148 - Preparing For Weight Loss

This is episode 148 of the Absolute Mind podcasts and today I am covering mentally preparing for weight loss.

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Ok so mentally preparing for weight loss! I have decided to cover this topic because its something that I have struggled with in the past and having spent year after year on faddy diets and doubting myself or hating myself because I "couldn't" lose weight. 

It's only now after losing weight and keeping it off and understanding more on nutrition that I can look back and see that although I thought I was ready and prepared to lose weight all those years ago in fact I wasnt! Mentally I was not prepared.

So if you have decided that 2018 is your year to lose weight then you need to get mentally prepared for it!

This time of year is when most people have a spike in their motivation levels to lose some weight, you've probably spent most of November/December enjoying food, relaxing a little and telling yourself its fine ill diet come January, Summers not that far off now and Bam January is here you thought you were ready but something just hasn't clicked internally and you're struggling to leave the starting blocks? 

Now experts say that long term weight loss starts in your head, they say that having the right attitude can help you to think yourself thin. If you want to be succesful in your weight loss regime first things first you need to cut the mental fat. 

How Can You Cut The Mental Fat? 

Firstly look at patterns and habits in your lifestyle, what do you do that are dragging you down, getting in the way of your success?

Everyone has their own excuses in life and when its comes to improving your health most people will do swimmingly until something happens that knocks them off course things like work, family issues, relationships and so on we are a nation of emotional eaters and when something happens we comfort ourselves with food, we tell ourselves things like "oh its ok to eat unhealthy because im stressed it helps me to cope" but really? Does eating unhealthy help you to really cope?

Are you an emotional eater? 

Be Patient

This is something I was never good at, I always wanted result too quickly and wanted too much!

Its part of our society now to have instant gratification with instant messages, digital cameras (no more waiting for the negatives to be done) weight loss is for most people too slow to satisfy our need for that instant gratification. 

We want instant results, when in actual fact how long did it take you to gain excess weight? It wasnt over night so how can you expect to lose weight quickly? But i'm sure you have all heard the term slow and steady wins the race, slow weight loss is better. If we lose weight too quickly its generally water weight or lean tissue and not the body fat we want to lose. 

Ways To Start Thinking Thin

1. Picture yourself thin -  This is something I use a lot in hypnosis allowing the subconscious mind to visualise being thinner, healthier, happier but you can do it consciously too! Picture yourself say 6 months from now or a year from now and think of how good you will feel fitting into the clothes you desperately want to wear, being able to do activities without getting uncomfortably out of breath. If you've been the size or weight you want to be get pictures out and put them somewhere that you look everyday as a daily reminder of what you are working towards. Think back to when you were that size what did you do differently then to what you do now and what could you incorporate again. 
2. Be Kind To Yourself - Being positive about yourself can have a drastic impact on how you feel. To break old habits you need to be able to see yourself in a positive light. 
3. Realistic Expectations - Whenever I ask somebody how much do they want to weigh I ask them to think realistic and think about what is attainable for them. I spent years hoping to be a UK size 8 and around 8 and a half stone but now I know that is no where near attainable for me! I've finally come to an agreement in my own head that i'm happy at a UK size 10 and around 10 stone, at this weight and size I feel comfortable in my own skin. 
4. Set Smaller Goals - Something I have done many times before is set a goal that feels too far away or completely out of reach, but when I broke it down to smaller bite size manageable chunks it felt that it was something I could achieve and not just a dream. These small goals should be things that you can do easily without completely taking over your life things such as eating more veg, drinking more water, moving more, It doesn't need to be solely focused on how much weight you need to lose. 
5. Have Support - It's always better to do something with a partner or friend, and this goes for dieting too. If you have the support around you it doesn't feel as difficult. When we have support for example a gym buddy or diet buddy we suddenly become accountable to that person, we don't want to let them down if they turn up to the gym and we don't, or if they've stuck to their diet and we haven't. Having support takes away those opportunities for excuses. Studies show that dieters who have support do much better than those who do it alone. 
6. Plan - The saying "those who fail to plan, plan to fail" is so true! planning your meals the night before or on a Sunday evening for the week ahead is 80% of the battle. Make your health a priority just as you would any other plans and schedules you have.
7. Reward Yourself -  Give yourself some credit, even if its a 1lb loss give yourself a pat on the back! as mentioned previously we love gratification and feeling good so its important that with every milestone or every weight loss, or physical health improvement we reward ourselves, whether that's a pamper session, or a new pair or trainers, whatever you enjoy reward yourself with it. 
8. Try New Things - And by this I mean ditch those old habit and create new ones! You need to make changes to see changes and by doing new things you will see results so instead of sitting in front of the TV watching your favourite soap get up and move! Try to look at your behaviours and habits that are stopping you from losing weight, tell yourself you do have time, you have time to prep, you have time to exercise there is 24 hours in a day and to plan your meals will only take a fraction of that 24 hour period, working out will take maximum 1 hour! what things do you do that take 1 hour that you could ditch or swap for exercising instead? 
9. Have A Diary - Track your success, when you are losing weight its too easy to lose track of where you started. You may have an off day and not feel as fit and healthy as you did and fall of track but being able to look back from where you came can instantly help to give you the motivation boost you need. 
10. Have FUN - Yes last but not least have fun! make this journey fun, do activities that mentally stimulate you so if you enjoy exercise with music on get some good headphones and crank the music up, if you prefer exercising in groups join some local groups, whatever you can do to make this whole thing fun then do it!