Weight Loss without Worry

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     The decision to lose weight is often a knee-jerk reaction.  You realize you have a wedding in a few months and you want to look good for it, or you no longer fit in your clothes and decide in an instant that things must change.  These events can be useful for getting out of the starting gate but if you are trying to get to the bottom of how to lose weight effectively you must first take the time to prepare your mind and build the proper mindset.

 

     A key to permanent and true weight loss is to understand that your thoughts and beliefs will always influence your habits and behaviors and so if you want to change your habits you must first change the way you are thinking.  This is a concept that most people get backward, you decide to lose weight and logic tells you the first step is to change your eating habits.  The problem is this rarely produces long-term results because while you might have found the best diet to lose weight, you are still entertaining thoughts that will eventually sabotage you.  For instance, you might really, really want to lose weight and start a diet, but if you are thinking…

 

            …diets never work for me; I always gain the weight back

 

…you will have an extremely difficult time reaching your goal.

 

     If you approach weight loss by doing nothing more than jumping into a new diet you will need to use willpower and you will find weight loss to be a huge chore and struggle.  But, if you first do the work to identify and change the thoughts and beliefs you currently have that are making it hard for you to lose weight then you lose weight on autopilot, without the need for willpower.

 

     A key to mastering how to lose weight effectively is building your awareness.  In order to change your thoughts you must become aware of your current way of thinking.  Just like we have habitual ways of behaving, we also have habitual ways of thinking.  You must identify your patterns of thought; the easiest way to uncover them is to identify your patterns of temptation.

 

     You are an individual and therefore what tempts you will be different than what tempts others.  Ask yourself these questions:

 

1. What time of day am I most tempted?
2. What events or circumstances cause me to be tempted? (i.e. going out to eat, watching TV, stress at home/work, treats in the house, the smell of food, etc.)
3. Who is with me when I am most tempted?
4. How am I usually feeling when temptation strikes? (i.e. depressed, nervous, anxious, lonely, bored, etc.)

 

     Becoming aware of the thoughts and feeling that lead to temptation will allow you to let go of them and replace them with empowering thoughts and feelings that drive you toward you goal.  Take 4 minutes right now and write down an answer for each of these questions.

 

Other articles you may be interested in:

• How to Lose Weight Effectively – Acceptance
• How to Lose Weight Effectively – Decide What You Want
• How to Lose Weight Effectively – 80/20 Rule
• Healthy Weight Loss that Works for 2008