GETTING YOUR HEAD TOGETHER part 1.

Let me ask you, do you think if you could click your fingers and have the body of your dreams, would you be happy?

Of course you'd say yes and loudly, but the answer is actually NO!

There's a saying "As you think so shall you become!" - Bruce Lee.

You can change your outside cover anytime, but if you keep your old thought patterns you will just go back to familiar behaviours and the old outside will return.

I believe the way you think about food determines how much you eat, what you crave and when you eat it.

You have to change the way you think about and your behaviours towards food and exercise. Initially the changes you make will feel like sacrifices. In time they will just be the way you choose to eat. But making sacrifices is hard and you may not achieve it the first, second and even third time you make changes. But if you persevere you WILL achieve your weight loss goal.

So let's get your head ready.

Firstly, don't make a big song and dance about your choice to commit to your weight loss goal, the quiet achiever, achieves more if they have not made a declaration about this, not everyone will support you in your new health goal.

STEP 1. TIME IS ON YOUR SIDE!

I really hope I am able to convey this to you with clarity; this time frame issue is the hardest issue with losing weight that you will face. It will be the biggest hurdle to get over and will be your strongest challenge to achieving your ideal weight, it will stop you in your tracks if you let it.

Please persevere.

You have to understand that losing weight does not happen over night or in a week, a month and sometimes even in a year you may still not have achieved your weight loss goal. It has taken me over 5 years to achieve what I have to date and I still feel I am not quite at my ideal shape yet.

Whaaat I hear you say I can't wait 5 years I have a party next week!

I will say this again and again to you, quick weight loss will only result in quick weight regain and more of it. A 6 or 12 week starvation plan of 1200 cals to 1500 cals will make you lose weight. Bbut in 3 months you will be 2 if not 3 times the size you were before and 10 x's as unhappy.

How many years have you been over weight for? For me it was over 10 years for you this time frame may be similar. Nothing you have done so far has worked; you have yet to achieve the weight loss you have wanted. So try something new, make time be on your side by simply accepting it will take longer than you anticipate and then sing the frozen song "let it go, let it go"

Becoming overweight is easy, and it is not something you are aware of until you ARE! It is pleasant to gain weight because you are eating yummy energy dense foods and getting a lovely neurotransmitter rush in your brain because sugar and fat stimulate your reward centre with Dopamine.

Losing this gained weight is not so much fun. It will be, but at first changing the way you eat and introducing exercising will suck. It's not proportional unfortunately, exercising and changing eating habits feels like hard work compared to eating yourself silly.

STEP 2. ZOOLANDER TIME, OWN IT BABY OWN IT!

Next you need to own it! If you are looking for a way to lose weight that allows you to blame others for your size then you need to find somewhere else to get your information! Am I being harsh, you bet. I like to deal in truths and I tell it like it is. I don't care if your family are obese so are mine, I don't care if life has dealt you the short straw. I've got plenty of short straws. Or your spouse like's you big and encourages you to eat and buy's energy dense foods to constantly temp you.

If you do not become responsible about your weight and your choice to eat those foods and not exercise YOU WILL NEVER LOSE WEIGHT without medical intervention and even then you will regain if you don't change the behaviour.

The only person you need to admit this too is you.

Once you accept that you and only you have made yourself the size you are you will be in the driver's seat, YOU will have the power to control it.

STEP 3. MIRROR, MIRROR ON THE WALL.

Hands up who stands in front of the mirror and huffs and puffs whilst looking at themselves from every angle, sometimes you cry, bad cry, snotty nose and all. Mostly you just feel bad, disappointed, defeated like a loser etc, etc. Aww poor you boo hoo, here's a tissue. Am I being insensitive YEP and why cause I've done this a hundred million times and do you know what it did for me? Made me fatter!

This is destructive behaviour and it does nothing but make you want to self-soothe which means it will make you eat, you have to stop it!

Negative self-talk is the biggest killer of all dreams, goals and aspirations, if you think you can't ..... You never will. 'The body achieves what the mind believes - unknown'. But you have to do the work as well.

Learn to identify this behaviour in yourself and stop it from happening, if you hear yourself saying bad things about yourself and putting yourself down, even if you say it in a joking tone or flippantly "Oh I'm such and idiot' you will act on it.

Changing this behaviour takes time. The hardest part is actually identifying that you are doing it because often we have been putting ourselves down for so long that we don't realise we are doing it. We don't grow up being told to think highly of ourselves. When was the last time you told yourself yore awesome? We may tell others we think they're awesome but we don't tell ourselves, why because society says "Oh aren't you full of yourself"! I want you to learn to say YES, I DAMN WELL AM, I AM AWESOME! (I do this all the time now but it took time for me to be comfortable to do it).

Limited thinking will stop you from achieving your goal. And not just weight loss ANYTHING you are working towards achieving will be doomed if you continue to allow yourself to think this way. If you know you do this or you can identify with what I am saying seek help - professional help, learn the skills needed to change this behaviour and there will be nothing you cannot do!

STEP 4. WHO ARE YOU!

Know thy self! Most people know their limitations, if you don't then you need to learn them, in the early stages of your behaviour change it is important to be very aware of what they are. Don't place yourself in a situation that will tempt you if you know you will not have the skills and strength to resist, like attending an all you can eat restaurant in the early part of your behaviour change.

I will expand on each of these in part 2, this is enough to get your head around for now.