The Weight Loss Power of Your Brain

The Weight Loss Power of Your Brain

What's your background with this?

You've decided to finally get rid of those extra pounds you've been carrying around for far too long, and you've made a plan to do it.

You have mentally prepared yourself to lose weight, and you intend to do so at all costs this time. You tell yourself, "I'm unstoppable."

Then you convince yourself that

If you want to lose weight, you need to stick to a rigorous diet and exercise plan.

and/or 

You have completely abandoned your diet and fitness plan if you indulge in your favorite high-calorie junk food and forego your workout.

What do you mean?

Yes, please!

It is all too easy to fall into this line of thinking, which can have disastrous effects on your weight-loss efforts. It's bad for your health, but it also makes you feel bad about yourself.

The fat you carry around your middle may be the result of mental processes that may just as easily be used to aid in weight loss.

Successful weight loss requires a mental shift in order to bring about lasting changes in body composition. Conversely, clinging to incorrect ideas can (and will!) undermine your efforts.

Do this instead

For starters, you should 1) stop associating the phrase "diet" with your diet and

To begin, you need to let go of the assumption that you must stick to an incredibly limited diet in order to see results.

It's true that the vast majority of people who successfully shed extra pounds don't do so by adhering to a dietary plan. They make simple adjustments to their routine, like limiting their food intake, eating less frequently, and learning to manage their eating in response to emotions.

You should now prioritize weight maintenance above weight loss. You need to make some changes to your routine if you want to keep the weight off.

And have you noticed that if a woman wants to shed some pounds, she almost always talks about going on a "diet"? Every time the holidays are over, we all "go on" diets, just to "go off" them by the weekend. No one ever announces, "On Monday, I will begin my new way of life." However, that is precisely what we should be doing. A healthy diet isn't something you do once a year around the holidays; it's something you do for the rest of your life.

It's not just that our bodies benefit from a varied diet that makes variation so important. It's also about catering to our own needs and desires. Therefore, it is up to you to fashion a healthy way of life for yourself, one that you will find satisfying and can maintain over time.

Avoid diets that force you to eat only one specific meal (such as soup or salad) or restrict an entire food group.

I know what you're going through since I've been there myself. Diets that force you to eat things you really don't like or that eliminate all of your favorite foods are doomed to fail. After stopping the program, any weight loss you may have achieved will be quickly regained, plus some.

Do not exclude all of your favorite foods from your diet.

As a second measure, most women would first restrict their food consumption quite a bit. Or they abstain from their usual diet altogether.

If there's one thing you never want to do, it's this.

"Why?"

That's a certain way to enhance your cravings for these meals and set yourself up for binges.

Instead, you should gradually cut back on your alcohol intake. Typically, dessert is served at the end of the meal. As an alternative to abruptly stopping, you begin by cutting your intake in half. When you allow yourself a small taste of something "bad" every so often, rather than telling yourself that you can never have it again, the temptation is greatly reduced.

You'll get used to the smaller portions and soon find that even a modest helping of your favorite "super naughty" meals is all you need to fulfill your cravings.

Just let it go and practice forgiveness.

You've decided to stick with your weight loss plan, which includes some of your favorite foods. You've decided to treat yourself to a chocolate cookie every day. Though you tried to refrain, you ended up eating half the pack. In the afternoon of the following day, you will have afternoon tea and the remaining half of the bag of chocolate cookies.

Oh no, you seem to have derailed your diet once more. Should I just give up on the goal of dieting and return to my old eating habits then?

Well, the worst mistake you can make is to never give yourself the chance to make a mistake. Seriously.

To avoid responsibility, you must adopt an "all-or-nothing" mentality. Your own means of self-preservationIt's possible that you're saying to yourself, "I guess it's for the best." Every last bit of it has vanished. It appears that my efforts are futile."Please pass the cookies."

A common expression states, "It's never too late to turn back from the wrong path, no matter how far along you are." Just because you made some poor decisions today doesn't mean you can't make amends for them tomorrow.

One could say that every day is a fresh start. A fresh week, month, or day of the week is not required to begin anew.

The splurge from last night is gone for good, but today can be much healthier!

Get the life you want by making it so.

A lot of the time, when people want to lose weight, they set themselves very stringent dietary and activity goals. However, the odds of your carrying it out successfully are quite low. Worse yet, you despise it.

Instead of trying to force yourself to stop eating the foods you enjoy, why not work toward making the lifestyle changes you want?

An effective weight loss strategy is one that you can actually implement. After all, your goal is to achieve success, not failure, right?

I recommend hiring a personal trainer if you have trouble coming up with a good strategy for yourself or if you lack the self-discipline to stick to it.

Take pleasure in your progress thus far.

Treat yourself whenever you reach a new, smaller goal.

Nonetheless, restrain yourself. After completing your first week of exercise, for instance, you could treat yourself to a tiny ice cream. Alternatively, you can reward yourself with a slice of cheese cake when you've lost your first three pounds.

Rewarding yourself for overcoming even little obstacles will help you keep going when the going gets tough and prevent you from giving up. Make it something you look forward to each time you overcome an obstacle.

You'll be more likely to stick to your weight-loss goals and stay motivated on a daily basis if you set up appropriate rewards for yourself.

Bonus: Moreover, I'll offer one more piece of advice... Have some patience with yourself. Don't be too hard on yourself while you figure out how to become a better, healthier version of yourself. The fact remains that you are merely human, albeit one who will soon be significantly less heavy.