If there weren’t a gazillion things out there just waiting to derail your weight loss, we’d all be slim. Often things seem to go well at first and then life happens. Things to watch out for include:
1. The well-meaning person – family member, friend spouse, co-worker, everyone has an opinion on dieting. It is amazing how the second you start to lose weight everyone becomes a diet expert. Be firm, if what they are telling you is not helping, tell them so, as firmly and nicely as possible.
2. The Event – Big family wedding, office Christmas party, whatever. There are occasions that are just too tempting. Your best bet is to plan ahead for these. Decide in advance what, if any, deviations you will make from your diet. Make sure you have had enough to eat and drink earlier in the day. If necessary, have a salad in advance. Eat healthy food first before you try Aunt Mary’s pecan pie.
3. People who feel threatened by your weight loss. Does your spouse seem worried that you might be looking for someone else? Does your best friend still want to go to that pastry shop? Has a co-worker started to avoid you? If you are losing significant amounts of weight, chances are someone will feel threatened.
4. You cheated on your diet – if you have been getting discouraged this can be difficult to rebound from, but you must! Get yourself up and dust yourself off, you can still do it.
5. Unrealistic expectations – If you are very overweight you can lose as much as ten pounds a week. This will only last a short time and then your weight loss should slow to one to two pounds per week. Weight fluctuates during the day and from week to week so don’t be surprised if you sometimes seem to have put weight back on. There are many reasons for this. One of them could be that you have added muscle mass from exercising.
6. Boredom – Overweight people use food as a source of excitement and recreation. As a teenager, I was so excited when I discovered Chinese and Italian food. Even today, sushi gives me the taste of the exotic. Look for other ways to find excitement. Actually, if you look around you can still find ethnic inspired recipes that will fit with your diet. Watch programs on exotic places on TV while you exercise. Some people find that taking up crafts like knitting is a way to keep their hands occupied and away from food. Go visit a museum or art gallery. Anything that will fill the space that extra food held in your life.
7. Focusing too much on the Scale – any veteran knows that there are times when your clothing is getting looser but the scales won’t budge. We have also experienced times when there were no signs of diet success. During these times, we must look to the improved behaviors as a sign of success. Can we walk further than we did two months ago? Do we eat a more balanced diet? Have we stopped eating doughnuts every day? Is our blood pressure down? There has to be something that you are proud of, focus on it.
8. All or nothing mentality – As a teenager I always felt let down after I lost weight. Why? Well, I was still short and chunky, just smaller short and chunky. I still had large hips, they weren’t fat, but they were bigger than most teenage girls were. I never seemed to notice that my waist was smaller. Dieting and exercise will improve the body you have. It will not turn you into Pippa Middleton.
9. Lack of support – you need an understanding shoulder to cry on once in a while.
10. Lack of Knowledge – read as much as you can on health and nutrition. In many areas, there are healthy living classes that are free or almost free. Check out your national food guide. Learn about portion control. Make sure your knowledge is as up to date as possible.