Cravings

Well I have lost 27 pounds and thats what I had planned. But now I need to maintain and that is difficult for me during the winter months. I cannot stand working out in cold weather and so I have to rely on an indoor work out routine. I had planned on having my gym membership by now but I have not done that as of yet. And to make things even worst I have injured my leg doing exercises that I am not accustomed to. So I am focusing on maintaining my diet as my leg gets better.

Along these lines I was having a discussion with a friend of mine about dieting. As we talked I realize that we were having many of the same issues with dieting. We came to the conclusion that hunger was not the main problem with dieting. Cravings were giving both of us major problems. It was cravings that was causing the most of the set backs in our weight loss efforts. I think I will look more into this craving problem. I don’t think that I am the only one with major issues with craving. What do you crave; share them with me in the comments section.

Stress

This week has been chock-full of stressful events, even more than in the past couple of weeks. I haven’t lost any weight but I have managed not to gain any either. The stress related to several family crisis, getting my house ready to sell and traveling between Maryland and North Carolina on a weekly basis is making it difficult for me focus on sticking with the program. My weight loss plan does works for me when I stay true to it, but sticking with the plan is proving difficult. Even so I am determined to try to lose 10 more pounds before the end of the year. So far the benefits of my efforts have been a fitness level that has greatly improved.

Still I’ve got to better manage the stress that is resulting in the anxiety that I feel these days. I am finding out that maintaining a healthy lifestyle also means managing stress. People respond to stress in different ways. That response just like stress itself can be defined as either positive or negative. When it comes to stress it is not the situation but our reaction to it that causes anxiety. But stress well managed can be beneficial by strengthening you for future encounters. Here are a few tips I found to managing stress while on a diet that I plan to put into practice.

• Make a list of stressors in your life: these can be people or events.
• List your typical response: the food your reach for, in a response to stress.
• List alternate responses, other than food, to the stressors, for example:

1. Call a relative or friend
2. Take a nap
3. Take a hot shower
4. Go for a walk

Use the list whenever tempted to overeat.