STAYING FIT AND SLIM: PLAN AHEAD

Mar
12
2011

You’re exhausted and hungry after a long day and suddenly realize there’s nothing in the kitchen – so you rush out to get to the supermarket before it closes. Once there, you’re overwhelmed by the rows and rows of colorful, tempting foods – potato chips, ice cream, ready-to-eat fried chicken, every food you know is “bad” for you. And the only things you can think of that are healthy seem as if they would take forever to make. You’re hungry and confused, and you just can’t think of much that is good for you. If only you’d made a shopping list!
Sometimes the simplest preparation tactics can avert disaster: You’re certainly never more vulnerable than when you’re wandering around the supermarket hungry! In this case, as in most others as well, the most obvious preventive measure is the best: Make up a shopping list, and then stick to what’s on it. You’ll develop the strength to say no to the unhealthy stuff if you make your list an ironclad guide. If it’s not on it, don’t buy it!
Don’t keep foods you don’t want to eat in the house. Again, it sounds too obvious to bear stating, but if you don’t keep unhealthy foods, you won’t eat them. Plan ahead by ridding your shelves of these foods now, so they’re not there to tempt you.
Another way to plan ahead is to remember our exercise advice, as well as our relaxation advice, and then schedule time for both in your day. It’s your choice: Loll around in front of the television, or take an invigorating walk. Fall into bed and lie awake with a lot on your mind, or spend 10 minutes quieting your mind with the help of our relaxation-response technique. You’ll truly be set up for success when you’re prepared, ahead of time, with these antidotes to tension and anxiety.
*52/345/5*