It’s a story we’ve all heard, and many have experienced. We want to lose weight. We search up a plan, join the gym, follow it for a few weeks and lose a couple of kilos – only to run out of steam and put it back on, and maybe more.
It’s called yo-yo dieting.
You lose weight, gain it back. Lose, gain, lose, gain, over and over, as you get more and more discouraged by the minute and worried that you’re only getting fatter. And you may well be – yo-yo dieting changes your metabolic rate and ultimately makes it more difficult to lose weight.
So why are so many people caught up in a yo-yo diet merry-go-round?
Many reasons – but first and foremost is stress.
When we are under stress, our body screams for sugar to give us energy and fat to give us strength so we can run from the tiger, real or imaginary, chasing us. So without thinking, we grab for the nearest junk food available and inhale it without even thinking. Once the barrier’s broken, we lose control and say, “Well, I’m now off my diet. May as well have another doughnut, I’ll go back on my diet tomorrow.”
But of course, we don’t.
So how can we get off the weight loss merry-go-round? Here are four tips:
1. Mindset
Focus on mindset first rather than using food for self-soothing. For instance, when you want to grab for that doughnut, tell yourself, “My body is my temple. I’m only going to feed it the good nutrition it needs to function at its best. I can do it because I have self-respect.” It’s also helpful to make sure you have external support too, like a mindset coach.
2. Embrace the three pillars of change
Balance the three aspects of weight loss: mindset, nutrition, and exercise. In addition to focusing on a positive mindset, it’s important to eat healthy and stay away from junk food. It’s challenging at the start, but after a few weeks of foregoing apple pie for the apple, you will find that you have lost your cravings for sugary, fatty, salty food and crave the delicious whole foods that truly serve you in creating an energetic body and life.
3. Move, move, move!
Your body was designed to move, designed to get used and be functional. If you want that ideal toned and trim body shape, or even just to speed up the weight loss process, you must have daily exercise in your life.
4. Make this lifestyle change a non-negotiable
You need to make the commitment to yourself this time around a non-negotiable. That means sticking to what you promised you’d do long after the initial motivation has passed in you.
If you want to make this a long term change, it needs to become part of you. The committed person will do as they have said not only when it’s convenient, easy, affordable and fun, but when it’s inconvenient, challenging, hard and sometimes not so fun. That’s where the real results live.
So next time you are choosing a program or diet to begin, I want you to ask these three core questions to help make the right decision:
- Am I ready to make this program or diet fun (if you don’t enjoy it, you will not last)
- Can I see myself integrating this into my life long term?
- Is this diet truly serving my health, fitness and vitality so I am at my optimum now and long term?
By asking yourself these three questions and following these four simple tips, you’ll be able to take yourself off the weight loss merry-go-round and live a more fulfilled, happier and meaningful life.
ABOUT THE EXPERT:
Ultimate You and its three pillars of change methodology, mindset, nutrition and training, has helped thousands of people to transform their mind, body and life outlook and become lean, energetic and healthy. Ultimate You’s philosophy is that weight loss and fitness can’t be achieved just with a physical training program, mindset and nutritional habits also need to be addressed to achieve long term change in a positive way. http://ultimateyou.com.au
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