It's often easy to lose sight of your goals during all the summer fun. Although not as dangerous as winter, summer can derail your weight loss efforts if you're not careful. When you're at a BBQ or graduation party, it's amazing how unimportant your diet can feel. But, the next day, a little relapse can feel like a huge failure. Here are 4 quick, yet effective, tips to help you stay on track all summer long.
1. Prepare for Your Vacation
Vacations are a minefield when it comes to diets. Rich foods, delicious drinks, R&R in the sun. Although they're often the culmination of your goals, they can set you way back if you're not careful. Of course, you should treat yourself, but don't let yourself go overboard. One way to prevent your vacation from setting you back is to prepare beforehand. Resolve to exercise a little bit every morning while you are on vacation to keep yourself on track, even if it's just a few laps in the pool or a quick walk down the beach. If you do this, you'll start every day off right and be less tempted by the little things throughout the day. It will also make resuming your exercise schedule easier when you get back home.
2. Chart Your Progress
During the hustle and bustle of summer, it's easy to lose track of how much progress you're making. Keep a summer journal tracking your weight and exercise schedule, or even just your eating habits. Write down your weight once a week and be sure to record every time you exercise. Just marking off the days you exercised will keep your progress in mind. By the end of the summer, you'll be amazed at the work you've done and the progress you've made.
3. Do a Little Bit Everyday
Just like it's easy to lose track of your progress during the summer season, you can also get so busy that you forget to focus on your weight loss goals at all. The key to this (and this works in any season) is to just do a little every day. Don't do one marathon session each week at the gym -- aim for short workouts more frequently or do a little extra walking in the morning. If you absolutely can't make it to the gym or don't have the time to be a little more active, replace an unhealthy snack with a healthy one. These little bits of effort by themselves are pretty insignificant, but if you keep it up throughout the summer, they add up, like how tiny grains of sand make up a beach. If you do a little every day during the summer, you will also find it easier to stay on track when the weather begins to fade into fall and winter.
4. Remember How Far You've Come
It's so easy to forget where you started. This can lead to disappointment and feelings of failure. Some people forget what it was like to have those extra 30 pounds, or those intense cravings, or those fears of really trimming down. They get down on themselves because they are not where they want to be; but if they are fair with themselves, it's obvious that they've made a lot of progress that they can feel good about. Even if you just started trying to reach your target weight, remember how much internal struggle it took just to get up the energy for the effort. If you remember where you started from, you can always feel proud of your progress and avoid those feelings of discouragement.
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Michael Davis said...
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Home >>Emotional Eating Center >>4 Ways to Stay on Track This Summer
