Have you ever gone on a diet, lose weight, then get a little too comfortable and fall back into your old habits?
I think that this is ALL too common. We go on some extreme, super strict diet where we can only eat certain things (that we may not even like). We exercise for 2 hours a day, give up all of our favorite foods, lose 30 pounds pretty fast, then we start to slip.
I know an easy way to slip is on vacations or holidays. We think it’s a special occasion, so it’s ok to indulge. And indulge we do!
Have you ever come back from vacation 5 pounds heavier?
I’ve been there. Back in my day I would indulge in my share (and someone else’s share) of fruity cocktails while lounging on the beach. The only thing that prevented me from gaining a ton of weight was that I worked out for an hour first thing in the morning and spent hours during the day playing beach volleyball.
Now, I have a strategy in place to prevent the yo yo. I don’t think of holidays as a special day to indulge and fall away from my healthy lifestyle. I think of them like any other day of the week. I might have a small piece of cake, but you won’t catch me stuffing myself full of cookies, ice cream, and other unhealthy fair. While I was on vacation this past week on the coast, I actually lost a pound. I did have a small glass of wine every night–but just one! And I worked out most of the days. I also still logged my food into myfitnesspal.com to help me stay on track.
Change your mindset. Eating healthy, exercising and feeling good is a treat! We shouldn’t look at it as a chore of a burden. We should enjoy it–so we will be more likely to stick with it. If you’re dieting, do something that you can stick with long-term, instead of a 500 calorie a day starvation program. If it’s not something you see yourself doing for the rest of your life, you probably shouldn’t do it in the first place.
