Food. Body. Mind.

People are congratulating me for my 15-pound weight loss. These greetings are usually followed with questions like, "How did you do it?", "What keeps you going?". Or, people would sometimes compliment my determination and wished they have the same kind of motivation that fuels me to reach my goal.

I am thankful for all of these. I truly am. I am thankful for the people cheering me on. I am thankful for losing those 15 pounds. But, I still have a long way to go. And sometimes, I am afraid that I will falter. So, even if I want to give advice to those who want to follow my lead, at the back my mind, I feel that I may not be the best person to give advice since I still haven't reached my goal. I still have 35 pounds to go.

So, let me just quote the principles from Jenny Craig's fitness program. I have blogged before that I am following the success story of Valerie Bertinelli. Through her fitness blog, I learned the 3 keys to having a successful weight loss program. And, it actually corresponds to my personal experience in my fitness program. Here they are:

FOOD - A healthy relationship with food
You have to learn portion controls and healthy eating habits.

Having a good diet doesn't mean you have to be hungry all the time. I eat six to seven times a day, and eating frequently actually made me lose weight! The key is portioning and food distribution. I eat my assigned portions of food every 3 hours and no more than that. Doing this, I trained my body to consume faster thus, increasing my metabolism. I NEVER became hungry even if I was only allowed 1,200 calories a day. (Recommended intake for persons with normal weight is 1,800-2,000 calories per day.)

BODY - An active lifestyle
Gradually increase physical activity with a program that is personalized to your lifestyle and activity level.

You have to get up!!! Move!!! Exercise!!! The key to losing weight is burning more calories than what you take in. This is where most people are finding difficulty. Too busy, no time to go to the gym, etcetera, etcetera... YOU HAVE TO MAKE TIME! 30 minutes of brisk-walking 5-6 times a week, going up 2 flights of stairs rather than taking the elevator, there are lots of ways to move and sweat to lose weight. Choose the exercise program that's right for you or the ones that you enjoy. I love dancing, so I make sure to attend dance aero classes at least 3 times a week. And for days that there are no dance aero classes, I take the treadmill or the stairmaster while watching Ellen. I love watching TV so I can actually stay on the cardio machines for an hour without getting bored because my fave TV show is on.

MIND - A balanced approach to living
Stay motivated and learn to create more balance in your busy lifestyle.

It took me years to get back to the gym, more than 5 years, actually. People around me like my parents and friends are almost begging me to start going back to the gym to lose weight. In all those times, I didn't do it. I refused to go back to the gym. I would always find reasons to avoid getting back in shape. I'm too busy with work and my business, and when I had Dana, I said, I have to breastfeed and I have to take care of my baby... I had all sorts of reasons. Bottomline is, I didn't want to. I didn't want to diet, I didn't want to exercise. I was too lazy and I did not want to commit. I didn't want to start a fitness program half-hearted. But when I finally did, I was 100% sure, 100% committed, no ifs, no buts. Is it hard? Of course! But you have to look at your goal ahead and that would be enough to keep you going.