Today we will celebrate the success of one of our reader’s recent achievements with her weight-loss goals. Jan (name has been changed to protect anonymity) was looking to lose 40 pounds over the span of six months. Her goal was very reasonable, considering her commitment to changing her diet, implementing a new exercise routine, as well as committing to a complete lifestyle adjustment. The first three months of her dieting and exercise routine produced fairly marginal results, due to her folding to cravings that arose sometimes in the middle of the night, and other times throughout the day in between her scheduled meals.

For many of us committing to changing our eating habits can be quite challenging. If there are foods within your diet that you must eliminate completely, however those very same foods you considered your favorite thing to eat once upon a time, it can be very difficult to overcome urges that will naturally arise causing your mind and your body to want to consume the very foods that will potentially reverse all the work that you have done over the last several days toward your weight loss goal. It took Jan three months to find a way to curb those cravings.

It all came down to producing simple rituals that she practiced performing before she ate. This is a practice that many dieters find success in. The way that it works is that you produce a physical ritual that you complete with your body prior to consuming any food, scheduled or unscheduled. Some people may decide to count to 100, while others may decide to run up and down the stairs five times. The secret to this method’s success is coming up with a ritual that you know you will actually do regardless of the time of day or your mind fighting against your will. In addition, it is also important to come up with a ritual that fits your lifestyle. For example, you would not opt to run up and down stairs five times every time you eat, if the closest staircase is located several buildings over. You must choose a ritual that can be implemented anytime, and possibly anywhere.

For Jan, she chose to do five jumping jacks before every meal, as well as at the onset of any urges to snack. There were times in the middle of the night when Jan would wake up and go to the kitchen because she felt hungry. Now we all know that for many of us the ideal midnight snack involves something in a loud, crunchy wrapping. Whether it be a bag of chips for a package of Twinkies, the odds are that your choice of food to eat in the middle of the night is not going to be good for your overall weight loss goals. Jan’s vice was Doritos. She lived in a large home with multiple family members who all supported her new lifestyle, however they were not necessarily willing to give up their own comfort foods to eliminate their presence in the house. This made it very difficult for Jan to curb her urges, when every trip into the kitchen resulted in a big bag of Doritos steering her in the face.

Once she began the ritual of five jumping jacks prior to eating every urge, she rarely found herself folding to splurge on junk food. In fact, the majority of the time she decided that she wasn’t even hungry after performing just five jumping jacks. There were times when Jan was tempted to forgo the entire ritual however somehow right before she opened up the bag that was already brought to the kitchen table, she found the gumption to complete her ritual. This little bit of physical activity reminded her of work that she is put in toward her goals over the last several months. It was very rare that the bag of chips did not return to the cupboard untouched. Jan did end up losing the weight that aspired to lose, and she attributes the success of achieving their goal to this little trick.

If you are unable to find the discipline to stick with the habits that you have established are needed in order to achieve your goals, emulating this tactic might work for you as well. If you do implement this tactic, and you find positive results, please write us and let us know. Good luck with your goals and keep your head straight.

Jason Ladock

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