Finally, here’s how to lose weight and keep it off

Think this: It’s within my power to eat what I love, maintain my weight, and do both with just little changes in my habits and lifestyle…….

Get this: I reached and am maintaining a healthy weight for me and it feels (and tastes!) good.

We trap ourselves and stop our progress by self-defeating thinking.

I never thought that losing weight would work if I didn't deprive myself of foods I love and without joining the gym."

I never thought that losing weight would work if I didn’t deprive myself of foods I love and without joining the gym.”

We put limits on ourselves where there should not be any.

We get caught up in the moment and only think about what we want right now.

We fail to see how “getting what we want now, stops us from getting all that we want.

We say we, “have no choice,” when reality is we have literally hundreds, maybe thousands of choices but we don’t know how to look for them. Instead we try to convince ourselves,

Nothing tastes as good as being thin feels.”

Now that she's thin and she doesn't allow herself to eat any of these treats ever, her craving for them is becoming painful. Soon they will all taste better than thin feels!

Now that she’s thin and she doesn’t allow herself to eat any of these treats ever, her craving for them is becoming painful. Soon they will all taste better than thin feels.

Reject that limiting belief! Embrace this instead, “Nothing feels as as good as a realistic weight goal and eating good-tasting food!

Lots of the foods on the right and a little of the foods on the left and she can be thinner and eat everything that tastes good!

Lots of the foods on her left and a little of the foods on her right and she can be thinner and eat everything that tastes good.

We need to let our thoughts explore choices that give us everything we want – the good feelings that come with being at goal, what tastes good, and living our lives. It can be done.

Figure out how how to do it. Don’t keep trying the same things that didn’t give you the outcome you wanted. You have it in you to come up with something else, and if it’s not working, you can come up with something else again, or fix the parts of an old plan that didn’t work while keeping the parts that did.

I will share the things I’m doing to feel good with my weight, eat the food I love, and live my life.

I’m sharing what works for me not to say this is what you must do too, but to open you up to the possibilities that are available for you to achieve and sustain your weight-related goals.

My goal weight is realistic and sustainable.

  • I made a choice to choose a realistic goal weight. Would I like to wear a smaller size? Yes. Am I willing to make sacrifices to fit into a smaller size? No, well maybe temporarily, but I couldn’t live that way.
  • I’m healthy at this weight, I feel good at this weight, I’m not going to dwell on what more I could do to look better.
  • I’m going to be happy that I’m consistently maintaining this weight that looks better and is better for my health than my former weight.

I’ve new discovered foods and methods of preparation of familiar dishes that are lower in calories and taste delicious.

  • I made a choice to find more foods that taste good, are high in nutritional density and low in energy density.
  • I eat lots of fruits and vegetables. They taste good and I can eat a lot without worrying about portions or frequency. They’re a “safe” food to eat any time I just want to eat for the sake of eating.
  • I chose to and now love to try new foods, especially fresh foods (as opposed to processed) flavored with spices and herbs instead of added fats and sugars.
  • I don’t skip meals.
  • My servings are smaller.
  • I eat slower and it fills me up with less.
  • I have small servings of treats often keeping balance and moderation in mind.
  • Sometimes I choose to eat what I really want at another time if eating it right now will compromise my food plan. I don’t say, “I can’t eat that.” I say, “I want to eat that at a different and better time.”
  • I increased my physical activity to burn more calories so I can avoid being hungry or feeling deprived.

My weight-related behaviors complement my life rather than complicate it.

I like to dine out and I don’t want to stop or do it less often. I don’t like to make or even stick to plans. I like to be impulsive. I hate gyms and don’t want to spend any time exercising in a gym – ever! It’s important that I can manage my weight and continue to live my life the way I described.

  • I know how to make choices in all kinds of restaurants that allow me to enjoy a satisfying meal and stay at goal.
  • I treat dining out as though I was eating a meal at home.
  • Most of the time I skip the extras, the bread, alcohol, and dessert because they’re not part of my meals at home.
  • Physical activity has become a regular part of my day.
  • I don’t like gyms and working out, but I’ll walk a few miles with my dog.

    I have a beautiful place to walk. Why would I choose a treadmill in a gym over this? When I walk I appreciate how much easier it is to cover distance without foot, knee or hip pain. It feels good to take care of my body.

    I have a beautiful place to walk. Why would I choose a treadmill in a gym over this? When I walk I appreciate how much easier it is to cover distance without foot, knee or hip pain. It feels good to take care of my body.

  • I break up long periods of sitting with five-minute walks.
  • I make exercise “play!” I spend time with my very active grandsons, 1 and 2-1/2. There’s no sitting when I’m with them. I’m up and down, chasing them, picking them up, picking up after them. I kayak and play with my dog. I get a good all-day workout and love every minute of it.

We don’t make choices to cause us unhappiness or pain. We make choices because we get something we want or need or to escape pain. Before we choose, we can take time to think about everything we want so that we can make the choices that will give us everything we want.

"I GOT this!"

“I GOT this!”

You want to manage your weight and you want your weight loss behaviors to be positive changes and actions that fit your life and even enhance it.

 

Jackie Conn

About Jackie Conn

Jackie Conn is married and has four grown daughters and four grandchildren. She is a Weight Watchers success story. She's a weight loss expert with 25 years of experience guiding women and men to their weight-related goals. Her articles on weight management have been published in health, family and women's magazines. She has been a regular guest on Channel 5 WABI news, FOX network morning program Good Day Maine and 207 on WCSH.