Melting Away the Pounds by Summer Part II

[Disclaimer: As I stated in a previous blog, The Hard Part… Convincing You That Happiness IS Your Right, http://humanrightofhappiness.blogspot.com/2009/04/hard-part-convincing-you-that-happiness.html “there is no person, no amount of money, no relationship, no career [and in this case no ideal weight] that will make you happy.” Happiness comes from loving yourself and making the conscious decision to be happy. And what better way to display the love of ones self than by taking care of the temple that God has blessed you with]

One of the biggest mistakes to make when it comes to losing weight is focusing on how much weight we’d like to lose rather than focusing on giving our bodies the nutrients and proper exercise it needs to be healthy. We all have goals. My personal favorite is when I say “I want to lose 30 lbs in 3 months. That should be easy. It’s only 10 lbs a month.”

Well that’s where I’m wrong. (Yes ladies and gentlemen, even I, yours truly, can be wrong at times). Because 3 months passes and long story short, I ain’t lost 3 lbs let alone 30. And then what happens? I get depressed or start a new diet on “Monday.” And unfortunately if I were to keep this mind-set, in 3 more months down the road I’m sure to be in the same boat.

But that doesn’t have to be the case. What if I told you that you could lose 30lbs and keep them off! You would love me forever right. Well, I’ll let you in on a little secret…

There are 2 main components (food and fitness) that contribute to you dropping the pounds and losing 10, 20 or even 30 lbs and accomplishing this is easy if you BELIEVE you can.

B alance – Before losing weight you will need to balance yourself. Emotionally that is. You have to achieve a happy state of being within yourself and be comfortable with your current body before you can successfully achieve your weight loss goal. This means making the conscious decision to be happy with your current body regardless of weight or shape.

E at well – Eating well isn’t so much about eliminating certain things from your diet, rather adding necessary things into you current diet that you may be neglecting right now. (i.e. fruits, veggies, water, etc.)

L ook on the bright side of life – Studies show that stress packs on the pounds and if you let yourself get too stressed out, your almost destined for failure :-( Try your hardest to look at the positive and remember “your health is depending on it!!!”

I nvite Wellness into your life – Instead of focusing on how much weight you want to lose, focus on having a healthy body, both inside and out. This means supplying your body with foods loaded with nutritional value and getting the proper amount of exercise. And remember always opt for organic over the conventional foods.

E at to live DON’T live to eat – Changing your thought pattern about food can help you start losing weight instantly. Thinking “Oh, I can’t eat that” is just as bad if not worse than thinking “I can eat as much as I want.” Food is not your enemy. It’s your friend if you treat it right.

V ictory is yours! Name it and claim it! – That’s right, failure is not an option once you’ve made the decision to change your lifestyle. So know that this is not another “diet” that you’re doing for 6 months. Instead, focus on it as a lifestyle change that you are going to live with, love and enjoy for the rest of your time here on Earth!

E xercise DAILY yep, I said DAILY! – OK, I know this one sounds harsh BUT it’s the key to living a healthy life and its not as hard as it sounds. Remember when we were kids and we use to go out side and “play”… ALL DAY??? (i.e. exercising) Yeah… well do you remember how skinny most kids used to be back in those days? Or even back in the 60s before everyone drove EVERYWHERE and walked instead. (i.e. exercising) People were a lot thinner back then than they are today. Truth is, we’ve come to look at exercise as if it were a chore and not something that we use to do daily before the introduction of modern day luxuries (i.e. cars, bikes, scooters, facebook… that’s right I said FACEBOOK). These are all things that keep us sedentary. When I say exercises daily, that doesn’t mean hit the gym for a strenuous cardio and weight lifting session day after day. Though you will need to do this on some days (there’s no way around that if you’re trying to drop weight off), other ways of getting in physical activity could mean something as simple as walking to store instead of driving, going outside to play with your kids for 30 minutes or going out Salsa dancing. Long story short, exercise is not chore it’s simply the art of moving that body!

In part III of this post will give you a list of 5 things to introduce you to a healthier lifestyle. This new way of life will put you right on track to having a healthy shape that you can’t help but be happy with.

In my book “The Human Right of Happiness” I will go in depth on the entire subject in order to help you get your mind right so you can live healthy and happy.