Hi [pmpro_member field=”first_name”] – welcome to ‘Symply with You’ mentoring
I’m so excited to be taking this journey together. I hope with my advice and support, and your determination, you can achieve your goals, whether they are to lose weight or to maintain your weight loss.
Everyone has their own reasons for deciding, once and for all, to lose excess weight and allow their healthy self to emerge. Perhaps it’s a significant moment such as being diagnosed with a health condition, realising that you’re not able to move comfortably anymore, or being confronted with an unflattering photograph of yourself (as I was back in 1992).
Sometimes it’s anxiety about attending an upcoming event such as a wedding, birthday or reunion. Or maybe there are issues that have built up over time and an awareness of not looking or feeling your best.
I’m here to tell you that all of that can change. I did it and so can you.
The information below is there to help you get the most out of this program. So, please take a few minutes to watch the video and check out my 7 steps to set you up for success.
Start Believing
The first thing that needs to change is your attitude. I’m sure you’ve tried to lose weight in the past and may have some limiting beliefs that are holding you back. It’s time to let go of the old beliefs, “dieting is hard” “I can’t stick to anything” “I’ve got big bones” “I’m too old” are just some of the stories I hear.
Think about some of the things you say and decide right now that you’ll never say those words again. Start believing you can do this! Bring your good intentions along for this journey, focus less on the problem and more on the solution and you’ll be a winner.
Set a motivating goal
Before you get started, I want you to set a motivating goal. Notice I didn’t just say to set a goal? A goal needs to be motivating or you’ll never stick to it. I have recently changed my approach to goal setting, to ensure that your goal is meaningful to you and continues to motivate you long-term. You can download a worksheet to find out how it’s done here. And watch this video for more help.
Clean out your pantry and fridge
Next, I want you to clean out your pantry and fridge. I don’t just mean throwing out last week’s leftovers – no, I want you to take everything out, wipe the shelves and check dates before putting anything back.
This serves two purposes – it gets rid of any foods that are likely to be a weakness on hard days and it’s a metaphor for cleaning up your eating habits. Notice how great that clean fridge and pantry looks – that’s how great your body will feel after a few weeks of eating healthy food.
Check your menu plan and write a shopping list
Take a look at your menu plan for the week and write your shopping list. You’ll also find it helpful to read important information for menu plans.
There’s a link to each recipe in the menu plan, so if you don’t have the cookbooks just, click on the recipe name to grab the recipe.
If you’re a single or empty-nester you’ll find some of the recipes in the menu plans are also in my Cooking for 1 or 2 People and MORE Cooking for 1 or 2 people cookbooks.
If there’s food listed on the menu that you can’t or won’t eat, take a look at the Members FAQs for options.
Be mindful in the supermarket not to let any of your old food choices end up in the trolley. Remember this – “Saying NO once in the supermarket, means you don’t have to say NO 100 times at home.”
NB: Menu plans remain visible for 4 weeks from date of publishing so if you want to keep them on file, please make sure you print them out.
Organise your H2O
Make sure you have a water bottle at hand. If you like it cold, make sure there’s a bottle in the fridge. If you like it flavoured, buy some fresh lemon or lime to add to your water.
I want you to aim to drink 8 glasses a day. If you are on the go a lot, make sure you take your water bottle with you. Thirst is often confused as hunger; and we don’t want that to derail your efforts.
If you’re not a fan of water, I suggest you WATCH THIS VIDEO to find out what counts as water.
Download and print My Weekly Water Intake to tick or cross off each glass you drink HERE.
Record your starting weight and measurements
This is important – record both your weight and measurements as the scales never tell the full story of your success. You can find out how to take accurate measurements here.
Weigh in once a week at most. Forget weighing yourself daily or even more often! Our weight naturally fluctuates, and weighing yourself more often than once a week can set you up for failure. In my ‘diet queen’ days I would weigh myself daily and the number on the scales determined whether I had a good day or a bad day and was often the reason I would quit.
When I gave up dieting and became a healthy person, I would weigh myself weekly but only record the figure once a month. The weekly weigh-in was helpful to see if I was on track and there was never a month I didn’t lose weight. I rarely weigh myself these days as I can tell what my body is doing by how my clothes fit.
Need help calculating your ideal weight? Click here.
Schedule in your exercise
Forget boot-camp! I want you to create an exercise ‘habit’. If you haven’t exercised in a while start with 10 minutes four to five times a week and gradually build up to 45 minutes.
Once you make exercise a habit it becomes a normal part of life. So, take the time now to write exercise times into your diary or set alarms on your phone as a reminder. Then, have your exercise clothes ready, so when that alarm goes off you can get changed and go.
There’s also a handy Calories Burned Calculator HERE.
Some final thoughts
I want to remind you that you are not doing this alone now. There is a community of like-minded people sharing this journey with you, click HERE to request to join the closed Facebook group.
If you have any questions check out the Member FAQs tab. If you can’t find an answer there, click on Ask Annette and your questions will receive a priority response; I will answer your questions as quickly as I can but bear in mind I do take time out of the office on weekends (there’s no overseas help-desk answering your questions, it’s really me).
Don’t stress about the journey ahead – and remember I’m not asking you to do anything I haven’t done myself. If I can do it, so can you!
Happy slimming
