We all know the drill, don’t we?!
We diet, we stay motivated through razor-sharp focus. Finally, all that dogged drive and determination to achieve our weight loss goals pay off – we reach our target, our goal weight! Hurrah! 🥂👏💞
We feel so much lighter (literally!), more confident, ready to take on and conquer the world…
Such a mammoth achievement deserves a reward, surely…
And more often than not, that very reward comes in the shape of… yes, you’ve guessed it, food! 😋😩
This is the first step of that dastardly yo-yo diet cycle, which once launched can be nigh on impossible to stop in its destructive tracks…
Unless… 🤔…
We…
1. Don’t leave the lifestyle
One of the major issues with yo-yo dieting is that it comes from a deprivation mentality.
I’ve deprived myself of all those delicious foods I love for so long that…
A ”bad food” binge is fully in order!
However, such a deprive/binge attitude is the primary reason that so many conventional diets set us up to fail.
And that is one of the main reasons that the latest WW (Weight Watchers) Freestyle “wellness” plan is proving so successful, at least for me! 💞
Instead of setting up this deprivation mindset, right from the very beginning, the WW programme serves to re-educate us about our lifestyles, which, frankly, in my case, was a lot less healthy than I had led myself to believe. 😳
Truthfully tracking my daily food intake was a huge and (slightly painful) eye opener. The whole process made me more aware of how much I was actually putting in my mouth on a daily basis, and how easy it was to discount all those “mindless munching” indiscretions.
So, now that I have reached my goal weight, I am less inclined to revisit all those bad habits of old, that had originally brought me to that oh-so-uncomfortable overweight place.
Instead, I have accepted that in place of a diet/ non-diet phase, I need to embrace this new longterm lifestyle of regular food tracking and…
If only my inbuilt self-control button wasn’t on the blink! 😩
Regular exercise, whether at the gym…
Or at home!
My newly acquired healthy eating habits need to continue to be greener…
And more controlled…
Bye-bye full size restaurant portions! Yes, forever! 😬
Indefinitely! 🙃
2. Cook clean
Admittedly, this next very important point is still sometimes a struggle for me!
Because toiling over a hot stove is the very last thing I want to do on those days when we have (what feels like) 399 extra-curricular activities, 1 million homework assignments and the baby is just not happy. At. All!
But I have done it!
Irish stew made from scratch – quite an effort but so worth it!
And even when it’s really hard, I still persevere…
Homemade chicken katsu, looks so simple, yet it’s so not!
But when cooking is really too much of a chore, I cheat with that old reliable ”millennial” …
Poached egg, smoked salmon, avocado salad combo – simple yet satisfying! 😋
Even ”forbidden foods” need not be a no-go zone!
Skimmed milk WW recipe pancakes, with just a hint of maple syrup for sweetness.
So yum!
Just don’t take your finger off that moderation button! 😬
Easier said than done! 😳
3. Tag those triggers
Another major plus of the latest WW programme is that it invites us to examine (and take note of) the emotional side of our eating habits.
Are we prone to eating out of boredom…
Sadness/heartbreak…
Stress…
Or, even, a combination of all three?
If so, is there anything we can do to distract ourselves when these well-worn triggers strike?
Personally, I like to grab a coffee…
Or three…
Quite…
Literally! ❤️☕️
Or pop into the prettiest nail bar I can find for a…
Perfectly pink manicure! 💖💅
And, if all else fails, there is always fashion! 🛍️
Professional fashion addict? Guilty as charged!
A great new top, like this super versatile leopard print one from my current fave clothing company, BMJL, can work wonders for the mood! 😉
Or, shoes, shoes, glorious shoes! 👠👠👠❤️❤️❤️
Or even those heart-stopping vintage designer bag discoveries! 💓
Nothing short of divine!
But, oh, no!
We’re not replacing one form of addiction with another, are we?!
It’s all down to that peskily glitchy self-control button, I’m sure of it!
Our follow-up mission will most definitely be to find a cure for that… somehow, somewhere, by hook or by crook! 🙄
To be continued…
Stay tuned, my dear readers!
Until next time,
💋 Mostly Mum
*All gifs are via GIPHY