Spring Attitude for Healthy Eating and Weight Loss Success

By Dr. Coleen Andruss, Healthy Lifestyles

What is success? If you asked a hundred people to define success, you would probably get a hundred different descriptions. Success is determined differently by each individual and for each situation. However, success starts with attitude. Attitude determines your thoughts. Thoughts create routines. Routines decide what daily actions you take, and your actions drive your success.

Attitude is like a computer’s operating system. If there is a virus, the computer is useless. If your attitude is negative, you will likely fail. If you don’t think you can change your life and become healthier, you likely will not. If you don’t think you can lose weight, you likely will not. If you don’t think you can give up sugar, you will likely still be eating sugar at this time next year. In order to become successful, you must first assume the positive-thinking attitude of a successful person.

Spring is a great time for a change to a positive attitude, but it is also a time for increased vitality. Vitality is the power to live and grow; it is the state of being strong and healthy. And just as plants and trees start to bloom and grow in the spring, you should do the same. Take a hold of your life and your physical and mental well-being by eating healthy, vital foods and through meditation, gratitude, prayer, or exercise.

Focus on you, your health, and your life. Feed your body and soul with the right nutrients so you are prepared for anything and ready for whatever opportunities come your way. You will have ups and downs in this journey: weight loss and weight regain; plateaus and peaks; negative times and positive times; good days and bad days. However, learn as much as you can and do the hard work when you are able so that you can be stronger when it becomes harder to do the things you need to do.

Ask yourself every day, “What good do I want to come from this? How can I be better? What lessons can I learn?” Teach others what you are learning because we learn even more when we help and teach others. Tell people what you are doing and be open about it; this creates accountability. Ask for help. Seek expert opinions and really make your health journey your number one goal in life.

Spring into this new season with the right attitude, and take the appropriate steps by getting rid of excuses. Instead, use the following nine rules to help you achieve your healthy lifestyle goals:

Rule #1:

Clean the house of anything deemed to be a snack or treat. These can be dangerous when left sitting around, calling your name when you are weak.

Rule #2:

Beg others who live with you to be supportive of your goals so that you do not feel sabotaged. Make sure that your support group understands how important this is to you. It is about your health, not the scale or the size you wear.

Rule #3:

Now that you have cleaned the house of snacks, go to the store and replace the “bad” and the “not so good” with the “good,” including clean proteins, vegetables, and a few healthy fats. While at the grocery store, stay out of the middle aisles. Only shop around the outside of the store. Take advantage of online shopping and delivery services which make shopping for food easier and eliminate the visual temptations that you experience walking through the aisles. Do what it takes to make this happen!

Rule #4:

Think ahead. Food prepping for the week is great if you can do it, but for many, it is too much to think about. Instead, every night before you go to bed, think about one day—the next day. Make a plan. Pull the protein out of the freezer the night before so it is ready to go. Make breakfast simple and consistent. The easiest lunch is leftovers from dinner, providing dinner was healthy. Now all you have to worry about is making that healthy, nutritious dinner. Make enough for your lunch the next day, and put it to the side before serving so that you don’t run out.

Rule #5:

Protein is always better than carbs unless the carbs are all clean, high fiber, raw or steamed veggies.

Rule #6:

Avoid eating starchy carbs and bad fats together because the body burns carbs first and the fats will get stored.

Rule #7:

Do not snack between meals. Fast for a minimum of six hours between meals, allowing your body to get into the fat burning state so that it is using your own fat as fuel.

Rule#8:

Drink sixty-four ounces of water daily and do not drink carbonated beverages.

Rule #9:

Do something active on a daily basis. Don’t be a couch potato. Clear your mind and go for a short walk every day!

Remember, this is about you! You can do it and do it now. Go forward and be positive in your journey, and spring into success this season!

About the Author

Dr. Coleen Andruss, Healthy Lifestyles

Dr. Coleen Andruss practiced as an internist for ten years and has specialized in weight management for twentynine years. She and her staff have personally experienced weight management issues and have a compassionate understanding of patients in the Healthy Lifestyles program. Dr. Andruss’s internal medicine background helps her to see underlying medical problems when formulating individual plans that work.