Twenty top tips to help you stay motivated and stick to your healthy eating plan

HAVE you made a resolution to lose weight in 2017? It’s so easy during these grey days to fall off the bandwagon, so here’s some advice from Scottish Slimmers on how to keep it going and stay positive.

• Make a motivational weight loss jar and add one marble to the jar for every lb. lost!
• Start a blog detailing your weight loss journey, it will keep you grounded and you can connect to like-minded people! Keep up with diet and fitness bloggers; you’ll be surprised how many people are experiencing the same as you!
• At the beginning of your slimming journey, answer a few questions; How do I want to look in 6 months? How do I want to feel in 6 months? Write down the answers somewhere private and use these answers to get you through.
• Stick to a weekly weigh in, weight can fluctuate for a number of reasons and you won’t get an accurate reading on a daily basis.
• Buy an item of clothing the size you wish to be or a bikini if you’re brave…and hang it by your mirror,
• Be really good to yourself… for every lb. you lose put aside £5 and when you achieve your target buy something you’ve been lusting after.
• Make use of social media, try the ‘picture a day challenge’ and after 3 months – look back on all the selfies… the difference will inspire you to keep going.
• Carry a picture of yourself when you were at your heaviest, if you feel temptation setting in take a look and remember why you’re eating healthily. Also carry a picture of yourself when you were at your healthy, happy weight. If that’s what you’re aiming to look like again… you could be that weight again!
• Make a motivational music mix to play on the go, music is a good motivator and the right soundtrack can help perk up your mood and strengthen your willpower…the theme from Rocky perhaps or the Chariots of fire theme…maybe ‘fat-bottomed girls’?
• Keep a 2 litre bottle of water by your side at work or home and work your way through it as the day goes on. Always carry a drink or better a bottle of water, most people mistake thirst for hunger, so if in doubt have a drink.
• Cook yourself slim – See cooking as a joy and a hobby and you’ve won half the battle, if you don’t find what you’re doing enjoyable your goals will seem that much further away.

• Follow a healthy eating plan like Scottish Slimmers that allows you to eat your favourite food and a treat at the weekend. Allowing yourself little things each week will mean you are less likely to binge on an impulse.
• Plan your meals a head, if you can plan your week in advance that’s brilliant but a day in advance will keep you on track.
• Ditch the biccies with your cuppa. Go green… if you love a morning cuppa try swapping to herbal. There are so many fruit fusions out there to try! They are fresh and healthy and harder to dunk a biscuit in!
• Get your timing right. Kick start your metabolism with a filling breakfast, and set your body up for a good fat burning day. Note your hunger patterns and work on a way to combat them. If you’re hungry at 10 / 11am, try having a bigger, more fulfilling breakfast.
• Swot up on foodie jargon so that you can understand food labels and low calorie recip., Knowledge is key and you’ll be able to make smarter decisions when it comes to food.
• Shop healthy! Make a list before you go to the supermarket and write your own weight at the top of the list. It might help you resist temptation at the check-out.
• Eat according to your own body. Don’t have the same amount of food as your partner in man-sized portions. Save some for lunchtime the next day.
• Let’s get physical! Sign up for a charity challenge or fun run in the Spring and start training. Go slowly at first and build up your fitness level. Try one of the couch to 5k programmes you can find online!
• Take the rough with the smooth and a day at a time. Everyone has bad days, but it’s how we overcome them that’s the trick. It’s what we do 80% of the time that makes our eating healthy or not