When you begin a weight loss or maintenance journey it is important to set up realistic expectations. Women transitioning through menopause need to set up a clear long-term plan of action to have success.
I have spent the last 24+ years serving people, especially postmenopausal women. I must make it clear if you are hoping to lose weight in a hurry and maintain it you are dreaming. You must set up clear expectations and be ready to make lifestyle changes.
There have been many people I have worked with that followed a plan that promised quick weight loss, but in the end, they gained the weight back and sometimes even more.
The weight loss plans that provide you with meals tend to provide the biggest challenge. These plans allow you to eat a designated amount of their meals each day. The problem is you have gotten used to the idea of eating what you want whenever you want. You have not taken the time to set up proper habits of eating right each day or shopping for healthy foods that will support you long term. When the program ends many people fall back into the patterns they had prior to the program. They tend to eat more than they did prior to the program.
When you are ready to lose weight, you have to set up realistic expectations. It requires a plan of action that includes attainable goal.
It takes 2 months of full commitment to change your diet. It takes 2 months to decrease your natural cravings for sweet foods. It takes 2 months to change your palate sensitivity. Especially, if you are used to drinking sodas and using sweeteners.
Make your food to your liking, no matter what eating plan you are following use herbs and spices. Herbs and spices are full of medicine and flavor. Food is supposed to be delicious and tasty not taste like cardboard.
To begin reducing your sweet cravings replace sodas with herbal teas and use stevia as a sweetener. Adjust your food intake to include more fruits and vegetables. Cravings can be related to nutritional deficiencies, learn more in our article about curbing cravings, but you can work through these.
A great meal option that can satisfy a sweet craving would be baking a sweet potato or apple and spicing it with some cinnamon.
What other deficiencies might be happening in your life. Look at your lifestyle to ensure you are creating positive habits daily.
What are you doing each day that brings you pleasure?
Are you scheduling some time to enjoy a new adventure?
Are you experiencing moments of love each day?
If we are experiencing deficiencies in any areas of our life it can cause us to overeat. Your lifestyle is just as important as your diet in maintaining an ideal weight.
Weight should not be about a number on a scale, it should be about your health and how you feel in your body. Setting up clear long-term goals and expectations will ensure that you have success.
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