Submitted by Cindy MacNeil Sola.
(December 27, 2020) — What would you say if I told you that anyone can lose weight without medication – frozen meals – eliminating carbohydrates – eliminating protein – or funding a large weight loss program?
We all have tried the above and it worked for a while. Then we fall back into habits and the way we ate before because we get tired of the program. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out the body needs to take in less and burn more calories for weight loss to occur.
The New Year is around the corner and I myself need to lose weight. I went around and around with the above in the past. I know if you’re a stress eater/picker – boredom eater, you realize at the end of the day you forgot what you popped into your mouth: the circle continues. Reiki or Meditation will decrease anxiety and depression. When you’re relaxed you feel energized, think more clearly, are more organized: you do more – move more – clean the house – yard work – take a walk – eat less, exercise, a few pounds fall off, and this will increase your willpower, you feel it’s easier to stay on plan. Now how do we stay in that mode?
Choose a good App. A calorie intake per day you CAN live with. I had to talk to myself a little about this as it’s easy to say if I suck it up and go with a lower intake I will lose faster since I’m in the New Year get-it-done mode. That’s is a way to set yourself up for failure! Really think about this because at the end of the day you can’t be hungry or you will eventually eat your way through the whole kitchen before realizing the damage that was just done.
We have to understand the importance of the mind-body connection. A lot of people overeat to avoid dealing with boredom, stress and anxiety. We can use specific techniques that help us learn how to have a healthy relationship with food and not to eat for feelings. When we eat, do we eat due to really being hungry or are we eating for emotions? It’s essential to acknowledge the two. Reiki or Meditation along with a good calorie App works. I decided to start self-healing, meditation and Reiki to help assist and promote relaxation and have less anxiety to boost energy. I always meditate every morning even if it’s for 5 minutes as it sets my day.
The stress and anxiety were much less as this is a stressful time for ALL of us. Using the app I have lost. My goal is to be down 2 sizes by spring. We don’t want to set an unreachable goal. I will be using the scale a few times a week as a guide but it’s how the clothes feel that really tell you what the body is doing as at times we lose inches and not scale weight. Our weight will go up and down depending on salt intake and water so DON’T always go by the scale. If you have a bad day and the scale shows you’re up 3 pounds, it can mentally do you in to change your attitude to “why bother” which will bring you to kick yourself later on. Take the “downfall” food out of the house; give it to someone that will use it or toss it. You don’t want a bag of chips in the house at that weak moment! I myself buy snacks for my husband that he likes and I won’t eat. I love fruit and I get lazy, so as soon as the fruit comes out of the grocery bag, I wash and cut it up, easy to grab and enjoy when I’m looking for that snack. Let yourself have a treat every 10 lbs. that you have lost. Kind of a food game, but we do what we have to and try to meet a goal.
With each pound gone, get a pretty paperclip and hang it on a magnet on the frig so you will see progress. I have also taken two jars and filled one with 20 marbles and as I have lost I have moved the pound gone to the empty jar to show me pounds lost and even if its only 4 I can visually see it. It helped during the holidays! If you are a boredom eater figure out what you would like to do that you have not had time for, genealogy? Jewelry making? Writing? That book that’s been in the drawer? Instead of going to the frig, figure out what you can do to replace that boredom time.
I have lost 7 pounds and it may not sound like much but carry around a 5 lb. bag of flour and you will feel it. Its amazing what direction the mind can go in if it acknowledges positive most of the time. Even creating a buddy system with a friend or family member is also huge for success.
I have a client who decided she wanted to try the process. The App and Meditation every day for 4 weeks and success! She has dropped some weight and has so much more energy and the cost to her was zero!
Losing weight slowly is a healthy weight loss that will stay and it will retrain our mind to focus and take time for ourself to decrease stress and anxiety. I’m not saying I won’t fall and screw up, we all do. But with the tools, relaxation of mind and body, support of the peeps around us and acknowledging our success even with a 2-3 lb. loss is huge. I’m positive I will meet my goal for spring, be healthier and put on a few things that have been hanging in my other closet!
I hope you join me to set that spring goal.
Cindy MacNeil Sola is the owner of Spirit and Balance, LLC, located in Higganum, CT.
