Before the holiday season, perhaps you were highly motivated and committed to living a healthy lifestyle. Beginning each day with enthusiasm and hope, you did everything you were “supposed” to do – ate clean, exercised, and overall acted according to the lifestyle that would help you achieve your goals.
Then the holiday season arrived. You drank a bottle of wine and ate pumpkin pie to your heart’s content. Realizing you had “blown” your diet, you ate more and more over the following weeks and before you knew it, you gained weight. Now, the season of splurging is over and you are most likely feeling bloated, overstuffed, uncomfortable, and disappointed with yourself.
Every time you relapse during your journey to good health, you have two choices: 1. to keep walking backwards, which will surely take you even further away from your goals; or 2. Accept your lack of perfection as normal and forgivable, and take not one, but two positive steps down the path that brings you closer to the body and future you want.
So, you may have been walking backwards since Halloween, but instead of waiting for tomorrow, next Monday, or next month to overhaul your habits, start TODAY. Below are 4 steps to get back on track after the holiday season.
Step 1: Come to Terms with your Actions
Regular weigh-ins often come to a halt once you recognize the potential damage that may be occurring. However, it is important to be aware of the changes that occurred throughout the duration of the momentary derailment from your plan. Take a deep breath and make things known to yourself.
Step 2: Be Positive!
Slip-ups happen! Whatever happened, it’s in the past and cannot be reversed, so you might as well continue moving forward. Research actually indicates that beating yourself up regarding past behaviors are ineffective to providing motivation. In fact, negative self-talk like calling yourself “fat,” “gross,” a “failure” or other names can actually lead to the continuation of weight gain. Make it a point to picture something like a traffic light or stop sign whenever you find yourself being overly-critical of your actions. Replace negative self-talk with compassionate, motivating thoughts which will spearhead your journey to success.
Step 3: Diet Proof your House
Diet proofing your home is vital to your overall success. Get rid of all of the leftovers from the holiday season. According to research, the average person consumes 70%- 80% of their calories from food that comes from their refrigerator and pantry. If you are attempting to create new eating habits while there are excessive fat, sugar, and salt-laden treats in your kitchen, you are setting yourself up for failure. Diet proof your home so there is nothing to grab when urge to splurge kicks in.
Step 4: Establish a Routine
If what you were doing before was working, get back to it ASAP! Routines and structure are both relaxing and critical to overall success. Create structure and you’ll have an easier time getting back to where you used to be, or better.
Losing your unwanted pounds doesn’t have to be a difficult trek! Red Mountain Weight Loss is committed to your success. Remember: you are worth it. If you need extra support, schedule an individual counseling session with me at our Scottsdale location so that I can help you break through your weight loss barriers and succeed once and for all!
