SO here we are at the last-but-one week of my Boot Camp and I thought it would be useful if this week we focused on the holiday season because I know this time of year  can throw up all sorts of challenges, concerns and anxieties about food and your weight.

This is hardly surprising since most of the people who come to our Slimpod programmes do so after years of unsuccessfully trying to lose weight and have almost been conditioned to what I call “seasonal dieting”.

Here’s how it goes – let me know by leaving a comment below if you recognise it:

In January the media lures you into the latest “amazing” weight loss revelation (diet).  You’re into it for 4-5 weeks, lose some weight and then lose motivation – because willpower doesn’t last, sadly.

Then you’re feeling a bit rubbish for the next few months until May/June comes and yes, you guessed it – the next revolutionary, all singing all dancing, Summer bikini diet is launched!

You’re on that until your summer holiday (around now) and then you just can’t keep it up because it’s summer and dieting is miserable and boring in the summer holidays isn’t it?!

All those nice things you’re depriving yourself of when everyone else is having fun and enjoying themselves. So rather than feeling rubbish you break the diet and blame it again on your own lack of willpower!

Then you limp along and around October time the media starts up again!  Lose two dress sizes in time for those Christmas parties shout the headlines!  You hop on because basically you’re losing it to put it all back on again over Christmas…and so it goes on!  Nightmare!

Well, the GOOD news is – If you’re on my six week Boot Camp and reading this you’re not on that seasonal rollercoaster any more!

What you’re doing with Slimpod is enabling your eating habits to stabilise after years and years of lurching from one diet to the next.  You’re creating a lifestyle change and enabling healthy eating to become an automatic everyday habit.

However!  I absolutely know that for many of you the dieting behaviour is never far away and the summer diet mindset will be lurking in the background, so I thought I would help you get through summer without putting any weight on – and hopefully even lose some!

1. First thing to remember is that you are NOT ON A DIET and there’s no wagon to fall off!! This is crucially important.
2. Summer will put a lot of you into what I call a “Summer diet trance state” – in English, this means you’ll be out of routine and be in a very different state of mind as I highlighted above. “l’ll just put my weight loss on hold and enjoy myself for a few weeks” kind of trance state!!  If you feel this is you – and I know I’ll get lots of comments saying I’m reading your minds – PLEASE PLEASE wake up from that trance and shake yourself off!  You’re not on a diet and you don’t need to be taken over like this.  
3. You can still ENJOY the summer AND lose weight. All you have to do is continue to listen to your Slimpods and let your subconscious (or automatic brain) take the strain.  It really is simple. There are people coming back from holidays and rejoicing in the fact that they’ve enjoyed themselves and put on no weight when they would ordinarily have pigged out and be at least 8lbs heavier. The lovely Lynn from Slimpod Club just came back from three weeks away and LOST 3.5 lbs! Well done Lynn! 
4. Keep  up your activity because in the summer we tend to be a bit lazier if the weather is hot. Raise your heart rate for just 15 minutes a day! Research has shown that brisk walking four times a week reduces food consumption, cuts down body fat and lowers insulin resistance

So that’s your task for the NEXT six weeks!

Just listen and do some exercise every day. Exercise  should be something that is automatic now any how. This means you won’t have to feel rubbish, you won’t have to ‘start again and you’ll continue the good work you’ve been doing up until now.

Next week is the final week of Boot Camp so make sure you’re there with me at the end! I’ll be doing a roll call!!