Never-ending Cycle
I can remember years of frustration caused by being unable to control my appetite. Every time I came up with a good excuse, logic screamed that I was wrong. I knew that anything other than the truth that I just ate too much was simply an excuse but many people are trapped in the mentality of “It’s just not my fault!” That in itself is an excuse. Most of the time, overweight is entirely our fault. Here’s some ways to finally get over yourself and break the deadly habit of excusing bad behaviors.
The Number 1 Excuse!
As long as we blame other people, or circumstances, for our weight problem, we will not change. You can’t fix something if you feel helpless in the face of it. If you perceive yourself as a victim of circumstances, you will remain a victim. When you decide to go to the drive-through and then proceed to order too much food and eat every bit of it, don’t blame your boss for stressing you out. By filling up on poor food choices, you just increased your stress and the number on the scale. No one made you do that so why are you doing it to yourself? It is your responsibility alone to do the things that will make you feel better, not worse. Own it. This is probably the lamest of all the excuses that we use to remain unchanged and miserable.
Get UP!
Sometimes when we eat something we shouldn’t eat, we tend to just give up on the whole day. I did that for years. It’s an absurd behavior. If you fall down and skin your knee will you scrape that knee on the sidewalk over and over? Probably not! So why on Earth would you get in the car and go to Dairy Queen for an XL Blizzard if you eat a cookie? I can tell you why from experience. You wanted to do that to begin with and so you set yourself up for failure. Very few people eat a perfect diet or live a perfect life. If you cave and eat something that you should not, get back on track IMMEDIATELY, not at the next meal or the next day, NOW. Otherwise the trend will continue and you’ll spiral completely out of control. Again, this is an excuse to give up. It doesn’t even make sense.
Don’t Use Loser Labels as an Excuse!
Quit thinking of yourself as a “fat girl” or “fat boy”. Regardless of who or what you were in Junior High School or what your mother said that you were at Christmas, what matters is what you are NOW. Now you are a Health Freak Newbie, a Fitness Freak Beginner. You are NOT the sum of past failures. Ditch that mentality to move forward. Quit identifying with failure. Become an athlete or a nutritional whiz kid. Yesterday and all of the excuses that were there are gone. Don’t hang on to loser labels to use as an excuse “just in case” this weight loss thing doesn’t work. I promise “It” will work, IF you work it.
Avoid Your Danger Zones
I don’t keep peanut butter in the house, not because it’s a bad food, but because I have trouble controlling how much I eat. It’s easy to begin living almost entirely on peanut butter if I keep my favorite brand in the house, so I NEVER buy it, NEVER. I keep peanut butter powder which provides a nice peanut flavor, and a bit of protein, to my protein shakes and I don’t ever think of overeating that. While it’s good, it’s nowhere near as good as my favorite brand. I well remember saying that I was “on a diet” and still buying not only that wonderful peanut butter but ICE CREAM, regular ice cream, and saying that I would just measure it. Little did I know that the sugar in that regular ice cream would make that almost impossible. If you can’t control it, DON”T have it in your home as a plan to fail.
If you can’t eat out successfully then don’t eat out! For Heaven’s sake don’t go to bars and drink alcohol. The atmosphere is not conducive to healthy choices. Yes, you can live without the night life. It just depends on whether or not you want to. Any social get-together that involves foods or drinks that you will use as an excuse to lose control should be avoided. You know what they are. Again, don’t provide yourself with a way to fail.
Use What You’ve Got
Build on your strengths. If you like to cook, this is your time to shine! Buy new cookbooks or look online for new healthy recipes and ideas. Friends that are health conscience can be your go-to for ideas and inspiration. Instead of dismissing them, talk to them. More than likely they will be more than happy to share their knowledge and ideas.
If you have a great produce market nearby or a store with a good butcher that will provide you with good, lean cuts of meat, take advantage. Dust the old bicycle or the forgotten gym membership that you paid for but never used, off and give them a spin. Live in a nice area for walking? Get out of the house and go. As David says, “Walking is the best restorative exercise.” It’s quick, easy, cheap and convenient. It only cost the price of a pair of comfortable, supportive shoes. So many times we ignore tools and strengths that can make a huge difference if we will only use what we’ve got. Quit saying that you could lose weight if you had “her” money or “his” genetics and get it done. Ignoring strengths is an obvious way of planning early to fail, otherwise we would utilize every skill and tool that we have.
Get Rid Of Old Clothes
WHATEVER you do, DON”T keep clothes that are too big for you, “just in case”. That is giving yourself license to fail. Having to buy a whole new wardrobe is pretty good incentive to keep your weight down. By holding on to larger clothes, you are giving yourself an excuse to gain every single pound back, every time you lose enough for those clothes to look baggy. This can keep you see-sawing back and forth with the same 10-20 pounds for the rest of our life. Throw them away. Don’t even keep them in the house long enough to donate them. By saying that you’re keeping them to donate, you’re just keeping them in your house. They may lay there for weeks, months or years. All that time, you are giving yourself an excuse to stay right where you are or regain lost pounds. It’s not a coincidence that you can’t, or won’t, permanently lose weight when you do this. It’s by design.
So much of weight loss is in our mindset. Quit making excuses today and see where that decision takes you!