Shelley A. Sonnenberg

New Year’s Eve is coming soon and with it is coming a golden opportunity to reevaluate the way we are living our lives and to resolve to make changes in our habits so that we can be happier and healthier. One of the most popular resolutions people make is to lose weight. Of course, resolving to lose weight and actually losing it are two very different things!

As a person who has lost 159 pounds in fourteen months after 32 years of being extremely overweight, I definitely know the difference between just talking about weight loss and taking the necessary steps to reinvent myself into the slender person I really wanted to be.  For years I would talk about “doing something about my weight”, but it wasn’t until recently that I figured out exactly how much weight I needed to lose to get the figure I really wanted. It was at that point that I  also made a specific plan to change my eating, start an exercise program, and begin taking some weight-loss and nutrition products that my friend encouraged me to try. The result was a healthy “new me” that my doctor was very pleased to see at my next appointment.

Of course, when a person is as successful in losing weight as I have been, a lot of people are interested in how I did it, so I have written a book for the purpose of both answering that question and entertaining you at the same time! The book is called No Salads Required! How I Lost 159 Pounds WITHOUT Salads, Celery, Sit-Ups, or Surgery, and How YOU Can Too!  You can order this book from my publisher at westbowpress.com and anywhere else books are sold. It’s available in hardcover and softcover and also as an e-book. I encourage all of you to order it, but while you are waiting for your book to arrive, here are some tips from my weight-loss program to help you get started:

 

1) Set up a realistic food plan you can live with!

At the beginning of my weight-loss program , I made a list of the healthy foods I wanted to live on and I also decided what I did not plan to eat no matter how healthy it was. For example, I don’t like celery at all and I am not much of a salad eater, so I decided not to bother with those foods and create a menu for myself based on healthy foods I did enjoy eating.

 

2) Pick an exercise you really like and do it every day!

I love fitness walking, so that is what I selected for my exercise program. It was simple, enjoyable for me, and I already knew how to do it.  I do understand however that a walking program isn’t the right thing for everyone. The key is to pick an exercise that is right for you and to do it consistently.  For those of you with injuries, I recommend a visit with your doctor or a physical therapist, so you can get help selecting an exercise appropriate for your personal situation.

 

3) Make weight loss a big priority!

This means planning healthy meals and exercise every single day no matter what else is going on. It may also mean making some hard choices and setting aside some favorite hobbies, TV shows and movies for a while, but I guarantee you that the results will definitely be worth it!

4) Keep reminding yourself why you are losing weight in the first place!

One of the most important things I did daily was to remind myself what my new life would be like after I reached my goal weight.  For example, I would think about the beautiful clothing items and boots designed for thin women only that I wanted to be able to wear some day. I also looked forward to career and relationship opportunities that are available only to women who have reached a healthy weight. Another thing I would reminded myself of  was my desire to be able to comfortably sit in a restaurant booth and airplane seats without a hassle and my dream of looking  in the mirror and at recent photos of myself and being happy with the woman I saw there.

It was actually passionately wanting all these things more than anything else that helped me stick to my weight-loss program.  Yes, I would sometimes be tempted by foods that I had decided not to eat anymore, but when I compared a few minutes of enjoying eating those foods with all the happiness I hoped to experience when I reached my healthy new weight, the decision not to eat those foods instantly became much easier!

5) Ask God for help!

You may never have prayed for help to lose weight, but I encourage you to do so. God loves every one of us and is able and willing to help with every problem in our lives if we ask for his help.

6) Surround yourself with supportive people!

You will find weight loss much easier if you surround yourself with supportive people who will cheer you on, pray for you and do practical things to help you, so that you have more time to exercise and do the other things you need to do to lose weight.

You may even decide to buy some copies of my book for your friends and start a No Salads Required! support group.  You and your friends can read a chapter every week and then meet together on a regular basis to discuss what you have been reading. I wrote the reader’s discussion guide in the back of the book especially for such groups. There are plenty of questions designed to promote stimulating conversations and even a special poem I wrote for the enjoyment of the people that will be using the guide.

7) Don’t let discouraging people upset you!

I did have a friend who thought my weight-loss program wouldn’t work unless I had a weight-loss surgery. Well, I knew that a surgery wasn’t the right thing for me, so I just set out to prove him wrong and I was very successful in doing that! I also decided to ignore people who said I had “lost enough weight” when I became the same size as they were even though I was nowhere near my goal.  Just because my friends were not ready to lose their own extra weight didn’t mean I had to stop losing mine. If anyone told me it was “time to stop” I just said that my doctor was watching over me and that they had nothing to worry about. That usually solved the problem.

8) Never stop believing in yourself!

No matter how unsuccessful you may have been with weight-loss in the past, 2016 can still be your year to succeed! I was extremely overweight for 32 years before I lost 159 pounds and if I could do it, you can too!

9) Be sure to have lots of fun along the way!

Eat healthy foods you like, always look at the bright side of life, and make sure you keep yourself entertained while you exercise. When I first started exercising on my treadmill, I made it a point to listen to my favorite music, so I wouldn’t get bored. Recently, I have set up my TV and DVD player in front of my treadmill, so I can watch TV while I exercise. This really helps me stick to my program!

10) Write journals of your weight-loss journey!

From the first day of my weight-loss program clear up until today, I have been weighing myself every day and keeping track of my weight and body fat percentage, so I could see my progress, keep track of my ups and downs, and remind myself to get back on track if I find I have made some bad food or exercise choices.

I also keep track of the various things that happen as the days go by, especially the funny stuff and the heart touching moments.  I eventually used my early journals to help me write No Salads Required! You may want to write a book someday too and the notes in your journals will really help. I even used those notes as inspiration for the weight-loss poems I wrote for every chapter of my book and those poems really have made my book unusual and fun to read!

I hope to continue to use my journals for future blog post ideas and for things I haven’t tried yet, but would like to do such as writing lyrics for a weight-loss song that could become famous. If that dream comes true all my blog readers will be among the first to know!

 

Well, I hope the tips I listed will give you some encouragement. For more encouragement read my book! I think you will really enjoy it!