There are people who seem to excel with their health and fitness goals and there are others that struggle to shift any weight at all, despite doing everything right. Have these people found the simple solution to losing weight?
Well, the short answer is no. Everybody’s weightloss journey is a totally different experience. As individuals, we all have unique circumstances which can allow the opportunity for both successes and/or obstacles in any situation. This means you shouldn’t compare your journey to someone else’s – focus on yourself and stay in your own lane.
There’s no secret formula or magic trick to dropping the kilos (if we knew it, we’d tell you), however, we can tell you some simple concepts you can apply to your journey to ensure that it’s a smoother experience.
Set realistic goals
When it comes to weight loss, there’s no need for drastic measures. We see celebs on Instagram and Snapchat all the time talking about their latest diet, like paleo, gluten free and sugar free, but a short-term stint on each diet has no lasting positive impact.
Be realistic with your goal setting and your expectations. Remind yourself that there are aspects of your life that can’t be controlled, like the food provided at a recent work-related function or at the local restaurant your friend picked for her birthday dinner. Instead of feeling defeated or becoming frustrated at the situation, focus on what you can control, like eating something before heading out so that you’re not tempted to go overboard.
Keep it balanced
Cutting down on your intake of foods which are high in added fat, sugar, salt and alcohol will help lower your overall total calorie intake. But hey, we’re all human and deserve to treat ourselves every now and again, otherwise sticking to a diet would be extremely difficult for the long term.
Having planned, controlled treats helps you to maintain your motivation to stick to your goals, prevent major decreases to your metabolic rate, prevent binges and/or relapses to your positive dietary changes.
It’s all about consistency
Have you ever accomplished anything great with an inconsistent effort? Too often people give up too quickly on their weight management efforts and wonder why they haven’t achieved the results they initially set out to achieve. Repeat this mantra: anything worth it takes time and commitment.
Prioritise
There’s a lot to be said for making healthy food choices and exercise a priority in your daily living. If you don’t, it’s unrealistic to expect that both of these will consistently happen amongst everything else that occurs in your day to day living.
If it’s possible, start each day the right way by scheduling exercise early, or at least with an idea as to when it will fit comfortably with the other activities you have planned for the day. Go to bed each night with a plan of how you can squeeze in your exercise while making healthy, nutritious and regular meal choices.
Keep it positive
Self compassion means being able to identify your positive strengths and changes and not just focusing on the negative. If you fail to recognise this, how will you know what positive changes to carry through each week on your weight loss journey?
If you need help with any of these areas, seek the help of a dietitian or a psychologist who specialises in weight management. A professional will be able to assist you in the right mind shift needed for long-term, healthy lifestyle changes.
This story originally appeared on Balance by Deborah Hutton.
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