The important things nobody talks about when it comes to weight loss.
Trying to bring your body to the state and shape that you want is no easy task. I want to help people out there who struggle with the aspect of consistent exercise.
There is something that we are not getting when we go into this space of health and exercise. We all know that what we want is results. We want our bodies to respond and change to the standards that we set for ourselves.
Many people that I worked with in the past have always struggled with the consistency portion (myself included). After years of practice and repetition, I was able to overcome this and I want to share with you how I did it.
I don’t just want to share how I did it, but I want to share what was missing. The real important stuff that nobody talks about.
Here are the 7 Things You must Change Mentally before you embark on this journey
1. Time
If there is one thing that the media and commercials are not portraying properly to the public is this takes time — a long time. If you are overweight and you are looking to cut back body fat and bring your body to a healthier state, you cannot go into this journey with a time limit. I feel like this is almost a sure fire way to fail and set yourself up for disaster.
Normally, with goals I like to measure them and set specific time lines. I am all for that, however, when it comes to health, I have learned the hard way that there should not be some time line on your health and weight loss goals.
Why?
Because, weight loss and getting into better shape is not a linear process. While there are unicorns out there who have transformed their bodies in 30 days, most often those people are extremely disciplined, have experience in this, and have purchased a game plan from a coach who lays out the blueprint for them.
Not everyone falls within this category and although there are people out there who have succeeded in record breaking time, not everybody is built and designed the same. Everyone’s body responds differently.
So do yourself the favor — don’t compare, don’t set time lines, and get it through your head that if you go into this goal for yourself — it’s going to take time!
When I say it will take time, I don’t mean 60 or 90 days. If you can pull it off in that time frame, then great for you. Now, you just need to realize there is no finish line, so your blitz was great and all, but don’t think for a second that it’s over.
2. Patience
Please go into your weight loss goals and transformations with a patient mind. The human body did not get to the point to where it is for you now in just 30 or 60 days. It has taken years, upon years, of a constant surplus of calories.
So how do you reverse that?
Now, it’s going to be months and months, possibly years and years of slowly cutting back your caloric intake and moving your body to the point where you force it to change along with your mental state to where you want it to be.
When it comes to body transformations, and weight loss, it’s a patience game. You need to adopt the mindset of patience to see the other side.
3. There Is No Finish Line
Health and Wellness is a lifestyle. You can’t pick this up and then drop it and expect for your body and mind to stay where it was when you were putting in the work. It’s like the saying goes, — “If you don’t use it, you’ll lose it.”
Go into your fitness goals with the mindset that this is never over. There is no finish line. The moment you think you have made it, or you are done, the body will slowly transform back into its old ways — unless you work on maintaining it.
I hear many people talk about diets and these quick routes that you can take to get quicker results. But, there is not enough people talking about the reality of what this requires. If it were easy, everyone would be walking around in their best physical and mental state possible. Truth is, more people are walking around in the opposite. This clearly shows you that it is not easy. So, respect the journey. Don’t walk into this like it is some walk in the park, because it will demand the best version of yourself.
4. Focus On The Mental Health Too
In general, mental health is a lacking subject. More and more people are struggling with mental health than we are aware of. There is a direct correlation between cleaning up your nutrition choices and habits, increasing physical movement on a daily basis and an overall improved mental state.
Think about what your thoughts are when taking on this goal for yourself. Most likely, it is about losing weight, fitting into new clothes sizes, and feeling better. While this is all great stuff, we need to focus on the mental health benefits that will be taking place.
These mental health benefits are going to help you improve your day-to-day activities. Whether it is work, school, family, relationships, your mental clarity is going to be significantly sharper. Consequently, you will see just how much better your life can be if you allocate some time to bettering your health choices.
5. It’s Done In the Kitchen
Real transformation takes place in the kitchen. Period. You can do all of the physical work that you want and desire, but if you are not watching your diet, you will spin wheels forever.
Improving your relationship with food is a necessary step in physical transformation. This is something I am working on improving myself. It’s about the small micro decisions that you make on a daily basis, that really drive the results.
In fact, this is what I enjoy most about health and fitness, for me, its the challenges. Do I screw up often? Absolutely, but I have learned that because there is no finish line, I can just get right back on track. It’s when I have time limits that I have struggled and failed the most.
If weight loss is your goal, then you can already start preparing yourself mentally that you will often find yourself hungry. You will be consuming less calories throughout this process. I hate all the 💩 that people put out there saying that you can do whatever you want, you don’t need to restrict yourself, you don’t need to do this or that. It’s all crap. If you really want results, you will be in a caloric deficit. No way around it, you will be burning more calories than you are consuming.
The food choices are going to be your best friend here. By incorporating vegetables into your meals you can add more bulk to your meals and this translates into satiety. It will help you minimize moments of hunger. You will find yourself hungry many times in a caloric deficit, you must be willing to push through.
6. Do What You Love To Increase Movement
If you think you need to join a gym and workout with a trainer in order to see the results you want, you’re wrong. There is absolutely nothing wrong with taking that route. In fact, if you can afford it, I encourage it simply because there is so much that one can learn. However, not everyone is willing to take that route.
For those people who don’t want to take the approach of purchasing a gym membership and hiring a personal trainer, there is still great hope. You can achieve all the results you want straight from your home if you are disciplined enough.
Find a physical activity that you enjoy doing and start there. The name of the game is to burn more calories than you consume. Part of weight loss is burning calories. You don’t have to do this on a treadmill or inside of a gym. You can pick up activities that help you to burn calories and are also enjoyable to you.
Some Ideas:
- Walking 🚶♀️
- Running 🏃♀️
- Jogging 🏃♀️
- Gardening 🧑🌾
- Weight Training 🏋️♀️
- Cycling 🚴♀️
- Cleaning 🧹 🧼 🧽
- Skating
- Sports 🏀 ⚽️ 🏈 ⚾️
- Swimming 🏊♀️
- Yard Work 🪴
These are just a few examples of different activities that you can do from home, and can also help you burn extra calories throughout your day.
Don’t feel confined with the thought of having to conform your natural desires and activities to what you see in magazines and commercials. Start thinking outside the box and connect with activities that bring out the best in you.
7. “Not Feeling It Today” Days
This is a big one that needs to be dealt with properly. It’s important to understand that there will be plenty of days that you need to get your movement activities in for the day, and you won’t “feel” like doing it.
I have struggled with this tremendously in the past, in fact, I still struggle from time-to-time, I just know how to handle it now. Whereas, before I didn’t have a clue.
It all comes down to commitment. If you start something, you finish it. If it is something you decide to take on, then you need to understand that just because there are days and moments where you don’t feel like doing it, doesn’t mean you just give in and not do it. If that were the case, nobody would achieve anything special.
Anything that is worth fighting for, always comes with its degree of difficulty. You will be challenged, it will be hard, it may seem impossible — but you just do it. You chip at it day in, and day out, and you don’t stop until you get to where you want to be.
There will be plenty of days where you won’t want to do it. Giving into this, will make you spin wheels and waste time. The real results come with relentless effort and consistency over time. No matter how difficult things get you never give up. If you don’t understand that or can’t come to terms with it, then you should re-evaluate why you are doing this in the first place.
