Let loss be enjoyable

So many things in life are over-complicated. Why make losing one of them? It can be easier than you think. Most of the time you just have to watch what you let into your body and how you use your body. And it helps a lot to think about it in an unusual way.

What you put into your body: You don’t have to do heavy exercise, starve yourself, count calories or take dangerous pills. What your body really needs are the kinds and amounts of foods it was made to eat. You’ll be pretty safe if you avoid processed, high sugar, high fat foods and cut down on your portion sizes. You don’t have to make a science out of it. Think moderation too much dieting doesn’t work any better than too many calories. Play it safe and avoid extremes.

How you use your body: Moderation is just as important for exercise as it is for food. If you feel a calling to be an athlete, then by all means go for it. Physical skills are fun to use, rewarding in their own right. But if you’re trying to burn off calories, remember that it takes a lot longer to burn calories off through exercise than it does to consume them in the first place.

For control, you will get most of the benefits from easy to moderate activity together with eating right. Keep your exercise fun and easy-going, unless you are aiming for more than just losing .

Easy is really the key idea for the mental side, too. This is where you can get the most from uncomplicating things. Most of us approach things like losing as if they were huge, difficult, and hard to succeed at. But how easy it is to gain the in the first place! It takes years of sustained effort, and we don’t even notice that we’re doing it. That’s because it is enjoyable (at the time). Why not make losing enjoyable too? Make it rewarding in its own right. Make it a new interest or hobby to explore Mediterranean or other cuisines. Enjoy the new skills of being able to glance at a bunch of ingredients and know which ones will be delicious yet healthy. Make a game out of noticing your body changing and your well-being improving. Thoroughly enjoy the process, and also imagine yourself after the diet has already worked, thinking back over how you did it. Nice, huh?

So forget about all the calorie tables and portion calculations, along with the dreadful discipline and deprivation. Make it enjoyable and give yourself something to look forward to. You will thank yourself for it.

1. Prev:Eating To Lose Weight
2. Next:Myths about Diets and Weight Loss