Tips to Minimize

by Heather Long | More from this Blogger

27 Apr 2006 12:00 PM

When you are making a significant change in your dietary habits, it's better to make the changes small. There's an intense psychological reasoning behind this. For example, if you are changing your eating habits, giving up alcohol, picking up a heavy duty workout program while starting a new job and moving into a new house - well - you get the picture.

You are setting yourself up for failure. There are way too many stressors that you are creating for yourself. Recurring failure in any area will feed the distress the other changes are already creating. So if you are looking to make a lot of new habits, let's minimize the changes in order to minimize the impact and thus maximize your output and your success.

For example:

• Activity burns fat. Exercise is fundamental to a diet. Instead of packing on a heavy-duty calendar of excess hours we don't have - incorporate your exercise into 5 to 15 minute breaks. For example, get up fifteen minutes earlier and go for a brisk walk before the day starts. Take a ten-minute calisthenics break after the baby is down for a nap. Spend ten minutes doing sit-ups before you have to pick the kids up.
• Use props to make you thinner - look at catalogs of airbrushed models such as those found in Victoria's Secret. Encourage your own dreams of the ideal you. Emulate a favored sports figure or pop culture icon. Visualize yourself as the lead star in your favorite program. Be a svelte vampire, a buff caped crusader or a sexy romantic lead. This mental image will help you stay on target, because you will be making the choices that get you to that image.
• Kick the snack habit. Sometimes, just giving up on the unhealthy snack foods can cut a huge number of calories in your day. Check out Marily's Frugal Dieting tips. She offers some great suggestions; including packing your lunch to work rather than eating out. You can control what you eat and instead of overdosing on potato chips, you can still enjoy eating carrot sticks and celery.

Learn more about Heather Long

Heather Long is 35 years old and currently lives in Wylie, Texas. She has been a freelance writer for six years. Her husband and she met while working together at America Online over ten years ago.

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