Honesty in Your Health Journey - A Key to Successful Weight Loss

Be honest with yourself. You are aware, of course, that everything you eat and drink has an impact? I say that because I used to lie to myself. When I was counting calories or points, I would regularly not count the odd half a biscuit or a dip into a bag of crisps or I thought, if I just eat half of the bar of chocolate, it didn’t count. Occasionally I would have a big night out and think, well let’s not add that, obviously it’s bad, it’s best just to ignore it, like an overweight ostrich with my head in the sand.

We need to be honest with ourselves, everything we eat and drink counts. Often, I found the best advice you get is from yourself. Ask your conscience what it really feels. I got a good tip a week or so ago and I’m going to share it with you. I really like this. Someone I met who has had a successful weight loss journey implemented this little trick herself. Before she was naughty, she would tell herself what she was going to do. She would actually say it out loud. She would say for instance, I’m going to the cupboard to eat probably 5 chocolate digestive biscuits, I’m going to the cupboard to eat a packet of crisps, I’m now opening a bottle of wine and if I’m not careful I could end up drinking all of it.

We both laughed, but since then I’ve tried it myself, I think it’s genius. That’s not to say you can’t indulge every now and again but try telling yourself first that that is what you are able to do. Occasional indulgence is ok, in fact, I’d almost recommend it, especially if you find you are losing weight. If you regularly losing weight, a pound, 2 or 3 pounds a week, I think you can allow yourself a small indulgence. Just make sure these indulgences don’t become regular habits. I’ve talked to members before who have lost weight and then stalled, and when I’ve chatted to them, I’ve found that Sunday roasts with roast potatoes had become the norm. Friday night takeaways had also become the norm, they had lost weight, brilliant, they weren’t putting on weight, fantastic, but they still wanted to lose more. It was obvious once we had started talking honestly about what had happened, the treats had become the normal, be careful.

Another member I think enlightened me on the attitude towards eating well. This is a lady who has lost over 3 stone and still wants to lose more. She said, the way to successfully do this is to not think about weight loss, just eat your meals and this is the revelation, she said think like a slim person. A slim person doesn’t think, oh, I’m not allowed this, or I’m not allowed that. In fact, they don’t think about it at all. They just eat their healthy meals every day. Healthy is their default position, it’s not willpower, they enjoy their meals, they’re not doing anything else that you shouldn’t now do, in fact, they are not even thinking about it.

There you go, some thoughts to ponder, thoughts that actually came to me through GreggWallace.Health members. If you’ve got pearls of wisdom you would like to share, please do. We are in this together. We are all on the same journey. Do please let me know what it is you may have learnt.

Key Takeaways:

1. Being honest with yourself about your eating habits is crucial for successful weight loss.;

2. Occasional indulgence is okay, but it should not become a regular habit; and

3. Thinking like a slim person, who enjoys healthy meals as their default, can help in weight loss.