“Think It and Ink It” way to weight loss

Want to lose weight?  Think Less of Yourself…for a while!
by Olivia Rossi
Your Personal Trainer

Losing weight requires two things: a thought and a plan. The first step towards any change begins with a thought, so, think about what you want to do and “go for the goal.” To get from the thought to the goal, you need the plan. You want to weigh less, so, think about how it will feel for you to weigh less, think about when you did weigh less and how you felt and looked, how you’d like to feel and look again. Think “less” of yourself . . . for awhile. There’s your goal. How will you get there?

Give yourself time to start. A time to “start to stop” gaining. A time to take the first step to change what is keeping your weight where it is now. Then choose a date to start. Do it slowly. Change takes time. It doesn’t have to be tomorrow or even on a Monday! Two weeks from now, or three, a time that will be good for you, that will give you time to plan. Write down your goal and your thoughts—“think it and ink it”—then do it!

On the way to that date, begin with some little steps, small changes. Are you eating two or three (or four) cookies everyday? Make it one or two instead. Are you walking much? At all? Add a five minute walk to your day, then ten. Take the stairs more. Think about how you’d like to change to be more active. Those are two of the other requirements for weight loss—eating less and exercising more—fewer calories in and more calories out. Simple formula, hard to do. Aim for one or two pounds a week, no more. Gradually increase your exercise to thirty minutes, three to five days a week. For weight loss, you may need more, but start where you are and add a little at a time.

In the process of getting ready, some little tricks can help. Last spring, I wrote about my “tester” pants, the jeans I had misplaced. When they turned up, they had mysteriously “shrunk” in the closet! It took me six weeks to get back into them after I admitted that it wasn’t the jeans—it was the “ate” pounds I’d gained! I know that’s bad grammar. Besides, it was really ten pounds but that’s how I gained them! I hung those jeans where I could see them and “tested” them every week till I could zip them up again.

Having a positive image of how you will feel, how you will look and what you will be able to do when you achieve your goal of weighing less is a good way to get started. Losing weight should be a slow process. Be the tortoise, not the hare. Slow and steady wins the race—and loses the pounds. Think “less” of yourself and you’ll be on your way to your goal.

Next time, I plan to write about seven habits of people who are successful in maintaining weight loss. How do they do it?

Yours in fitness,
Olivia C. Rossi, RN, MSN
Certified Clinical Exercise Specialist, ACSM
Certified Personal Trainer, ACSM

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