Articles

Diet therapy

Avoid self sabotage

sabatuer girlfriendHow many times does life get in the way of your plans to lose weight and get fitter?

  • It’s your birthday and your mum arrives with your favourite chocolate cake.
  • It’s your anniversary and the office puts on a shout to celebrate.
  • It’s Mother’s Day and your son presents you with a box of chocolates he has saved up for.
  • Or it rains all weekend and friends drop in with fish and chips to watch the rugby.

Does any of this sound familiar?

You simply can’t micro manage everything, all the time and spontaneity is part of the fun of life. We all love being surprised by those we care about. However if you would like to have your cake and eat it too then here are some tips to lessen the guilt, get back on track and minimize the damage to your waistline tomorrow.

  • Lap up the attention- focus on the positive vibes you are getting. It is the love not the food that demands your attention.
  • Share the spoils- pass around the bubbly, the cake or chocolates.
  • Keep your own portions smaller than last year.
  • Pace yourself- and vary what you drink by skipping a round or upping the lime and sodas.
  • It’s OK to hoard- if there are left over’s after everyone has gone transfer what is salvageable into the freezer for another gathering.
  • Look at the big picture- weekends like this maybe only a few out of 50 for the year. Enjoy it without going silly and on Monday get back to normal.
  • Push up the fluids and exercise –resolve to fit in a couple of extra walks or gym session the following week and keep well hydrated.
  • Keep positive- it’s not eating the odd celebratory extra that puts on the most weight. It’s all the comfort food you eat the next day as you convince yourself that once again your diet has failed, that puts you off track.
  • Record your food for the next week- just one week of record keeping is often all it takes to get back to the fitter you again.

About the author View all

Lea Stening

Lea is one of New Zealand’s leading paediatric dietitians and also specialises in Sports Nutrition. She has specialised in Paediatric Nutrition for 31 years and in 1985 was the first paediatric dietitian to enter private practice in New Zealand. Lea helps families through her private consultations, public lectures, newspaper and magazine articles as well as television and radio interviews. Read more »

View all posts by Lea Stening »

Comments

Leave a Reply

Also in Diet Therapy View all »

Would you like to subscribe to our fantastic FREE monthly newsletter?

Each month we'll keep you up-to-date with the latest nutritional articles and healthy recipes from LeaStening.com. You are free to opt out at any time, but we think you'll enjoy what we've got in-store for you.

Plus as a bonus offer — subscribe today and receive FREE weight loss tips for two weeks! Learn how a number of foods, many one would consider 'healthy', may in fact be slowing your progress.

Subscribe

Yes please, it sounds great! (and it's FREE after all).


OR

Enter

No thanks, I'm not interested (or I'm already a subscriber and really enjoying these fantastic newsletters!).