Seven Steps to Success ~

At our meeting Saturday we talked about the seven steps to success and how to stick to the plan to reach our goal.  

1. Look up points values before you eat them.
2. Chose filling foods first.
3. Follow the good health guidelines
4. Use your weekly points allowance.
5. Keep track of everything you put into your mouth.
6. Pay attention to portion sizes.
7. Be aware of your body's signals.  

I am guilty of not following every single one of these steps.  How often do I eat something and then say I'll look up how much it is later.  Or snack on something that will satisfy my sweet tooth, but wont satisfy my hunger.  The good health guidelines are hard to follow sometimes.  I'd much rather eat a 100 calorie snack of chocolate covered pretzels for 2 points than drink a cup of skim milk for 2 points, but which one will really satisfy me and help me toward reaching my goal?!  Sometimes I think that if I eat less points than I'm allowed I will lose weight faster.  But that's not teaching me how to eat right and even if I do lose an extra pound or two, I will just gain it back when I do eat again.  When I'm cooking, it's easy to take bites of things to taste it, but every bite, lick and taste (BLT's) has points and I need to remember to count them.  I was reading about a woman who didn't change anything she ate, she just changed how she ate it and lost 32 lbs.  She chewed every single bite twenty to thirty times and that made her eat slower, which gave her brain more time to register when she was full, thus eating less.  I've tried to do that and when I do, it does cause me to eat less (maybe just because I'm tired of chewing).  Most of the time I forget though. 

Goal for the week:  Exercise at least 4 times and try to remember to chew slowly.