Having someone there to report to can be a great motivator towards eating better. Yes, you still may eat way too much chocolate or two slices of pie instead of one at times, but telling someone about that binge may help prevent another one if they are there to be a supportive cheerleader and to remind you that tomorrow will be a whole new day. And studies show that having a diet buddy can help deter you from binging if you know you will have to talk about it. Just having someone to chat with when you feel the urge to run out and buy a gallon of ice cream may be all you need, especially if you’re an emotional eater.

It’s also always more fun to exercise if you have someone else to go to the gym or hike up that mountain with. And that hour long walk in the park could be a lot more fun if you have someone else tagging along to talk to – that hour might just fly by and be over with before you know it. Find a coworker to walk with during your lunch breaks at work, or hang out with a friend after work to sweat out the stress of the day while doing an aerobics session. The possibilities are endless and much easier to tackle when someone else is there trudging through the routines with you.

For those living in more rural areas, look online for a virtual buddy. There are numerous web sites out there nowadays, some even free, with forums and chat rooms where you can find someone with your own interests and similar weight loss/exercise dilemmas to help keep you accountable.

No Matter the Weather, A Dog Will Make You Get Exercise

As much as I love to be outside, I find it hard to get motivated sometimes to go out and walk or get exercise when I have a pile of laundry to do along with a list of other chores. And what if you live in a rural area, like I do, and have no one close by to get together for your daily walks? I have friends who would love to be a walking partner, but between the distance and work schedule conflicts, it’s nearly impossible for us to do so. Plus, when it’s 25 degrees outside, I’d much rather be inside laid out on the sofa in the heat with a cup of hot chocolate. I recently found a way to stay motivated and at least triple my exercise time and get outside everyday…no matter what the weather.

I’d lost my older dog earlier in the year, and in the process lost my hiking buddy. I recently adopted a new puppy and at the start I decided I would take him out to walk three times a day. I used to be lucky if I got out for 30 minutes a day to just walk. Now I’m outside for up to 2 hours a day. And he loves to run, which is great because I’ve wanted to get started on a running routine anyway and was having a hard time getting motivated. The last couple of days we’ve had a foot and a half of snow on the ground with lows in the teens and highs in the 20s, but do you think that stopped us? We didn’t run, but from the way my legs have felt, I can tell I’ve gotten a great workout trudging through the snow. Do you think I would have gone outside to walk if I didn’t have the dog to make me? Not a chance!

So if you’re finding it hard to get exercise when it’s cold outside, think about adopting a canine buddy. Not only will you be rescuing an animal, you may be helping your health in the process.

While changing things drastically and all at once works for some people, it only spells disaster for most I know who have tried it, including myself. Once you’ve hit a stressful day at work, are PMSing, or just get tired of eating the same thing all the time in a really strict diet, you end up binging and back to where you started, or maybe even doing worse than where you started.

Instead of changing everything at one time, try a little at a time approach. Maybe try drinking an extra glass of water for a few days, then add another for a few days, and so on. Start adding less sugar to your coffee gradually, or use less sugar/a little more Stevia or another substitute to get yourself adjusted to the taste. Add one extra serving of vegetables or fruit for a few days or a week, and then add another. If you don’t like vegetables or fruit, find creative ways to start adding them into your diet, such as using veggie broth instead of water when making rice or using applesauce as a fat substitute when baking. Eventually you may find yourself preferring the taste of these changes and you’ve tricked yourself into eating healthier.

For exercise, don’t commit yourself to exercising for two full hours a day right from the start. Instead, commit to 5 minutes of walking a day, or add one strength exercise a day, and then gradually up the minutes or number of exercises. If you’ve never done a walking or running plan, don’t decide to start running right away….start walking and add short running intervals after a few days or weeks.

Losing and maintaining your weight shouldn’t be about stressing out over every little thing you eat and do to the point you don’t care anymore or dread meals or exercise. Making changes gradually will make them more likely to stick and become good habits that you will keep doing in the long term. You don’t want to consider what you’re doing as a “diet”, but more as a new way of being healthier for life.

I started this blog because of concerns many people I know, especially women, have with their weight as they’ve gotten older. Friends who have never had an issue with their weight, or actually needed to gain all their lives, suddenly found themselves dealing with the opposite once they hit a certain age. Earlier this year, I began training through a natural health school to become an herbal consultant. Immediately after starting school, people who I had no idea were interested in herbs or anything natural or organic started coming out of the woodwork asking questions about how they could treat health problems they had or to just live healthier. The one thing that seems to bother more people than any other issue is weight loss. Weight loss is such a huge issue nowadays with all the processed food and sedentary job duties we have. I have read quite a bit in school about how our ancestors’ lives were different, and have even gone through a very comprehensive nutrition course, and some of what I have learned is such common sense, but we seem to have forgotten it all.

Once I begin my consulting I really would like to be able to concentrate on helping people with their weight issues. I am hoping to use this blog to begin working towards this goal, to reiterate how our bodies were made to work, remind us all of the simple tricks we can use to help lose or maintain weight, and to share my own experiences and opinions on those tricks.

For anyone interested in a “diet buddy,” I am all for it! I have started a group for those interested in chatting together and getting help: http://herbsaregreener.ning.com/group/naturalweightloss

For anyone interested in following my herbal website: 

http://herbsaregreener.com/