It’s summer time!
Although your swimsuit can help inspire you to eat the proper food and workout, your jeans are in fact an excellent weight management tool… Here’s why:
#1 Zip up those jeans
I know so many women who are married to their scales, when they should be married to their jeans. If you vacillate from triumph to despair depending on those three numbers on the scale, remember that your weight can vary depending on the time of the month, hormones, sodium intake and other factors. A more accurate gauge of how you are managing your weight is to put on and zip up those jeans in your closet. Your jeans could suddenly be baggy (score!); fit as they always have (terrific!); suddenly be snug (red flag!); or you can’t even get them on (alarm bell is ringing for behavior change!). Just as I advise people to find out their body composition—ratio of body fat to lean muscle—jeans also can give you a better assessment of how you are doing than your scale does sometimes. Head into your closet and find out how your jeans fit, especially if you haven’t worn them in a while.
Photo by Diesel via Diesel.com
#2 Loose clothes mean loose choices
Comfortable clothes too often mean your food choices will be too comfortable too. I saw an ad for pajama jeans recently and thought, “Oh, c’mon!” We really don’t need to enable indulgent behavior. How easy do we want to make it for ourselves to overeat? The marketing jargon of these jeans tout comfort and freedom, but at what cost? I will admit to childhood memories of joking around with my sisters after a big holiday meal that we needed to unbutton the top button of our pants since we were so full. However, if you find yourself unbuttoning that top button on a regular basis, it may be time for a little self-awareness!
#3 Snug jeans can mean healthier choices
If you put on a pair of your jeans and they are little snug, you probably won’t say yes to dessert. If you just consumed a big meal and you are sporting a pair of stretchy, elastic waistband pants, you are more likely to say yes to that dessert because you are comfortable and you don’t have a reminder to make smart choices.
#4 Don’t use clothes as a denial tool
You can always tell what part of the body people don’t like by what they choose to cover up. Instead of covering up, commit to change. You can decide to make different decisions so you won’t have a body or body part you want to hide. One of the biggest mood boosts resulting from weight loss or staying fit is enjoying getting dressed in the morning. It’s a simple thing, but people beam about loving clothes after getting fit, because that daily activity makes them feel good about their choices and results!
Strive to feel comfortable because you are fit and not comfortable because you are hiding in sweatpants. So hang that swimsuit where you can see it for daily motivation, and keep putting on those jeans to gauge your progress.
…more at: http://blogs.prevention.com/get-fit/2012/06/05/your-jeans-not-genes-can-motivate-weight-loss/
