Time to Replace Old Habits with New Ones

When it comes to weight loss, there are simply too many scams and quick fixes floating around the internet. If you are serious about making changes, there’s no magic pill or surefire diet, so avoid the gimmicks. If a resolution is poorly worded or negatively stated, it makes it easy to set yourself up for failure, as the goal will likely lack ways of measuring your progress and will be less likely to keep you motivated past the first few weeks. Most habitual actions like driving your car require little thought while you are doing them. Your brain and body have learned from repeatedly performing these functions and simply react. Replacing old habits with new ones works in a similar way. If your New Year’s resolution is to stop eating junk food, it can backfire by constantly reminding you of the very thing you are trying to avoid. Negative statements seldom work as well as positive resolutions like making healthier food choices.

• Eat More Fiber to Feel Full - Beans, broccoli, beans, berries, whole grains, and avocados are natural sources of fiber that are good for losing weight as well as eliminating fat deposits.
• Include Good Fats - Consuming healthy fats adds balance to your diet, so enjoy small amounts of fat from good sources like those found in fish, nuts, seeds, and olive oil.
• Limit Liquid Sugar Intake - Since sugary drinks do not promote feelings of fullness, liquids can be more damaging to your weight-loss efforts versus consuming carbohydrates in solid form.
• Identify Culprits for Overeating - Overeating does not always occur due to hunger. Stress-eating, which includes eating out of boredom, is more often the reason for overeating than a fondness for a particular food.
• Avoid Foods with Added Sugars - Added sugars hide in foods that you might not expect like pasta sauces, crackers, pizzas, and processed meats. Consumption of these foods should be limited.
• Include Extra Protein in Diet - Adding protein to your menus can provide a metabolic advantage and an appetite-reducing advantage making it easier to manage your weight.

If you force yourself to engage in change, you are unlikely to stick with it. Simply stating your New Year’s resolution is to lose weight does not create a viable action plan. Most resolutions are too vague to be sustainable. Probably the fastest way to ensure your New Year’s resolution will fail is to set goals that are nearly impossible to achieve. Avoid lofty goals that sound dramatic and focus on smaller achievable goals that might sound boring to others. Giving yourself all of 2021 to attain your weight loss goals is far too open-ended. Create a weight loss pan in advance with realistic timelines to eliminate the guesswork and last-minute decision making. If you have a detailed picture in your mind as to what your New Year’s resolution will entail, it will be much easier to see the course of action that can get you there.