Staying Motivated While Dieting

You know, when the cellulite works its way from my neck all the way down to my calves it’s time to get myself physically back on track. The problem is that my staying-power on a diet is usually about a week, before the siren song of fresh warm brownies breaks through my motivational chants of “Burn it off, baby, you can do it!”

So, since I have an exceptional amount of diet experience (wink, wink) I’m going to share with you my Grace For Gayle Super Exciting Diet Secrets that are sure to keep you right on track. (I’m being silly, but these seriously will help!)

1. Graph your progress. I use a piece of graph paper and on the left side I have declining weights and on the top I have the dates that I weigh myself. I keep this taped inside my kitchen cupboard. When trying to lose weight, I weigh myself every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday with a scale that tells ounces. Then I chart my weight changes and draw lines between the dots to graph my progress. Even when I go down by ½ a lb it makes me feel good to see that I’m actually accomplishing something more than starvation and body odor.


2. Don’t Deprive Yourself Of The Good Stuff. I NEED CHOCOLATE! It’s just a fact and that’s all there is to it. If I don’t allow myself any treats than the deprivation will finally break me and you’ll find my face buried in a carton of Ben & Jerry’s, making grunting noises. I’ve found that if I eat 5 Hershey’s kisses rather than, ahem, HALF THE BLINKIN BAG than I satisfy my craving without sabotaging my diet.


3. Eat Your Meals Off A Smaller Plate. I eat off a salad plate. That way my eyes are telling me I’m eating a whole plate full of food while my portion sizes are being controlled. Because, let’s face it, those plates aren’t real big. And by they way, put good stuff on the plate…..baked chicken breasts, fish, go crazy with the veggies. Twinkies on a smaller plate are still twinkies!


4. Reward Yourself. Before I even start, I set goals and rewards. For example, when I lose the first 5 lbs I get to order the next book on my To Read list. At 10 lbs I get to go underwear shopping. At 15lbs I get a pedicure. I’m sure it goes without saying that rewarding yourself with say, a Peanut Buster Parfait from Dairy Queen is counterproductive.


5. Find Out How Many Calories You Should Be Eating. There are a wealth of resources on the internet that you can plug in your current weight, your target weight and see how many calories you should be consuming each day to lose and then to maintain your weight. For me, when I’m trying to lose weight I eat about 1000 well rounded calories a day. By well rounded I mean lots of whole grains, fruits and veggies and protein. If it’s processed in any way it’s probably not a good choice. With the exception of chocolate of course!
   
   Try one or all of these ideas and I just bet your diet will have a longer shelf life than most of the stuff in your fridge.
   
   Go check out more Works For Me Wednesday ideas at Rocks In My Dryer.