Don’t let your present circumstances keep you from making progress. Instead of getting stuck on what you can’t do, figure out which things you can salvage from your past.
Most of the mental images and self-talk phrases that helped before will probably work again. Even if your life is different now, you can still draw on what worked for you before.
Maybe you laid your exercise clothes out at night or kept a water bottle in the refrigerator so you could grab it easily before you started your walk.
Remember what used to work, then pull your best strategies back off the shelf and put them into your program again. Think back to previous times when you’ve done well with losing weight or exercising regularly.
In the past, what did you do to stick with your diet program? How did you keep yourself on track, even through difficult days?
See if you can recall specific actions or techniques you used during times when you were being successful.
As you think back to times when you’ve done well, pull out the tiniest details that previously helped you stick with your efforts. Then use all of your old tricks to boost your current plan.
Today’s assignment (My answers are in blue)
1. Make a list of all the best weight-management “tricks” you remember from your past.
Eat only two bites of favorite foods
Have dessert only when it’s “special”
Eat only half of a special treat, then stop
Postpone eating at parties or gatherings until the end of the event
Remind myself that I don’t eat because it’s “there.”
Do “something” every day for exercise or activity.
2. Put a star beside all the ones you could use again. Also, write down any new ones that you might like to try.
Record my actions and my food intake again. It always helps me stay on track.
3. Pick one idea to put into action today, then do it! Record what you did and how it worked for you.
I’ve always liked the idea of postponing eating. I’ve used it a lot at family gatherings as well as parties. It gives me a chance to “anticipate” the taste of favorite foods, yet many times to skip eating them because by the end of the event, I’m not craving them as much as before.