Same Goals, Different Season
April 11, 2015
5 Ways to Maintain Your Goals
As we start to transition into spring, we are reminded that reaching our goals have become more crucial than ever! However, keeping up with your weight loss goals may prove challenging when you have yet to see your progress. Here are five tips that should help you reach your weight loss goal in time for summer!
1. Keep a Scale, Weigh in Regularly.
Weighing yourself daily can be nauseating and causes such a stir on many diet forums; most people optioning to ditch the scale in favor of a visual motivator. However, a scale provides immediate information about your weight and helps you be aware of your progress daily. It also aides in helping you manage your weight long-term and influences your eating behaviors.
The best way to use the scale is to make a routine of it, like brushing your teeth. After you wake up in the morning and release any water weight in your system, jump on the scale and record your progress. Recording your weight can be fun with your virtual model, since the two of you will be losing it together.
2. Keep a Daily Journal. Document Your Progress.
Aside from keeping a scale and recording your progress on your MMD app, keeping a journal of your daily activities is also a good way to be aware of your eating and exercise habits. Recording when you eat, who you eat with, and the circumstances for your eating habits reveals the triggers and emotional patterns that can lead to weight gain. To learn more about the benefits of a food journal, check out the 6 Fascinating Things a Food Journal Can Teach You About Your Eating Habits.
3. Stay Active. Walk It Out!
In addition to strengthening your heart and improving your blood pressure and cholesterol, walking can increase your metabolism and energy levels. A good walk can always relieve stress and tension in the body, while toning your legs and stomach. For people who are battling obesity or are limited to the type of exercises they can do, walking is a good way to start transitioning into a more active lifestyle. Dedicate 30 minutes of your day to taking a nice walk with you and your model or take 10 minutes throughout the day to ensure that the both of you get the most out of your workout!
4. Portion Control; Eat in Moderation.
A lot of our weight gain is attributed to the amount of food we serve our selves. Portion control is difficult when you have developed an eating pattern over the years. So what do we do to control our eating habits and maintain our diets? Why not change the dish you serve your food in. Brian Wansink’s book Slim By Design focuses on changing the environment in which you eat in order to help monitor your eating habits. By doing mindless acts like changing our plate size or storing our snack food in more inaccessible places, we are making an effortless step towards change!
5. Motivate Yourself. Try Something New!
Weight loss will always start with building your self-esteem, but how do we motivate ourselves when we feel defeated by the battle to take back our bodies. Instead of continuing the same workout and diet routine, try something new every once in awhile, whether it be a class or exercise. Sometimes even joining a team or group of your favorite sport’s activity can be motivating, because you are part of a support group that is trying to advance every individual’s progress.
Waking up with a positive affirmation of the day can also help us obtain our goals, because we are championing ourselves before anyone else. Whether you send a love note or support someone else’s goal on Facebook, you are spreading positivity and keeping an open mind to many possibilities and goals you can maintain and achieve!
Got more tips? Write it in the comment section!
Alyssa, From Model My Diet