Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Before I start my post for today, I want to share an article I wanted to post yesterday about bicycle riding. Weather is turning nice & many of you may want to get out & ride not only for exercise but for family fun. Check out this article about all the information you might need on buying a bicycle, what types, how to fit it to your body, recycled bikes, safety tips and more! Read it here: Bicycling. By the way, "riding at a leisurely pace of 10 to 12 mph, a 155-pound person can burn 423 calories in just 60 minutes, or about 7 calories per minute. Now up that to 14-15.9 mph, and you’ll be burning about 700 calories per hour."



OK. To my post!!!! So, how many of you have tried to "diet" before in your life? How many times can you say that you have started & stopped "a diet". I bet 99.8% of you can say that you have tried many, many times throughout the course of your life to lose weight, tone up, eat healthier and more!

I would like to offer up some advice to you. Look to what you have done in the past that has not only NOT worked for you BUT what has also worked for you! For example, let's say that you are a carb lover. Yes, I use this a lot because I am one & never could go on a low carb diet. So, you might have tried those low card diets in the past, lost a ton of weight, went back to normal eating & put all the weight back on. I am not saying that low carb does not work for some. I am only saying that if you LOVE carbs, then you need to find a food program/"diet" that incorporates foods that you can live with for life & long term. I love bread & I have found a way to have it as part of my food program. So, if low carb was not right for you in the past, why try it again. You already know it is not for you long term!!!!!

Let's say that in the past, you started to work out in the morning & it really felt good, timing was good but you just fell off the wagon. Look to what you did exercise wise in the past, times that you enjoyed working out, routines, classes or other sports activities that you loved & helped you lose weight. Why not go back to what worked!

I walk with my friend Paula once a week on her lunch hour. She had put on about 20 pounds over the past few years due to having children, increasing work responsibilities, stress among other things. She had had enough! She looked to the past for what worked for her, started to put herself first so she could be happy & healthy for her family AND herself. She put a visual white board on her wall at work so she could track both her boot camp class days along with free exercise like our walks, roller blading with kids etc. The boot camp classes have a different color circle than other exercise activities but each day she does something, it is logged on that board as positive reinforcement that she did something good for herself that day! And, she started eating better again based on what worked for her in the past. She is now down 10 pounds but her clothes fit even loser than those 10 pounds would have done for her. She brought back all the pieces of the puzzle from her past that kept her in shape then! Same with my youngest stepdaughter. She knows that she needs to be in a class like dancing which she loves OR in a controlled class environment that pushes her. She has trouble pushing herself. She signed up for boot camp classes & loves it!!!!

So, as you look to find something that will help you lose weight, eat healthy and more, do think about the past & don't repeat past mistakes, don't try things that you already know did not work for you before & you know you will not stick with long term. Choose an exercise routine that you will enjoy or at least feel like you can do long term. Do a bunch of different things if you get bored easily. There are plenty of ways to exercises, plenty of classes or sports! For your food, don't stick yourself on a diet that you know you can't live with forever. You need to find foods that will work for you long term & put together a food program that makes you healthier and "lighter" but does not drive you crazy!

You can do this. Just find what is right for you, what works for you & make yourself a priority!

PS: Check out this blog by one of my online blogger friends, Cher. She is going back to things that have worked for her in the past & she is doing great! Read some of her older posts that show her raw feelings about "falling off her program". We can all relate to that. Read her story at: just cher'ing a bit of myself