Did you know weight loss is really NOT about weight loss?
Puzzled.
Weight loss is about your BEHAVIOR!
Weight loss is about the CHOICES you make!
Weight loss is about building life-long ENJOYABLE habits!
Weight loss is about having a PLAN!
The Feeling of Overwhelm
I’m not going to lie: Losing weight isn’t easy, and it isn’t always fun (so long, office cupcakes). But that doesn’t mean you should just toss your scale and give up before you’ve even begun. The most important thing is to set goals that are achievable goals.
That means instead of gunning for a big, scary “goal weight” that seems so far in the future you can barely imagine it, set tinier targets instead. Constantly thinking about your final goal can be so overwhelming you go on shut-down. It’s about setting small goals, and figuring out what you want to do to get there.
So stop picturing what you’re going to look like a year from now (you’ll get there eventually!) — and start imagining how much better you’ll feel when you forego that side of fries for veggies instead.
Here’s how to do it.
Think short-term.
If you’ve got a long road ahead, create a mini goal of losing five to 10 percent of your body weight first. Setting short-term milestones and building on them helps keep you focused on your progress, not how far you still have to go. Here are some to start with:
- I will pack a healthy lunch 3 day/s per week
- I will add one serving of vegetables to dinner on M-F each week
- I will add one serving of fruit as a snack on M-F each week
Figure out your diet strategy.
The good news: You don’t need to give up carbs for good, commit to a vegan lifestyle, or swear off alcohol for months to lose weight. I think the biggest mistake [people make] is thinking that they have to make a drastic change in their eating. You might see a difference on the scale [by doing that], but it will be short-lived if you don’t make lifestyle changes and adopt them as part of your new life.
The key is basing your nutrition (not diet) strategies on a plan that is personalized, realistic and support long-term healthy weight loss and living. With all the best intentions, sometimes “we don’t know what we don’t know”
Don’t expect to lose 10 pounds in 10 days
While TV shows/social media may depict people shedding crazy amounts of weight in a week, that’s not actually reality for most folks. We’re looking at one to two pounds a week, depending on how much weight somebody has to lose and it could be even less than that. (Half a pound still counts!)
If you’re losing at a more drastic rate, it might feel good for a while, but you could eventually end up plateauing — or gaining it all back. This leads to feelings of failure and depression.
Summary
As you see, weight loss is really NOT about losing weight at all.
Setting attainable behavior and lifestyle goals leads to developing life long healthy habits that ultimately lead to achieving and maintaining a healthy weight with minimal effort!
WHY – because the environment and conditions you live under support total body wellness!
Feeling motivated? Check out these weight loss success stories to give you that final push you need to get started.