Exercise motivation tip: Work hard

Weight loss top #2: track it

After reading about awareness, tip number 1, you think, ya, so? Now what?

One very effective behavior is to track the food you eat; the ultimate awareness tool, right? Likely how weight watchers is so effective: the tracking.

In the confusing world of dieting, we are left wondering what should we eat? There are a million "diets," which do you choose?

What if you abandon the idea of a diet? What does your body need versus want? What foods make you feel good? Bad?

I like the livestrong app my plate calorie tracker. There are many app's for that--calorie tracking that is. Pick one. Plus, the livestrong app lets you select the number of pounds you want to lose and gives you a target calorie range.

I've been to weight watchers, like millions of others, and you know when you are falling off the wagon when you quit tracking!

Weight loss tip: increase your awareness

How do we break through the defenses of our weight? The daily little things we tell ourselves about our bodies and food. Our inner voice that says "It won't matter, just eat it." Or, "You look fat, disgusting, and cannot wear that, don't be ridiculous!" Or when we go out and think we look cute, only later to see a picture of ourself and feel mortified, "Oh my....is that what I look like?"

What is truly amazing to me is even when people appear skinny to me, they can still think like this?

Tip 1: begin with awareness. Notice what you say to yourself. That inner critic is holding you back from accomplishing your weight loss goals.

Questions to help you hear the critic in your head:
Look in a mirror. What do you think?
What thoughts first pop in your mind? Where do your eyes go?

When you reach for something unhealthy, what is flowing through your mind?
Do you ever just not think about it at all? Eat numbingly? A who cares? What difference will it make?

Increase your awareness of the inner voice.

Motivate the reptile inside

This is by far my favorite lifehack. It is labeled under procrastination; I believe this is a key to motivation. We need to motivate the lazy, but basic needs driven reptile inside of us. It is finding the balance between basic needs and pushing ourselves to do more than that. Enjoy the Einstein and lizard images!  Your lizard drives your behavior and Einstein tries to logically take control.

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/how-do-i-get-over-procrastination.html

Weight loss tip: mindful eating

Author Thicht Nhat Hanh describes how to eat mindfully in his book Savor. Basically, saying practice gratitude, slow down, and pay attention to what goes in our mouths. A perfect tip for overeating.

http://life.gaiam.com/article/zen-your-diet