I'm starving! Starving for food and lots of it. Hm...yes! Burger King sells Whoppers for breakfast! Should I? Of course not! Do I? Usually! If I'm craving something, I have a really hard time letting it go, and choosing something healthy. Mind you, I don't hate healthy food. I love most vegetables, oatmeal isn't too bad, whole wheat pasta is pretty good, I love all kinds of fish, and sometimes fruit is as good as eating candy. Think about it...fresh cut pineapple. Juicy, sweet, tender flesh. Wow, my mouth is watering just thinking about it. Hey, now, I'm craving pineapple instead of a whopper! That was easy!
Is it always that easy, though? Not hardly. Fast food is quick and easy, oatmeal and pasta takes a while. McDonald's fries really fill me up, raw carrots don't seem to do the trick! So how in the world does anyone get healthy? It's the question of the ages for us really chunky checkers. Believe it or not, there IS an answer.
First, a positive attitude is KEY! If you have a negative outlook, nothing will seem easy, nothing will seem bearable, and everything will feel like a chore. Even cooking, which is one of my ultimate passions in life, can feel like work if I have a craving for something creamy, gooey, and can be eaten by just ripping open a wrapper! If I want a king sized Milky Way, it's hard to tell myself, "hey, let's go make a salad!" Let's be honest here...salad does NOT compare to chocolate! Oh, I love them. I even like to make them for supper at times, especially in the summer. But if my body is screaming chocolate, salad will NOT satisfy that craving no matter what.
But why? Why can't that salad fulfill my hunger needs? Why can't I simply forget the chocolate and create something healthy and enjoyable? Because I'm not thinking with a positive attitude. If I eat, fill my belly, and move on, I'm probably not going to continue craving chocolate so severely because I'm not hungry! In fact, with a full belly, I may forget all about the chocolate for a while.
I'm not a person with much self control, especially when it comes to food. I love food, all kinds of food, and in very high quantities! Snacking is one of my favorite pastimes. Really. I've pretty much made it a hobby. One thing I KNOW though, for a fact. If I am ever to get healthy, I need to prioritize what's really important in my life, work on that positive attitude, and move on. Do not buy all the junk food when I go to the grocery. Walk into the store AFTER eating so I'm not hunger shopping, and stick to a list. That's definitely something that works for me. I'll plan a weeks menu, then on a separate sheet of paper, write down what I need to buy to make these meals. Then try to stay away from the cookie-soda-cracker-chip-candy-frozen dinner sections!
Tell yourself every morning that you WILL have a good day. Jump out of bed with the attitude that you can accomplish great things today, whether large or small. And if you mess up, OH WELL! Screw up and forget it! Jump back on the wagon right then and there. Don't do what I normally do! Let's say I have a salad for lunch, with some spring water to drink. I finish, I'm pretty satisfied, but the dessert cart is right there and the Tiramisu is screaming to me! Hey, why not? Heck, all I had for lunch was a salad! So as the last bite of that rich, creamy dessert slides down my throat, the guilt sets in. My mind is panicking and wondering why the heck I just did that when I was doing SO good. Oh, well. I'll start again tomorrow! Yes...diet's off for the day! Chocolate covered pretzels in the afternoon, lasagna and garlic bread for supper, and I may as well finish off that bag of Reese's Pieces in bed while I'm reading. I'm starting my diet tomorrow anyway!
What I SHOULD have done was finish the tiramisu, then put on sneakers and walk for a half hour or so. Briskly. I read once that every 30 minutes you walk you burn approximately as many calories as the number of pounds you weigh. Is that accurate? Shoot, I don't have a clue! But walking after that Tiramisu is definitely better for me than garlic bread with my lasagna! After walking, at supper time, I could have made up the meal that I had originally planned to eat before cheating.
That's a positive response to a negative action. Why not? I mean, we'll all cheat occasionally. It happens! But it's what we do after that really counts. I could talk more on having a positive attitude, but I'll end this here and refer you to my blog! I have definitely failed in that positive arena, and you can check out my struggles on TheHardWeigh.com Leave a comment, subscribe, and keep me posted on how well you do. I'm POSITIVELY not in this just for me!
About this Author
http://TheHardWeigh.com - Pamela J. Burnham (PJ), wife and mother of five children, is author of her own blog "The Hard Weigh," where she tells of her daily struggles to lose weight on a limited budget, through written articles and video, in a thoughtful and sometimes humorous manner. Not only for her own improvement, but to also inspire others to take a healthy initiative and possibly even follow along on her journey
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