How and Why To Chronicle A Weight Loss Journey
Anyone who has ever attempted to lose weight or change diet habits has been told of the benefits of a weight loss journal as part of the standard weight management technique tool kit that’s available today. It’s become so commonplace to see calorie counters and apps in the hands of those trying to lose weight, that to not be plugged in is, frankly, unusual.
”Dieting” Doesn’t Work
Okay, ready for a big statement? I posted this throughout my social media and got such a positive reaction, it fits here as well:
DIEts are dead. Face it. They lead to weight gain. There’s no sustainability. There’s barely weight loss. It’s a huge moneymaker and the “overbesity” epidemic amongst adults and children continues. Nobody is turning back the epidemic, no pill, no surgery, no exercise plan, no cleanse, no book, no app, no journal and certainly no DIEt.
Why? Because, there’s way too much focus on DIEting and not enough on people. People succeed in their goals, DIEts don’t. It’s that simple.
So, if it’s weight loss you are after, remember that nearly any approach will help take pounds off. Almost anything you do that involves eating less and moving more, will take pounds off. Weight loss is 80% what you do in the kitchen and 20% what you do in the gym.
A diet means certain weight gain if you aren’t focused on sustainable optimal health. Instead of just focusing on the start of the race (“Wow, look what I did, I started!”), focus on finishing the race (“Wow, look how I’ve lived my life in optimal health, including thinking well, eating well and moving well.”). It’s not where you start, it’s where you finish in life that matters, and the same is especially true with weight management techniques.
Your Weight Loss Journey Begins With Being Social
To change behavior when you are on a weight management journey can require the combination of several convenient apps, social media tools, and journals to ,help you with motivation. The ability to be continually signaled—but not over signaled—and to use our healthy need for social connection to keep increasing steps in the right direction, are highly valued benefits of these apps and social media tools for weight loss tactics, inspiration, and social encouragement.
There are commonly known apps such as Evernote, My Fitness Pal, and Nike Training and some really attractive, targeted, tools that include:
1. Fooducate (http://www.fooducate.com) helps people shop for healthy food.
2. Lose It (https://www.loseit.com) has built in social encouragement and calorie tracking,
3. Lumo Lift, (http://www.lumobodytech.com/category/how-to/) to focus on posture
4. The Ornish Program: (http://ornishspectrum.com) the well rounded program that fully focuses on what people eat, how stress plays a role in weight loss, and how to exercise more while making it more social.
These are only the tip of the iceberg in terms of what’s available for iPhones and Android devices. There are literally thousands out there. Oh, and there’s also paper and pencil. Remember those?
The key is the social connection. Exercising with others makes it more dynamic, builds sustainable commitment, and builds what I call the “Big MAC” of consistent approaches to optimal health – motivation, answerability and camaraderie. Posting selfies, videos, and before and after pictures of yourself on your sustained weight management journey (remember, not a diet), builds an exercise support group that helps you trade ideas and keep it from being boring. Discovering and participating in social discussions leads to people thinking, “I’ve got to try it that way.”
Who doesn’t respond to doable challenges? The social apps help to develop an attitude of “If she or he can do it, then so can I,” building “self-efficacy,” the belief that one has the ability to go to the next step and continue advancing. This shared social reinforcement promotes people to reach out and support each other with high-fives and likes – and makes thinking well, eating well and moving well, that much easier and more meaningful.
You aren’t alone; in fact you may be one simple click away from reaching your weight, health and relationship goals. It’s been observed, “If we did all of the things we were capable of doing, we would literally astonish ourselves.” Think of the many ways APPs help your optimal health journey as keeping you Always Positively Productive. Here’s to your health!
