Focus on Your Weight Loss Success Not Your Mistakes

To be successful, we need to focus on success!  We become more self-confident when we look at all the good and right things we are doing for our health and well-being.  Think about your all your successes, then build upon all that has been going well.  Just starting a diet plan is a huge success as you have decided to take that first step to improve your life.  Then we learn about the plan, become organized and start the journey to weight loss.  These are the building blocks to successful thinking and dieting.

When we limit our thinking and focus on the mistakes we may have made on our diet plan, that "weighs" us down!  We don't want to become discouraged and give up!  If you do make a mistake, just get up, dust yourself off, get back on track and get back on plan.  It's OK to do this; I give you permission to do so!!!  Think about this:  what advice would you give to a friend who may have slipped up?  Be your own friend to yourself.  Be your own good motivational coach!

Losing weight, staying on plan requires a great deal of determination.  Greater success is likely, when we focus on the positive and all the success we have accomplished.  Being able to believe in yourself and all the good you are doing for your well-being will make your weight- loss journey a successful trip.

Align Yourself with Healthy Eating Choices

"Focus on what at you can have,
not what you can't have."
-Lynn Merritt

Focus on what at you can have, not what you can't have.  I said this years ago to my best friend as we started another diet together.  I still use my old faithful affirmation today as I continue my journey on my weight loss lifestyle.  I love this saying!

I think when we focus on the positive side of things, life is easier, we make the right choices that are the best for us, things are less stressful and we feel good!  When on a diet, we can make healthy choices or bad choices.   Behaviorally, when we focus on positive affirmations that help us make better choices, that leads us to positive actions.  I always like the glass to be half full, not half empty; therefore, we have to focus on what is the best and the right eating choice for us. We can change our focus away from bad food choices to focusing upon all the wonderful healthy eating choices that are out there.  All it takes is an easy shift in attitude.

Being committed to a lower carb, low glycemic, low fat diet for awhile now, I have learned to make changes and substitutions in what I eat as compared to what I used to eat.  For example, I made the choice to switch to low carb breads.  My sweetener of choice is Truvia.  My "hot chocolate" is unsweetened chocolate almond milk with truvia heated up on a cold morning.  When I go out to eat, salads have replaced fries as side orders and sauteed spinach has replaced pasta. I'm happy to say I have become very creative.  I don't feel deprived about these choices at all; I feel so happy that I have focused on making the best switch for my diet/lifestyle.  This comes so natural to me because I have aligned myself with  more positive thinking.  The best part is this:  I see and feel the amazing results of weight loss because of my positive alignment with all the right choices!  And, that is a really good feeling.

As you continue on your own weight loss journey, go ahead,  be creative, be committed and be in alignment with the best eating choices for you!  I know you can do it.  Lynn

Temptation: Be Assertive and Stay On Course

Here in the United States we are getting ready for the upcoming Holidays.  On deck is Halloween and the candy, Thanksgiving and the stuffing (I'm not just talking about the stuffing in the bird), Christmas and the celebrating.  I know I have readers from South Korea, United Kingdom, Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Canada, South Africa and Denmark, and you have your special Holidays, so please apply this information to your most special days.  

With the upcoming Holiday traditions, temptation to go off your diet is strong.  As you know, I have been on the plan I follow for 13 months now.  In that year's time, I didn't go off plan on the Holidays.  I stayed strong and stayed on plan throughout the celebratory days.  I made it a point to do so.  In this blog entry, I 'll talk about strategies to stay on plan during our special days.  (I will admit to you that this year I turned 50 and I did "celebrate" abundantly on my big day!!!)  My only "cheat" in 13 months!  I forgave myself and moved on.

I learned if we choose to stay on plan during the Holidays these are good skills work with:

Assertiveness:  Remember the saying?   "Just say no."  You have to be able to assert yourself.  It's hard enough to say no to yourself, let alone family members who are not on plan.  The Holidays are so emotional too, so be strong.  Say no nicely, let people know you are on a diet.  Believe me it gets easier with practice.

Alignment:  Work with your healthy choices.  This is an exercise in self control and discipline.  If your diet plan and health means a great deal to you, stay on your course.  Your self esteem will increase when you stick to it.

Courage:  It does take a lot of courage to say no in the face of temptation.  You can do it.  You had the courage to start your diet in the first place, right?

Confidence:  Have the confidence in yourself to be in control.  Have the confidence to know you can get through these times.  You can do it. Tell yourself you can do it.  You are strong! 

I spoke of positive self-talk before.  Keep that dialogue going on with yourself during these times.  Be honest with people and your family, let them know you are making healthy lifestyle choices, even during the Holidays.  Most people are understanding.

Think about how wonderful you will feel if you stay away from temptation, stay in control, and stick to your plan.  I know you can do it. The Holidays are almost here; start practicing now!!!!

Is it Emotional Eating or Insulin Resistance?

Recently, I have had some conversations with people who claim they are emotional eaters.  That is, they feel the need to eat when they are stressed, feel depressed, are angry, have anxiety, have low self-esteem, are bored or trying to compensate for a lack of something in their lives.  Although, there very well may be people out there who do overeat and are overweight because of emotional reasons, I have come to the realization that there are a great number of people who think they are emotional eaters; yet, they just may be overeating because of a physiological problem called Insulin Resistance. 

It is interesting to note that The American Psychiatric Association has never made a statement that overeating or being overweight is a psychiatric disorder.  I also find it interesting that the DSM IV, which is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the most the most widely used psychiatric reference in the world, does not have a mental disorder diagnostic code for overeating.

Now, let's discuss Insulin Resistance, a big factor in Metabolic Syndrome.  As I said in a past blog entry, Insulin is the fat growth hormone which is produced by the pancreas and that allows glucose into cells where it can be utilized as fuel. Because of heredity and lifestyle, (consumption of too much carbohydrates and lack of exercise) cells can become resistant to insulin. This causes the pancreas to pump out more insulin than is normal to get glucose inside the cell. When this happens it is known as "insulin resistance" (IR)   Studies have shown that people with Insulin Resistance can experience brain dysfunction due to this hormonal imbalance.  This can give a direct link to depression and IR. 

When we are depressed, that is. physiologically depressed, we have lower levels of serotonin.  Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that makes us feel good, calms us and gives us a sense of overall well-being.  When we lack serotonin, that can make us feel depressed.  Now, eating too many carbohydrates cause an increase in serotonin levels, so our brain sends out more messages to eat carbs (carb cravings).  Because of these carb cravings, we cave into them physiologically, eat the carbs and our body pumps out the fat growth hormone insulin and we become overweight.  This is the vicious cycle of Metabolic Syndrome.

See what I am getting at here?  If you have Insulin Resistance (Metabolic Syndrome) maybe, just maybe, you are not really the "emotional eater" you thought you were!  Could it be your body responding to something very physical?  And not all those aforementioned emotional issues? 

As a person with Metabolic Syndorme, I have experienced this.  Since being on a healthy, lower carb, lower glycemic, lower fat diet/lifestyle, I have seriously lost those carb cravings and feel, physically, better than ever.

If you suspect you may have metabolic issues, talk to your health care professional about blood testing for Metabolic Syndrome.  Look for the kind of diet plan I follow,  commit to a realistic exercise program, get nutritional guidance and a make sure you have a support system that will help you change any unhealthy lifestyle choices.

Commitment: Make Your Weight Loss Goals a Successful Reality

"I'm going to do this thing."
- Lynn Merritt

For those of you who know me, I'm a very creative person; yet, at the same time, I tend to be a practical thinker too.  I don't mind following routines and plans when working with a weight loss regime.  I like to have a solid foundation within a plan.  It is my opinion to be successful with permanent weight loss we must have a guideline, or a foundation in place.  It's really quite easy; we must follow a diet that fits us and exercise.  We must commit to a lifestyle change and develop a health-minded consciousness to lose and keep the weight off.

Let's talk about the big C:  Commitment.  First of all, no one and I'll emphasize, no one can make us lose weight.  We have to want to "do this thing" for ourselves.  How many of us, over the years, have tried to lose weight; yet, were not really committed?  When we are ready to work on weight loss and for the right reasons, we become invincible!  We do it. 

Because it takes effort to make the commitment to start and stay on a weight loss plan as a lifestyle, try to resolve any other emotional issues going on in your life.  As you work on your physical changes, a good balance is to take care of your mind and spirit too.  An excellent way to work within the foundation of balance is to surround yourself with supportive people who will be there for you, body, mind and spirit. 
Ideally, those closest to you should be the best support; however, if you feel family or friends are not the most supportive, seek out a support group either in person or online.  There are plenty of them out there.  Find the people who share your new way of thinking and desire a healthier lifestyle too.  You can do it and it is ultimately your responsibility to commit to a plan for your health, but you don't have to do it alone!

When you have that commitment to do something good for yourself, make sure you have a plan, stick to it, seek support, be realistic, exercise, and make it all a lifestyle habit.  I have the complete confidence in you that you can "do this thing" too!  Lynn

Self Confidence: Believe in Yourself and Discover Your Success

"What seems impossible one minute becomes,
 through faith, possible the next." 
-Norman Vincent Peale

Self confidence is an extremely good tool to have in your personal toolbox. It is an attitude that, when in balance and check, will serve you well. I think most people tend to have a sense of lower confidence in themselves.  This attitude tends to make us avoid setting goals and taking a risk in trying something new, especially when it comes to actually setting weight loss goals and going for it in a weight loss plan!  I cannot say I know too many over confident people; yet, if too over confident, one may not even try hard enough to really succeed.  A good, reasonable, sense of the right amount of self confidence is this:  having the belief and faith in yourself, your worth and your abilities. 

Negative thinking, or listening to other people's negative attitudes, can set you up for a vicious cycle that squelches your self confidence.  How many of you can relate to this cycle?  Negative thinking and negative self-talk, leads to decreased self confidence, which leads to not discovering and experiencing your true success, which leads back to negative thinking.  The vicious cycle, which is most likely not even reality!  When working toward your weight loss goals, it is best to avoid this type of thinking.

Here are some tips for building your self confidence when working on weight loss:

Build a knowledge base for your success.  Find a weight loss plan that works for you.  Study the plan, gain an understanding of how it works, be organized and follow it.

Set weight loss goals.  Know your reasons for wanting to achieve your goals.

Make a commitment to stay on plan for yourself.

Keep up the positive thinking.  Don't talk to yourself... unless it's positive self talk!  Start by being your own coach and motivational speaker.  Remember I kept saying, about the weight loss plan I follow, "I'm going to do this thing."  You will begin to inspire yourself at first, then when others see your success, you will be an inspiration to others!

Take the chance.  Take that chance to start something new, to lose the weight, not only physically, but emotionally too.

In conclusion, when you take the time to really believe in yourself, motivate yourself, and build upon self confidence, you do indeed discover a successful You!

Fear of Success

Most of us know all the reasons why we want to lose weight.  What we don't tend to think about is the reasons for not wanting to lose weight.  You may want to look a little below the surface and see if there are any scary feelings that have to do with being successful with your weight loss goal. 

In general, I do think we have fearful feelings when starting anything new.  As a matter of fact, when someone suggested I write this blog, I was actually scared to do it.  I didn't want to admit it, so I cast light on the shadowy fear.  I faced my fears and did it anyway. As a result,  I have found interacting within this media to be pleasurable, thought provoking and fun!  Not as scary as I thought!

I read somewhere that FEAR stands for:
Fantasized and often Frightful
Experiences
Appearing
Real
 
A long time ago,  I read that those fears we conjure up... only 5% of those fears tend to be real.  If this is the case, then what are we doing to ourselves, especially when it comes to weight loss goals?  Lets look at some fears that probably are not real; yet, may be deep inside us.  Here are some examples of emotional issues that may go hand in hand with fear of success:

-Fears we may accomplish ours goals, but still not be happy.

-Feeling we are unworthy or undeserving of the recognition that we have accomplished something successful.  When we lose a significant amount of weight, people do notice the physical you is different.  This can draw attention to ourselves and some people fear that 

-Fears of making mistakes on a diet plan.

-Not believing in yourself to attempt and stick to a diet plan again

-Fears you cannot commit to a healthy weight loss regime

-Not believing you possess the motivation to start or continue on a plan for health.

So, if maybe 5% of these fears or beliefs are not even real what can we do to alleviate our fears?   

Try this to turn fear of success into true success:

Remind yourself of the hard work and effort you have put into you weight loss goals.

Visualize your success.

Take a look at how you can measure your success.  For example, how you feel, look, how your clothes fit, what inches you have lost, even, what the scale says.

Be realistic with yourself by positive thinking.  Try to avoid negative self-talk.

Accept the compliments that are given to you when people see those changes.  Don’t put yourself down after a kind word from someone.  Simply, say “Thank You” when someone compliments you.  

Give consideration to whether any fears are thwarting your weight loss goals. Do not be fearful of your hard earned success. Sometimes this may be something from the past that does not even serve you emotionally anymore.  By casting a light on your shadowy fears, this reduces anxieties and paves the way for a truly successful you!