Check your head, is your head in the right place, how motivated are you… if you are still in the “screw it” phase of the cycle then wait till you are so fed up with nothing fitting or so disgusted with how you look in the mirror or the number on the scale that you really can’t bear it any longer…
Check your diary…there is no point in starting a new health regime three days before you go on a girls trip to Ibiza or your all inclusive Caribbean holiday! Better to avow to be careful on the trip and start with a vengeance upon your return.
Check your health..there is no point in starting on a restrictive diet or rigorous exercise regime if you have just got the flu or pulled a muscle … wait a week…give yourself a fighting chance…
Calories are not all equal… ie processed food vs freshly made food… not only do non processed foods leave you more satisfied but I truly believe that the body loses more weight on “fresh” calories… At the beginning of our E.L.F. journey we used to do 4 days of 750 calories every month (yes those were the days! Now more likely to do 4 days of 7500 calories.. focus ELF focus!) One month I cooked everything (didn’t take long!) from scratch using fresh produce, the next month I bought M&S ready low cal meals.. no drum roll needed I have already told you the result the fresh produce resulted in a much higher weight loss than the processed foods and it was infinitely harder on the processed foods as my body did not feel as satiated.
Exercise not only burns calories but burns bad feelings, sluggishness, despondency, gets you out of ruts and seriously helps with anxiety… on a run you are too focused on your breath (or lack of) or the burning feeling in your legs to remember the angst, in a Yoga class the clever flow of exercise somehow lets us transcend the daily grind… I have no idea how and am so sceptical about it but it seems to work every time… even when I am in the worst mood or pain!
Goals don’t have to be short, medium or long term they can be all three…. So you can lose 5lbs for a wedding at the end of the month but still want to make changes to be able to lose a stone by the end of the year… stop the yo yoing by having short, medium and long term goals…
No need to weigh every day but at least once a fortnight in order to keep some form of tally, if you are a favourite pair of jeans or skirt person then try on that piece of clothing regularly - personally every day is the most successful for me as just reminds me to keep a slight track of things.. can send me into a spiral of despair too though so beware!
Photos are very motivating… in the instagram world we live in let’s be honest we are photographed very often…. Be motivated by them… don’t be put off… if it is a bad photo.. a muffin top showing or flabby upper arms… use that to motivate yourself rather than beat yourself up… take before photos…
Fruit and nuts are skinny people’s snacks… they add a lot of calories for not much benefit… if you know you are going to eventually eat the crisps or the chocolate cake then eat a bit of them… don’t start with the nuts and the fruit otherwise you will just add these on as well as the crisps and the chocolate cake…
Pilates and Yoga are skinny people’s exercise brilliant on your days off exercise or as a second form of exercise but you won’t lose weight doing them - you need cardio and HIIT to do that… they are great as an addition though as they shape the body and help prevent injuries.. and clear the mind as I have already said…
Build treats into the system… a massage, a blow out night out, a fry up.. or all three on the same day… whatever is needed to stay on track… better to have 48 hours of weight gain than 48 days!!
Weight loss is not a straight line graph, there will be inexplicable weight gains at various times, stay on track as much as possible, do not throw out the proverbial baby with the bath water… yes have a treat but don’t blow it because this morning you were 2lbs heavier for no reason.. think longer term.. keep plodding along with the familiar regime of calories out vs calories in.. it works you know it does….
It’s blinking hard work… the older you get the less it works … there is no way round this… it just takes more effort….
Don’t listen to what other people say, except maybe your E.L.F. buddy whom, if you have chosen the right one, will actually be honest with you and tell you the truth - in a kind and supportive fashion hopefully! There was that film “he’s just not that into you” I think it was called… where basically it explored the concept that as friends we rarely tell people the absolute truth as we don’t want to hurt their feelings or make them even more upset about something.. you know you have put on weight but when you say to a group of friends or a beauty therapist - who is currently waxing your upper leg so can see the expanding thigh size clearly - that you are not happy due to your weight gain they will 99 times out of a 100 say the equivalent of “you’re not fat - you look great” when you both know it’s not true… in the film they explored the idea that if a woman is obsessed with a love interest none of her friends will actually tell her that the reason he is not returning her calls or asking her out is because “he’s just not that into you” which is sometimes what we really should be telling people… similarly we sometimes need to be told “yes you have put on weight, you don’t look terrible but you have put on weight” Harsh but fair would be a good summary of that approach.
So… obviously you don’t have to have all these in your head or sorted before you start your journey as we all know one size does not fit all… but good to give a hefty number of them a good consideration… pinch my nose and off I go!
We’d love to hear about your own experiences of Expanding Late Forties – your successes and failures of shrinking your waist and expanding your mind. Use the form below to get in touch and we might even post it on the site.
