What would you be willing to do to reach your weight loss goals?
Most of us have never even considered this question.
We’re willing to kill ourselves at the gym, or starve ourselves, but are willing to do the mental work?
The mental and emotional work is MORE IMPORTANT than time spent in the gym or counting calories!
So, what would you be willing to do to reach your weight loss goals?
Have you ever started your day off with the best of intentions, when it comes to eating, only to get so completely derailed that at the end of the day even you are shocked by how much junk you ate?
It’s natural to be upset by this, to judge yourself negatively, and even try to ignore or pretend that it never happened.
Sometimes we take this as proof that we should just give up.
Here’s what you should do instead:
1. Show yourself compassion. You’re working on becoming a new version of you. That’s hard. It won’t be perfect, and that’s okay!
2. Explore the situation. Why did you eat all of that junk? Were you stressed, angry, sad, or even board. If you figure out the why behind your derailed efforts, you will understand what to do differently next time.
3. Embrace and accept your weaknesses. We were not made to be perfect. In fact, there are many examples of people turning their weaknesses into strengths. Don’t ignore them or pretend they don’t exist. Embrace them and put in the work to make them strengths.
4. Get back on the wagon. So what, you fell off. There’s 365 days in a year. If your on the wagon 300 of those, your going to see some huge results–that’s more than 80% of the year.
5. Remember…Your best isn’t going to be perfect, but IT’S GOOD ENOUGH! So, just keep going. It’s all about the journey, both the highs and the lows.
I’ve spoken with a couple of people about reaching their goal weight.
One of them told me that he knew he could reach his goal, he’d “done it tons of times.”
I asked him how long he stayed at his goal weight. He said, “usually for a day or two, then I start to slowly gain it all back.”
We focus too much on reaching our goals.
We think that once we reach our goals we are done–we give up–and old habits take over.
Reaching your goals IS important, but maintaining and living your goals is much more important.
Weight loss is more about the journey of becoming a new, lighter, version of you.
Fully embrace that new person that you are becoming. Believe in the new you. Make it a change that will last.
I asked one of my clients how long he wanted to weigh his goal weight. He said that he had never thought of that. He had only ever thought about reaching his goal.
After some thought, he decided he wanted to weight his goal weight at least the next 35 years.
What a journey!
This will be more life changing and fulfilling than simply reaching your goal. He will be living his goal.
Losing weight is relatively easy, but . . .
If you’re like most people, you’ve lost weight many times before.
Unfortunately, like most people, you’ve probably gained some, all, or all plus some back.
Losing weight is easy . . . but keeping it off is another story!
If you want to lose weight and keep it off, you can’t just keep trying diets and exercise programs that are just a temporary fix.
Keeping weight off depends on your ability to become a new version of you, with new thoughts and beliefs. It depends on your ability to create new relationships with food and eating. No more eating because you are bored, sad, or stressed.
Losing weight also depends on your willingness to embrace uncomfortable feelings like hunger, desire, and disappointment. Remember, you became over weight by eating eating with no real structure. Implementing structure will come with some disappointment.
Every year I read A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens.
I love how it teaches that the present you is the result of your past; BUT, your present you can totally change your future.
The change, however, doesn’t take place in the future. It happens in the present.
If you want to lose weight and have a future where you are healthier than you are today, you need to start today!
Look at you past. What has gotten you to this point?
Look at your present. What are you doing that is keeping you stuck?
Look to your future. What’s in store and what would you like to change?
Now, come back to the present and start living the life that leads to the better future.
Make this the year that you CRUSH YOUR GOALS!
Your brain is like Google.
It is constantly trying to find evidence to prove whatever it is that you are thinking.
If you think, “Why am I so ugly?” your brain will nit pick your looks to pieces. You’ll notice extra fat, skin blemishes, EVERYTHING!
But, what if you thought, “Dannng, I am one sexy dude!”, your brain will start to notice things to prove you right. The next time you walk past a mirror your brain will look for proof.
All of the sudden you’ll realize, “Man my graying beard looks p-r-e-t-t-y good.”
The same is true for weight loss. If you think, I CAN’T do this!”, your brain will simply look for evidence to prove you right.
You’ll start to notice every obstacle, every disadvantage, every mistake, and every reason you can’t seem to lose weight.
Now, the problem is most of us are so used to believing that we CAN’T lose weight, that if we simply started telling ourselves, “You can TOTALLY lose weight!”, our next thought would be something like, “In your dreams. LOL.”
So, put your Google-like brain to work to answer one simple question, “How CAN I lose weight?” Soon, you’ll start to notice little things that you CAN be doing to lose weight.
You might start with, “Oh, I could skip out on this cupcake.” Or, “I could walk to the store.” And eventually you’ll develop the thought, and actually believe it, “I CAN totally lose weight!”
I help people everyday, including myself, to work to develop a mindset that promotes weight loss.