When eating, focus on enjoying the food nourishment as slowly as possible.
This just needs your concentration. Unfortunately quite often, it just not that simple. You were probably told by your own loving parents or grandparents to chew your food slowly with your mouth closed. They were so right. Obviously! But think about how you eat now. Do you load your fork with another mouthful, before you have chewed and swallowed the current mouthful? Stop it. Wait. Concentrate please. Think about what you are tasting and chewing. Don’t just read the newspaper or your emails! Don’t watch TV. Honestly, this is really important. You have to just focus on the food nourishment. And do not put the next mouthful even onto your fork or spoon, until you have swallowed the food that you are eating now. Wait to think about the nourishment that you have just tasted. Then have at least two sips on a glass of water. Then wait, put the next mouthful onto your fork or spoon. You will have to concentrate hard. But why should good food be boring?
You will certainly be amazed at two things:
1. How much LESS that you need to consume, to feel full
2. How the wrong fatty foods start to taste distinctly unhealthy, immediately, so you feel guilty about consuming more of them
Work at this rule. Apply it to every meal – and soon a fist-sized portion will become entirely adequate. Apply it to snacks too. One nut at a time. One small portion of that chocolate bar at a time. Most bars have small squares. So eat that one square at a time – and focus on ENJOYING it. Very slowly. Make sure you have that sip of water, fresh fruit juice or fruit or fresh mint tea between EVERY mouthful. Master this rule and you are well on your way to your weight loss goals.
Keep a Food Diary and measure your level of weight loss just once each week, say, when you get up on Monday mornings. This is really important. In our view, your successful weight loss is:
50% strategy
10% awareness
20% patience
20% enjoying it!
So, to track your weight loss target of say, half a kilo, or one imperial lb per week, write down your progress. We don’t want to encourage starving yourself and training for hours through a weekend, to stay on track. In fact you’ll then break a few other rules. But seriously, your weight can fluctuate all through the week, depending on your hydration, activity, calorie intake, etc. So just sticking diligently to a Monday morning weigh-in keeps a consistent measurement. Also, remember to praise yourself and celebrate, if you have lost that little bit more. This could be treating your self to something outside the rules… Anything. Except, of course, alcohol. That will just make the weight all go straight back. Faster than you can even say Guinness or Cabernet Sauvignon.
Also, a daily food diary will really make you aware of how you are still eating a lot of wrong foods. But don’t beat yourself up too much. Just cut back on harmful fats or bad carbs through the following week. And when you do feel that you’ve binged, also write down what you were thinking. Remember how you felt, both before and after the binge or treat. Then next time you feel like that second or third biscuit or chocolate bar, try to focus on the thoughts that you had, AFTER you let things slip the last time. Really focus on this strategy and you will develop a stronger mindset. Read your food diary again, when you wake up, too. Focus your thoughts on how you will feel when you beat that standard time for a marathon or sportive, Focus on when you are less heavy and you win an uphill cycling or running sprint against your club-mates, or you are first up your toughest killer hill climb or training test.
Eat with the end result in mind. Remember, you are in control.
This strategy will be relevant for you too. Get the FREE EBOOK on ‘How to Lose 10 Kilos in 5 Months’ from http://tinyurl.com/7tjznny. To benefit from this truly effective set of weight loss rules, follow EliteCyclingFitness for a cognitive strategy for consistent weight loss
