Losing weight and keeping it off are a challenge. And let me tell you it gets harder the older you get. Trust me.

For most of my life, I exercised regularly and ate a fairly healthy diet. However, when major life challenges occurred a number of years ago, I discovered the instant gratification that can come from indulging in sweets and fun food and ...not exercising. It didn't take long before the extra 20 pounds accumulated.

Last year, I made a decision to make changes in my life. I didn't like how I looked or how I felt.


So, I prepared the night before. I had a mental checklist.

• Exercise clothes ready
• Water bottle filled
• Kindle charged and easily accessible

This became my daily habit. Upon awakening, I put on my workout clothes and hopped on my treadmill. I've tried joining gyms in the past but I found I wasn't consistent. Doing my daily workout in my home simply makes it easier with less excuses to not do it.

I also planned my meals in advance. I had oatmeal with fruit for breakfast. I had a fig bar mid-morning. I brought a salad to work for lunch. I had a piece of fruit in the afternoon.


I discovered a store called My Fit Foods. For dinner, I usually ate one of their entrees. After awhile, I got used to the portion sizes and stopped buying them as they were kind of expensive. But starting out with them helped me to reassess the amount of food I was consuming at dinner time.

Fast forward to today. I've had some issues with my lower back. So I've been stretching, massaging and icing it. The last few weeks of work were busy. And there were many parties and celebrations. I got out of the habit of exercising and began to indulge again. I've been noticing my weight slowly creeping back up!

ENOUGH!

So I'm back to recording my daily weight and exercise pattern. I remember Zig Ziglar saying that if you write down your weight and exercise, you will be able to notice when you're getting off task. I may skip a day now and then but if I see a pattern, I'm aware and can do something about it.

My goal is a healthy lifestyle. It's not a diet; it's a way of life. Do I occasionally have sweets and foods that have lots of calories? Yes I do. But I quickly get back to more healthy foods as a way of life.

I find I have more energy when I exercise and eat healthy.


OK, so how about you? How are you doing with a healthy lifestyle? Do you go on a diet and lose weight and then only gain more pounds back again?  Do you identify with any of the excuses above?

Blessings and love,