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Weight Loss Motivation Guidelines
Anne Collins
Introduction
If there is one thing that
all dietitians and obesity experts agree on, it is that personal
motivation is the foundation of all weight loss success. No matter how
healthy the diet-plan, or what combination of calories and nutrition it
contains, it won't help anyone lose weight unless they follow it for
long enough. Their willingness to do so depends entirely on how
motivated they are to change their eating and exercise habits in order
to achieve their weight loss goals.
Motivation Advice Hard To
Find
The Internet offers a
bewildering array of diets and weight loss eating plans, but advice on
motivation when dieting is in extremely short supply. Given the strong
link between diet-compliance and motivation, this lack of motivational
help is surprising to say the least. It may stem from the fact that many
diets are created by people who lack hands-on experience of helping
people to manage their weight. Perhaps they see weight loss as a
biological rather than a human process. If so, I think it's a mistake.
Motivating Yourself To
Lose Weight
I tell all my clients that
starting a weight loss diet is like starting a journey. And like any
journey it requires preparation. We need to look ahead and plan how to
overcome problems that occur along the way. By doing this we take
control of the process and greatly increase our
chances of success.
Unfortunately, many
dieters don't plan ahead. Instead, they take things as they come, and
rely upon two things: their initial enthusiasm, and (when this wears
off) their willpower. But enthusiasm and willpower aren't enough to
overcome the temptations and difficulties which we face when we try to
change our eating habits and lifestyle.
Stop for a moment and
imagine taking your family on a camping trip. Do you rely on your
enthusiasm and willpower for food and shelter? Of course not. In all
probability you spend hours beforehand carefully packing and preparing
for every eventuality, and the whole trip is carefully planned out in
advance.
Yet when you start a
diet-journey, many of you set off without any kind of planning or
preparation. It's as if you are convinced that everything will go
smoothly. But let's face it, what diet ever runs smoothly?
Answer: none! So what
happens when we encounter a big problem? Answer: we wobble, and often
quit.
We Need To Plan New
Thinking Habits
Planning a diet-journey
doesn't involve packing equipment, it involves packing "new thoughts".
We need to rehearse and adopt new ways of thinking in order to overcome
problems during our journey. This isn't psycho-babble - this is plain
common sense. After all, successful dieting is largely a matter of
motivation and attitude. It's about what goes on between our ears!
The Most Common Dieting
Problem
The most common problem we
face when dieting is boredom. This typically occurs when our initial
enthusiasm for losing weight wears off, and we become tired of watching
what we eat. We become dispirited, and slightly depressed at the idea of
having to maintain our "sensible eating habits" while everyone else
seems to be having a good time.
Losing Direction Leads To
Boredom
We get bored when we lose
our sense of direction. So to overcome it, we need to reestablish
exactly where we are going. Remember, dieting is not an aimless process,
it's a journey from A to B. Here's how we think when we lose direction:
"I'm really bored with
dieting, it's such a pain. I don't have any freedom any more. I can't
eat this, I can't eat that... I'm fed up. I can't share food with the
girls at work, I can't eat at my favorite restaurants, I have to keep
saying No to food when I visit friends, I have to watch my family eating
in front of me, I don't have time to exercise properly, I'm never going
to lose weight and I'm feeling really miserable. Heck! Life is too short
for this..."
This kind of thinking is
totally demotivating. It focuses exclusively on the negative aspects of
dieting and signals complete aimlessness. No weight loss goal is
achievable when we think like this.
A Better Way of Thinking
Now let me show you some
better alternatives. Please compare them with the above example.
Example 1
"Hmm, my diet isn't going
so good. But I'm not going to make excuses. I've wasted enough time
making excuses to myself. From now on, no matter what happens, I'm going
to be honest with myself. So what do I want? I want to lose weight and
get myself into shape. Why? Because I really want that beach holiday (or
other very selfish goal) which I promised myself. I want it so bad I can
touch it! Okay, so I need to learn how to eat properly - big deal! I can
easily do this if I put my mind to it. Heck! Eating good food isn't
difficult. What's difficult is seeing myself being overweight for the
rest of my life. I want something better. Something a lot better than a
fistful of nachos or a dollop of fatty dessert."
Example 2
"Hmm, my diet isn't going
so good. So let me remind myself why I'm dieting. All my life I've been
eating to please other people. My mom said "eat this", so I ate it. My
school friends said "have some of this", so I had lots. My work
colleagues now say "have a slice of this", so I have two! And my kids
say "you must try this", so I try it. And every time I make an effort to
lose weight, everyone says "forget about your diet, eat some of this" so
I do. Well that's enough! No more eating to please other people. Today
I'm going to start eating to please me. And what pleases me is the idea
of wearing a size (?) dress to my daughter's wedding (or other very
selfish goal). I realise I need to eat properly, but this is a
ridiculously tiny price to pay for achieving my goal. Heck! Eating good
food isn't difficult. What's difficult is carrying my excess weight
around all day. I want something better. Something a lot better than a
4-cheese pizza or a box of cookies."
Example 3
"Hmm, my diet isn't going
as smoothly as I thought it would. Never mind, I'm sure this is quite
normal. I can't expect to change my regular eating habits without a few
hiccups along the way. Besides, I'm looking for more than the few
minutes of pleasure I get from filling my stomach with junk. I want a
lifetime of pleasure - real pleasure from looking good and being taken
seriously and who knows, maybe finding a great partner. I know other
people see me as a fat person - goodness, at times I do too! - but this
is exactly WHY I want to change. I'm tired of being fat. Real tired. And
if this means learning how to eat good food, then let's do it! And when
it gets tough I'm going to login to Anne Collins forum and get help. All
I know is, I want to make it happen!"
Example 4
"Hmm, my diet isn't going
as smoothly as I thought it would. This morning I watched my colleagues
eat a whole birthday cake - it looked delicious - and I sat there
feeling miserable and deprived. Then I went for lunch with a friend and
chose a tuna salad while she ate half a pizza followed by two slices of
cheesecake. It was torture! But then I started thinking to myself
"what's more important - a few slices of cheesecake, or a really lean
shape?" And I decided that looking good was what I really wanted. I know
that it's not going to happen overnight, but if I can persevere and
learn good eating habits along the way, I know I'm gonna make it..."
Example 5
"Hmm, my diet isn't going
as smoothly as I thought it would. But at least it's not a race. So who
cares if I have a few wobbly moments, as long as I get where I want to
go. At 26 I'm in the prime of my life, and I want to make the most of
it. I'm tired of my slim friends getting all the best guys. I want to
turn a few heads myself. I want the attention and I want to be taken
seriously, and if I have to spend 12 months dieting - heck! I'm gonna do
it. Last week I saw a friend of mine in hospital who lost a leg in a car
crash. The doctors say it's going to take her 12 months to relearn how
to walk. Now that is tough. By comparison, my journey is easy. And as
long as I keep reminding myself of this, I'll be fine."
Points To Remember
1. A diet is a journey
from A to B.
2. Feeling bored is a sign
we are losing our direction.
3. When we lose direction
we need to regain it, fast!
4. The way to regain
direction is to remind yourself why you are
dieting.
5. You are dieting because
you want something better than a plate of
fattening food.
Getting Help To Lose
Weight
Changing our eating habits
is much easier when we get support from other people. So make sure your
online weight management plan includes membership of a forum. Because
only people can offer you the sort of encouragement you need to achieve
your personal weight loss goals.
Anne Collins, 54, is a
qualified nutritionist and full time
weight management
consultant with over 23 years experience. Her clients range from top
celebrities to ordinary people of every age and shape. Her website,
www.annecollins.com attracts 9 million unique visitors per
annum, and her weight loss
forum is one of the most active support centers on the Internet.
www.annecollins.com
Anne Collins Web Site
www.annecollins.com/weight_loss_diet.htm
Weight Loss Program
www.annecollins.com/weight-loss-forum.htm
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