5 Tips to Playing and Winning the Mental Mindset Game of Weight Release
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Our mental mindset must be positioned in a way that supports our desire for change. With every change we desire, it all starts with a thought. Yet how many times have you wanted to make a change and you didn’t? It is as if someone else is running the show and that boss likes things as is. I remember the 100s of times that I wanted to change my lifestyle; I would make the plan yet I just couldn’t pull the trigger and take action. Then I would go outside myself hiring personal trainers, nutritionists, therapists and hypnotists to fix me. When none of those efforts proved effective, I turned on myself, truly believing that I was flawed. The feelings of frustration and hopelessness would overwhelm my psyche and as a result, I would overeat and under-exercise. It became a tornado of learned helplessness. Can you relate?
So, how does one win the mental game? Follow these 5 tips to strengthen your mental muscle:
1. Get past the mindset that this change is a temporary situation. As a country, we are sick and obese. We are tired and undernourished. If you want real, long lasting changes, accept that you must leave your chips and cookies in the grocery store. Now I am not advocating perfection, but rather, excellence. Excellence means that we eat a healthy diet most of the time.
2. Make small goals that build upon each other. I realize that you may want to see change right now and maybe you can make that happen, but can you make it stick? Traveling up and down the scale doesn’t just hurt your health, it also hurts your soul. The disappointment can be shattering. So try the following:
* Take the time to sit down and put a vision on paper. Close your eyes and visualize your ideal body. Notice that I did not say perfect body, but your ideal body. Think about the weight RANGE you would like to see. Most important however, is visualize how you feel as a result. Those new feelings signal your subconscious that a change is on the way. Make a vision board so your subconscious has extra ammunition to lead you to your transformation
* Now write down what actions you will need to take achieve your vision. For example, when I started my transformation, I knew that I wanted to work out 6 days a week. The reason 6 days had to do with my past. At one time, I had been a workout enthusiast. I had run marathons and participated in triathlons. Your number may be different, however, I would recommend some sort of cardiovascular training most days of the week.
* Work your way backwards and set some small goals. For example, I didn’t start my 6 days of cardiovascular exercise the day after I made my plan. Rather, I set a goal of 2 days one week then 3 days the next week then 4 days a couple of weeks after that and so on. Chunking down your goal is vital to winning this game. It took me 8 to 10 weeks to work back up to the 6 days. Then you know what, I realized that it was too much and a went down to 5. This goal setting also requires you to be flexible and to listen to your body.
* Use this same technique to work on an eating plan and make changes slowly. So, in your vision above what are you eating? How often are you eating? Are you cooking and packing your food? Now take small steps. For example, what if you don’t eat breakfast. Set out a plan to instill a good breakfast into your eating plan. Don’t touch anything else just do a nice healthy breakfast. Then when you feel like you won at the breakfast game, pick another habit and make a plan to change that. These small changes will yield big results and they will stick because you took the time to replace habits.
3. Finally, make a list of what you can and cannot control. The Biggest Loser has created an empire with their scale. People are voted off dependent on their weight release. Therefore, as a society, we believe that we control that contraption when in reality, we don’t. The scale is a great TOOL. Allowing this tool to rule your attitude and life will set you back into the tornado of learned helplessness. So what do you control? Well, an example would be setting up your life so that it supports you. In other words, planning meals, packing meals, working towards your goals are all in your power.
4. So if you the scale doesn’t gauge your progress, what does? Well, how about a piece of clothing that no longer fits? If you have a number of pounds to release go in stages starting with your pants that are the next size down. As I go through my transformation, (yes, I am still in the process) I used a variety of pants. Each week I would attempt to put them on my body. Eventually, the pair would fit, I congratulated myself and picked my next pair. In addition, how about setting a fitness goal? Work towards walking a certain amount of miles in a certain time. These activities support your healthy lifestyle.
5. Finally and most importantly, learn to love yourself as you are right now! Make these changes as an act of love instead of an act of hate. I hated myself all the way up the scale and my health and body did not transform until I learned to love myself.
Are you ready to play? Game on!
