Research has found that if weight loss is on your Christmas wish list, the best way to make it a reality is to plan. Lydia Jones (who lost two stone in 12 months with Slimming World) reports
Willpower and determination are great, but with temptation everywhere at this time of year, you never know when you might trip up…
Your colleague has made cookies, so apparently ‘You have to’…
Your friends pick the dinner venue, and you end up in a pizza place…
You hope your Sainsbury’s local does fat free crème fraiche. But you didn’t check. And they don’t, so you have to go for full fat…
Life happens. That’s what we find ourselves saying every week at my Slimming World group, when we discuss the difficult times when we couldn’t help but slip up. But if there had been a bit of planning (having a fruit bowl on your desk, getting in there first with the restaurant suggestion, checking online for what shops stock what you want), these potentially dangerous situations could be avoided. Even just planning to vocalize your opinion can help – one of the reasons I talk about Slimming World all the time is to remind people that I don’t want to be forced into eating chips and cake.
A study carried out in Portuguese, German and Polish universities looked at over 200 people who were aged between 18 and 50. The participants were asked how much fruit they had eaten on a typical day in the previous week, what steps they would take to eat more, what issues might get in their way and what health benefits would come as a result. The results found that people who planned in advance to get their five a day were much more likely to do so, and those who understood the benefits also found it easier to make the change.
A great start would be to make sure you have a list when going to the supermarket. Psychologist Cristina Albuquerque Godinho from the Lisbon University Institute in Portugal agreed that ‘Buying food ad hoc in the supermarket is not a helpful approach.
Write a list and make a deliberate intention to change behaviour or lose weight, because this is a strategy that works.’ If you stick to the plan and fill up on healthy food, you won’t be wanting the bad stuff so much. Fact.
Read Lydia’s amazing weight loss story
Lydia Jones blogs at abitofwhatifancy.blogspot.co.uk
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