Meet Your Weight Loss Resolutions

Provided by Prevention

Change Your Life!

Imagine how you'd help a friend take the leap. If you dream of switching careers or taking a trip around the world, you may be discouraged by your worries of not achieving those goals. Instead of taking on your resistance, think of ways to sneak around it. For instance, ask yourself how someone else might figure out how do it. Visualizing another person taking a leap will make it easier to grasp that change is possible.

Live more adventurously right now. No need to sign up for skydiving: Ask for bigger challenges at work. "Sticking your neck out in small ways mobilizes you for greater action," says Judith Wright, author of The Soft Addiction Solution.

Embrace discomfort--at least temporarily. Change is hard, but perpetual dissatisfaction is no picnic either. As a first step forward, take one step backward from your easy life. You may even learn that what you thought would be excruciating like putting your house up for sale, having a one-on-one with your boss or partner -- isn't nearly as bad.

Reach Your Diet Goals

Forget willpower--it doesn’t work anyway. Years of research on behavior change provide strong evidence that dieters who demand perfection of themselves are likely to respond to slip-ups by pigging out. So if you indulge, don't label yourself a loser. Instead, realize that missteps are an inevitable part of the journey.

Ask how instead of why. "Focusing on why you engage in emotional eating implies that there's a deep psychological problem," says Gary Foster, PhD, director of the Center for Obesity Research and Education at Temple University. "But for most people, emotional eating is simply a bad habit." To break the cycle, look at what you're usually doing when your emotional munchies hit--and change the pattern.

Indulge in your favorite treats--but set a price for them. If you decide to have a piece of candy, promise yourself to allow yourself to have it, only if you eat a piece of fruit first. Sometimes the sweetness of the fruit will be enough to satisfy your craving.

Use the power of self-prophecy. Answering yes to a yes-or-no question about whether you’re going to make a change greatly increases your odds of success, according to a Washington State University study. They found that self-prediction increased participants' attendance at a health club, boosted their consumption of healthy snacks, and strengthened their commitment to a healthier lifestyle by nearly 20%.

Weigh yourself daily. A study found that participants who got on the scales every day were 82% more likely than others to keep the weight off.

Limit the processed foods on your plate. Variety is the spice of life--and the bane of dieters. In a study at the University of Buffalo, volunteers given a four-course meal ate 44% more than those who were given the same amount of a single food. Unfortunately, processed foods frequently combine different flavors--salty and sugary, sweet and spicy.

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