The Mindset of Weight Loss

Have you ever actually sat down and asked yourself why weight loss is important to you? Why is it that an arbitrary number on a scale is important to so many of us when that number should have no direct effect on how we feel about ourselves as an individual? Sure there are potential health benefits to being within a ‘healthy' body fat range, but that's a body fat issue not a weight issue.

It's time you take the power off the scale and put it back in your own hands.

"Weight loss is not about the change of number on a scale, it's the change of mindset that matters most." (Paraphrased from Inger Ohlsson & Eleni Psillakis on The Mind-Muscle Project Podcast #92)

Often when someone is starting out on a weight-loss journey I find they don't truly know why they even want to lose weight. Don't get me wrong they have a reason to at least reach out, but very few actually sit down and look for what their internal motivation is.

Some people want to lose weight because society tells them they should be a certain number on a scale, others use events as motivation and some use their family as motivation as well. But none of those are about the person actually wanting to change but instead are about external motivators.

All too often we focus on external motivators to try and change the exterior of ourselves when in reality it's the internal change that has the greatest success in causing a positive change in health long term.

Real weight loss, real change… it comes from within.

• It's not about how you look on the outside
• It's not about how you think others see you
• It's not about your family and friends
• It's not about some special event

It's about you!

• Why do you, your internal self, the person you feel you are from within, why do you want to lose weight?
• What is your motivation for change?
• What is your why?

While I am not trained in psychology, nor am I a counsellor or a person of authority in the field of helping someone mend a disordered eating process or a negative mindset for their internal self-worth, I would like to think I have the ability to at least acknowledge triggers or signs.

As I mentioned above, all too often the clients I deal with on a weekly basis focus far too heavily on the external motivators and forget about their internal self-worth.

Again let me remind you…

• Focus less on food type and associating guilt with certain foods
• Focus less on how you look
• Focus less on what you believe people may think

Instead...

• Focus more on food quality and fuelling your body both physically and mentally
• Focus more on performance
• Focus more on how you feel internally

Practice mindfulness!

If we can't be mentally present in the now, how can we plan to be present in the future?

So if you're reading this now and some of the things I am saying resonate with you, yet you're still unsure on where to go, try this for me:

So what is mindfulness?

• Practising Mindfulness – The ability to think in silence about what is happening right now.
• When your alarm goes off, get out of bed without hitting the snooze button.
• Poor yourself a glass of water or a hot cup of tea
• Sit outside and appreciate your surroundings or find a place of comfort within your own home. Ideally in the sun.

Write down 3 things:

• What did you love about yesterday
• What can you improve on from yesterday
• What is your goal today

Be present mentally and watch yourself grow physically.

We are all better than a number on the scale yet we fall victim to societies pressures to be a particular way to fit in with the norm. The reality is that we are all different and that is what makes us who we are.

Embrace your individuality, focus on performance and nourish both your mind and your body and then you will create the healthiest version of you.