Action is a skillset
I’m going to share some ideas you may have heard before and if you have I want you to ask yourself these questions today and whenever you hear an idea you have heard before ask yourself 1) Am I applying it 2) Have I mastered it. If you can’t answer yes to both questions then you need to get the idea at a deeper level and that will help you take it seriously like you have never heard it before.
This is how I help my coaching clients lose weight and keep it off.
Many people feel that if they eat healthy they are “dieting.” When you eat healthy you are NOT DIETING! You are treating your body right. Eating healthy or not eating healthy is NOT about reward or punishment. Ask yourself this question before you eat. "Is what I am about to eat good for my body?"
If the answer is YES then you are not dieting, you are doing what is RIGHT for your body, you are fueling your body with what it needs to work it’s best for you.
2) Get associated to the payoff you get by holding onto the story that you have to eat healthy and exercise and that eating healthy and exercising is a punishment.
Then you have to let go of that payoff.
Often times the payoff is that if we don't eat healthy and exercise we have the perfect ALIBI about why we AREN'T successful. Again, don't make it about your emotions, it is about your future and your job is to empower yourself to make a decision about how your life will be better with your habits and choices.
At times when I’ve had a particularly hard time dealing with food choices I will ask myself. “What right do I have to decide what I put in my body?” The answer is that I don’t have the right to decide what I put in my body if it will change my life for the better by adding years of health and happiness to share with my friends and family or cost me time & money from future illness, medications, missed work, disease and death.
3) If you've had a struggled with making wise eating choices for a long period of time you may need to change what you tell yourself. Change BEGINS in language.
You can change your language from "I hate dieting" or "I don’t like to work out" to "I choose to eat healthy", "I choose to workout because it’s good for me" or "I work out so next summer I can wear a bikini confidently in public!"
4) You are going to make mistakes. Sometimes it won’t be pleasant. Remember, we are human. We make mistakes. But we also have the ability to forgive. So when you blow it just focus on what you can do to learn from your mistake and what you will do to correct it and mark your progress towards your goal.
Have a realistic goal - one large goal broken down into smaller goals. Telling yourself you need to lose 50 pounds is a lot more daunting then telling yourself, I am going to aim for losing 2 pounds this week.
6) Write down your “why”. Then write a paragraph beginning with what the “hell” or cost would be of not achieving the goal and ending with the “heaven” if you do achieve the goal so you make it more painful to not workout than it is to just do it. It is also much more likely you will workout if you have a coach like myself holding you accountable to your goal in an encouraging way.
Find a workout that works for YOU! Think of working out as part of your lifestyle, like brushing your teeth. There are many different styles of work outs. Find one that you enjoy and that challenges you to improve. If you get bored of your routine, change it!
8) Make a clearly defined specific time each day to workout so you can condition it into a habit and it becomes easy. Do this using concentrated blocked time. For example, 1 hour each day from 7 am to 8 am - blocked time means you don’t answer the phone, check your email, surf the internet or allow any distractions during that time. You are up to 4x more productive when you block your time and eliminate distractions. If you need to move the time block to a different time in the day that is okay but do NOT schedule over it.
9) Mentally prepare yourself to workout. hype yourself up. Blast your favorite music. You are a beast! You are an ATHLETE! Now is your time to dominate! Have fun! You can literally tell yourself “This is fun, I’m going to have fun.”
10) If you don’t workout do NOT set an intention to try to make up for the workout you missed the next day. If you do this you are likely to feel overwhelmed and are less likely to make your goal in the first place. Instead, just focus on hitting your daily workout goal then once you have that accomplished you will have momentum. Consistency is key.
11) Give yourself a reward after your daily workout goal and literally pat yourself on the back. It is important to celebrate even small victories.
12) NUTRITION is KEY. Working out is ONLY effective when it is paired with eating right. Avoid processed foods. Avoid sugar and empty calories. Load your plate with veggies, beans and whole grains. Limit starchy & fatty foods.
