You think weight loss is about food? It’s not.
I have helped thousands of women and men to lose weight. And at the beginning of the process, they all share a few thoughts and traits. See if you can relate to any of these, too:
- You don’t like how you look
- You avoid getting your picture taken; or you know your “slim” poses
- You have a closet full of clothes you can’t wear
- You feel tired a lot
- You have tried working out
- You have tried cutting calories
- You have tried everything
You’ve followed the rules. You’ve read the blogs. You’ve bought the supplements. Cooked the food. You feel you should be able to figure this out.
But you haven’t. And it frustrates and exhausts you to no end. It doesn’t seem fair. You’re at your wit’s end.
Trying to tackle a weight loss issue just by focusing on the food is a critical mistake. When you only focus on the food, you forget about the most powerful variable in the equation: YOU.
Weight loss is about more than just food. You probably don’t even realize the degree to which you’re standing in your own way when it comes to weight loss. We are literally talking about mind over matter here. You’ve focused on the matter (the food) part of the solutions, but likely haven’t thought to put the MIND aspect under the microscope.
And that’s what we’re going to do today! Let’s get your mind optimized for weight loss success! (And bonus points, everything in here also applies to any goal you set for yourself!)
It’s time to shatter 9 limiting beliefs that have plagued you and held you back from weight loss success!
1. I’m special/different/unique. “My body is just different/My body just works differently.”
I get it. If you’ve tried a bunch of different diets and they haven’t worked, it’s understandable that you might draw the conclusion that your body must be different. You might even feel like it’s broken or working against you. Everyone else seems to lose weight more easily than you, so it must be your body’s fault, right?
Well, the truth is: You’re unique, but you’re not that unique. If we had a dollar for everyone who thought they were “different” or beyond help, well, we’d never have to work another day!
While you are special and have your own unique makeup, your body is a lot like other women’s—and that’s the good news, because it means that you’re not irreparably broken! You’re not a lost cause, a mystery, or a problem. You’re a puzzle—and you can solve it. Once you let that sink in, and believe it, you can begin the real work.
Like I’ve mentioned, you likely have only been focusing on the food part. There are so many other things that can hinder your weight loss that you just didn’t know about. Things like your hormones, your sleep quantity and quality, your stress level management, and more! If you’d like to learn about all of those weight loss elements, I write about them regularly on my blog, or you can read about them all in one place in my book, Why Am I Still Fat? Grab it here.
2. I should love myself instead of focusing on losing weight.
Self-love and losing weight are not mutually exclusive. Being able to love and accept yourself for who you are is absolutely important, and we are big advocates of the body-positive approach. However, self love is not the opposite of healthy, sustainable weight loss. Carrying extra weight around is no way to show your body love! Truly loving your body means helping it function at its best. The good news is that when you give your body the kind of support it needs (rest, plenty of the right foods, movement), you’re showing it the love it deserves—and the weight will fall off. This part of your journey is more about mindset than metabolism, but it’s no less important.
3. The weight is the issue. / “I need to fix my weight problem.”
Your extra weight is a symptom. You may think your weight is your biggest problem, but it’s really a red flag. Even just 5 extra pounds can be a sign that something in your body isn’t working correctly. Low energy, digestive issues, low libido, skin issues, sleep problems—it’s all connected. When you get to the root cause and heal from the inside out, everything falls into place.
4. “It’s not worth it since I only have 10 pounds to lose.”
The real question here is: How are those few pounds affecting your life? You don’t need to have 50 lbs to lose to feel uncomfortable in your clothes—and your skin. It doesn’t matter how much you think you need to lose. If you don’t feel like your best self, then it’s worth addressing, period. While some of our clients have a lot of weight to lose, many of the people we work with have anywhere from 5 to 15 extra pounds. There’s no amount that’s too much or too little for us to tackle. Any extra weight is a sign of an imbalance that deserves to be addressed. Whether you have a lot of weight to lose, or you just want to fit into your favorite jeans again, there is nothing superficial about it.
5. “I hate the gym.”
You don’t have to join a gym to lose weight! While staying physically active is key, we actually don’t want you to kill yourself at the gym. In fact, we may advise that you ease up on workouts altogether! Intense exercise without rest can actually slow your metabolism and keep you from your goal weight. The best approach to working out boosts metabolism without draining your energy—or taking up all of your time.
An example of this is doing exercises like jumping jacks, walking lunges, squats, push-ups, burpees, running up and down stairs, etc. for 10 minutes— you could go up to 15 or even just start with 5. You are “on” for 30 seconds, followed by 30 seconds of rest. (The break is to allow your body to rest so that you can push yourself hard again, but not so long that it fully recovers between sets.) This type of workout can be done at home without going to a gym, and when the weather is nice, you can do the same type of thing outside—30-second intervals, alternating between running and walking—or skipping if you’re adventurous!
6. I need to prioritize my kids/family.
Your kids and family will be in better hands when you prioritize yourself. I want you to think right now, would it be okay for you to walk up to your child and say, “I hope it’s okay with you that I’m using you as an excuse to stay unhealthy and unhappy.” That’s what happens when we use our family as an excuse for not taking care of ourselves. We need to secure our own oxygen mask before we can be the best helper to everyone in our lives. I hope you know deep down that when you put yourself first, you can be better in every role you play —from mom to wife to friend to employee to co-worker to business owner… all of them!
7. I’ll start on [Monday/January 1st/insert-time-other-than-right-NOW).
No you won’t! (And you know that.) You’ll continue to put it off. Starting the weight loss journey is never going to be convenient, cheap, or easy. Getting/achieving the best version of yourself does take work! Sorry not sorry for the tough love… this is reality. Make a decision right now to dive in so that you don’t waste another minute letting this suck the life and energy out of you. It’s time to get YOU back. You’re worth it.
8. It’s not working because I’ve been at it for (insert-any-time-less-than-12-months.)
SUSTAINABLE weight loss takes a year (or close to it). Anyone can crash diet for 6-8 weeks, lose a bunch of water weight and look slimmer. But it’s at a cost. That kind of approach plummets your energy levels. So you feel lethargic and pretty miserable. And more importantly, you literally don’t have the energy to stay motivated. Your overall cognition is compromised and THAT’S why you give in, fall off the wagon, and bounce back up in weight.
I would love to invite you to our FREE online Facebook Community, A New Way To Weight Loss! This group is all about helping helping people like you stop the vicious dieting cycle, end the obsession over food and lose weight effortlessly—while enjoying what you eat, and feeling like your happy, confident self again. This as a community where we can connect and support each other and have a conversation with you about your weight loss goals. Click here to join A New Way To Weight Loss!
