EXPECTING IMMEDIATE RESULTS, THEN GIVING UP WHEN YOU DON’T SEE THEM
We have been programmed for years that there is a quick fix, a quick diet, if we ‘just do this one thing a certain way, we’ll lose 50 pounds in 2 minutes’. Well let me tell you, that’s not true. Doesn’t work. And if anyone tells you that they have the secret, run, run fast in the other direction. Short term solutions may offer some quick results, but I bet if you’re tried one in the past, you ended up back where you started eventually, am I right? I’m not happy about being right on this, but it’s the truth.
So what is one to do, if not diet, restrict calories and hope for the best? The first step is understanding that most likely the weight didn’t come on overnight, and it is not going to come off overnight. Does that mean it is impossible? Of course not! We just have to be patient, trust that if we go about it the RIGHT way, that the results will come.
Tip: Three steps to helping with motivation are setting measurable goals, finding an accountability partner, whether it be a coach or a friend, and make a decision to do the work. No matter how long it takes.
DOING WHAT EVERYONE ELSE IS DOING, AND EXPECTING TO SEE THE SAME RESULTS
Look around at your friends, your family. Most likely you don’t dress the same, talk the same, raise your kids the same, spend your time in the same way. Why do we think that what works for our friend, will work for us? We are unique in so many ways and this applies to our health and weight loss goals as well.
Tip: Find things that you LOVE. There are tons of different exercise options, as well as food options. The key is finding not only what you love, but what works for you, and your body. If you try to pigeon-hole your body, and your mind, into doing something that you think you should be doing, or what your neighbor does, and it truly doesn’t resonate with you, most likely you won’t stick with it that long. On the contrary, finding what makes you tick could make all the difference between giving up, and adopting a new lifestyle, and a new you.
Go ahead, try new exercise programs, new foods. While you do this PAY ATTENTION to how you FEEL. Ask yourself how you feel physically and mentally after every meal, after every time you move your body. Most likely, if you do this consistently, you will be more in tuned to what you love, and what you hate. If you hate Zumba, but you try to mold yourself to it because that is what your best friend is doing, it won’t stick. If you love walking, it will become something you look forward to.
NOT PAYING ATTENTION
We touched on this above, but this is a missing piece in trying to make ANY change. We run around life busy, trying to get things done. We’re task oriented, and rarely stop to think about what we are doing. How many times have you driven somewhere and once there, don’t remember a lick of the drive? Scary isn’t it?
This is also how we eat, and how we take care of ourselves. When was the last time you ate a meal, or a snack, stopped yourself after to see how you felt? We may notice things like being full, or hungry. But there are so many other sensations available to us if we pay attention.
Tip: For one week, try to pause and take stock of how you feel after everything you eat. Do you feel good physically and emotionally? Do you feel uncomfortable, tired, guilty? This is a good way to identify the foods that make you feel good physically and emotionally and it can start the dialogue with yourself to determine your relationship with food.
THE MISSING WHY?
This ties into the tip above. WHY are we eating? Are you rolling your eyes and telling me because I’m hungry lady! Or did you just have an aha moment when you remember the last time you polished off a pint of ice cream because you had a fight with your mother or daughter? Or you were bored. Or stressed. Or hadn’t eaten all day because you were busy and were STARVING. This may seem like a simple step but it has huge consequences, good and bad. By identifying why we are eating, can clue us into our eating patterns so we can start to change the dialogue with ourselves.
Tip: When you notice you are about to go to town on that bag of chips, stop yourself and ask yourself how you are feeling. Are you bored? Sad? Lonely? Haven’t eaten all day? If you’re bored, distract yourself for 15 minutes by doing something you love, or something you have been meaning to do all week. If you’re sad or lonely, grab a piece of paper and journal for a few minutes to see if something comes up for you. Starving? Try filling yourself up first with nourishing foods, make an easy shake, some veggies first. This one can be more challenging though, which leads me to my last point…
SETTING GOALS THAT ARE TOO BROAD
Not to get too much into the science, weight training triggers an instant release of endorphin, or feel good chemicals. Ask someone you know who weight trains how they feel after a session.
You set a goal to lose 50 pounds this year. GREAT goal. The thing is, a year is too long of a goal, because it seems SO far away. 6 months to a year is more of a vision. But then what, you vow to work out daily and go on a diet. How long does that last? It’s too much, to fast. Go ahead, set a ‘vision’ of where you want to be in 6 months to a year. Setting smaller goals, and a plan to achieve them is more realistic.
Tip: Set your 6 month ‘vision’ and break it down into 90 day ACTIONS. In 90 days, I will be exercising 3 days a week and eating 3 healthy meals a day. Doesn’t that sound more doable than ‘I will lose 50 pounds this year.’? Then, you can break it down even further. If in 90 days I will be doing these two things, what can I do THIS week, to get me to those actions? Determine what you can do this week REALISTICALLY, to get you to your 90 day actions. Start small. ‘I will try two different exercise classes to see which resonates with me the most, and I will add a vegetable at dinner 3 times this week’. These may seem like small steps, but if you start small, add actions each week, by the time 90 days rolls around, you will have solid habits established that will be setting you on the road to your ‘vision’.
Losing weight isn’t easy. Changing any habit isn’t easy. It’s easy to see that diets don’t work, so let’s change the conversation about not only what it really takes, but what we can do to change the conversation in our heads so we can finally break free from those old habits that aren’t serving us anymore, or maybe never even have.
Originally published at www.realhealth-coaching.com on December 15, 2016.
Originally published at medium.com