself!

Reasons Not to be Overweight

I don’t want to focus too much on this as I’d rather emphasis the positive aspects of eating for health and slimness. However, I think it’s important that you know just how unhealthy being overweight can be for you – there’s a long list of health (should that be un – health?) conditions linked with being overweight.

Most people know of the link with heart disease – how many overweight centenarians do you see? Overweight people just don’t make it to a ripe old age. But there’s more. Overweight people have a greatly increased risk of Type 2 diabetes, the ultimate result of poor blood sugar control, and diabetes can lead to serious complications, such as blindness and amputation of limbs.

All that excess weight creates joint problems, as the large complex joints such as the knees struggle to cope with the burden that’s placed on them. Arthritis is painful and can severely restrict mobility. Overweight people suffer with back pain, which can make normal sitting positions agony.

Women who are overweight are at higher risk of breast cancer, and can also have major problems conceiving.

I could go on, but I’m sure you get the point. Love your body, don’t abuse it. Love it as it is right now, even if you still have weight to lose. It works hard for you – treat it with respect. You can’t trade it in for a new model if you wreck it.

Actions of the Week

1. Look back over your progress so far

And make sure you are recording it on your progress chart. Are you doing the other parts of the programme too? Are you exercising regularly, or at least getting more active? Are you taking your daily multivitamin and mineral supplement? Are you rewarding your success?

2. Decide on a suitable affirmation

Pick on that has some resonance for you and start using it regularly, or if you prefer, create your Motivation Board.

3. Find a sympathetic friend to work with

You need someone who will at least motivate and help you when you need it. Make sure you talk regularly to spur each other on.

4. List out at least 3 extra goals that will help you as you go along

Chose practical things, such as buying some new clothes or being able to run a mile easily. Record them on your progress chart.

Thank you for coming this far with me. I hope that by now you are excited about the new healthy future that is before you.

Remember these basics, and you’ll do fine:

• Choose unrefined, unprocessed foods, basing your diet around complex carbohydrates, balanced with good quality protein and lots of fruit and vegetables.
• Exercise as you go along, helping to tone up your body and boost its metabolism.
• Drink plenty of water and diluted juices rather than stimulants like tea and coffee.
• Review your overall health and deal with any issues such as thyroid problems or Candida.
• Consider your emotional triggers for over eating or choosing junk food and see a counsellor if necessary.
• Find ways to make your new way of life fun – regular rewards, working with a friend, creating your Motivation Board. Don’t make hard work of getting healthy!
• Always remember your motivating factors, and remind yourself of them every day. Think of yourself being able to dance the night away, having the energy to hike through the hills, or looking great in those sexy new clothes – and being able to do that for the rest of your life, being fuelled by great, nutritious food and exercise.
• Bear in mind that your focus should be health, rather than calorie counting, fad diets, deprivation, and the other miseries associated with dieting.

Remember the title of this course – I wish you every success for a long, healthy, slim life.