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Losing weight can be easy for some and a nightmare for others. Just the thought of starting a weight loss journey can feel nauseating, completely make you regret the decision to buy a gym membership and guide you to the nearest fast food joint for another serving of self-hate.
The reason for this is because we associate weight loss (and have been conditioned to believe) with this incredibly difficult journey that only a select few can handle who happen to be hardcore fitness freaks and have tons of time on their hands.
The truth is beginning a weight loss journey doesn’t need to be scary and shouldn’t be so serious, negative and hateful. It is a loving time in a persons life. It is a decision to help make sure we live a disease free, happy, energetic life. It is a contribution to our personal beings. It is saying to ourselves “I want you to be healthy and happy, lets do this.”
To get to a place where we can begin a journey like this where the basis for our commitment is self-love and longevity we need to look inside and make sure our thoughts are conducive with our reasoning.
Below are 6 mental shifts that when contemplated, taken seriously and whole-heartedly adopted can provide your mind with a calm, strong, cool approach to weight loss that will keep you motivated throughout times of increased cravings, fatigue and self doubt.
Refer back often and never lose sight of why you are on your journey.
Let me know in the comments below if/how any of these shifts have helped you and/or what other techniques you found important to help get you focused on weight loss. I think it will be a great conversation that everyone can benefit from.
6 Mental Shifts You Need For Weight Loss That Lasts
1) Be Ready to Commit
Commitment to achieving your ideal weight means to decide to nourish your body to a level of health that will ensure your happiness and freedom from dis-ease later in life. If you are not currently your ideal weight (or have increased your disease risk because of recent weight gain) your inner being will begin to send you signs it is time to commit to weight loss and focusing on your health.
The decision to commit to weight loss takes focus, energy and drive.These qualities are inside you even if you aren’t feeling them at the current moment. They are there. When they come up for you it is time to begin your journey.
You may have to look inside yourself for them.
Focus means to be free from the distractions of why you aren’t your ideal weight in the first place. It means to be “In Charge” of your own well-being inside and out. You are “In Charge” of your cravings, workouts, environment, thoughts about weight loss and overall happiness. Keep that focus and you will stay committed.
To be committed you need to embrace your energy and nurture times of fatigue. When you are fatigued look to your nutrition, fitness, stress levels and sleep. Evaluate them and search for guidance too optimize each. When you have energy use it to make your next healthy meal, get in a great workout or spread some love to someone you care about. Each of those things will fuel more energy. It is an important cycle. After a long day of energetic acts of self-love embrace your natural fatigue and give yourself 7-9 hours of a complete restful sleep with no distractions.
Finally, your ‘drive’ is the mental shift inside you that says “I have decided to act on this goal of weight loss”. It is that little something extra you have in you at the end of a workout. It is prepping a weeks worth of healthy snacks when you really only need to prep for tomorrow. It is loving your body enough to do some extra meditative stretching at the end of the night when you are resting with family or jus****ching TV. ‘Drive’ is you going the extra mile to add only positive to your life. If you are driven your commitment to your goal will be solidified.
The reality is that achieving our ideal weight takes commitment. It takes a direct action towards a healthier life. If you are ready to commit you can be your ideal weight. If you aren’t you won’t.
2) Love Yourself Enough
If you love yourself and feel passionately about your personal worth/longevity you are ready to lose weight. Being overweight is a predisposing factor in so many common medical conditions we ask ourselves why everyone isn’t fit.
No one wants to be sick, right?
The truth is you have to love yourself before you take care of yourself. You have to want to prolong your life. You have to want to be disease free. If you are having trouble losing weight your first question for yourself should be “do I love myself?”
The answer is yes. You do love yourself. Even if you are experiencing a bout of self-hate look deeper and focus on how grateful you are to be here right now. Depending on your situation this can be more difficult for some, I understand. Forgive whatever blocks you may currently have and focus on what you are grateful for. Focus on the good. You want to be around for more of that. Embrace it.
3) Have Clarity About Your Goal
This is such an important mental shift because we all know “what we vision presents itself as our life.” You need to be clear about why you want to lose weight, what your goal weight looks like, how you will achieve it and how you are going to stay focused.
This list can seem daunting at first look but with some preparation, proper planning and constant reminders we can make it feel easy. If you are not clear on your weight loss path and what your outcome will look like you will struggle.
Write down each of the following questions and follow them up with your answers. Be clear, be grateful for your clarity and refer back often. This is your journey and these responses are your guides. You have personal power over them and the more clear you are, the more you focus on them and the more they actually resonate you the easier this process will be.
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Why do I want to lose weight?
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What does my goal weight look like?
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How will I achieve it?
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How am I going to stay focused in times of struggle?
4) Have a Purpose That Makes You More Whole
There are many reasons for losing weight and it is not anyone’s place to judge another’s reason. Your reason is personal but it must be deeply meaningful for you. It must serve a purpose that makes you more whole (mentally, emotionally, physically).
It must constantly motivate you on a mental/emotional/physical level and bring you to a place of wholeness.
Many choose to go on a weight loss journey to improve their physical appearance, others to decrease their disease risk factors and some to improve their ability to play with their kids, etc. Whichever category you fit in make sure it resonates with you on a level beyond just helping you love yourself more. Go deeper. You need to fall in love with you first and then add to your wholeness by achieving your ideal weight.
5) Embody Your Ideal Weight
Visioning yourself at your ideal weight can be difficult at first. It can feel fake and unorthodox. Its benefits are beyond measure.
If you can hold a vision of yourself at your ideal weight for a period of 2-5 minutes you will realize it’s motivational capacity. Depending on how long you have been wanting to lose weight thinking about how your ideal weight will look on you can be emotionally charging. Take that emotion (whatever it may present as) and sit with it. There is energy behind that emotion.
You will feel uplifted but your intention will also be set on an energetic level (If you don’t feel uplifted try it again, this time with the intention of being uplifted). Your intention will be sent by your thoughts and received by your cells and you will begin to resonate with your goal.
On a higher level you will know your weight loss is possible.
6) End Emotional Restrictions
Life is full of challenge and we often try to give our struggles a name, identity or reason. To be ready to lose weight your emotional restrictions need to be processed and released. We know that our emotional health is directly tied to our physical health and to be whole both need to be balanced and optimally functioning.
If you are unsuccessfully dealing with stressful issues in your life around work (or school), relationships (with yourself, others, food, etc) or any of the other major stressors we can experience you need to sit quiet, journal or use your other personal tools to end any restrictions these stressors may be placing on your life. Free yourself from unnecessary strife and direct your focus to your inner being.
Your true self needs mental, emotional and physical nourishment. When you have entered a state of gratitude for your current situation, naturally stepped in a direction of empowerment and accepted the fact that you are ready to be your ideal weight you are ready.
Know this – You can be your ideal weight.
It is this visioning/embodying that will give you the confidence to achieve your goals. Soon you will start to look and feel the part because you know what the part looks like. You will become what you vision.
To be healthy in mind and body is to be clear, organized, patient and confident. Allow your perfect body ideal to come to mind, organize your method of achieving it, give it time to be fulfilled and be confident in your process whatever you choose. Do not judge yourself along the way.
If you understand and apply these six mental shifts your weight loss journey will begin with ease. Refer back to these when you are lost or off track and always be confident in your own abilities. Always.
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