Weight Loss Made Easier - Four Effective Strategies

Losing weight is hard. Sticking to a diet is hard. Maintaining your  weight   loss  is hard. But here are four ways to make dieting and  weight   loss  a little easier and more effective.

1. A Little Extra Work One Day Will Make Things Easier The Rest Of The Week, And Other Things You Know Are True But Hate To Admit

On Saturday, if you spend a little extra time preparing the healthy food you need to lose weight, your dieting life will go smoother Sunday - Friday. I swear.

Chop your bell peppers and onions for  weight   loss  recipes ahead of time. Prepare your lettuce for this week's salads. Cut up your broccoli, cauliflower and celery so you have healthy snacks ready. Grind your almonds. Grill a bunch of chicken breasts, dice 'em up and place in freezer bags. Not only will you have healthy ingredients ready when you need them, you won't get your knives, cutting boards, and pans dirty every time.

You also won't have to run to the grocery store fourteen times a day. Ideally, you'll only go to the store once a week. And that, my friend, will be wallet-friendly as well as diet-friendly.

2. Figure Out Your Kryptonite

Fact. Potato chips are my nemesis. If there are potato chips in my house I will eat them. I don't care if they wreck my diet and are the only thing standing between me and perpetual body image bliss. I don't care if they belong to you, your elderly grandmother, or that sad, starving orphan. I. Will. Eat. Them.

So I rarely buy them. Because another fact is that I won't seek them out. I won't stick a dollar in a vending machine for their delicious salty love. I won't pry them out of the hands of a preschooler at the park. I won't steal them from your pantry if I visit you. Well... no. No, I'm almost certain I wouldn't do that.

They're my kryptonite. They render me powerless over my fingers which must - MUST - shovel them into my mouth.

Figure out what your diet-wrecking kryptonite is and develop some strategies to deal with it. Don't buy it? Just have one? Find 100-calorie packs of it? Have it one day per month? Pay yourself not to eat it? Figure out how many miles you'd have to walk to burn off the calories and then, if you eat it, lace up those sneakers!

3. Never Say You're On a Diet

I hate the word "diet" and use it cautiously. I mean, seriously, the word "die" is right in the middle of it! Nobody should ever be on a diet in the traditional way we define it with a beginning and an end. Not an 'I'll-endure-this-for-a-month-and-then-go-back-to-all-my-bad-habits', but something you'll be happy to do for the rest of your life because you feel healthier and look better with your new  weight   loss . Diets are all about "No!" and "You can't." That's just wrong.

If someone notices you're eating differently or that you've lost weight, just say, I'm learning about portion control... or... I'm jump-starting my new healthy lifestyle... or... I'm celebrating Mother Nature by enjoying more vegetables... or... I'm trying to be a good steward of the Earth by reducing my footprint... or... Shut up and mind your own beeswax!

Whatever works for you to remind yourself that "diet" is temporary and "healthy lifestyle" is permanent.

4. Rewards

As you reach your diet or  weight   loss  milestones, think of a wowza reward for yourself that doesn't involve food. Pedicure? Massage? New book? Tickets to the comedy club? Hot pink yarn and knitting needles? New workout clothes? Something shiny and electronic?

It doesn't even have to cost money. A visit to the art museum. A hike in the mountains. A day to yourself. Watching old video of your kids. A long soaky in the tub.

Whatever you want. You deserve it.

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