Losing weight is complex. There is no magic potion, pill or shake, nor will there ever be. But for some reason people still think that their sedentary lifestyles, drive-thru meal habits & sweet tooth will all be fixed by some mystical brew that HAS to be out there somewhere.
Wrong.
The only way to lose weight is to change your diet and lifestyle. So as you work to lose weight know there are a few things you may not have heard yet – 3 tips that can make the journey so much easier.
#1 – Stop Thinking So Much About Food
You’re not new to this – you know what to eat. Eat lots of veggies, enjoy fruit, lean meats, healthy fats; rarely eat sodas, sweets, packaged foods and takeout.
The biggest challenge of weight-loss is not changing your food choices or learning to cook. It’s all about mindset. When you’ve battled the bulge for years you tend to only fixate your mind on food. What to eat & not to eat, how much, what time, dang I shouldn’t have had that cookie or I have to work out X amount of time to burn off X amount of calories, etc.
Skinny people think about food very little compared to those who are constantly striving to lose weight. I’m not talking about those people who can eat garbage and never gain an ounce, but the ones that consciously make healthy choices both food and lifestyle wise. They don’t spend every waking minute scrutinizing over everything they eat at don’t eat. If you want to be skinny, start thinking like a skinny person – dump all the rules – eat ONLY when you’re hungry, stop when full, plan your meals and your workouts and focus on all the many other wonderful things life has to offer!
This life is a vapor & how disappointing it would be to look back and think; man, I wish I hadn’t wasted so much time worrying & being bogged down by diet & exercise and beating myself up for the choices I made (because we do that).
Set your mind on the joys of life, not on food, & live life to the fullest!
#2 – Watch your Words
I grew up a fat kid. At 135lbs in 6th grade I was a little porker. (And the early 90’s hair didn’t help. Oh those bangs.) Coming from an overweight family, I eventually believed that I was just meant to be big. As I grew up I would say – I’m big boned, or I’m stocky, we all (my family) have big legs, and the worse one – “no matter how much I workout or eat the scale never moves”.
First of all the scale is the devil and will steal your joy. Trash it.
Secondly, what you say about yourself your body adheres to. Your subconscious is constantly working to agree with what your conscious self believes.
Our words affect everything about us – yes, even our size. It’s not just what others say to us or about us but what we say about ourselves. Our words can make or break every facet of our lives. If you say you can’t, you can’t. If you say it’s hard, it’ll be hard. But even if you say you can, and you’re still not completely convinced you can, you’re still a lot closer to achieving that goal than if you simply said you can’t.
Once I learned this I changed my words to, I will lose weight, the scale will go down, I am not made to be overweight. I was made to be smaller than this. I am petite (only 5’3”). This wasn’t easy to do, and didn’t happen over night because for my whole life I thought I was just a big girl. It takes time to renew your mind but SO worth it! Plus it’s SO much easier than spending hours at the gym and eating kale every day.
I changed nothing about my diet or my workouts and the pounds started shedding. Shedding! Granted I did already eat well and exercised regularly but remember – I was still overweight and didn’t lose anything for years. Genetics plays a measly 25% role in our weight and health. The other approx 75% is all about diet, lifestyle and mindset.
If you come from an overweight family, know this – that does not mean you too have to be overweight!
#3 – Visualize Your Size
Most people who want to lose weight don’t ever envision themselves at their goal size. At the core of every success story lies a vision of what is ahead.
Businesses do it to project their future endeavors, we do it in the morning when we’re planning our day, we have a picture of how we want our children to grow up, etc. Even professional athletes state they use clear vision to help them in their sport. Tiger Woods envisions every shot before it is made. Champion boxers do it to prepare for a fight. Weight-loss is no exception. I always wanted to wear skinny jeans but never could really imagine fitting into them. I had to envision that my goal size was normal & that I was meant to easily fit into those skinny jeans. So, I bought those small skinny jeans and sure enough, I got into them easier than I imagined. Now they really do look normal (!) because I believed I wasn’t created to be chubby and I envisioned how I wanted to look in great detail. I promise, visualization WORKS!
Live it!
Assess yourself. What do you think about all day? Do you think mostly about what to eat and what not to eat? Do you beat yourself up for not working out, eating too much or eating something on your “no-no list”? Make a list of things to do that don’t involve food and things that you’ve always wanted to do. Keeping making good food choices and working out, but set your mind on greater things in this world.
What negative words or phrases do you say over yourself? Write them down and change them. For instance, I can’t or it’s too hard – change to I can, I will and I’ll do my best!
Envision where you want to go, how you want to look, how you will feel, where you will shop for new & smaller clothes. Be as specific as possible. Spend at least 5 minutes per day visualizing your weight-loss goals. That may seem like a long time in our busy world but how much more time do you want to spend trying to lose weight? It’s worth the investment in time.
Try these tricks and let me know the outcome! Contact me here!
