Battle of the bulge

Before you fight the Battle of the Bulge, arm yourself. You are going to need every weapon in the artillery if you are going to succeed! 

When soldiers go into battle, they do not just wear a helmet to protect their heads, they have to wear a bulletproof vest and take every precaution to maximise their success on the battlefield. They arm themselves with the most advanced weapons and ammunition to prevent them from succumbing to the enemy.

Fellow dieters, I am giving you permission to march into the third month of the year with the same kind of mental focus and emotional commitment that a soldier has when going into the war zone! If we want to maximise success in our Battle of the Bulge, then we have got to take this matter seriously. 

We must use every strategy we know in order to combat our enemy: weight-gain. One good healthy habit is not enough. Eating a healthy breakfast on its own will not suffice, not if you are going to eat two plates of mansaf for dinner and a chocolate cake for dessert!

However, learning to combine our strategies together so they work in unison is key to long-term success. So if we eat a healthy breakfast and make sure to drink eight glasses of water throughout the day, combined with healthy snacks, such as nuts, then we will not be ravenous when evening arrives.

We suddenly find ourselves arriving at, what for me is the biggest of all the battlefields, the end of the workday. That is when you finally get home from work, kick off your shoes and want to relax. Your brain wants to go on autopilot and watch television while snacking on comfort foods. That is the biggest battlefield for many of us. But we do not have to keep losing this war nor do we have to keep a perfect score. So, even if we fail two nights a week that means we still won five out of the seven battles! That is a pretty good record. Slowly but surely, with enough practice, we will train ourselves to get better at controlling night-time snacking so that we are not eating after dinner. One strategy I have come up with is to limit my carbs in the evenings and enjoy sipping hot herbal drinks or decaffeinated coffee or tea.

Make a list of all your favourite strategies that have worked for you in the past and remind yourself that the more often you utilise them, you are accomplishing the following goals for yourself: You can break down each strategy that helps you keep your weight in check and think of them as your weapons of fat destruction!

Whatever you do, make sure to have a plan. One thing is for certain: if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. So pretend you are a general in the army and it is up to you to keep your soldiers in check. Draw up a plan and give the orders. Whether it is to the person doing the grocery shopping or the person doing the cooking or the person in charge of taking care of the kids and so on. Make sure that you have the correct plan in place that will help you succeed. If you are like me and you happen to be doing the grocery shopping and the cooking, then make sure you follow your own orders! You are only cheating yourself if you do not follow what you know is going to be a life-saver. After all, you are on the battlefield and you are going to have to start taking responsibility for your actions.

Here’s to your health as you march into a healthier version of yourself one battle at a time!

My favourite strategies

• Attaining and keeping healthy weight goals

• Avoiding frequent headaches as a result of dehydration (since you will be drinking more water) as well as fewer migraines (since you will be avoiding sugary  foods which cause migraines)

• Having a healthier complexion as your skin will thank you for eating more fruits and vegetables!

• Recognising true hunger signals. Half the time we are in fact thirsty when we think we are hungry. So if we make it a habit to drink a tall glass of water before eating and waiting 20 minutes afterwards to see if we are still hungry, then we can avoid eating extra calories when all we needed was a glass of water that costs us zero calories!

• Exercising like you’re in a boot camp! Turn on the kitchen timer, put on your favourite music and dust off those handheld weights you hid under your bed and start today – NO MORE EXCUSES!

Reprinted with permission from Family Flavours magazine