If you’re anything like most people who have gone on diets and subsequently gained back the weight they lost, you know that losing weight for good isn’t just about changing your diet and exercise habits.
The problem is that you have poor weight loss mindset habits that are holding you back from achieving your goals—and as much as we hate to admit it, we all have them! To make matters worse, your self-doubt can be the worst in hindering your progress toward permanent weight loss.
Your mindset has a lot to do with whether or not you’ll be successful at losing weight and keeping it off. After all, if you don’t believe that losing weight will make you feel better or that you deserve to feel good about yourself, it’s unlikely that you’ll stick with it long enough to see results.
So here are 10 important mindset shifts that can help you lose weight for good.
Free Download: How To Stick To Your Fitness Resolutions10 Mindset Tips To Help You Lose Weight For Good
The most important thing to remember when trying to lose weight for good is to be in the right mindset. If you don’t believe you can do it, you won’t.
And if you think food is your only source of comfort, then what’s wrong with eating a little more? You just need to find other things that make you happy and focus on those.
It will get easier with time. Once you start seeing results, you’ll realize how much better life is without extra weight weighing you down. The next step will be keeping up the habits that helped you lose weight so that the pounds stay off permanently!
1. You Always Have Control Over Your Body and Its Weight
You must change your mindset to lose weight and keep it off.
You need to believe that you can do it, that you deserve it, and that you have the power to make it happen. So shift your thinking from I can’t to I can, from I don’t deserve it to I do, and from food is my enemy to food is my fuel.
When you make these mindset shifts, losing weight will become easier and more permanent.
But there’s one important caveat: Maintaining this new way of thinking won’t be easy. It’ll take a lot of work on your part. But with effort and commitment, all this hard work will pay off in spades!
2. Don’t Let How Much You Eat Affect How Much You’ll Eat Next Time
If you’re someone who tends to overeat, it can be helpful to think about your meals in terms of how much fuel they’ll give you rather than how much gratification they’ll provide. Food is fuel for your body, and it’s important to eat enough to keep your energy levels up.
However, that doesn’t mean you need to overindulge every time you eat. If you ate a bit too much at one meal, simply cut back a bit at the next one. And if you’ve had a good day of eating (or exercising), don’t feel guilty!
There will always be more opportunities to lose weight. Instead, make sure to appreciate what you did right and what progress you made today.
3. Food Is Just Like Any Other Pleasurable Activity; When Done in Excess, They’re Both Harmful
Whenever you feel the urge to eat, ask yourself if you’re hungry or just looking for something to do. If it’s the latter, find a different activity to occupy your time. A great way to distract yourself is by eating some vegetables!
They have plenty of fiber and water, filling you up without adding much to your waistline. If you still want that sweet dessert, indulge in moderation with friends – but make sure it’s not an everyday occurrence.
When tempted by high-calorie food that we may have limited access to regularly (like chocolate), think about what else might be driving this desire: Perhaps loneliness?
4. Think Ahead of Ways to Lose Weight Without Depriving Yourself
If you want to lose weight for good, you must shift your mindset. There are a few simple mindset shifts that will help you achieve this goal:
- I deserve this healthy lifestyle.
- Food is fuel, not gratification.
- Set goals for self-improvement rather than for weight loss.
- Don’t deprive yourself of food; just eat less of the foods that make you overeat.
When you start thinking about a diet, does your mind immediately think that you’ll have to go hungry? Or that you’re going to cut out all your favorite things and exercise every day?
These thoughts immediately stop you because they take away all motivation. So when these negative thoughts occur, stop and think ahead of ways you can still enjoy eating delicious food without feeling deprived.
5. Don’t Look at Exercise as Punishment But as a Necessary Part of Life
One of the biggest mindset shifts you can make when it comes to weight loss is to see exercise not as a punishment but as a necessary part of life. Just like brushing your teeth or taking a shower, exercise is something you need to do regularly to take care of your body.
And when you start seeing it that way, it becomes much easier to make it a priority. It’s also important to understand that exercise doesn’t have to be complicated – you need two things:
Your plan can be anything from running on the treadmill for 10 minutes every day after work, doing 30 minutes of strength training at home twice per week, walking 30 minutes daily at lunchtime with co-workers and/or friends, and so on.
Free Download: How To Stick To Your Fitness Resolutions6. You Don’t Need to Exercise Everyday to Lose Weight
If you want to lose weight and keep it off, you don’t need to spend hours at the gym daily. You don’t even need to exercsie every day. You just need to ensure that when you do exercise, you’re working hard enough to see results.
Too many people get hung up on being perfect or doing it right. And in doing so, they end up not making any progress. You’re doing great as long as you keep your heart rate up for an appropriate time!
A major reason why people struggle with weight loss is that they’re eating more than their body needs. Don’t deprive yourself, but also don’t overeat. Keep a food journal to monitor what you eat (and how much), and then set realistic goals for yourself based on how much energy your body requires in a day.
You’ll be surprised how quickly those pounds will come off once you start paying attention to what you put into your mouth!
7. Eating Poorly For a Day or Two Doesn’t Undo All of Your Work
It’s easy to feel like you’ve ruined all of your hard work after eating poorly for a day or two. But it’s important to remember that one or two bad days doesn’t mean you have to start all over again.
Instead, get back on track with healthy eating and exercise, and you’ll be back to reaching your weight loss goals. Plus, don’t forget about the good habits you’ve already built. The occasional slip-up won’t undo everything if you eat well and moderate physical activity.
8. The Amount You Move Every Day Contributes Greatly to Your Weight Loss
The more active you are, the more calories you’ll burn and the easier it will be to lose weight for good. But don’t think that you have to go to the gym for hours every day or run a marathon to see results.
Every little bit counts, so even if you can only fit in a 30-minute walk daily, do it! (Try incorporating some high-intensity cardio intervals) Don’t worry about how many miles or minutes you’re logging – focus on moving your body as much as possible daily.
9. Exercise Doesn’t Have to be About Losing Weight: It Can be Fun!
We all know that exercise is good for us, but sometimes it can be hard to find the motivation to get started.
Most of the time, we think about exercise as something that will help us lose weight and feel better about ourselves. But it doesn’t have to be all about losing weight! It’s also important to remember that exercise makes you happier.
Research has shown that people who exercise regularly are less likely to develop depression than those who don’t. So if you’re feeling down and unmotivated, try taking up an activity such as running or cycling just for fun without worrying about how many calories you’re burning. Physical activity will make your body feel great while giving your brain much-needed downtime!
10. If You Slip up on Dieting or Exercising, Tomorrow is Another Day
It’s easy to feel like you’ve failed when you slip up on your diet or miss a day of exercise.
But if you want to lose weight and keep it off, you must change your mindset. So the next time you slip up, don’t beat yourself up – just get back into the game the next day. A successful dieter can stay in shape even with mistakes. Of course, every week has its ups and downs, but that doesn’t mean we should give up. We’re only human, after all!
Free Download: Stick To Your Health Goals & Lose Weight For Good
Health and fitness goals are notoriously prone to not being fulfilled. Making a resolution, a promise to ourselves that we’re going to do something different than we’ve done in the past can be a challenge.
Statistics show that by the end of the first week, 25% of people have given up and gone back to their pre-resolution ways. But it doesn’t have to be that way. To help you stick to your health goals, download this free Fitness Resolution Report to see how trying to lose weight for good doesn’t have to be like a prison sentence.
