The Mindset for Successful Weight Loss

NO! This article is not going to say that weight loss is all about emotions!

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It’s more about exploring the changing mindsets of those people who are successful in lasting weight loss:

1. as they were putting on weight
2. as they were trying to change and trying to lose weight to achieve their target weight
3. as they adapted to their new weight and started witnessing their mindset change

So what is mindset? (The word isn’t in the Oxford Dictionary!) Let’s loosely describe it as a combination of your worldview about a subject, any biases and beliefs, and particularly the habits that attach to those beliefs.

With food, does the belief or the habit come first? Perhaps the person never thought about it, but just repeatedly ate something and got into the habit, and so they subconsciously thought that it was OK.The habit is like another one we’re all familiar with: have you ever planned to drive somewhere after work, but found yourself heading home as the habit was automatic? It’s the same with food choices; often a conscious decision is not made and so habit rules.

1. The Mindset that Led to Weight Gain

Often this is a melting pot of two ingredients; mindlessness and false beliefs. Mindlessness is when the person has been just eating whatever food they wanted or was easily available, and actually not being consciously aware of their food choices. False beliefs about food and drinks can be based upon thinking that some food is ‘good for me’ but in reality it is helping the body store fat. 

2. Mindset during the start of the weight loss journey

This is a time when success depends on the willingness to be teachable and trust the teacher, or at least the program. When the program is not a ‘one size fits all’ but rather a step-by-step process, like the Healthy Inspirations programs, success can be tailored to the individual and that gives the confidence to employ a positive mindset. 

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Often various FEARs (False Evidence Appearing Real) need to be faced as the jump into the weight loss pool is taken. Some might fear failing. Others might fear succeeding. The good news is that we all have fears when it comes to any change process. Saying “hello” to those fears and simply taking one step and then the next, will see those fears dissipate.

3. Mindset once a personal weight loss goal has been achieved

This is when the movement starts going from conscious actions and decisions about food and exercise choices to new rituals and habits. Be warned that there will be forces within (the body and the mind) that might try to drag you back. There will also be environmental forces (places and people) who will try to drag you back – so you have to stay conscious of your new habits and rituals.

When the weight loss process has provided the desired outcome, it makes sense to stick with that process regardless of what other people say is right. The reality is that those who have been successful have discovered what is right for their body and their mind. Something else might be right for another person, so keep in mind that well-meaning advice and comments are based on what others perceive is right for them.

Wherever you are on your journey, be aware of the change process and your current mindset, and always be willing to ask for help along the way.

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Think Yourself Thin

Are you convinced that your normal-weight frame is...well, fat? By thinking so, you could be packing on the pounds.

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New research published in the Journal of Obesity found that normal weight women who perceive themselves as fat are more likely to become fat. In the 10-year study of 1,196 normal-weight teenagers, nearly 6 in 10 women who perceived themselves as fat became overweight (measured by body mass index) within the decade, while only 3 in 10 of those with an accurate body image became overweight.

While a distorted body image might motivate some to hit the gym, the study found that exercise didn't compensate for the effects of a negative self-image. Previous research done on normal-weight adults found similar results: an increase in weight over time in those who perceive themselves as overweight.

One explanation for the weight gain is psychological stress, which has been linked to putting pounds on—especially around the middle. What’s more, we behave according to how we view ourselves. So if we think we are overweight couch potatoes, we are more likely eat unhealthily and generally act like said couch potatoes.

Ready to think yourself thin? Here are five mental tricks for a slimmer self-fulfilling prophecy:

See Your Vision It might seem a little silly, but the results are anything but: "Create a vision board in which you display pictures showing what you want to achieve," says Steve Siebold, motivation expert and author ofDie Fat or Get Tough: 101 Differences in Thinking Between Fat People and Fit People. Seeing a bunch of strong, healthy women on your wall will give you a real goal to work toward. So get clipping on the latest issue of Women's Health (after reading it, of course). Not feeling crafty? Check out our FITspiration Pinterest board.

Write It Down Do you want to lose five pounds? Fit—not squeeze—into your bridesmaid dress by next month? Write out your weight loss goal and how you are going to make it happen, Siebold advises, because a goal without a plan is never a reality. (Follow this personalized fitness plan to lose five pounds fast.)

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Do the Dishes Apart from holding less food, smaller dishes make you think you're eating more than you really are. A recent Cornell University study found that people who eat off 6-inch-wide plates think they are eating about 18 percent more than they really are. Meanwhile, people who eat of 12-inch-wide dishes know exactly how much they are putting away (that is, a lot).

Make Fit Friends Ask yourself: Are your friends a fat influence? If they don’t live a healthy lifestyle, they probably are affecting your waistline, Siebold says. In fact, having a pound-packing buddy makes you 57 percent more likely to join them, according to research from the University of California at San Diego and Harvard. You don’t have to break up with your less-fit friends, though. Just make a point of only eating out or setting a gym date with your fit ones.

Be Messy The easiest way to not grab a Snickers? Look at all the other candy wrappers on your desk. By reminding you how much you’ve already eaten, piling up your opened snack wrappers can cut how many calories you wolf down by more than 40 percent, according to a 2010 study published in Appetite.

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8 Ways to Think Thin

Is your mindset keeping you fat? Here's how a new attitude can help you think yourself thin.

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Motivation to lose weight often hits an all-time high when the first buds of spring pop out, signaling that bathing suit season is not far behind. And while there's no getting around the need to exercise and eat healthier, long-term weight loss starts in your head. Experts say that having the right attitude can help you think yourself thin.

If you want to succeed at weight loss, you need to "cut the mental fat, and that will lead to cutting the waistline fat," says Pamela Peeke, MD, author of Fit to Live. "Look at the patterns and habits in your life that you are dragging around with you that get in the way of success."

Everyone has his or her own excuses. When trying to improve their lifestyle and diet, most people do fine until something happens -- whether it's work pressure, family issues, or something else. Whatever your personal issue, the pattern needs to change if you want to be successful.

"I want to empower people to identify these patterns, deal with the real issues, so they can move on and be able to succeed at improving their health," says Peeke.

• Dieting doesn't mean you can’t snack.

To Think Yourself Thin, 

Have Patience

One major mental block to weight loss is wanting too much, too fast. Blame it on our instant-gratification society, with its instant messaging, PDAs, and digital cameras: Weight loss is too slow to satisfy most dieters.

"Losers want immediate results. … Even though it took them years to gain weight, once they decide to lose weight, they have no patience with the recommended 1-2 pounds per week," says Cynthia Sass, MS, RD, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.

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But you'll get the best results when you lose weight slowly. Sass reminds her clients that when they lose weight too quickly, they're often losing usually water or lean tissue, not fat.

"When you lose lean tissue, metabolism slows down, making it even harder to lose weight," she adds.

Think Thin: 8 Strategies

Get that overweight mentality out of your head and start thinking like a thin person with these eight strategies:

1. Picture Yourself Thin.

If you want to be thin, picture yourself thin. Visualize your future self, six months to a year down the road, and think of how good you'll look and feel without the extra pounds. Dig up old photographs of your thinner self and put them in a place as a reminder of what you are working toward. Ask yourself what you did back then that you could incorporate into your lifestyle today. And, advises Peeke, think about activities you would like to do but can’t because of your weight.

"To break old habits, you need to see yourself in a positive light," Peeke says.

2. Have Realistic 

Expectations.

When doctors ask their patients how much they want to weigh, the number is often one that is realistically attainable. Peeke has her patients identify a realistic weight range, not a single number.

"I ask them to look ahead 12 months, and would they be happier being 12 or 24 pounds thinner?" she says "It only amounts to 1-2 pounds per month, which is totally doable, sustainable and manageable in the context of career and family." She suggests reevaluating your weight goal after six months.

3. Set Small Goals.

Make a list of smaller goals that will help you achieve your weight loss goals.These mini-goals should be things that will improve your lifestyle without wreaking havoc in your life, such as:

• Eating more fruits and vegetables every day.
• Getting some kind of physical activity for at least 30 minutes a day.
• Drinking alcohol only on the weekends.
• Eating low-fat popcorn instead of chips,
• Ordering a side salad instead of french fries.
• Being able to walk up a flight of stairs without gasping for breath.

"We all know that change is hard and it is especially difficult if you try to make too many changes, so start small and gradually make lifestyle improvements," suggests Sass.

4. Get Support.

We all need support, especially during the tough times. Find a friend, family member or support group you can connect with on a regular basis. Studies show people who are connected with others, whether it's in person or online, do better than dieters who try to go it alone.

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5. Create a Detailed 

Action Plan.

Sass suggests that each night, you plan your healthy meals and fitness for the next day. Planning ahead is 80% of the battle. If you're equipped with a detailed plan, results will follow.

"Schedule your fitness like you would an appointment," Sass says. "Pack up dried fruits, veggies or meal replacement bars so you won’t be tempted to eat the wrong kinds of foods."

Make your health a priority by building such steps into your life, and ultimately these healthy behaviors will become a routine part of your life.

6. Reward Yourself.

Give yourself a pat on the back with a trip to the movies, a manicure, or whatever will help you feel good about your accomplishments (other than food rewards).

"Reward yourself after you have met one of your mini-goals or lost 5 pounds or a few inches around your waist, so you recognize your hard work and celebrate the steps you are taking to be healthier," Peeke says.

7. Ditch Old Habits.

Old habits die hard, but you can't continue to do things the way you used to if you want to succeed at weight loss.

"Slowly but surely, try to identify where you are engaging in behaviors that lead to weight gain and turn them around with little steps that you can easily handle without feeling deprived," says Sass.

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For example, if you are an evening couch potato, start by changing your snack from a bag of cookies or chips to a piece of fruit. The next night, try having just a calorie-free drink. Eventually, you can start doing exercises while you watch television.

Another way to get started ditching your bad habits: Get rid of the tempting, empty-calorie foods in your kitchen and replace them with healthier options.

8. Keep Track.

Weigh in regularly and keep journals detailing what you eat, how much you exercise, your emotions, and your weight and measurements. Studies show that keeping track of this information helps promote positive behaviors and minimize the unhealthy ones. Simply knowing that you're tracking your food intake could help you resist that piece of cake!

"Journals are a form of accountability … that help reveal which strategies are working" says Peeke. "When you are accountable, you are less likely to have food disassociations, or be 'asleep at the meal.'"

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Article Sources

SOURCES: Cynthia Sass, RD, MPH, spokesperson, American Dietetic Association. Pamela Peeke, MD, author,Fit to Live; nutrition and fitness correspondent, Discovery Health channel.

© 2007 WebMD, Inc. All rights reserved.

Overcoming Weight Loss Excuses

If making excuses was an Olympic event, would you be a gold medalist? For many people trying to lose weight, making excuses not to exercise or modify their eating habits is often their greatest barrier to weight loss success. 

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If making excuses is one of your barriers to successful long term weight loss, adopting some of the tips in this article is will help you on your way to becoming the healthier and happier person you know you can be.

Why people make excuses 

All of us make excuses from time to time. The most common reasons that we make excuses not to do things, like exercise regularly to lose weight, include:

• Making excuses is easy.
• We have our priorities wrong.
• We are busy and have limited time available each day.
• We don't know how to start what we said we would.
• We believe tomorrow will always come.
• We lack commitment and integrity.
• We can always find more pleasurable things to do.
• We like instant gratification and are generally impatient.
• We don't have strong or well constructed goals.
• We don't really believe that the benefits of action outweigh the costs.
• We have a negative attitude.
• We prefer to play the role of a victim of circumstance.
• We mistakenly think heart disease, diabetes & other lifestyle diseases will 'never happen to us'.
• We are happy to live in a state of denial.
• We have a very, very short memory (we've forgotten how bad we felt the last time we tried to put on our jeans or saw a photo of ourselves for example).

The most common weight loss avoidance excuses

Here's a list of the most common excuses we know of that people use to avoid exercising or eating healthier:

• I don't have time.
• I have too many other priorities (work, kids, housework, etc).
• Nobody wants to help me.
• I don't get any support at home.
• I'm injured.
• I don't feel good.
• I'm too out of shape.
• I'm too upset.
• I'm too busy taking care of the kids.
• I do enough exercise at work.
• I'm too tired.
• My problem is hormonal.
• It's too hot, too cold, or it's raining outside.
• Exercise is boring.
• I'm too heavy.
• I can't afford a personal trainer.
• I can't afford fitness equipment.
• I can't afford to eat healthy.
• Exercise is really hard.
• I don't know where to start.
• I don't know anything about nutrition.
• I'm too old.
• I might fail.
• I'll start tomorrow.
• I hate exercise.
• I can't get motivated.

Overcoming these excuses

If any of these popular excuses are stopping you from achieving your ideal weight and becoming happier and healthier we have some good news for you - they can all be overcome. Here's how: 

No time.

• Look at what you are actually spending your time on and eliminate unnecessary or unimportant things from your schedule.
• Reassess your priorities - your health should be high among them.
• Read a book on time management and follow time management philosophies.
• Look for opportunities to combine things, like spending time with the kids and walking or exercising while watching TV.
• Keep a daily diary to plan your day.
• Simply get up earlier or stay up later.
• Remember exercising for even 15 minutes a day is better than nothing.
• Planning meals is the key to healthy eating for the time challenged among us.

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Too many other priorities.

• Change your priorities and let everyone around you know what they are.
• Remind yourself how important your weight loss goal is to your health and happiness.
• Keep a photo of yourself or how you want to be close at hand to remind you of your priorities.
• Simplify your life, maybe you're trying to do too much.

Nobody to help me.

• Join a gym.
• Contact a local personal trainer.
• Make an appointment with a dietitian.
• Visit your local weight loss specialist.
• Educate yourself by reading articles on exercise and healthy diets.
• Join the weight loss forum, its free and you'll meet plenty of other people online with the same weight loss challenges and goals as you.
• Don't confuse help with doing all the work for you - at the end of the day what you do will determine whether you succeed or not.

I don't get enough support at home.

• Support is great, but you can succeed without it if you have to.
• You'll find those around you become more supportive if they know you're serious and see first hand the effort you're putting in.
• Get started anyway and you'll find the support comes as you prove how committed you are and begin to get the results you crave.

I'm injured.

• Almost everybody over 30 has some form of injury or ailment to deal with; the key is to find ways of working around them.
• Find something you can do, if you can't run, walk, if you can't walk, swim, if you can't swim, cycle, or dance, or rollerblade, or play tennis.
• Remember you goal is to lose weight, so any activity that uses energy will help.
• Get advice or help from your local GP, physiotherapist, osteopath, chiropractor, or personal trainer.
• Injuries aren't an excuse to eat poorly so don't try to manage your injury frustrations with unhealthy food.

I don't feel good.

• Nothing will help you feel better than becoming fitter and eating healthier.

I'm too out of shape.

• This is the reason you should exercise, not the reason you shouldn't.
• Start with simple exercise at a relatively low intensity (such as slow walking) if you can't manage anything more strenuous.
• Remember to talk to your doctor before starting any exercise program.

I'm too upset.

• Exercise and healthier eating are great ways to help you cope with the many stresses of life.
• Try taking your frustrations out on a punching bag and I promise you'll feel better and burn valuable calories.

I'm too busy taking care of the family or kids.

• Incorporate them in your exercise routine and make healthier meals for all of you.
• If you have very small children, push their pram around your local park, with older children walk next to them while they ride their bikes, go swimming together or take them to the zoo and just walk around.

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I do enough exercise at work.

• Even very active jobs aren't necessarily well balanced so plan your exercise programs accordingly.

I'm too tired.

• Exercise and healthier eating will help you get better quality sleep.
• Exercise and healthier eating will increase your energy levels so you'll be able to cope better with all of life's challenges and be able to exercise as well.
• If you lead a busy lifestyle and add exercise on top you will feel a little more tired for the first few weeks, but after that your body will adjust and you'll have more energy than ever.

My problem is hormonal.

• Exercise and good nutrition can help counteract the effects of and may sometimes even help stabilize hormones.

It's too hot, too cold, or it's raining outside.

• If you know it's going to be hot, exercise in the early morning or late evening when it's cooler, or exercise in an air-conditioned space.
• If it's too cold, wear a few layers of clothes to start with and shed these layers as you body warms up from the exercise.
• If it's raining outside, exercise inside.

Exercise is boring.

• Find an exercise that you like or dislike the least - there are plenty of choices.
• Remember your priorities - exercise isn't for entertainment, it's to help make you happier and healthier.
• Varying your routine can help you overcome exercise boredom.
• The fitter and stronger you become, the more you'll enjoy exercise.

I'm too heavy.

• If you are very heavy, speak to your doctor before exercising to find the safest exercise program for you.
• Start out slow and easy.
• Being heavy doesn't stop you from eating less and more nutritionally.

I can't afford a personal trainer.

• Personal trainers are great if you can afford them but if you can't do some reading on what and how to exercise correctly and safely, and be prepared to motivate yourself.
• Most personal trainers offer group training sessions at a reduced cost.
• Hire a personal trainer just for a few weeks to get you started and then for a session or two later to check your progress.

I can't afford fitness equipment.

• Again, good quality exercise equipment can be very beneficial to anyone trying to lose weight, but there are a multitude of simple exercises that you can do without fancy equipment.
• Not all fitness equipment is expensive; a good skipping rope can be purchased for between $10 and $20 and a quality fitness ball for between $50 and $100.

I can't afford to eat healthy.

• Natural healthy food like fresh fruit and vegetables is the cheapest food around!
• Don't necessarily equate additives in foods (such as added fibre for example) with being healthy.

Exercise is really hard.

• It doesn't need to be hard to be effective.
• Easy exercise is better than no exercise at all.
• Heart rate monitors are very useful in helping ensure your aerobic exercise is done at the right intensity.
• Exercise becomes easier the more of it you do.

I don't know where to start.

• Start by seeing your doctor for a health check.
• Read books, articles, join a gym, hire a personal trainer or book an appointment to see a dietitian.

I don't know anything about nutrition.

• Good nutrition doesn't need to be complicated.
• Start simply by reducing the amount of food you eat (portion control), compare nutritional information for similar packaged foods you eat and improve your knowledge of nutrition over time by reading.

I'm too old.

• You're never too old to benefit from healthier living, just be sure to see your doctor first before starting an exercise program and take it easy to begin with.
• Don't believe the myth that as we get older we naturally become larger, becoming larger for most of us is a matter of lifestyle, not age.

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I might fail.

• You haven't failed until you give up.
• Remember losing weight is not an event.
• Think positively and stay committed.

I'll start tomorrow.

• Be honest with yourself.
• Just do it today!

I hate exercise.

• Exercise can be fun - try dancing, sightseeing, walking the dog or playing catch with your children for example.

I can't get motivated.

• Setting clear goals and having a progressive plan combined with the right intensity of desire are the keys to motivating yourself.
• If you need help, get it.
• Being around others with the same goals as you can be very motivating, so consider exercising with a friend or joining a healthy eating club.

Conclusion 

No matter who you are or what your circumstances you can lose weight if you change some of your lifestyle habits. 

For many people trying to lose weight, making excuses not to exercise or modify their eating habits is often their greatest barrier to weight loss success. 

If making excuses is one of your barriers to successful long term weight loss we hope the information provided above will help you overcome this detrimental habit and help you on your way to becoming a happier, healthier you. 

Final Thought 

If after reading all of the above you still feel the need to make excuses remember this thought from George Bernard Shaw: 

People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can't find them, make them. 

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