REWARD YOURSELF

When you are starting off, reward yourself for your
achievements. Give yourself an extra cookie. Go
out and buy a new pair of shoes.

JUST DON’T OVERDO IT!

As you lose more and more weight, continue to
reward yourself – but here’s a way to do it: As you
make larger goals, make larger rewards available. As you create your
new goal, find something you really want. Perhaps you have been
eyeballing a nice outfit at the mall. Or maybe you want a new iPhone!

By creating a longer term goal, with a nice reward awaiting you when you
achieve that goal you are more likely to succeed.

FORGIVE YOURSELF

No one is perfect. If you slip and do something
that you know you are not supposed to do, don’t
beat yourself up! It is perfectly understandable
that, on occasion, you may fall off the wagon. It’s
OK! Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and get
back on!

This goes for both eating things you know you
should not eat and for making excuses for not
exercising.

FRIENDS

A great way to help you in your new Journey is to
find a friend either willing to join you on your
Journey or help you on yours.

By having someone you are accountable to, you are
more likely to succeed.

If they are willing to participate with you, the odds
of success are greater still.

There will be some days that you do not want to continue or days that
you don’t want to exercise. It will happen. But by having that friend
with you, the two of you can keep each other in check and motivated to
continue.

By the same token, once you have lost the weight and you are now a very
happy camper, BE A FRIEND to someone else!

EXERCISE

While changing your diet is a great start in your Journey, it may not be
enough. Adding exercise can help to speed up the process.

Now, exercise does not have to be a full-blown, 5-day a week, 5 hours a
day exercise plan!

Start by walking. Start slow – walk around the block. As time goes on,
increase your speed and distance.

If you are up to it and your doctor agrees, do more cardiovascular
exercises at a gym or the local YMCA.

One key to exercise is to vary your routine. Not only will that help you
from getting bored stiff doing the same thing over and over, it helps keep
your body from “learning” that routine and compensating. If you do the
same thing over and over, your body becomes trained. So, keep it
guessing!

Some great ways of exercising:

Bicycling, swimming, racquetball, tennis, walking, running, yoga, pilates,
weight training, aerobics, nature walks, fitness programs at your local
gym or the YMCA.

There are many ways you can exercise. You just have to find one that
you really like!

But the key here is to do something! Even just walking is MUCH better
than sitting on the couch.

A note on exercise: don’t be fooled into thinking if you have stomach fat
that simply doing sit-ups are going to cure it! Fat loss doesn’t work that
way – you can not target a specific area for fat loss! As you exercise, the
fat will come off from wherever it comes off. You can’t choose the area.
Sorry!

Also, as with changing your diet, you need to slowly increase your
exercise routines. Starting off, you will not be able to run a marathon!
So, start slow and build up to that marathon over time.

A side benefit of exercise is that not only will you be helping your heart,
you will be helping your mind. HOW? Exercise can help relieve stress
and tension!

WARNING! EXERCISE BOREDOM ALERT!!!

It is very easy to start to become bored with exercise. The key to stop
that from happening is to vary your routine. Don’t continue to do the
same thing day in and day out!

For example, if you only exercise 3 days a week (Monday, Wednesday,
and Friday): Monday – Walk 2 miles; Wednesday – Swimming
Friday – Biking. The following week, change them up, or add other
exercises.

If you join a fitness center or the YMCA, you can easily vary your routine
each time you visit…treadmills, elliptical machines, weights, rowing
machines, stationary bikes, swimming pool, aerobics classes, jazzercise,
etc. Use them in random order each time.

You also may want to bring along some music. Listening to some of your
favorite music can help make the time go by quicker.

Another tip: bring a friend with you! Not only does it give you someone
to be accountable to, but it’s someone to talk to while you are work out!

Speaking of friends, why not create an Exercise Club with your friends
and neighbors? Go to the fitness center together!

The point is – if you find yourself making excuses to not exercise, you are
setting yourself up to fail in your Journey. Don’t let that happen!