Staying Committed

Here is a summary of my Weight Watchers meeting on December 15, 2009.

I know that with all the stress from the holiday season it has been really hard to stay committed to your weight loss plan. Don’t let yourself become victim to the snowball effect of a lapse-> relapse-> collapse! Lets try to push against that huge snowball on our backs! Remember that slip ups are going to happen. What we have to do is learn from each slip up that occurs and use positive feedback to get right back on plan! Here are a few things to keep in mind when you find your tongue licking the bottom of the ice cream carton.

1. Forgive yourself - ok yeah you slipped up you ate the entire tube of cookie dough but it’s not too late all is not lost!

2. Get right back on plan…the very next meal - Do not convince yourself that you will get back on plan tomorrow…because by tomorrow you could have gained yourself another 5 pounds.

3. Use feedback - analyze what just happened. Why did you eat that? What were you feeling at the time? Find a way to learn from each encounter!

4. Figure out the points of what you just ate - Sometimes documenting the amount of points in that pint of ice cream can keep you from splurging on that same item again.

5. Exercise - eeek there is always a way to try to make up for what just happened. Make an attempt to burn off some of those sneaky calories that just appeared in your tummy! Do some extra workouts to make up for it.

6. Ask for help and then accept it - So often we will ask for help from our friends/family…but then get mad when they tell us we shouldn’t be eating something ha ha. If you need help ask for it and then appreciate the help when it is given to you….besides they are probably right…you shouldn’t be eating 3 pieces of cheesecake!

7. Find an anchor - (in the meeting we used a penny to remind us of perseverance) find something that when you see it, it reconnects you to your goals and what you are trying to achieve. Some people use their 10% keychain, others have used newly appeared bones like hip bones and collar bones or cheek bones (bones that you used to not be able to see before the weight loss) Whenever they rub those bones or see them in a fresh picture it can be their inspiration to continue onward!

8. Recommit!!- You have made it this far and there are still 2 weeks left in this month. Do not allow yourself to let it all go and start over in January. We all know how easy it is to gain weight when we don’t try. It’s your choice do you really want 5-10 more pounds on you to have to lose?

Remember that you can do this….one cookie isn’t going to spoil everything. Commit to the plan and finish up this year the right way.