"There's only one thing you have to do, and you only have to do it one time. You just have to say no to the off plan food in front of you right this second."
I'm not sure where this quote came from. I didn't make it up, it isn't mine. But it is a quote I have saved in the Notes app on my phone, from when I first started losing weight. It really helped.
See, when you are first starting out losing weight, you look at yourself, and you think, "OMG, I have to lose ___ pounds. I will be dieting for such a long time! I'm never going to get to have french fries (or ice cream, or chocolate, or whatever) again!!!" and it all just becomes too much. It's overwhelming. Looking at the big picture when you are just getting started often leads to frustration, a sense of impossibility, that you just can't do it.
To change that, you simply have to change your focus. You have to look at THIS choice, not the whole string of choices you will have to make over time. Focus on staying on plan THIS TIME, not being 100% compliant. All the "this times" will add up in time. Have faith. But it's much, much easier to make the right choice for yourself when you haven't given yourself the pressure of making the right choice forever.
I did that today. When I leave work is a really tempting time for me. As I'm leaving the office, I am just across the parking lot from a couple of my favorite fast food places. And I was SO tempted today to stop at McDonald's and get an apple pie, because, you know, it was right there, and it would be easy. I've already lost my weight. What does an apple pie matter? But sometimes an apple pie is more carbs or calories or whatever than I feel like I should eat at any given moment, so today, I decided to have a Medifast caramel crunch bar instead. I didn't have to give up apple pies forever. There will be a day when I've run a half marathon or gone on a long hike, or haven't had a sweet treat in a while, and I can eat an apple pie without feeling like I shouldn't, and then I will. But instead of worrying about all that, I just focused on that decision, on whether I should have an apple pie right then, and I decided, no, I shouldn't and I wasn't. So I didn't.
Especially when I was still on plan, this idea worked. I knew that all those individual times of not eating off plan, of choosing to stay on plan, would pay off, but I didn't focus on that. I kept my focus on what was right in front of me right that moment. It's way easier to say no to one thing one time than it is to say no to all the things, all the time.
Have you tried this way of thinking? Has it worked for you? Let me know!!
I am an independent health coach with Take Shape For Life, fueled by Medifast. If you want help losing weight, email me at iloseitwithlori@gmail.com. I'd love to help you!!
