Weight loss plans come in all shapes and sizes.
Some are fad diets that are too restrictive to follow more than a couple
of weeks, while others are provided by professionals that make
customized plans for us. All of them give us some guidelines on what we
should and shouldn't eat to ultimately reach our weight loss goals. No
matter how many food plans we try, healthy or unhealthy, there are some
fundamental things you must know in order to be successful in a weight
loss program that, believe it or not, have nothing to do with food.
1. Readiness- Are you ready to make change in your life right
now? How would you know? The reason many weight loss plans fail is
because people are not truly emotionally ready for change. In order to
have true lifelong weight loss you have to commit to trading your old
habits in for a new, healthier lifestyle. This has more to do with
readiness for change than a desire to shed pounds- there is a big
difference. The good news is, as you start on the journey to change
these old habits you will be amazed how much better you feel physically,
psychologically, and emotionally. This is the place where the people
who have experienced long term weight loss have entered and want to
stay. When you are truly committed to changing your lifestyle you will
achieve lifelong weight loss and so much more!
Ask yourself a few questions. Are you ready to make permanent
dietary changes for you and your family? Are you ready to start
exercising regularly? Are you ready to defend your new lifestyle changes
to those who are undermining your efforts? Don't fret if you aren't
completely ready to dive into change. This is the stage to keep up the
learning process by reading articles and gathering information. You will
know when the time is right and that will be when you answer an
unequivocal "Yes!" to the above questions.
2. Developing a vision. When I ask people what their goals are
for a weight loss program the answer is always, "to lose weight of
course", or "to lose x amount of pounds". It is crucial to have another
more, heart-felt reason to lose weight other than losing pounds and
appearance. This is because when times are tough, and they will be
during any change process, you will need a heart-felt or internal reason
to lose the weight to keep you motivated. Losing weight for appearance
is ok but it is an external reason and will not help to keep you
motivated for long.
In the past my clients have chosen things like, being able to
play with their kids, running a marathon, backpacking trip they have
longed to go on for years, and a big motivator is often a health
condition. I call this your vision. It is imperative to take a few
minutes to learn what your vision is. What is important to you that you
will be able to achieve with weight loss? Write this vision down and
plaster it everywhere so you always see your end goal and it will always
help to motivate you further when times are tough.
3. Self Talk - is yours negative or positive? Unfortunately it's
true that we are our own worst critics and like hearing any critic it
often leads us to failure because we believe the critic is right.
Furthermore, we start to believe things are true that are absolutely not
true. For instance, if a child is told they are a klutz from an early
age they will likely always think they are a klutz. We believe what we
are told repeatedly.
What do you tell yourself? One common statement I hear a lot of
these days is, "I can't eat carbohydrates because once I start I can't
stop". This is a belief that you have set up from constant defeating
self-talk and once you believe it then no doubt you will act it out.
However, there is no scientific reason why a person would not be able
to stop eating after having a bite of carbohydrates. Your belief makes
it your reality. So whenever you hear yourself say I can't do something
or any other self-defeating talk. Stop yourself and change the sentence
to a positive. For example, I realize that carbs have been a challenge
for me in the past but I can eat a portion and put the rest away for
later. Keep working on your own positive reinforcement by being gentler
with yourself and tell yourself all that you CAN do.
4. Be prepared for change. All weight loss programs require us to
change a habit yet no one warns us about the process of change. The
first thing to know is that the beginning of change is difficult and
uncomfortable. This is because it forces us to get off autopilot and
focus on our new behaviors. Luckily it takes about 21 days to make a new
habit and the uncomfortable part goes away and our new habits become
autopilot.
For example: Imagine you get your dream job and it requires that
you have to get up at 5:30am. Yikes! You normally get up at about 7:30
am. So, what do you think will happen that first morning when the alarm
goes off at 5:30? You aren't going to feel so great and your body is
going to beg you to get back into your warm bed! This will go on for
about 2-3 weeks until your body stops fighting you and realizes this is
the new habit. The same thing will happen to you when you change eating
and exercise habits. Just expect a little resistance and keep going!
Your new healthy changes will eventually become your new habit. You just
have to keep at it.