Do this....instead of eating that

Life is short.  Instead of wasting precious moments eating something that's not even good for you, do something else.  Live each moment!

In the time it takes you to search the pantry for a snack, you could read a paragraph from a magazine article that could change your life.

In the time it takes you to open a bag of chips, you could do a gentle upper-body stretch,be reminded of the wonderful machine you live in, and thank God for that gift.

In the time it takes you to fix a second cocktail (or the first, for that matter), you could ask your dog to do a trick.

In the time it takes you to eat that cold left-over pizza, you could call a friend who needs to hear an encouraging voice.

You get it.  Moment by moment, you use your time in a way that's more valuable to you...and others.  The moments pass.  Moments of temptation.  Suddenly you're moving on with life instead of stalling out to put something in your mouth.

Fun

Recreational Eating

Let's face it, eating is fun.  It's a recreational activity.  Forget triggers, forget stress-related eating, forget hunger.  Sometimes it's just fun to eat a food for the momentary enjoyment we reap.  A certain taste or texture in our mouths can relax us.  Maybe it reminds us of a happy, carefree, comforting time in our lives.

The problem with any recreational activity is that it's often hard to know our limits.  My Lab would chase a ball till he dropped in his tracks.  I've been known to eat candy till I can't see straight (literally).  You've been known to eat a bag of chips in one sitting, and then realize how awful you feel five minutes after the bag is empty.  And then there are those margaritas.....SO good that we suck them down way too fast, one after the other, until....well, you know the rest!

Because time is so precious to us, we tend to look at recreation time as restraint-free moments when we must cram in as much as we can, lest we never get another opportunity.  You probably do the same thing with your recreational eating.  One day you might only have 15 minutes to eat those cookies....so you bolt them!  Another day you have all afternoon to watch movies, so you keep a slow but steady stream of popcorn flowing.  The bottom line:  eating is not a good form of recreation.  Whether you do it fast or slowly, it'll make you fat.

More fun than eating

Look elsewhere for your fun.  If you need something in your mouth, chew gum.  Floss your teeth.  Drink water.  Stand up and do some stretches or butt squeezes.  Enjoy the present moment. Take some deep breaths.  Better yet, take your dog for a walk.  How many ways can you have fun without eating?  Make a list...and have lots of paper.

What does "good" feel like?

Once you start to feel "good" from eating right, you won't ever want to lose that feeling.  But here's the problem:  a lot of people don't know what "good" is.  Maybe you're one of them.  Can you find yourself on this scale?

1.  You feel bad.  You're bloated, constipated, or experiencing irritable bowel symptoms, or you just ate too much, or your stomach is gassy. 
2. You feel functional but internally weighed down.  No energy. Your guts feel heavy and burdensome.  You may feel hungry, but you're also lethargic. 
3. You feel mild or no hunger, yet your stomach and intestines are relatively empty.  Your head is clear, your guts feel almost weightless, and your lower body feels a lightness that gives you a sensation of floating when you're moving.

Most people hover between #1 and #2 and seldom if ever let themselves reach #3.  When they feel bad, they often self-medicate with more food.  When they're in a #2 state, they feed the hunger and seek energy in the wrong types of food, which can catapult them right back into #1.

To reach #3, you have to listen to your gut and feed it what it wants, when it wants it.  Tell your mind to shut up!  Your mind is what got you in trouble in the first place.  The true expert on what's good for your digestive system is your own body.  When your digestive system is happy--not too full, not too empty, well hydrated, and processing the foods it can handle with ease, you'll know what it's like to truly feel "good."  Keep feeling good, and the extra weight will melt from your body.

The addict in you

Meth

M&Ms

Addiction is the continued use of mood altering substances or behavior despite adverse consequences from such behavior.  Many of us who have battled extra weight can, in our own humble way, relate quite closely to the alcoholic or drug addict.  Our "addictions" are actually more complicated in some ways.  The alcoholic can choose to stay out of bars, but it's hard for a "foodaholic" to avoid exposure to her drug.  Unlike meth, M&Ms are not illegal.  In fact, they're advertised and promoted as a cute, innocent bit of Americana.

Like other addicts, foodaholics experience emotional triggers that set off binges.  Food addicts are just as good at rationalization as any other substance abuser.  ("A little bit won't hurt."  "I deserve it after a hard day."  "I can quit any time I want.")  They feel the same remorse after a bender.  They swear off the forbidden fruit with fervent passion. ("Never again!"  "I can't believe I did that."  "I hate that stuff now!")  Yet, in a nanosecond, that subtle trigger mechanism can wipe out all our good intentions.

Do you like being compared to a meth addict?  Probably not.  But when you realize the power that food has over your brain, you feel a kinship with these toothless, hollow-eyed, ashen-faced, walking skeletons that would literally kill themselves trying to get a fix.

Don't be that person!  Know your triggers, and keep yourself armed against them at all times.  When you hear yourself starting to rationalize a pending behavior you know is destructive, take a step back and change your path.  You are stronger than you think.

Bucket List Weight Loss
By Jan Manning

An e-book for $2.99

Amazon.com & other e-book outlets

Keep moving today

Do you like massages?  Give yourself a long, gentle massage today, from the inside out.  Just keep moving.  Concentrate on slow, gentle movements that feel good.  Roll your shoulders.  Wave your arms across your body.  Let your upper torso slowly sway left and right while you're sitting at your desk. Tense up the muscles in your tush.  Rotate each ankle in circles, and flex your feet forward and back.  Gently reach up with both arms and stretch to where it feels good.

You'll start feeling the warm fuzzies from the inside out.  Now keep that sensation going all day.  It's like riding a bike.  Once you start the motion, you'll want to continue...or you'll fall over.  And that part hurts!

Knees hurt?

Every pound of weight you gain puts THREE extra pounds of stress on your knee joints.  Every pound you gain puts SIX extra pounds of stress on your hips. 

Lose weight now, and your joints will thank you.  You may even be able to avoid hip and knee replacement surgeries.  But even brand new artificial joints won't hold up if you're still carrying too much weight on them.  If you want to be pain-free in your bucket list years, lose the weight now.  Oh, of course you can do it!!

Bucket List Weight Loss tells you how!

www.bucketlistweightloss.com

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Posted by Admin

You lost a pound of this?

You want to shoot yourself.  You've been "good" all week, and you step on the scale, expecting to see a drop of at least four pounds.

You're shocked and dismayed to see what the scale reveals:  you've lost just one measly pound this week.

Okay, before you give up and drown your sorrows in a tub of ice cream, take a look at this:

This disgusting handful is a pound of human fat--lard--rendered from a body during a surgical procedure.  This is what a pound of fat looks like! 

You lost one whole pound of this from your body?  Congratulations!