9 Ways to Mentally Prepare for Weight Loss

Before you get to enjoy the physical changes that come with healthy weight loss, you first must undergo a mental makeover that helps you break your old bad habits. The key to beginning your transformation is thinking of it properly — you want a true lifestyle change instead of a lose-weight-quick crash diet. Think of your goal as weight control and remember that you want to stick to your new healthy diet for the foreseeable future.

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“Framing your diet as weight control makes it long-term. It’s not as dramatic or drastic a push to get yourself to a certain weight at any cost,” Brian Quebbemann, MD, founder of the NEW (Nutrition, Exercise, Wellness) Program in Newport Beach, Calif., says. If you “diet” and set unrealistic expectations, you’ll probably regain any weight lost as soon as you go off the plan. But if you make attainable lifestyle changes, the lost pounds will stay away.

Before you jump into your new lifestyle, prep properly by following this mental checklist for success.

State Your Weight Loss Goals

Having the right mind-set starts with knowing why you want to lose weight. It could be as simple as wanting to look and feel better — dragging around 30 extra pounds makes you tired and lethargic and uncomfortable in your clothes. Or you may have specific health needs, such as lowering your risk for diabetes or reducing high blood pressure. Getting psyched up about the very real rewards of weight loss builds motivation that makes it easier to stick to your meal plan and exercise routine, explains Heather Bauer, RD, author of Bread Is the Devil: Win the Weight Loss Battle by Taking Control of Your Diet Demons.

Hire a Dietitian

When you’re ready to lose weight for life, make an appointment to see a registered dietitian, advises Jackie Newgent, RD, a New York City-based nutritionist, author of Big Green Cookbook, and a healthy-cooking instructor at the Institute of Culinary Education. “You can follow any diet you want and lose weight,” she says, “but it might not be the best diet for you or for your health.”

Working with a dietitian will enable you to find a weight-loss program that best fits your lifestyle, your dietary needs, and any medical conditions you have and one that includes healthy foods you like and will want to eat. “The reason most people fall off the wagon is because they’ve chosen a plan that’s not for them,” Newgent says. A dietitian can also help you get mentally ready for the challenge ahead.

If you’re worried about the cost, check with your insurance company. Some plans provide reimbursement for nutrition counseling.

Ink Your Weight Loss Meal Plan

Once you’ve decided on a weight-loss plan, map out all the steps needed to implement it. At the beginning of each week, create a meal plan for your diet that you’ll use as your guide for grocery shopping, cooking, eating out, and avoiding unplanned indulgences. “Having that plan helps you reach for the right foods,” Newgent says. If you know you’ll be meeting friends for dinner at a restaurant, Bauer suggests going online to look at the menu. Plan what you will order to avoid being tempted when you get there. Pick two healthy entrees, she says, so that if the restaurant is out of your first choice, you’re not stuck.

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Invest in a Personal Trainer

Exercise is an essential part of any weight-loss program, says Scott White, a personal trainer in Scottsdale, Ariz. But when most people think about weight loss, they think about what foods they will eat rather than what exercises they will do — and skipping exercise could be sabotaging their dietary efforts. Working with a trainer — or just setting up a free consultation through your gym — will help you map out an exercise routine that you enjoy and find ways to fit it into your busy schedule, White says. At the beginning of each week, mark every workout session in your calendar, just as you would a hairdresser or dentist appointment — you’re more likely to stick to your plan when you see it in black and white.

Prepare to Log Your Food and Fitness Activities

Whether you use an online tool, a mobile app, or simple pen and paper (maybe this is the excuse you’ve been waiting for to get that iPad!), logging your diet and exercise activity is key to weight-loss success. Whichever format you choose, promise yourself to religiously outline and track every aspect of your weight loss process, from every bite you take to every rep in your exercise routine. If you’re faithful about recording what you eat for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks, you’ll see patterns and routines emerge. You can analyze them to find solutions to the problems that have derailed your previous efforts to lose weight, Bauer says.

Set a Realistic Timetable for Weight Loss

The more realistic you are about your weight-loss goals, the more likely you are to reach them. Remember that you’re developing a lifelong strategy, so don’t set unattainable time limits — forget the concept of dropping 10 pounds in 10 days. And while you might need to ultimately lose 50 pounds, that goal can be overwhelming at first, Quebbemann says. A better mind-set is to focus on losing 1 to 2 pounds a week, and maintaining that consistent rate of weight loss over weeks if not months.

Approach exercise goals the same way. If you haven’t exercised for a while, starting off running a marathon would be a huge mistake — if you’re out of shape, even running a mile on your first day could backfire. Start small: Decide that you’ll walk for 15 to 30 minutes five times a week, and then ramp up your schedule as you make measurable progress.

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Believe in Yourself

You may have failed with weight loss in the past, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to fail now. Sure, there will be days ahead when you’ll eat more than you should or skip a planned workout, but it’s essential to stay positive and move forward with your plan. Realize that your weight-loss goals will take time to achieve, but believe that you can go the distance one milestone at a time, Newgent suggests. Even losing 5 pounds is good for your health and can give you the impetus to work toward the next 5-pound drop. Recognize that weight loss rarely occurs in a straight line, and if you overeat one day, don’t berate yourself — just get back on your program at the very next meal.

Pick Motivating Rewards

After breaking your weight-loss goals into attainable increments, decide on a small reward you’ll give yourself for reaching each one, Quebbemann suggests. No, not a cupcake from your favorite bakery — don’t repeat old patterns by making it a food reward. Instead, choose other types of favorite treats, such as getting a relaxing massage or pedicure, going to a concert, or buying a new fashion accessory that helps you break away from your “fat clothes.” Write your rewards down as part of your master plan, just as you do your diet and exercise routine, Newgent says.

Create a Weight Loss Support Network

Everything is easier when you have the support and encouragement of family and friends, and that includes embarking on a new weight-loss lifestyle. You don’t have to announce your diet to the world, but you should confide in those closest to you, like your lunch group at work. Tell them why you’re trying to eat healthy and how they can help you stay on track, Bauer says. If you let them know how much reaching your weight-loss goals means to you, they’ll want to do what they can to help. And if you have a friend who is trying to lose weight too, make a pact to text each other at crucial times during the day, and you’ll both stay on track.

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How to Change Your Mindset to Lose Weight

Wanting to lose weight and finding the motivation to lose weight are two completely separate ideas. Although you may want to achieve a healthier weight, you might find it hard to change your mindset. In order to get yourself moving and start a weight-loss program, you need to find personal motivation and discover why you truly want to slim down.

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Step 1

Weigh yourself first thing in the morning to find out your current weight. Compare this to what a healthy weight for your height should be. You may discover that you are at a healthy weight, overweight or more overweight than you suspected.

Step 2

List the reasons you want to lose weight. Think about how you feel when you go swimming, being able to be active with your children or feeling more confident about yourself. Dig deep and look for the personal reasons you want to have a healthy weight.

Step 3

Consider how being overweight can jeopardize your health. People who are overweight are at a higher risk for heart disease, diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. These are life-threatening diseases that can be prevented with weight loss.

Step 4

Get support from your family and friends. Share your goals with people you trust to build you up and help you along the way. Ask if anyone wants to join you during workouts for added support.

Step 5

Develop a plan based on your goals. Write down the time, place, duration and activity you want to perform each day for exercise. Seeing a plan can help you to believe it is achievable and manageable.

Step 6

Think of ways to reward yourself for losing weight. Make small goals for every 2 to 5 lbs. you lose and one large reward for when you reach the finish line. You could treat yourself to a new article of clothing, a day at the spa or your favorite treat or go to a movie.

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Comment below if you found this helpful ,and let me know if you want any more help or information on mindset to help increase weight loss.


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3 Ways to Change Your Weight Loss Mindset

Losing excess weight shouldn’t be so difficult – but it is for many people

Here you are sitting in the nutritionists’ office asking for yet another diet plan. But, deep in your heart you know this is not what you want. You know that you will follow the diet plan for a while, you will lose some weight, but then the weight will start creeping back on.

Why do you do this to yourself time and time again? Why do you try each and every new diet that hits the market thinking that this will be THE one?

You no longer trust yourself to listen to your body to guide your eating

You only know how to listen to and follow the diets. Let’s face it. When you go on a diet, you are following the eating recommendations that the “diet expert” is telling you to follow. Why do you think that expert knows what your body’s cells are asking for?

They don’t.

Yes, if you are speaking with a reputable registered dietitian nutritionist with training in nutrition and whole foods, he/she can teach you a lot about how to nourish and fuel your body for best performance and optimal health. But that is not what I am referring to here.

Does the following scenario sound familiar to you?

You’re standing in front of the mirror having changed your clothes three times already this morning.  Nothing seems to fit right.  You are discouraged and start with the negative self-talk you are all too familiar with.  “Why can’t I just stick to my diet”, you say to yourself.  “I am such a failure; I will never succeed at weight loss”.

This inner conversation and negative self-talk is cementing that lack of trust in yourself, your body and your food choices. You then say…“Tomorrow I will start my diet again”.

If you have been battling your weight for some time, then you are reading this and shaking your head in acknowledgment. You have been on countless diets that have not worked long term and you have become very good at berating yourself for your failures.

The commercials all sound so promising!  The radio ads promise fat burning powers of the miracle pills you just bought at the health food store.

MORE: 3 Mindset Shifts That Help Weight Loss

Why aren’t you able to lose weight?

The answer likely lies in the fact that you are trusting the diets, and not yourself. Yet the diets fail you each and every time. It’s not you who fails, it’s the diets. You see, nobody lives on a diet.  One goes on a diet but eventually goes off the diet.

The statistics on dieting

40-50% of American women are trying to lose weight and are on a diet at any point in time. Half of pre-teen and teenage girls are on diets. However, 95% of all dieters regain their lost weight and and add more on top within 1 to 5 years.

 These are very alarming statistics because dieting clearly doesn’t work and repeated “yo-yo” dieting has been shown to have negative health effects, including an increased risk of heart disease and long-lasting effects on the metabolism.

The best solution to achieving weight loss and a body you love is to embrace an intuitive eating approach to food.  

Intuitive eating is eating based on your physiological hunger and satiety cues, not based on situations or emotional cues.  So that means eating when you are hungry and stopping when you are satisfied or comfortably full.

I recognize that for the chronic yo-yo dieter, this is not necessarily easy.  It requires you to explore how you got to where you are today in your eating habits and understand deeply what it means to become an intuitive eater.

During this process, it is important for you to begin to get rid of the diet mentality that you have, and to truly believe that you will never diet again.

If you continue to think there is “just one more diet, this time I’ll be good”, then you won’t be able to move forward to becoming an intuitive eater. You will continue to have foods that are “good” and “bad” and you will continue to think of yourself as being “on” or “off”.

It all starts with your mindset

Here are 3 ways to change your mindset around weight loss:

          1. Commit to NEVER following a diet again. I know, this sounds scary. But until you recognize that you must give up the restriction and deprivation that dieting brings with it, you will continue on the diet roller coaster you are on.

          2. Understand your big WHY. Why do you want to lose weight? What lies underneath your desire you shed the excess weight and how will it affect your life long term?

          3. Seek out caring support to help you on your journey.  Don’t think you have to “go it” alone. Changing your mindset around losing weight is a process and it’s important to surround yourself with like-minded people and a supportive coach who can provide guidance and positive feedback along the way. Here is a FREE Online Support Group for women who have committed to giving up dieting and are supporting each other on this new journey. Come and check it out.

Losing weight and keeping it off does not have to be impossible

You were born with the natural instinct to eat when hungry and stop when full; to trust your inner wisdom to guide your eating. You can reclaim this and achieve guilt-free eating, a body you love and a life free of dieting. Intuitive eating is the answer you have been looking for and it all starts with your mindset.

Comment below mindset strategies you've found helpful to assist in your weight loss journey. Love to hear your tips :)





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