#86, Setting Up a Successful Weight Loss Summer

For Mother’s Day, our church sang an old song called “One Day at a Time” and I fell in love with it. I sang it all last week as we finished up school and I packed up my classroom. I’m moving again, from an elementary position to a high school English position. I have two teaching license so when our little school has a hole in staffing I am an easy person to shift around. That being said, I’ve decided to be absolutely thrilled with the prospect of reading and developing curriculum around ten different novels this summer. Sounds fun, right? 

Last summer, I began the vacation months with no thought as to how it might affect my eating habits. I just figured it would be fine since I’m good about eating to my hunger levels and have done so much work around my emotional eating habits. But, I paid for not having a plan. You see, when you don’t have a plan, your mind and body automatically default to whatever seems and feels the easiest. So I defaulted to my weekend plan. My weekend plan I eat breakfast each day, enjoy one exception treat, and one exception meal that goes off my typical meal templates. It didn’t take long before I was knocking at the top end of my maintenance weight. I needed an actual plan. After all, summer vacation isn’t a 10 to 12 week long weekend. 

I want to share with you three key mind shifts that will help anyone whenever they are in a transition period (like me) or experiencing any significant changes. 

1. Choose: You have to choose. Don’t just expect things to figure themselves out. Make choices about what you will eat, when you will eat, how you will move, and what kind of self-care you will do. Then, make a plan. For me, I’m going to continue my eating plan that I use during the school year with a shift in the times of day we eat. I’m also going to switch my larger meal to lunch and my lighter meal to supper since we usually eat as a family more for lunch while it is so hot outside but supper I might need to feed the girls while my hard-working-husband is taking advantage of those later cooler hours to get things done around the farm. 
   
2. Boundaries: Just like some bumper rails at the bowling alley, having some boundaries will really help you reach your goal. These don’t have to be anything fancy. They might be something simply like you don’t eat refined sugars or processed grains. Or, you might choose to not eat or drink anything besides water or unsweetened tea after dinner. Think about some areas that  you tend to struggle in and make a firm rule. When you find yourself trying to push against that rule, it is a great opportunity to examine self care and food choices to figure out where and how you need to support yourself better. 
   
3. TODAY: Start today. Don’t say it will happen tomorrow or Monday. That is a very slippery slope. Tomorrow is endless but today is here. This is where you start. It doesn’t even have to be morning for you to start. You can choose to begin wherever you are, with your very next meal, next walk outdoors instead of watching the next episode, or picking up a book instead of a bag of chips to dig into for pleasure or comfort. So, tell me, what is it for you? What is that thing you are going to do? Exercise? Eat more veggies? Drink all your water? Start today! You can do it! My daughter and I celebrated with popcorn and a movie the day we got out of school. The very next day I ate a salad for lunch and did my strength training. I was so tempted to make it a party weekend, celebrating the beginning of summer, but instead I decided to celebrate with the freedom to make loving choices for my body and mind. 
   

I thought it would be so much fun on my stories for Instagram and Facebook the next few weeks to share what healthy choices I’m making as I slide into summer. So, if you aren’t following me yet, make sure to head over to Facebook or Instagram and find me with the handle armendariz.lora. And send me a message if you have any ideas that would help me or my listeners. I would love to share them here on the podcast. 

Well, my dear friends, I will be back next week to let you know how it is going. You are each so precious. God cares about your health. He cares about you. You are loved. Talk to you next week! Good bye for now.

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