In most cases, losing weight isn’t the most hard part. The hard part is keeping it off for a long period of time. Because that’s the case for most people, I think we can agree that the real problem is not losing weight. What we really need to address are the lifestyle issues that caused us to gain weight in the first place.

Few of us really need someone to tell us that eating 2 meals a day at our local fast food restaurant will not only put the pounds on us, but is unhealthy as well. We know what a healthy diet looks like. It basically consists of several servings of fruits and vegetables a day, as well as low-fat protein sources, complex carbohydrates, and some dairy products.

We also know that to stay healthy we need to participate in some form of exercise on a regular basis, whether that means walking our dog a couple times a day, doing a full workout at a health club, or bicycling around the block a few times in the evenings. Most of us have been hearing this for years. And if we haven’t, we need to change doctors!

The real problem for most of us is figuring out how to take these 2 healthy activities – a healthy diet and an exercise plan – and incorporate them into our lives. Life in the 21st century is relentlessly busy for most of us. We have myriad responsibilities. Work and family life can consume all our time. Is it no wonder we take the easy way out when it comes to preparing – or not preparing – healthy meals and skimping on our exercise?

The trick is replacing our unhealthy habits with those healthy habits we want to learn without adding so much to our plate that we give up in despair. It may require you to do it in stages. For instance, you might start by riding your bicycle to work 3 times a week. Once that has become a habit that you look forward to, then slowly replace a few of your fast food meals a week with healthier ones. Perhaps you could spend a few minutes in the morning packing your own lunch a few days a week.

By incorporating healthier habits slowly, you give yourself more time and space to make them a part of your life. You know you need to make changes. But it is a lot easier to make major changes in your life if you don’t try to do everything at once. Go slowly, pay attention to how you feel, and incorporate your new habits as you are ready!

Tags: exercise, lifestyle

This entry was posted on April 8, 2013 at 5:08 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Posted in Weight Loss by Megan Welsh Comments Off