Have you ever started a diet or weight loss plan only to become completely discouraged? You might have been discouraged with lack of results, or discouraged by your own efforts. But maybe it was not your fault.
To make matters worse, when you became discouraged, you self-medicated with feel-good starchy, sugary foods or alcohol, or both.
Here’s 5 strategies that may help you avoid discouragement in the first place.
“Rather than trying to control your emotions, control the thing that triggers those emotions.”
Strategy 1 – See Proof First
Only start a diet plan that you have seen proof that it actually works.
We’ve all heard experts say something like “Weight loss is simply calories in (eat less) and calories out (exercise more).” This is NOT PROOF!!! Because a so-called expert says something that sounds logical, does not mean that it actually works.
You need to see real case studies of people like you, who have been successful at losing weight AND keeping it off.
Strategy 2- Find a Program That Develops Your Diet Around Your Body’s Responses
There’s a saying “One diet does NOT suit every body.”
Be aware that developing an effective weight loss diet for your body involves monitoring your body’s responses to different foods, and NOT listening to your beliefs about diet.
Think about this. Your current beliefs and habits have successfully given you the body you currently enjoy – or not! Your diet beliefs may not be serving you.
Just in case you hate the “diet” word, we’re using it to describe “a way of eating” not the deprivation that is associated with calorie counting.
Every person’s body responds to differently to specific foods, drinks and portion sizes. You need a process to carefully monitor this so you can learn what works for you. A friend or family member might be able to eat pizza every night and stay slim, but you put on weight just looking at the pizza box.
Strategy 3 – Get a process that delivers immediate weight loss
We are playing with your mindsets here – but in a transparent way. Consider two pathways and their effect on your mindset:
- Soft Landing: You embark on a gradual change process making one small change at a time. Perhaps you just focus on breakfasts for the first month, then lunches for the next month. You realise and consciously tell yourself that you may not see much, if any weight loss for many months.
- Hard Landing: You make immediate change to all meals, and any other lifestyle factor that is an hormonal disrupter, like poor sleep habits. You start losing weight straight away, even in the knowledge that early weight loss won’t be all body fat, but will be water weight as well.
So, assuming that both approaches are clever enough to avoid hunger, which process do you feel will be more encouraging for you, to keep going?
We’ve tried both processes, and see way less drop out and discouragement by using the Hard Landing process. Early success encourages you to stay on track.
Strategy 4 – Have a Burning WHY and Look At It Daily
Here’s an exercise. Make a list of 25 reasons why losing excess weight will be good for you, your health, your work, your relationships etc… Then make a list of 25 negative things that you could experience or feel if, in 12 months, you’ve not lost weight, but have actually put on more weight.
Now, from those two lists choose 5 positive and 5 negative reasons. They must be personally and emotionally meaningful to you.
Next, be aware that some of us are more motivated by the positive (desire for gain). Some of us are more motivated by the negative (fear of loss). From your short list try to choose one MTP (Massively Transformative Purpose). Then place this on a poster, or your screen saver, or somewhere (like your Daily Food Planner) where you’ll see it a few times a day.
Strategy 5 – Get a Support Network Who Are On The Same Journey
There’s a risk of going it alone. Some do, but it is a risk. By surrounding yourself with like-minded people who are striving for the same result, or better still, having a coach who holds you accountable is going to help you avoid discouragement triggers and help you deal with them when they happen – and they will.
Summary – Making It Happen
By putting multiple success strategies in play, you’ll be more likely to avoid discouragement and achieve the results you truly desire.