Get Your Head Right First
When we think of weight management, our minds often go to diet and exercise. What’s more important than hitting the gym is exercising our brain. If you ensure that the most important organ in your body is sorted, other healthy habits will follow. You can diet, exercise and do everything else you require to lose weight, but if you continually distract, deflect or flat out avoid basic issues, you will never achieve your goals and be happy with yourself.
The reality is, no matter what diet you’re on, if the mindset is not aligned to lose weight, the results won’t be realised. The primary reason why so many people fail to keep up with their diet requirements is not because of the foods they are choosing or which exercise class they are enrolled in – it is because their minds have not caught up to what their hearts actually want. There is usually a core issue for why someone is unable lose weight effectively. Food for some people becomes a comfort blanket that is not easy to let go of. Whether someone dislikes eating veggies and binges on junk food, or if they can’t avoid their daily donuts and cake, there is a reason why we all have our particular eating habits. By digging deep into our past, present, and goals for the future, we can discover that the key to losing weight is not in a pill or program. It is mostly in our heads.
Realise There is NO One Big Secret.
This is probably what people least want to hear, but it’s also the most profound dietary truth. I originally thought there was a simple secret to be uncovered in order to get my best body ever. I have tried elements of most of the latest diets over the last 25 years …Paleo, Keto, Low Carb, Intermittent Fasting, Malibu, Weight Watchers, SureSlim etc.
They all made me healthier, fitter and I lost weight at times. But the long term, sustainable aesthetic results I wanted? They just weren’t happening on a permanent basis with any one of these in isolation. That’s because I was missing out on the Big Picture. Making one big change in isolation isn’t enough.
There was no single thing that helped me change my body. Instead, it was the combination of many small diet, fitness and lifestyle changes I made. Small changes in behavioUr and habit shifts result in everything changing. With lots of little changes and small steps you suddenly notice a big transformational change .
I Will Commit To A New Lifestyle
Weight loss experts often say “Don’t go on a diet, change your lifestyle”. Making the commitment to change your life’s current habits for the long haul is critical when it comes to permanent changes.
When people realise that their behaviors have to change forever, incredible things can happen. If the resilience to stay with it isn’t present, any and all changes will be only temporary. The most successful dieters who lose significant amounts of weight and keep it off are characterised for their resolve compared to less successful dieters. These people haven’t reverted back to their previous behaviors, no matter what dietary challenges they have faced. They quickly got back on track with their healthier habits even after speed bumps along the way.
To get new healthy habits to stick, make your goals simple, specific and concrete. Focus on the positive behaviors you will be introducing rather than the negative ones you wish to eliminate. Enlist close friends and family members to help support you and keep you on track all the way to success. We essentially need to get rid of the dieting mentality and rather improve our relationship with food to ensure success. This requires us to be more intuitive. I is extremely empowering when we start to feel what it is to be healthy – how great you feel when you are feeding your body with wonderful nutrients. Honor your body by creating the balance.
As dieting usually has negative connotations including thoughts of restriction, fear, deprivation etc. we tend to see this in a limited time frame rather than a long term lifestyle change. It is important to get to this realisation.
Change “My Story” That You Tell Yourself
Your perception is your projection . What you think about, you bring about. Always remember that your mind wants to stay with what is familiar and with what makes you feel safe. You need to “self-talk” yourself into positivity as your reality is in your own head.
The change process is simple: when you change your beliefs, your reality changes. Try cope with the feelings you are experiencing as it relates to your diet. If you are stressed, tired or eating just because you are socialising – these could all be coping mechanisms. Mindless eating results and you continue eating when you full. Try figuring out and working through your feelings outside of the food.
Ideally you should treat yourself with those chocolates and cookies when you are not feeling stressed or emotional.