• Set a training goal.
A woman with muscular dystrophy spent years saying, "I can’t" to things she wanted to do. One day she decided to set a goal to run around the New York City, Manhattan. Much to the surprise of many, she finished the race and accomplished her goal! It was painful for her to prepare for the race and painful to run but she later told the world that every step was worth the pain.
To keep yourself motivated in an exercise program, set a training goal – perhaps to walk a mile in eight minutes, ran across a local lake, hike a certain trail, or swim a half mile. Set incremental goals for achieving your final training goal. Then focus and begin "the race."
• Try a new physical challenge.
Experts say if a person sticks to an exercise routine for 30 days, it becomes a habit. Yet even good habits can get boring. To keep your exercise regimen interesting, try a new activity which you are unfamiliar so that it requires your total concentration and motivates you to keep learning – perhaps something such as para-sailing, inline skating, square dancing, water ballet, beach volleyball or water polo.
You don’t have to become a master at the new sport. You simply have to like it enough, and be challenged enough by it, to keep yourself moving. Inevitably, you’ll grow as a person in that process.
• Shop for groceries on a full stomach.
While a bad shopping trip doesn’t exactly equal the gravity of giving up one’s birthright, it can cause you to jump the track on the way to your weight-loss destination. Even if you make and stick to a strict shopping list, foods that normally wouldn’t appeal to you become nearly irresistible when you’re hungry. Add the temptation of free food samples in every aisle and abundant aromas from the deli.
Shopping on a full stomach is much less likely to leave you feeling either tempted or deprived. If you can’t shop right away after eating, drink a large glass of water before entering a grocery store.
• Keep fruits and vegetables washed, cut up and ready to eat in the refrigerator.
One of the best and easiest ways to gain control of weight is to keep the refrigerator stocked with fruits and vegetables that are cleaned, chopped up and ready to eat. This ensures that good, low-fat, low-calorie foods are available for after work, after school, and after dinner snacks.
Having veggies cut up and ready to go also make salad preparation and lunch preparation quicker and easier – which means you are more likely to make and eat a salad or to take nutritious foods to work or school for the noon meal. Don’t wait until you’re hungry and your will power is ebbing – set the stage for success.
• Do not skip breakfast or any other meal.
As you lose weight, you want your body to burn excess, stored fat efficiently without burning lean muscle tissue. But when you skip a meal, your body naturally goes into a preservation mode. The brain signals your metabolism to slow down so your body can survive on its current store house of calorie for as long as possible. Energy used for vital bodily functions is pulled from the stored fat but also from lean muscle tissue, including the heart muscle.
That’s a dangerous trend overtime. Regular eating keeps your metabolism running at peak levels and encourages your body to use both the new intake of food for energy as well as the stored fat without pulling nutrients from muscle.
• Ask for God’s help.
Even those people who feel comfortable about bringing their difficulties to God often seem reluctant to ask for His help when it comes to diet or food issues. That’s a shame because anyone who has struggled with them knows just how tough they can be. "I just don’t have any will power" is an often heard dieter’s lament.
Everyone feels weak at times, if not with food, then with any member of other tough temptations. The Bible tells us that God will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can endure that He will always provide a way out. God not only can, but will help you with the weight-loss challenge.
(E-mail the author at babyjackster@yahoo.com)