Reviewed by Kimberly Cabe, FNP-BC of Forum Health Rochester Hills
Learn good strategies for making healthier choices as you follow your medical weight loss program.
Medical weight loss is more than a diet—it is a commitment to a healthier way of life that is driven by strong lifestyle habits and regular healthy decisions. When you first start out with your medical weight loss program you will undergo a long series of transitions until you realize that you are living an overall healthy lifestyle, free from many of the habits that may contributed to excess weight.
Maintaining your weight loss after your medical weight loss program comes down to making a series of healthy choices day in and day out. Sometimes it is hard to predict what those choices will entail, but in most cases you can prepare yourself for the obstacles that lay in front of you by predetermining what your choice will be when the situation occurs.
Here are a few tips for making healthy choices:
- Make a grocery list: The food store is a hotbed of temptation, especially if you aren’t careful about what you are purchasing. Impulse stands crowd out even the healthy aisles of the store, while the inner aisles will call out your name to break your meal plan. To avoid making ill decisions always have a grocery list and make the decision to stick to it. Also, do your best not to shop when you are hungry to avoid letting your stomach overpower your reasoning ability.
- Have “fast food” ready at home: Know that there are going to be nights when you won’t have time to cook. Something will come up and just having a meal planned for the evening won’t do. Have back up “fast food” solutions in your freezer. This might include healthy leftovers that just need to be heated up, frozen low calorie dinners or plenty of produce so you can make a smoothie. These simple options will help you stay out of the drive thru lane.
- When faced with two paths, take the stairs: Every day you will be faced with small decisions that will impact the amount of activity you are engaging in. Some of these decisions are small, like taking the stairs instead of the elevator or parking farther away from the store than necessary. Other decisions can impact you even more, like choosing to walk the dog instead of letting him or her run through your backyard, or deciding to watch TV at the gym from the treadmill instead of on your couch.
Staying strong and making the healthy choice when faced with daily decisions is a great way to boost your confidence as you are losing weight. Forum Health can help you develop more healthy strategies to lose weight during your medical weight loss program.
