As we enter December I thought you may find it useful to have some ideas of how you enjoy all the parties, gatherings and festivities without throwing caution to the wind and eating everything that catches your eye. There can be a temptation to think, “Oh well, it’s Christmas and I deserve to enjoy myself”. To be honest there is nothing wrong with the thought, just the implication behind the thought. Here is a summary of the tips I have for having a great festive season while maintaining a healthy mindset.
- Firstly accept that there will be plenty of food, drink and sweetie goodness around and put any thoughts of losing weight on hold.
- If you have several Christmas parties and get togethers to attend follow these tips on the day and between events give your body some well-earned nutrition.
- Remember to think ahead – if you are eating out later, have a small snack for lunch. If you love dessert then hold back on the chips/potatoes/rice/pasta/bread that fills you up.
- Drink plenty of water. During the festive season where the potential is to over indulge on food and alcohol, water is even more important to help flush the toxins from the body and to keep the body hydrated.
- Where there is a buffet, scan all the food for your favourites and don’t be tempted to have a little of everything – don’t fill your plate before you get to your absolute favourites.
- At any opportunity where there is a variety of sizes of plates, use a smaller plate which helps the mind feel satisfied with less food.
- Use the energy gained from a big meal by moving your body more. Dance the night away, go for a walk the next day, go swimming, anything that burns off the extra fuel consumed.
- Remember you don’t have to eat every time someone offers you something. Food is your fuel. Would you fill up your car with petrol and then stop at every garage en route just because it’s there?
- If you don’t feel hungry and someone offers you something saying ‘I bought/made it specially for you’, practise your standard reply, ‘How kind of you, I’m not hungry right now so would you mind if I took some home so I can eat it when I will really enjoy it?’
- And finally, have fun! Christmas is a time for socialising with family, friends and colleagues and to share some special time with those we choose to spend our life with.
Over the next few days I’ll expand on some of these to help you take them on board fully.
Any feedback is very welcome and if you have a specific challenge around food at this time please make a comment below and I will do my best to answer in a future blog post.
Until next time,
Linda
How do you take a compliment?
By · CommentsHow do you take a compliment?
Being able to accept a compliment will go along way to creating the mindset to be slim. Many of the people I work with find it hard to take a compliment.
How do you respond when someone pays you a compliment?
Often it can be easy to say ‘This old thing, I’ve had it years’, when someone compliments you on a lovely outfit. I had one client who hated it if someone said to her ‘You look great, have you lost weight?’ Her internal thought straight away went to: “Well, how fat did you think I was?” Although she didn’t actually say this to her friend, it was always her first thought. I had another client whose husband regularly told her she looked good and she often responded “You must be blind”. They had been married for over 25 years and her husband was still telling her she looked nice. Imagine how it must have felt for him to get his compliment sent flying back each time.
From today I’d like you to think of a compliment as a present/gift. If a person gives you a present you would usually say ’thank you’, not ‘Why did you give me this load of junk, you can have it back’! A response that tries to negate the compliment isn’t very nice for the giver. From now on, when you receive a compliment, thank the giver and return the compliment with a smile. I even suggest you practice your answer so it feels more natural to say ‘Thank you, how kind of you to notice’, or ‘Thank you, I really love this dress myself’.
I’d even go one further and suggest you make a habit of giving yourself a compliment. Look in the mirror (yes I know for many this is difficult in itself and we’ll talk about this in future blogs), but look in the mirror and find something you like about yourself. It may be your sparlking eyes, or the fact you are a good Mum. By reminding yourself of all your good points, whether about your physical appearance or about your personality it will help you feel good. When we feel good we are more likely to look after ourselves. When we look after ourself we are more likely to eat healthily, and only eat when we are physically hungry. And when we do this, guess what? Yes, that’s right, we are more likely to slim to a healthy weight.
You are amazing. How do I know, if I don’t know you? Because I believe everyone is amazing in their own way. So take compliments in the way are given – as a small gift to help you remember how amazing you are.
I have created this new blog site to share with you some of the best ways I know to help change you mindset so you can lose weight without deprivation. So to avoid missing out on all the tips and strategies I have in store please sign up to receive regular updates.
Until next time,
Tap Yourself Slim: Welcome!
By · Comments
Linda McCroft
I’m Linda McCroft, complementary therapist and weight loss coach.
For some this may seem an unusual combination.
Perhaps you’ll begin to see how the two are connected if I tell you that I don’t give advice on diet, nor what you can and can’t eat, but I use two of the most effective personal change methods available today, namely Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) and Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) to help people lose weight without dieting.
Have you repeatedly been on a diet, lost the weight and then put it all back on again and more as well?
This is very common as most ‘diets’ are built around quite a strict regime and after the initial motivation they quickly begin to generate feeling of deprivation and guilt.
It is very difficult to keep up this kind of eating for long periods, and once the diet is ditched people return to their previous eating habits. In truth, nothing has really changed which is why the weight gradually piles back on and you start all over again.
Diets don’t work!
We all know this really. If they did we wouldn’t have the only multi-million pound industry built on failure. Each diet relies on the last one not to have worked and begins to reel you in with promises of losing large amounts of weight quickly.
“If you always do what you’ve always done – you’ll always get what you always got!” This is a well know phrase quoted by personal development gurus. In other words, if various diets haven’t helped someone lose the weight and more importantly keep it off, do they really think a different/new diet will help? Maybe it would be more helpful to try a different approach.
Diets have a fundamental part missing – they don’t tackle the reasons why people may overeat. More often than not those reasons are emotional, such as guilt, anxiety, anger, grief, boredom, sadness, overwhelm etc. Those who eat as a result of emotions are looking for something, but not sure what and food fills the gap – at least for a short time. But as the emotion itself hasn’t been dealt with the cravings soon return and the cycle continues.
The two kinds of hunger
Desire for food is driven by two distinct forms of ‘hunger’, physical hunger and emotional hunger. The easiest way to tell the difference between physical and emotional hunger is to notice how long it took to become evident. Physical hunger comes on gradually as your body gradually uses the energy provided by the last food/drink and then ‘asks’ for more. Emotional hunger can come on in an instant. For example, you are busy and have no thoughts of food, then all of sudden you are distracted and your mind wanders to food. Perhaps you see someone else eating, or pass a bakery, or see an advert for a snack food. You then think about what you really fancy and before you know it you have a craving that only chocolate, biscuits or some other comfort food will fill.
If you are really serious about losing your excess weight, give yourself a break. Learn how to have a little of any food you want without feeling guilty. Learn how to notice if you are physically or emotionally hungry and resolve to deal with those emotions that are causing you to over eat.
If you do this you will be much more likely to reach your target weight and keep the weight off for good as you will gradually develop the habits and behaviours similar to a naturally slim person.
You don’t need to deprive yourself….
How many slim people do you know who eat chocolate and desserts? Lots! Yes, because they only eat when their body needs fuel and not when emotions or other triggers induce cravings and allow foods to yell from everywhere ‘Eat me, eat me’!
You don’t need to deprive yourself or ban any foods, all you need is the ability to eat those foods only when you are physically hungry and be able to deal with your emotions in other way. And the good news is there is a way to do just that, a way that is natural, safe and pain free.
Some tips to get you started
Do you want to finally be free to eat the foods you want, and still lose weight? Here are a few things to get you started. Whilst they may sound like common sense, ask yourself truthfully how often you apply these principles of a healthy attitude to food.
- Eat only when you are physically hungry. If you are not sure when this is then keep watching this blog site.
- Sit down and eat everything from a plate – yes even a chocolate bar! And eat slowly, paying attention to the flavours and textures of your food. Don’t eat while watching TV as you may miss the signal that you have had enough.
- Stop eating when you feel satisfied. If you are not sure, then you are full enough for this session of eating. You can have more when you feel the sensation of physical hunger again.
- Eat the foods you really want to eat. Yes, this also means chocolate and sweet things provided you only eat it when you feel physically hungry.
I have created this new blog site to share with you some of the best ways I know to help change you mindset so you can lose weight without deprivation. So to avoid missing out on all the tips and strategies I have in store please sign up to receive regular updates.
Until next time,
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