Happy Valentines! Its so hard that Valentine's day comes right after all those New Year's resolutions to lose weight :(
The good news is that receiving roses doesn't put weight on you so the whole day doesn't have to be a bust.
Still, its nice to be able to navigate the other traditions of the day without gaining 5 pounds.
When did 'love' get so caught up in 'sweets'? So long as it is heart shaped you can feel loved and cared for by consuming it. ....But then there's tomorrow.
A lot of people ask me how I maintain my weight and I tell them honestly, my first rule of thumb is not to gain weight in the first place. That sounds a little trite but it is so much harder to lose weight than to gain it. Therefore, we have to take that into consideration in the first place.
I may not do all the things I preach but once I see the scale go up by 5 pounds I don't make any excuses, I adjust my activities to make sure it comes off and I can return to baseline.
I think it is easy to allow your weight to keep creeping up with a variety of excuses "it's the holidays", "It's cold outside", "when I retire/start my new job/join the gym, I will start working on my weight " and then you look around and your weight has crept up 15 pounds.
Sometimes when your weight reaches a certain level you get discouraged and think "what's the point I'm always going to be overweight!" Now, you have an excuse for not even trying. But remember rule number one is NOT to put the weight on in the first place.
A patient of mine the other day who was 199 pounds said she just didn't know what to do, so she would just do nothing. I told her that if she continued to gain when she hit 220, all of a sudden 199 would look mighty good to her!
Whatever your weight is, it is worth starting where you are. Even if you don't lose weight but have not gained you are still ahead of where you would have been if you didn't try. So its always worth it to make the effort even when it doesn't seem like it.
Keep rule number one rolling around in your head as you take a pinch of those Valentine candies or better yet just smell the roses!
have a happy and healthy Valentines Day!