Our Mindset is key to achieving anything. We often have the motivation but very often tire of the challenge ahead and then completely give up.
Mindset is important to any aspect that we set for ourselves, Fitness, Nutrition, Diets, Business and New Years Resolutions. Just think about the last challenge that you embarked on. Did you succeed? Did you give up? The statistics shows that 8 out of 10 challenges we embark on will fail. Just think of the amount of people who set off to Lose Weight and are continuously on that “hamster wheel”. How many times have you started off on you New Years Resolution and then given up in January? According to statistics this happens to approximately 68% of people.
Whilst I often reset peoples mindset for my fitness and nutrition challenges these steps can be used for many other challenges in our lives.
Achieving our weight loss goals needs a strong mindset for success. I hope that these 10 steps will help you understand why this is important.
Follow The Expert Advice And Know Your Personality Traits
Firstly, try to ensure you follow the expert advice for your weight loss programme.
Now, there are two types of people that have different paths to success.
a. Hardcore People that tend to fly against all odds and achieve their goals.
These people are rare. They read and listen to the pieces of advice and then work hard to do them. Generally, it is easy for you to become your own leader and ensure you lose those extra pounds.
b. People Who Want But Lack Motivation Sometimes (Majority of people).
This group tend to change their priorities on and off. As a result, either they do not achieve their goal, or it takes them a lot longer to get there.
If you lie in the second category, then you need to accept your personality and then, you need to do your best to follow your expert advice.
Overthinking and over questioning will lead you to distraction. Simply follow the lead and trust your expert.
Finding The Underlying Cause
One mindset to achieving better weight loss is to find the underlying cause of your weight gain. This means getting to the cause that is deep-rooted to how you think without excuses.
A thorough understanding of your personality and your current circumstances can help increase your success rate. Sit down, relax, take a deep breath, and try to figure out what is the thing that triggers you to eat more?
Is it your upbringing causing you to eat more and more?
Were you your mother’s favourite child and she loved to pile food on your plate? Perhaps you did not have enough food and now you want to fulfill your satiety and cravings?
So, figure out what is causing you to eat more?
Is it your childhood eating habits?
Is it your unsatisfied cravings in the past?
Is it your depression?
Are you suffering from sleep deprivation?
Are you being harsh on yourself by working tough and compensating it with mindless eating?
Answer these questions and find out your reason for overeating.
After figuring it out, eliminate the underlying cause. So, by the end of the day, it is easy and mindful for you to follow a diet regime and exercise routine.
Do You Lack Sleep?
Researchers have suggested that lack of sleep causes you to crave high energy foods to compensate for lack of energy due to sleep deprivation.
A tough routine also causes additional stress, thus causing you to eat more.
Not only this, but certain food cravings are also related to low mood and depression.
Example, eating a lot of chocolate happens when you are feeling low and chocolates are known to elevate mood.
Embracing Your Body
Embracing your body, can stop you hating yourself for what you look like. Looking in the mirror and loathing your physique should not be a routine.
Self-love is crucial in losing weight and accepting yourself the way you are.
After loving yourself the way you are, and self-acceptance then decide how you want to shift your desired pounds and the actions you need to take to get to your goals.
Lose Weight For The Right Reasons
This means that your weight loss is all about your own personal goals and not from peer pressure or society’s beauty standards. Your weight loss should not be about how you believe other people expect you to be.
It is important to understand the real reason as to why you wish to lose weight. This is your motivator and will give you the desire to achieve your goals.
In my opinion the health benefits and being the right body mass index should be your biggest driver and will lead you to achieve a good body weight for your build.
A healthy life should be your sole and strong motivator for losing weight.
Practice Visualization Techniques
Research has shown that visualization is a powerful tool that can help us in achieving our goals.
Motivate yourself honestly and try it when you have cravings or having a wobble moment.
Visualization is best achieved by being alone sitting or lying down and relaxing. Then imagine your reasons and true motivation for losing weight.
Think about how your life would be if you lose weight?
How does it make you will feel when you have achieved your goal?
How will your health improve?
What does it look like and how does it feel when people see your new confidence?
Try to practice regularly and picture the desired you, when you wake each morning.
Change Your Definition Of Reward & Punishment
In our brains, our activities are wired to reward and punish behavior. This behavior means that certain things make us happy and certain things make us sad.
Generally, everything that gives us the feeling of happiness, satisfaction or triumph comes under the category of reward.
The other side to this is punishment, which is a broad term used to describe feelings of fear, guilt, helplessness, regrets and failure.
So, how can this help us in weight loss?
Our brain has been wired to foods that make us feel good such as Cake which is seen as a reward and Celery for instance seen as a punishment.
So, how do we change this perception in the brain?
Simply by rewiring our brain and changing our thoughts and habits, linked to reward and punishment.
All we do is train our brain to think that green tea, salads, and fruits bring happiness as they taste good and give us increased health and longevity. On the other hand, junk and cheesecakes bring feelings of guilt as they are not healthy and keep you far from your goals.
Rewire your brain reward and punishment perception so as a result, you eat healthily, feel happier and achieve your desired weight loss easily.
Patience Is The Key
Weight loss needs long term commitment and actions to achieve your results.
Your ideal physique and health benefits do not happen in just one day. Taking the right measures and putting in the actions will give you a positive response as slow and steady wins the race.
Stop Being Harsh On Yourself
Stop comparing yourself to others as you are unique and special.
Set a realistic approach, love yourself, accept reality, set your own goals, and modify your actions to achieve them.
Do not beat yourself up if you have a bad day, allow yourself that time because tomorrow is another better day
Set Realistic Goals
Have a realistic approach to your goals. Put in place a proper plan and action accordingly for your weight, height, and lifestyle.
Being realistic about your time limit and expectations regarding weight loss is an important component of your psychology that can aid you in the long term.
Conclusion
If you want to lose weight, you need to change your mindset. Only through this can you successful follow your diet regime and exercise routine effectively and achieve your goals.
Why not start off with a 7-Day Detox Plan to get your body ready and prepared. A great way to kick off the New Year.
Please let me know if you need any further information or advice below.
MIchel
Some very useful advice here on how to change your mindset in order to lose weight. It isn’t easy, but I think if you take it one step at a time and change little things over time, the process will be less painless.
I know I tend to overeat when I haven’t had enough sleep. I think maybe I am hoping the food will give me more energy to get through the day, but my terrible sleep habits are something I know I need to work on.
I love the advice about reward and punishment. So all we need to do is find a healthy food that we love and rewire ourselves to reward ourselves with that when we do well?
Imelda Easthorpe
Thank you Michel,
I am so pleased that you found this article useful and full of good tips of advice.
All you ned to do is Change Your Mind to Conquer the World.
Take care
Imelda
Liza
Achieving success is everything and even though we all try to debunk it that we all want more than just that, I think in the end, that is still the silent goal of everyone to considers that a lot more can still be done in it. This is really amazing for me too see here and I really value all these here too. Thanks
Imelda Easthorpe
Thank you Liza,
Success is important to us all but we all view in our own individual way and that is important.
Good luck
Imelda
Jongabriel
Haha thanks for the article my guy! I really do appreciate this, as people frequently overlook their health and wellness. At the moment, I’m trying to build out my website. I think I have the right, long term mindset that you need to accomplish this. But, with these extra tips you’ve given me, I’m sure it’ll help me reach my goals much faster!
Imelda Easthorpe
Thank you Jongabriel,
Having a good mindset is key to everything that we need to do and so important for our success.
Thanks again
Imelda
Diane
What a timely post- thank you!
Your steps to weight loss success are quite well thought out. I had forgotten about the need for sleep to help with weight issues, although it makes perfect sense. In fact, all of your points are quite logical.
Patience might be one of the most challenging for some of us. We want our old body back…and we want it now. Of course, even if the weight came on quickly, it doesn’t just melt away. It takes time and taking those 10 steps to achieve permanent success.
Thanks for a great article that’s filled with some very sound advice!
Imelda Easthorpe
Thank you Diane,
I am so pleased that I could help especially as we look forward to a New Year.
All the best
Imelda
TheMarketingLord
This article was just the thing I was looking for. I was browsing the Internet but your article really caught my eye. You explained everything I needed to know and more. As I was reading it , it got more and more interesting. You have really put in some work to write this. Thank you once again. You have really opened my eyes and I am greatful for that. Wish you all the best.
Imelda Easthorpe
Thank you so much,
This is a really lovely comment and I am so pleased that you feel this way. I truly hope this has the same affect on many others.
Thank you again
Imelda
Paul
Thank you for sharing your article, it is very interesting. I decided to lose a few pounds earlier in the year and now I am living a much healthier lifestyle and I feel so much better for it. I believe in the idea of having a strong anchor point as to “why” I decided to make the changes in my life that I can revisit when my motivation drops. I think in addition to eating healthily and cutting out as much refined sugar from your diet as possible, finding some form of exercise that you love doing and can make a habit is also key. I completely agree with what you say about patience. Sadly modern society wants instant gratification in everything, including weight loss. Nothing worthwhile happens over night so again I completely agree with you in that much of this comes down to your mindset.
Imelda Easthorpe
Thank you Paul,
I appreciate your comments which I now will help others who feel the same. If I can help one person that I will be very pleased.
All the best
Imelda
lynnsamuelson
There are so may factors that enter in to why we overeat and I think you covered my reasons. We all know that a healthy diet and exercise are key but what we don’t really delve into is how our childhood programming and mental issues play into it. While you didn’t mention this I’ve read and believe that lack of sleep or not getting regular sleep can also hinder weight loss. I went through a period of basically eating nothing while trying to take off a few pounds and adding a couple of extra hours allowed me to shed those unwanted pounds.
Great article!
Erica
Imelda Easthorpe
Thank you so much Erica,
It is really interesting in that people want to change without changing. If we set our mindset then it becomes so much easier.
Thank you again for your comments
Imelda
Lisa Keene
Informative and inspiring article. As the author states, our health should be our main priority. Eating healthy to improve life’s needs. What if a family or friend needed us and we physically unable to help, or you were down and no one to care for you? No one needs you more than you personally need yourself.
The 7 day detox sounds a bit extreme for someone who snacks most of day or eats big meals. This person might feel desperate in less than 48 hours and quit the detox immediately. I personally have not done this task for I am a snacked person thru out the day.
I personally would suggest the buddy system. Recruit a friend to suffer with me so we could complain to each other thru the excruciating misery of dieting.
Imelda Easthorpe
Thank you Lisa,
I am pleased that you have enjoyed my article.
I have done the detox myself and I can assure you it is really easy and you do not hunger as you are able to eat. The easiest way to reset your body ready for a new healthy eating regime.
Any further questions please let me know
Imelda