Struggling to Lose Weight? Start Planning

For many of us, we tend to live in a perpetual state of thinking about making healthy lifestyle changes and berating ourselves for failing to make said changes. We engage in continuous negative self-talk and live with persistent feelings of guilt over our seeming inability to gain control over the one thing that we’ve been told we should be able to master—ourselves.

Sure, it’s impossible to shirk all responsibility when we repeatedly make the conscious decision to stay in bed instead of making it to the gym. However, all-too-often, our inability to create long-term change in our bodies has more to do with our brain’s shortsighted nature than an inherent laziness.

In short, most of us find it difficult to plan ahead.

While being adept at setting goals and organizing our day-to-day activities may not seem like a skill, the truth of the matter is that most of us fail to do it on a regular basis. Whether this is a result of feeling overwhelmed by setting large goals in advance or simply facing what we’d rather ignore, there’s something to be said for the fact that visualizing where we want to go and knowing how to get there takes work.

Therefore, when it comes to weight loss and fitness goals, it’s important to understand that making the conscious decision to consistently set goals and plan ahead is as vital as deciding what goes into your mouth. Plain and simple, you didn’t gain weight overnight, so expecting immediate results will only hurt your resolve.

Therefore, your first step needs to involve setting a realistic timeline. To start, I’m a huge proponent of placing things in writing since most of us tend to lose ourselves in the jumble of our own minds. Take a few minutes to contemplate what you want and—as cliché as it may sound—lay out a plan for your success. When you’re done, place it somewhere noticeable—someplace where you’ll have to see it on a regular basis and make a point to remember the conviction you had when you wrote it.

From there, consider the steps you need to take to achieve your goal and set about making them happen. If you have no idea where to begin, reach out to professionals who can not only get you started, but who can help educate you in the process. After all, making healthy lifestyle changes is not simply about looking good for bikini season—it’s about creating a healthier person for years to come.

With this, daily planning becomes an integral part of the process. For many of us, it’s easy to give in to the convenience of fast food when we find ourselves hungry and away from home. While we may exercise control over what goes into our refrigerators, it’s not as easy to retain a feeling of power over our actions when we’re stuck near the snack machine at work. Once those hunger pangs kick in, it’s essential to have a contingency plan in place for how you’ll deal with them. If you don’t, chances are good that you’ll wind up with something akin to a Big Mac and fries and an “I’ve-already-screwed-up-the-entire-day-so-I-might-as-well-keep-eating” mentality.

However, if you’ve made a point to plan your day in advance, these scenarios don’t have to feel so overwhelming because you’ll already have a map of what you’re eating and when.

For example:

Monday

7:00am Wake

7:30am Breakfast – Spinach & tomato omelet, etc.

9:00am Leave for work

9:30am Work

10:30am Snack – Plain Greek yogurt w/ walnuts

1:00pm Lunch – Grilled chicken, salad, etc.

2:30pm Meeting with John

4:00pm Snack – Apple w/ almond butter

5:00pm Leave work

5:15pm Gym – Sprints, chest/shoulder workout

6:15pm Post-workout protein shake

6:45pm Help kids with homework

7:30pm Dinner – Salmon, veggies, etc.

8:30pm Kids to bed

10:30pm Bed

Now, it’s understandable that physically writing out everything you plan to eat (and making a point to prepare/pack it) in advance may seem like some form of tedious homework, but it’s truly essential to making long-term changes. Healthy lifestyles are all about creating strong routines, which means establishing a schedule will not only help you feel more in control, but confident as well. Eventually, as you settle into a routine, you’ll realize that you won’t have to employ such precise planning skills since eating will have become a normalized process instead of something stressful and chaotic.

If you’d like to learn more about how you can take control of your health, please feel free to contact me. I would love to start you on your journey.

Dr. Joseph Krzemien | Georgia Spine & Sports Rehab | www.GeorgiaSpineSports.com | 770-614-6551

Official Team Chiropractor for the Atlanta Falcons, Sitting Member of the Georgia Board of Chiropractic Examiners