WASHINGTON — Trying to keep a New Year’s resolution to lose weight? A local health and weight loss coach recommends not being too hard on yourself.
“It really takes some patience and some repetition and some consistency to build a new habit,” said health coach, dietitian and nutritionist Kay Loughrey of Gaithersburg, Maryland.
“It’s really important to allow yourself to be able to make some mistakes.”
A common mistake people make, according to Loughrey, is to allow one stumble to stand as evidence that they don’t have the will power to reach their goals. Instead of having a defeatist attitude, she recommends giving yourself a pep talk.
“Say: ‘Oh, OK. I made a mistake. What can I learn from this? Now, let’s go ahead. Let’s just move on,’” she suggested.
Additional dieting suggestions from Loughrey:
Figure out you whether you’re really hungry.
Most of the time people overeat, Loughrey said, it’s because they’re bored, want a hug, a nap or need a good night’s sleep rather than food.
“We’re eating emotionally, instead of from hunger,” Loughrey said. “If you touch your stomach and you have a hunger pang, you know you’re really hungry.”
Break the cycle and decide to do something different.
If you have a craving, disrupt the feeling and put it on pause.
“Get up, walk around, call a friend,” Loughrey said. “It’s a matter of making a conscious choice of doing something else instead.”
Take a deep breath.
A trick Loughrey characterizes as “mood surfing” involves using the power of breath to disrupt temptations by figuratively pushing a pause button.
“Ride out those cravings (by) just taking a big inhale and allowing yourself to feel the cravings and then exhaling and letting it go.”
