Tips for Success!!

Ideal Protein can change your life when you treat it like a lifestyle change!  Phases 1-3 are all about building a strong foundation so when you get to Phase 4, you will be able to make good choices.  Today, I’m sharing with you some tips that have worked for me ~ these are the habits, routines, and beliefs that have helped me get through 2 years of Phase 1 and ready to tackle Phase 4! 

1.      Plan, plan, plan!  Remember the old adage – “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail?”   Yes, this one is big.  Grab a meal planning form from your coach, find a fancy one from Pinterest, or just use a plain piece of notebook paper and sketch out your menu for the week.   From your menu, make your grocery list and stick to it.

2.     Prep your foods as much as possible.  When you go for your groceries and buy all those vegetables, set aside time within 24 hours to get them all cleaned up and cut up.  My weekly grocery trip usually has colored peppers, celery, and cucumbers.  I fill up my sink with cold water, dump in all the veggies, add a little vinegar and let soak for 10 minutes or so.   And then get that chopping done!  I also like to get all of my cooking done for the week at the same time.  It helps me tremendously to spend a couple of hours on Sunday and do all this work.  My go to meals include jar salads, soups, and favorite recipes from Janeva’s cookbook.  I’ll double or triple the recipes and divide everything into individual servings.  Then, I can just grab my meals and go.  Find a routine that works for you!

3.     Try new foods, recipes and cooking methods. Since I’ve begun Ideal Protein, I’ve tried so many new vegetables – and I’ve come to love them! There were even a few that I didn’t like the first time I tried them, but I gave them another shot later on. Try a new method of cooking it or find a different recipe.  This is especially true for some of the Ideal Protein foods.  At one point, I got a box of milk chocolate pudding mix; made it as a pudding and didn’t like it at all.  But, then I combined it with the pancake mix and made one of Janeva’s muffin recipes; now the milk chocolate pudding mix is a staple in my cupboard!  And don’t give up!  The first several times that I tried to make cauliflower mashed ‘potatoes’ were huge disasters (sometime, I’ll have to tell you about the finger vs immersion blender incident; needless to say – the blender won that round!)  But, I did my research online, tried other methods and finally perfected that recipe. 

4.     Invest in quality ingredients – especially when it comes to spices and olive/grapeseed oils.  I remember cringing the first time I spent extra money on good olive oil and organic spices, but you get what you pay for. I didn’t realize it at first, but a lot of the cheaper oils/seasonings have fillers in them…yuck! Once you get those quality ingredients, play with them in your recipes!  Let your nose be your guide and go with seasonings that you like and personalize them to your taste. I love to make my own taco seasoning and I like it spicy, so I always add extra red chili pepper flakes!

5.     Learn your triggers.  Many of us have triggers that fall under one of these categories:  Hunger, Anger, Loneliness, Tired and Stressed (the acronym HALTS) If you can identify why you are triggered, you can have a plan for how to deal with it. I am most tempted to overeat when I’m overtired and stressed. Those are the nights that I most want to stop at a fast food restaurant.  Fortunately, I’ve got a plan in place for those nights. If I don’t have a meal made up (see #2), then I have individual portions of already cooked chicken breast or taco meat and bags of steamer veggies in the freezer to grab and have ready in 10 minutes. 

6.     Journal – Not just your food choices and everything you eat (the food journal helps your coach in so many ways!) but an old fashioned diary type of journal.  It doesn’t have to be anything fancy or something that is shared with anyone else – it can just be a regular old notebook that you scribble your thoughts in, but documenting how you are feeling can help you cope with your triggers.  It’s also a good reminder of successes.  If you are struggling, go back and reread your journal.  It will serve as a testament that you made it through a tough time and you will make it through again. 

7.     Take pictures – when you begin and as you go along the journey.  When you get stuck, pull out those pictures and look at your progress. Take pictures from the front, the side and the back and do it often!

8.     Find your cheerleader!  You need a friend or co-worker who will get excited with you.  Pick a friend that you can go up to and say “Hey, look at me in this new outfit! I feel FABULOUS!” We’re all taught to be humble, but you deserve to brag once in a while and take pride in what you’ve accomplished. Find that friend that will help you celebrate your victories and encourage you when times get tough.

9.     Be patient.  Changing your lifestyle….your life takes time. It has moments where it is hard, scary, frustrating, and overwhelming.  You didn’t gain all the extra weight overnight; it’s not going to come off overnight.  You didn’t learn how to walk in one attempt.  This process takes time and there will be highs and lows. Learn how to accept them and give yourself the gift of grace.

10.  Celebrate every victory – especially the non-scale victories (NSV).  The scale is the measure that we tend to base our successes/failures upon, but that scale is just one method of gauging success.  Celebrate when your clothes get too big or when you notice that you have more endurance.  You are working hard and deserve to feel good about your progress!

Have a great everyone!

Laura