per meal. Knowing what you’re going to eat a few days in advance puts you in control and raises your chances of success. Planning ahead helps you avoid making last-minute choices which are too high in fat and calories. It also enables you to experiment with new recipes.
In reality, you probably won’t be able to plan every meal. However, as you learn more about the programme you should be able to assess what will and won’t work within the programme for you. This book will help.
Shopping
Try not to go shopping when you’re hungry. You could be tempted by fatty convenience foods and may start snacking on your way home.
Also, if you don’t already make shopping lists, start now and try to stick to them.
There are lots more tips on better (and smarter) shopping later in the book.
Move Your Body and Shift the Weight
The alli programme recommends you increase your physical activity levels to help you lose more weight.
When you consume fewer calories your body has to use its fat stores for energy and, as it does that, you lose pounds. When you exercise, you encourage your body to burn fat stores more often and, as a result, help increase your weight loss. Upping your activity levels should help you lose more weight.
Incorporating more physical activity into your everyday life is easier than you think. There are lots of fun and easy ways to exercise.
Exercising isn’t just good for your body, it’s a well-known fact that it’s good for your mood and relieves stress, too. It’s not just about joining a gym; there are lots of other ways to get moving and burn calories.
Whatever shape you’re in and however busy you are, it’s still possible to be active every day. Start gently and increase slowly. Begin with 10 minutes’ extra walking a day. If you’re already active, then build up the time or add in something else as well.
Remember to check with your doctor before you start any new exercise programme.
There’s a chapter on exercising as part of the alli programme later in the book, but here are some tips to get you thinking about how to include more activity in your daily life:
• Write your goals down somewhere you will see them every day.
• Break your goal into long-term and short-terms goals that are achievable.
• Involve family and friends in your weight-loss plan.
• Take the stairs more often at home – make extra trips and burn extra calories.
• Don’t sit down when you make a phone call – walk about the house while you talk.
• Cleaning is good: hoovering, mopping and dusting are all excellent activities for burning fat.
• Take a seat on an exercise ball. It will help you sit up straight and work your abdominal muscles.
• Get off the bus one stop early. When you feel ready you can try two stops earlier!
• Cycle rather than driving whenever you can.
• Walk up escalators.
• If you take the lift, get out a floor early or take the stairs from ground level.
• Park further from the shops and walk the rest of the way there. Supermarket car parks can be huge, so get into the habit of parking as far away from the shop entrance as possible.
• Walk the dog! A brisk daily walk will help burn off any extra calories consumed.
• Get gardening – a great way to burn some extra calories.
Managing Cravings …
Cravings can be the downfall of many dieters.
It’s important to learn, therefore, to recognize whether your body is hungry or if you’re experiencing a craving for something. Hunger is an empty feeling in your stomach – a signal that you haven’t eaten anything for several hours. A craving doesn’t mean that your body is hungry; it usually happens when you feel like eating a certain type of food. It can be triggered by stimuli outside the body, such as stress, changes in emotions and seeing or smelling something appetizing.
It would be unrealistic to tell you that you won’t experience cravings, but it is possible to control them and limit the damage they can cause.
Tips for Beating Cravings
• Drink a glass or two of water – sometimes your body is thirsty and not hungry at all.
• If you feel like chocolate, whisk up a cup of reduced-calorie hot chocolate with water or skimmed milk and a shake of cinnamon on top.
• If you’re at home, do something to take your mind off the craving – walking away from the fridge and out of the kitchen is a good start! You could try phoning a friend, doing 10 star jumps or taking up knitting to distract yourself.
… and Setbacks
Blips. Bumps in the road. Snack-attacks. Whatever you call them, they happen to everyone. The essential factor is how you handle the setback.
If you eat the wrong foods and/or too much of them, don’t be too hard on yourself because that can make things worse. Instead, accept that it’s happened and decide why, so you can aim to avoid the same mistake again.
• After a setback, make your next meal really tasty and within the accepted fat and calorie limits.
• Then start planning an occasion or night out and make a shopping list of the new, smaller clothes you’d like to buy for it to spur yourself on.
Take Support from the alli Programme
When you commit to the alli programme, it’s committed to you. It’s here to help you adopt a healthy lifestyle so you can reach your goals.
Visit www.alli.co.uk for online support, useful tools, tips and more recipes to help you stay motivated and on track.
Are You Ready?
Before you start, here are some final things to remember:
• Don’t rush: alli provides you with a gradual and steady approach to weight loss. You can use alli for up to six months.
• Smaller portions = a bigger reward. If you commit to a healthy lifestyle, following a reduced calorie, lower-fat diet, alli can reward your hard work with 50% more weight loss. So, for every 2 lb you lose by your own efforts, alli can help you lose 1 lb more.
• Lower-fat is the
