Follow these tips to "treat yourself" to a healthier, slimmer body and lose weight easily:
1. Table. Plate. Chair.
Every time you put food in your mouth, you should have three things, Blatner says: a table, a plate and a chair. They ensure you're not sneaking snacks from the refrigerator late at night or gulping down 1,000 calories in your car from a fast food joint.
2. Willpower is a mental muscle. Exercise it.
Willpower is a limited resource but we all have it. The trick is in knowing how to use it efficiently. Like any muscle, your willpower gets tired. So you have to plan, and know what you will do in situations that offer a healthy choice and an unhealthy choice. Willpower also needs to be replenished daily. The best way to do this is getting enough sleep.
3. Find better friends.
It is socialization effect. We tend to pick up the habits of those we hang out with the most. So find some friends with healthy habits, and you'll become healthier yourself.
4. Do a cart check.
This gives you enough choice that you won't get bored but not enough choice that you're overwhelmed and end up looking for the nearest vending machine.
5. Do not eat in response to that thing.
Plan what you're going to eat at these special -- or not so special -- occasions so you don't have to rely on your willpower. And only eat when you're hungry. There will be more food at the next thing.
6. Tell yourself: "I have the right to be thin."
We have to learn to validate ourselves, because we'll never get everything we need from other people. Tell yourself daily that you deserve to be healthy. You deserve to look and feel good. Then believe it.
7. Set S.M.A.R.T. goals.
It's attainable and realistic; everyone can find 30 minutes in their day, and walking doesn't require a lot of equipment or special training. And it's timely because you'll be able to see at the end of the month if you hit your goal.
8. Stand up.
Most of us now spend eight hours a day sitting at our desks at work, and two to three hours sitting at home. That kind of sedentary lifestyle is nearly impossible to counterac. Try standing up at your desk while on a conference call, or walking to a colleague's desk instead of e-mailing him. Take the stairs. Park farther away. Everything counts!
9. Life will never be stress-free. Learn to cope.
The problem is that there never will be a long period in your life without stress. And if we cope with everyday stress by indulging in brownies and vodka, the weight will continue to pile on. The key is to learn positive coping skills. If work is stressing you out, take a 10-minute walk instead of hitting up the cookie tray in the breakroom. Take a yoga class at the end of a long week. Use deep breaths to get through a phone call with your mother.
Change your lifestyle to lose weight easily and make your life better.
