Tips for success

[Ecogirl]

I would like to start a tips for success thread. When I first started Peter and others gave me some great tips and I really appreciated that. There are heaps of great tips floating around the forum and I wanted to consolidate these and try to make it easier for new people to be successful.

Asy - can we make this a sticky?

Here is what I have learnt (and sometimes that hard way ):
- work out why you are overweight to start with - you won't be successful if you haven't dealt with the emotional issues - this took me 10years but I got there (yippee)
- redesign your life to allow you to succeed
- work out what changes you need to make in your life so you don't put yourself in the position where you want to deviate
- biggest tip - learn to put your needs first (a hard one especially for mothers due to societal conditioning)
- tell your family and friends what you are doing so they can support you
- ask them how you would like them to support you
- when you buy your meat - cut it up, weigh, bag, label and freeze it so you always have food on hand and it saves heaps of time for busy people
- eat your fruit and crackers between meals to help with the potential hunger and low blood sugar
- take your vitamins as required - just buying them and leaving them on the shelf (or my bedside table ) is not good enough - you actually have to swallow them :P
- swap meal 1 and meal 3 around if you get hungry or eat close to bedtime
- don't weigh daily if it's demotivating when you don't see a loss every day
- measure once a week and weigh on that day - that's my time for reflection and learning what works and doesn't work on the program
- keep a food and mood diary - it helps to identify cycles and "at risk" times for deviations
- when feeling low or at risk - take it one meal at a time
- if the end seems too far away and overwhelming - don't think about it and go kilo/pound by pound - that's what gets me by
- when you are needing motivation put the measuring tape around your bits and put the tape at the cms/inches you started at - you can see how far you have come - I was astonished to see that my belly used to look as big as it was and a bit excited I have skinnier thighs (sorry guys!)
- reward yourself at milestones - celebrate your success!
- learn to reward yourself without using food - a good lifelong strategy
- if you do deviate or have the demons still in your head - work out what your triggers are and try to develop strategies to avoid that situation
- be kind to yourself for deviations - we are undoing our lifelong conditioning and habits - but don't excuse them as they are not acceptable for the longterm health
- share the love and support with other people - think about how you have been supported and help them to succeed
- say thank you and show your appreciation along the way to the people that have supported you
- when you have finished - don't become like ex-smokers and try to convert all the fat people!!!!!! :P

I must have learnt something to lose 13.8kg in under 10weeks - which I still think is a miracle!!!!!

Anyone else who can add to my list - boy have I learnt a lot and it's mainly due to this forum!!! Thanks folks
Amanda

[Sassy]

Moo

That's just so fabulous. I'm so proud of you.

My biggest hurdle is holding the belief that I can be successful , that after all these years being over weight, it no longer serves me. I can do it. Once I started to believe then things started coming together.

By the way, 93.8kg yesterday, with a loss of 1.6kg this week. :P Now you know. I'm not ashamed anymore! t's who I was, not me now.

I now see myself as achieveing this and I am continuing to behave my way to success, even though I have had family visiting that don't share my need to nourish my body with clean healthy food. By the way, I never ate rubbish while they were here! Another 'mind hurdle' down. Nor did I preach to them or challenge or discuss their food choices. Oh, I did make sure to thank them when I went to my appointment sans children. They looked after the boys and were encouraging when I told them my result for the week. All good! Maybe my enthusiasm might rub off?

S

[baloo]

- Eat slowly. You start feeling full before your plate is empty.
- Chew your food more. Slows the eating process down.

[Evave]

- remember: you are becoming a better (and thinner) person for yourself and growing emotionally stronger with each passing day.

[anna]

Have little goals , ie 5 kgs at a time.

That way you can see yourself reaching the goal quite quickly asnd it gives you the motivation to keep going.

Also if the scales haven't moved measure yourself with the tape measure and you will still see a loss.

These are some that people have told me.

Anna

[emma]

- PLAN!!! Plain and simple, plan your meals even pre-prepare them if that's possible. This will prevent any last minute "BAD" food decisions.

[Krissy]

I read this quote somewhere and I have it on my fridge:

[size=10pt][size=10pt]"Be ready in your mind first: then you will do it!"[/size][/size]

I love it and I believe it 100%. You need to have your head sorted before you can fully commit to the program without excuses.

Good Luck

K

[Krissy]

I am looking for ideas to occupy me for when I am thinking of food or thinking of getting up and looking at the cupboard / fridge... and those times when you think 'blow it - I am just going to eat that biscuit (or 10)"...

* Sweep the floor
* Do 5 mins on the treadmill
* Check out the forum
* Play with my dogs
* Have a drink of water
* Ring a friend
* Read a funny email
* Look at the photos of when I was at Goal....
* Put on a cd and sing at the top of my lungs....

Does anyone have any other ideas....

K

[boof3865]

Try knitting or crocheting or some other craft work that requires using your hands and your brain. So you don't think about eating

[pandora]

Hi Krissy,

i recently started KNITTING - a little VERY easy pattern, like a long wooly jumper! Its an appeal thru the church and the little knitted tunics are for babies born in Africa in hospitals, parents dont have any money to buy clothes so hospital wrap the babies in NEWSPAPER to send them home. I find it takes my mind AND hands off eating and the little tunics only take a couple of days picking it up with any spare time. I have done 5 so far and feel its for "a good cause".

I have also started reading DEEP AND TOTALLY MEANINGLESS novels! Like jackie Collins or James Patterson (all murders and serial killers). Easy page turners that you can get lost in curled up on a chair while your body burns the fat.

Pandora (i will let you know if i think of any more!)

[Jeannie]

Amanda wrote: - when you have finished - don't become like ex-smokers and try to convert all the fat people!!!!!! hehehe! I love it..

Why not? (Just kidding)......

So hard though, especially when you see them stuffing their faces with unhealthy burgers etc, you just want to tell them, "Go to Cohens and live longer your body will love you for it, mine does it lets me sleep better...."

[Jeannie]

Sorry I didn't mean to offend anyone, I tried to delete the post but I couldn't.. I just hate being fat and would love to convert everyone if I could.. especially after I have tried so many different diets with no success and lots of $$$ down the drain.... I know I have a way to go yet, so I was having a dig to myself as well....

[baloo]

I don't think you offended anyone. I know I look at obese people these days with their ceasar salads, low fat cheesecake and litre of coke thinking that are watching their weight and I wish I could tell them it's not going to work.

[Jeannie]

Yes I know Baloo, I was going through some ww recipes today and I thought "No wonder I didn't lose any weight, crikey.." Now they are selling chocolate roll sponges, they are covered in real chocolate.. Seriously who is going to stop at one? especially when they are only 2 or 3 points?.. I am definately glad I found Cohen's.. :P

[jo0853]

WW has worked out how to get their money for a long time. To a person who can't resist food- that's why fatties like us are there- they give them access to food they can't resist. Stuff that made them fat in the first place.

[MamaK]

Some of my tips to add to the rest:

- Every time I have a hunger pang I tell myself 'That's my body switching into fat burning mode'

- If I have a craving that seems so strong it'll drive me nuts, I tell myself "wait 15 minutes and if the craving is still there, then decide what to do about it then". 100% of the time it's gone within minutes.

- If I feel hungry at home and it's not mealtime and it just won't go away, I do my nails (fingers and toes). Keeps me busy and distracted until the urge passes and even better, when you've got wet nailpolish it's hard to eat!

- I pack my lunchbox every evening, so that in the morning I can just grab it and run

- I keep a 2L bottle of water on my desk at work and another 1.25L bottle at home, so that I know exactly how much I've drunk during the day

- I usually cook 2 portions of steak or chicken (weighed carefully) at the same time, so that I can have one serve for dinner, and the second serve for lunch the next day (loving my Thai Beef salad for lunch right now!)

- I bought a lunchbox which has a little freezer block to keep everything nice and fresh and cool till lunchtime

- I use little ziplock bags for everything!!!! Crackers, salads/ veg, half tomatoes, meat/chicken/cheese/ boiled egg portions.

- If I'm going out around mealtime I'll pack a boiled egg and a cucumber (allowance) - easy to eat on the run without skipping meals

- Every time I don't succumb to the temptation of something not allowed, I put the money that it would have cost me to buy it, into a jar. I can then use that to spoil myself in other ways (massage, hair, facial, new clothes!)

- I take extra time to take care of my body, to thank it for going through these changes for me (moisturise, exfoliate, massages, etc) and so that when I do lose this weight it's in 'tip top' condition, ready to show off!

- I bought a charm bracelet and for every 5kg I lose, I buy myself a new charm. It's a great reward and also a great personal and visual reminder about my progress. It will look so pretty when it's full! And only you need to know what those charms really mean - unless of course you're so proud you want to share it with the world

[Lulu]

Originally Posted by MamaK

Some of my tips to add to the rest:

- Every time I have a hunger pang I tell myself 'That's my body switching into fat burning mode'

- If I have a craving that seems so strong it'll drive me nuts, I tell myself "wait 15 minutes and if the craving is still there, then decide what to do about it then". 100% of the time it's gone within minutes.

- If I feel hungry at home and it's not mealtime and it just won't go away, I do my nails (fingers and toes). Keeps me busy and distracted until the urge passes and even better, when you've got wet nailpolish it's hard to eat!

- I pack my lunchbox every evening, so that in the morning I can just grab it and run

- I keep a 2L bottle of water on my desk at work and another 1.25L bottle at home, so that I know exactly how much I've drunk during the day

- I usually cook 2 portions of steak or chicken (weighed carefully) at the same time, so that I can have one serve for dinner, and the second serve for lunch the next day (loving my Thai Beef salad for lunch right now!)

- I bought a lunchbox which has a little freezer block to keep everything nice and fresh and cool till lunchtime

- I use little ziplock bags for everything!!!! Crackers, salads/ veg, half tomatoes, meat/chicken/cheese/ boiled egg portions.

- If I'm going out around mealtime I'll pack a boiled egg and a cucumber (allowance) - easy to eat on the run without skipping meals

- Every time I don't succumb to the temptation of something not allowed, I put the money that it would have cost me to buy it, into a jar. I can then use that to spoil myself in other ways (massage, hair, facial, new clothes!)

- I take extra time to take care of my body, to thank it for going through these changes for me (moisturise, exfoliate, massages, etc) and so that when I do lose this weight it's in 'tip top' condition, ready to show off!

- I bought a charm bracelet and for every 5kg I lose, I buy myself a new charm. It's a great reward and also a great personal and visual reminder about my progress. It will look so pretty when it's full! And only you need to know what those charms really mean - unless of course you're so proud you want to share it with the world

These are all great pieces of advice - I do have a question - I seem to be fine but get hungry around 4 hours after eating and at night, I wake up in the night and am very hungry - it's hard to get back to sleep - I don't want to drink lots of water because then I'll have to wake up again late - does anyone else get this and what do you do?

Lulu

[Andy46]

Chromium is the supplement that they recommend -it is also found in pepper - but I think it is also about planning as well - and getting it right more time than wrong - by that I mean plan your meals and sleep etc and also change your plans around so the bigger amounts are when you need the most energy.

Also yogurt is a very good hunger killer as well so maybe a yogurt meal at night and steak for breakfast type of change may be in order.

Andy

[Annabelle Joy]

Your body takes about four hours to empty out, Lulu. This is the reason our meals are five hours apart -- so the protein from the previous meal is out of our stomachs before we put more protein in. Are you having your snacks mid meal? They can help a bit. Also, chromium as Andy says.

AJ

[princess_sunbeam]

I buy a whole rib eye fillet once a month. It is only about 7cm across, so you can cut a nice thick steak, still eating the steak allowance. Use onions and mushrooms as your vegie topper or salt & pepper asparagus cooked on the BBQ and I dont feel deprived at all. IT IS SENSATIONAL!!!

I freeze my meat in meal sized portions- with 1 2 or 3 written on them, so I know which meal they are for.

I always have a container of vegies in the fridge, chopped with my well used V slicer (my fave is zuccini, mushroom, onion, capsicum & asparagus) and a container of fruit salad.

I buy 1 kg tubs of yoghurt. When cracking a new one open, I dissolve 18 sugarine pills in 1/2 egg cupfull of boiling water, then tip into the yoghurt. Mix it up, and then weight out portions each day- no messing around with sweetener.

Buy the best quality food you can afford, Mangoes are in season and they seem decadent!

Buy an outfit 2 sizes smaller than you currently are. Hang it in a visible place. Once you can fit into that outfit, go buy another one 2 sizes smaller. I have a little black dress that I bought over 15 years ago, which still has the tags on. It hangs where I can see it, and I am going to wear it! (when I win slimmer of the year )

Finally, at my initial consultation, my consultant told me 5 things that have really stuck with me
1. stop seeing food as entertainment, it is fuel.
2. If you had cancer and the doctor told you to do these things for 6 months and you will live, you would do it without question.
3.If you were pregnant- you would stop eating/doing things that would jeopoardise you pregnancy without question.
4. Like pregnancy- you are either pregnant or not pregnant. You are either on Cohens or not on it. Dont lie to yourself.
5. Remember this is a time limited thing. Christmas will always be there next year.

The thing I like most about Cohens is that there isnt any grey areas. It is all spelt out very clearly and it works! I have joined WW 3 times and strayed within a couple of months. You can justify eating anything.

This is your health for the rest of your life we are talking about here- is a binge worth dying early for?