I've been reading lots of articles with positive thoughts, tips and tricks and motivating ideas. I'd love to have somewhere to share them so when we're going off track, or need a boost in the right direction, it'll help us by reading over the posts in this thread

A few helpful tips

• If you are offered food you don't want to eat - leave it! It's all right to say no to others. Just explain that you would prefer a healthier alternative.
  
• Never lose sight of your goal by putting reminders around you. Either a progress chart or old fat clothes that no longer fit, or even better - never clothes that you want to wear.
  
• Don't feel discouraged by a small weight-loss in a week. Instead, think of 1.4kg as being a tub of butter.
  
• Look to others for support - you don't have to do it on your own. If no one around you understands, then join a group of people (like EBB BL! ) that do. There are so many weight-loss groups out there; find one that suits your needs.
  
• Reward yourself for your achievements. It can be something as simple as buying a new oil for the bath and relaxing in the tub.
  
• Try new recipes and don't be afraid to experiment with food. Meals don't have to be bland and boring.
  
• If you do eat a big piece of chocolate cake with cream, then enjoy it! Don't feel guilty and beat yourself up about it! Use exercise to work it off. You should be able to eat anything you like, just remember moderation is the key.

Source: Slimming Magazine September 2000

Can't get no satisfaction!

Having trouble controlling your food intake? The drive to eat is often based on how satisfied we feel about the foods we've just eaten. So the more satisfied we are, the greater the change that our hunger will be controlled for longer. Why don't you find out your fulfilment rating on the foods you eat. Keep a diary for a week and rate your feelings (taste, texture, fullness, positive, negative) of contentment on a scale of 1-5 after each meal. Now you can identify if any overeating occurs after a meal where your gratification scores are low. If your score is low, start thinking about the foods that will leave you feeling more content.

Source: Slimming Magazine September 2000

Old habits die hard

The low-fat era of weight control has left many of us despondent and feeling like failures. It's not that low-fat eating is the wrong approach, but that we have forgotten the most basic equation in weight control; for us to lose weight we need to consume less energy than we expend. In other words, we must eat less than we require. The deficit will then come from our fat stores. We have fallen into the trap of thinking as long as something is low-fat we can eat as much as we like. This is not the case; remember that no matter whether we are eating fat, protein or carbohydrate, if we consume more kilojoules than we need, we will gain weight.

Source: Slimming Magazine September 2000

Pauline's slimming tips:

• Notebook - Write down what you're eating and how you're feeling.
• Support - Go to your local slimming club - rain, hail or shine.
• Weigh everything - I've now learnt that my 100g can easily become a fat-laden 300g!
• Comfort - Read a magazine, buy a new nail varnish, book a hairdo - treat yourself to anything you can't put in your mouth.
• Shut your ears - Don't listen to people who say you have lost enough (unless you have reached your target).
• Eating out - Plan what you are going to eat beforehand so you can enjoy your meal without feeling guilty.
• Walk - Even if it's just to the next bus stop or to a neighbour's house - every little bit counts.

Source: Slimming Magazine September 2000

There are some awesome tips here! I think I'm going to start buying this magazine!!

It's now called Slimming and Health

Wholegrain foods

How much is 1 serve?
1 serve of a wholegrain food could be one of the following:

• 1 slice of bread
• 1/2 large bread roll
• 4-5 crispbreads
• 1 English muffin
• 1/2 cup cooked brown rice/corn meal
• 1 cup cooked pasta
• 1 cup breakfast cereal
• 1/2 cup cooked porridge
• 1/3 cup untoasted muesli
• 2 Weet-Bix

Source: Slimming Magazine October 2000

Thought for the day

Start the day with positive thoughts. Love yourself for who you are - not how you look. Incorporate exercise into your daily routine. Make low fat, low cal eating choices. Maintain your focus on your goals. Involve your family and friends in your slim lifestyle. Never give in - bounce back from bad days. Go to bed feeling proud and committed - you will make it!

Source: Slimming Magazine September 2000

Great ideas here Tasha! Love your weight-lifter smiley in your sig.

The last few weeks I've been really struggling with snacking after dinner, so I've started having baths in the evening and reading a book with a cup of tea instead. That way I get to relax, get totally ingrosed in my book and forget about the bad food I wanted to eat as I can't get to the kitchen quickly! It's worked wonders for me and I get time for me which is a rare thing for me.

Great idea Rachey! You know I've never really read a book in my life yet this year I have read so many books and re read them over and over. So I know what you mean about getting lost in a book for hours on end

And here are some quotes that are hopefully a wee bit motivational...

If there's no struggle, there's no progress (Frederick Douglass)

The more we do, the more we can do (William Hazlitt)

If you think you can or can't, you are right (Henry Ford)

If at first you do succeed - try to hide your astonishment (Harry F. Banks)

When you feel how depressingly slow you climb, it's well to remember that Things Take Time. (Piet Hein, "T.T.T")

For those who keep trying failure is temporary

Failure is the path of least resistance

You cannot have the success without the failures

And my favourite...

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all up hill,
. . . When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must - but don't you quit.
. . . Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up
When he might have captured the victor's cup.
- Anonymous

My handy hint:

When I was following an eating plan through a nutritionist I typed each menu up, cut it up into 5 pieces - breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner. I then sorted them into meals and each night before bed I'd pick one from each pile and tack it to my cork board in the kitchen. That way, I know what I was eating every time I went to the kitchen for my next meal and it became harder to go off track

Breakfast beats the blues

Studies show that women who combined exercise with a good breakfast felt brighter, happier and more alert than those who skipped brekkie and didn't exercise. This challenges the popular belief that missing out on this important meal will help weight loss, because people who don't eat breakfast tend to have a less nutritious mid morning snack to compensate. So boil and egg or toast some bread - come on, no eggscuses!

Source: Slimming Magazine September 2000

Did you know?

• Water makes up 70 per cent of an average person's body weight and 75 per cent of the human brain is water.
• We lose around two litres of water a day in sweat. Marathon runners can lose six litres of sweat during one event!

Source: Slimming Magazine September 2000

5 Reasons why you're not losing weight!

For weeks or months you've been exercising and eating well, but it's not paying off. This might be why...

• You're starving yourself - If you don't eat enough, your body will go into 'survival mode' and start holding ion to your fat tissue, so you won't be able to lose weight. There's no need to eat less - just eat more good, healthy food. That way, you'll never feel deprived.
  
• You need to drink - Increase you water intake and it will promote the breakdown of fats and proteins etc and act as a stimulant to tell your brain you aren't hungry.
  
• You nibble on titbits - Snacking while you're preparing dinner and picking at kids' leftovers adds up.
• You skip breakfast - Rather than being an easy way to cut calories, if you eat brekkie it will kick start your metabolism early and you'll burn more calories during the day. This is a common food mistake but it's easily fixed!

Source: Slimming Magazine January 2003

Let's get moving

When you think about exercise do you think of sweaty, beefy men, women in tiny lycra and heaps of scary equipment you couldn't possibly comprehend? If so, it's time for a re-think - there are so many ways to get moving that don't involve pounding away on a treadmill. Try the following ways to get fit without going anywhere near a gym.

• Dance around the lounge room energetically to your favourite CD
• Play chasings with your kids (or borrow some from a friend)
• Take a brisk walk to the park with the dog
• Jump waves at the beach
• Pick up a cheap bike from a garage sale and explore your local parks
• Shop for two hours

Source: Slimming Magazine January 2003

Fitness quote of the month

"Nobody ever drowned in his own sweat"
- Ann Landers

Source: Slimming Magazine January 2003

Motivational quote of the month

"Mental will is a muscle that needs exercises. Just like the other muscles of the body"
- Lynn Jennings

Source: Slimming Magazine January 2003

Did you know?

• Eating turkey and chicken can help if you're feeling down in the dumps? They contain mood enhancing tryptophan, an essential amino acid that converts into serotonin - which can be low in people who are suffering depression.

Source: Slimming Magazine January 2003