First, Let’s take the “UGH” out.
I know, I know, even reading the word diet has you doing a mental, UGH! With the amount of choice and influencer mania weight loss, these days went from FAD is Bad to … I don’t even know what to do anymore. But not to worry, you are going to replace that feeling with excitement after reading this blog so stay with me!
So the fact that you are reading this tells me that this is likely not your first rodeo when it comes to wishing weight loss was easier.
SAMESIES! 🙋
Wouldn’t it be nice if weight loss was EASIER? Picture hitting the EASY BUTTON and BAM! You are 5,10,25,50+lbs lighter and you barely had to do anything for it.
I know because I used to wish on my birthday just about every year of my life that this exact scenario would happen to me. Spoiler didn’t’…
So if wishing upon a star doesn’t work and when you think about starting a diet or having to make a change to lose weight does your mind immediately go to annoyance, overwhelm, and frustration before you even start?
Well, let’s change that!
It’s no secret the weight loss industry is just getting more and more confusing, If you are starting your weight-loss transformation with those emotions then my friend you are going about it the wrong way! Think about it this way, how many times have you heard someone describe losing weight as the most fun experience on earth? I’ll wait….🕒
Oh, that’s, right, no one does! So let’s start with how you think and how you feel toward this goal of losing weight. Feeling energized and happy, without stress, guilt, and frustration, is going to get you a lot closer to your goals. So now that we have cleared up your mind a little, by starting to get you out of the fairy tale fantasy that leaves your expectations in the trash and your heart and your mind right along with them, we can get to work!
Or as a friend of mine sums this all up, “Get your mind right!” W. Sheard
1. Expectations Vs Reality
I mean let’s start thinking about what you want your life to be like once you have lost all the weight you want and have reached your goals. So what diet is best for weight loss? It’s the one that fits your lifestyle.
Seriously, what does that look like? Do you have six-pack abs, are you wearing a clothing size that you envision is THE one you will feel best in? Are you a Marathoner now, or entering Strong Woman competitions? Are you a meal prep pro now and prioritize the gym or a workout over a happy hour?
I am asking these questions, because while those goals are just fine, if you tell me, “Laura I want to 6-pack abs” and I say ok it is going to take; THIS, THAT, and THAT, and about this much time.” And then you say, oh, geez ok that is a lot, I didn’t expect that.”
Then I can follow up with, “well what are you capable of doing, and let’s start there instead?”
Taking you down a much more realistic and approachable path, rather than you just getting pissed off with someone else’s false promises of 4 weeks to abs diet and exercise program that 2 weeks in you stop because it’s awful.
AKA: expectations are not meeting your reality
Let’s limit the frustration aspect of dieting, I recommend entering the entire process with an open mind and taking it one task, one day and one week at a time. This way you can stay in the present moment and enjoy the changes you are making right now and be grateful for the benefits you are gaining NOW, and not worry so much about future events or experiences you can’t control, so you don’t get frustrated easily.
2. Make as many mistakes as you want, but OWN them!
Yup, I said it I want you to F*ck Up! Why? Well because that is the best way to learn.
When you experience anything, and it doesn’t go as planned you have 2 options.
- You can toss your hands up and say, “forget it, I knew I couldn’t do it”. – OR –
- You can lean in, get curious and say, “hmm, well that didn’t work, but how can I make improvements so that it can work better the next time?”
Inside my Learn, Lose & Live – Sustainable weight-loss program I talk about my 3 main pillars of sustainable weight loss; AWARENESS, HABIT STACKING & CURIOUS MINDSET. Optimizing mistakes is where the Curious Mindset comes into play. We are all imperfect people, but we learn defense mechanisms along the way that can often prevent us from owning our faults and instead blame others or things for what is wrong with us.
If you are the type of person who gets mad every time something doesn’t go your way, you complain or even vent a lot, that is likely setting you up for less success.
In an article from Psychology Today “Venting is expressing emotional dissatisfaction. It turns out that people who vent have an agenda. They tend to be focused on themselves and their own experience, negative—experience. By showing their anger, frustration, or disappointment, they are soliciting attention from their confidantes. They can feel validated by receiving attention and sympathy. Venters particularly like to discount advice and proposed solutions to their problems”. Not to mention they go on a LOT of weight-loss rollercoaster rides – and not the fun kind! 1
Think about it like this; when was the last time you watched a movie? ANY movie just choose one. Now, I want you to think about the plot. I will use Harry Potter as an example.
If Harry Potter just blamed Hermione or Dumbledore or anyone else for that matter that he wasn’t perfect at magic right away, and sat in the corner and just pouted, that would make for a pretty awful annoying movie, right? We wouldn’t see Harry take on all the villains and challenges and obstacles he did, which most if not all did not go perfectly, am I right?
Harry Potter, is no different than any character in any movie, there is a Hero, there is an obstacle, and there is some struggle and then the character prevails… nobody watches the movie where the Hero complains and just blames everyone else for their struggles, so why are you staring in that role in your own life?
3. Practice looking at your progress – Get Curious!
Practice makes perfect, right? Well, you don’t need perfect what you need is information to show you whether or not what you are practicing is paying off.
Imagine you are in 6th grade, and your teacher tells you that you have a big math test coming up in 2 weeks. Knowing this you study and do extra math quizzes and take practice tests and even study on weekends to get ready for this test. Finally, the day arrives and you are feeling so good, you are ready! You take the test and find out that you got an A+, you are PUMPED!
Imagine the same scenario, but this time after you take the test, the teacher just says, “Great Job.” That’s it, you have no idea if all the answers were correct or if some weren’t and you don’t know why they weren’t so it would seem like all your hard work was for absolutely nothing (GIF). What a BUMMER!
Think about it, is this how you go about weight loss? Do you; change your diet dramatically, work out like an animal and give up social events just to maintain full control over your efforts? Then when you go to weigh yourself you barely see the scale move and you don’t see much change in the mirror?
If your eyes widened and you were nodding your head, then we are on the same page, and I am going to tell you exactly how to fix this.
4. START KEEPING UP WITH THE CHANGES YOU MAKE BY COLLECTING INFORMATION AS YOU GO!
Quick and Dirty Tips blog states, “Without giving thought to how you define progress, you can measure the wrong thing, or measure the wrong way. You might end up demoralized for no reason or falling behind unknowingly on a project, or missing opportunities. So if you’re going to measure progress, do it right! Turn off auto-pilot “gut checks” and measure progress thoughtfully.” 2
This way you can assess regularly, make changes based on your experience and have a much more fruitful understanding of how 1+1 = 2, because you can see how your efforts matched with the results, or if they didn’t, what you need to do to fix it.
Key takeaways: Sustainable weight loss is not impossible!
So if you haven’t caught on yet, to take the UGH out of dieting, you need to practice 4 simple steps…
- GET your mind right – no magic wand is going to magically transform your body into the body you want. Therefore you must assess your current lifestyle and capabilities and start looking at this experience as an opportunity and not an annoyance.
- Work in the Present, not the Future – you cannot control what happens 1 year from now unless you focus on what you accomplished today. So focus on what you want to improve, how you want to feel, and what fits with your lifestyle NOW, not 12 months away. Own your Present State, knowing you are fixing it, and give yourself permission to be a work in progress. Make mistakes, LOTS of them, but own them.
- Instead of beating yourself up for all the things you don’t do right or mess up, use them as learning opportunities to improve upon. Use your journey like putting the puzzle pieces of your life together. When one situation doesn’t work out, ask WHY, even when it does, ask WHY! The more curious and insightful you can be, the more you will learn and understand how you got where you are now. Better yet how not to ever go back again too! Be the Hero of your own life!
- Check your work. “The best way to measure progress is to have something to measure” – unknown. Make sure you are enjoying the steps you are taking, they are repeatable, not super difficult, and as much as possible, ENJOYABLE. Checking your work, in how I coach weight loss has everything to do with measuring your data. What you take in, what you spend out, but all in an imperfectly perfect way that allows you to shift and make these changes fit your life for good!
If these tips made you think differently about your weight loss journey, then we might just be new Best Friends!
So why not work with someone who finally GETS YOU! #soulmates
I love helping women take an alternative route to weight loss that still involves all the calorie deficit work and movement, etc there’s no secret to all of that, but what I do differently is cut out all the Bull Shit surrounding the weight loss hype out there and help you get results that work for you, for the LONG TERM.
If you are interested in getting off the terrifying diet roller coaster for good, never worrying about what foods you “should” eat and exactly how much exercise you need to do, then join my waitlist for the next round of my Learn, Lose & Live – Sustainable weight-loss program.
We get started on March 1st, 2022! I cannot wait! The best news is that I will have early-bird specials and bonuses so jump on this waitlist and I cannot wait to meet you!
References:
- https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/significant-results/201706/the-three-types-complaining
- https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/productivity/project-management/how-to-measure-progress-achieve-goals
