After struggling with your weight for a large chunk of your life, deciding to have weight loss surgery is one big step towards lifelong change. Making change in your life transpires one step at a time. Since you will be taking a whole lot of steps as you progress on your weight loss journey, why not take the opportunity to give your life a ‘you’ make-over?
What do you want to do?
If you are anything like most adults, you have a long list of things you mean to do but never get around to. You might want to read more, or maybe you just want to start reading more cookbooks and fewer menus when it comes to dinner time. Maybe you’ve been meaning to leave the office on time a few more nights during the week so you can help the kids with their homework or toss a ball around in the backyard on warm Dallas evenings—something that becomes much more feasible after your surgery for weight loss.
Your weight loss surgery experience can be a positive time for your entire family. There is no reason to stifle the changes in your life. As you lose weight, you may begin to feel a lot more inspired to actually make those changes that you have been talking about. Why not set a positive example and put the first foot forward, redesigning your life to reflect the new and healthier you?
By incorporating more healthy changes into your weight loss process, you might find it easier to stay on track with your weight loss goals and more difficult to return to the unhealthy habits that you followed for too long.
Simple Steps to Forming New Habits
The trick to making change in your life is to start small. You can’t flip a switch and be healthy overnight. Instead, you need to start with minor changes that will grow and develop into healthier lifestyle habits over time.
Here are a few steps to help you on your way to becoming the new you:
- Organize your changes: It is entirely possible to make several changes in your life at once, especially if they relate to each other. If you would like to start going for a walk before work in the morning and would like to drink more water during the day, then buy yourself a water bottle. By having your water bottle with you all day, you will be constantly reminded that you are supposed to be drinking from it. Set your water bottle next to your alarm clock, and when it goes off you will see it before you can find the snooze button—another reminder to get up and go for a walk (with your water bottle).
- Accept your new normal: Holding onto the way things were can be particularly damaging as you lose weight. After weight loss surgery, things are going to be different. You will eat less, your diet will change and how you serve food to your family will likely start to change as well. Embrace the changes and look forward to a healthier lifestyle, not back on how you previously lived. By accepting your ‘new normal,’ you will be more inclined to continue moving forward and less likely to fall into old habits.
- Stay accountable: Write down the changes that you want to make and be open with your friends about them, just as you are with your weight loss goals. If you would like to start playing an instrument you abandoned decades ago, tell your friends you are playing again. Your friends can hold you accountable by asking how it is going, and you will feel fantastic when you are able to give a positive report.
Losing weight is a huge time of change. Embrace the changes and move forward with your life by taking time to develop the healthier habits conducive to the lifestyle you have envisioned for yourself.
