It Is the Little Things

Blogger is finally working again! Sorry it was down for 2 days and you could not comment and I could not post! I wrote this post yesterday for you all :)

Weight loss is not easy. It is an everyday uphill, in the heat kind of battle. I get asked on a weekly basis how do you do it, what keeps you going, don’t you get sick of being on a diet???

That last question is the one that tells me those people have not gotten it yet. They are in the mindset I was in years ago when I was obese and unhealthy.  Weight loss is hard but a diet is not the solution. A diet is a temporary thing, a restriction, and with that comes the temptation to cheat. No a diet is not what I am on. So when people ask me what diet do I follow I kind of hesitate. 

I am not on a diet. Point blank that never worked for me. I would diet for a few weeks or month and drop 5-10 pounds then fall back on old habits and gain it all back and usually then some. So this time around I made a commitment. 

I made the commitment to myself and my family that I would change my lifestyle. A lifestyle change that has taken a full year to commit to and stick with. And that is what I want to remind everyone out there who is having a hard time. Take 1 healthy habit and implement it into your routine each week.

A change cannot happen overnight, to make a complete change that you can form into being routine it has to be introduced slowly over time and you have to make a decision to stick with it. For me it was making small changes over time that has led to a big success. I joined Weight Watchers and began following their program. That was a big change.  I learned that you should have smaller portion sizes if you want to be healthy, then I learned that everything I was eating was not very healthy. 

I began cooking more and eating more vegetables and fruit. Then I began packing a lunch to work. Again slowly I changed. A few weeks later I took it a step further and began making my coffee at home. After that it was exercise. I made a commitment to workout at least 5 days a week and I did it. Then I began cutting back on diet soda. I have come to the point again this took a year, where I only drink plain water all day. Even when going out to a restaurant I find myself ordering water with lemon without hesitation. That is how you know you have made a lifestyle change and committed to it. When you do not even have to think about it.

So what I want you to do is when you feel like you are not able to continue look at everything you already do. You may have changed your lifestyle more than you realize. Make one tiny change each week and commit to sticking to it in addition to the other ones you already do. Those tiny changes add up to a big life style change and lead to long term success.

What changes have you made that keep you successful?