The ONE thing you HAVE to do if you want to lose weight
So often I hear people say that they can’t lose weight, it’s impossible, it’s too hard. But what they are really telling me is that they can’t commit to a weight loss plan for the length of time it takes to make a difference. I completely understand this. The problem with losing weight in a sustainable way is that it is a really slow process giving you plenty of opportunities to give up along the way. We have all done it: set off with the best intentions to eat well, go to the gym, go to bed earlier etc and then several days later find ourselves plonked on the sofa, bingeing Netflix, eating chocolate and wondering why it has all gone wrong, again.
“How can I stick to my weight loss plan?” is one of the most frequent questions I am asked in coaching. So this blog will concentrate on the one thing you have to change to maximise your chances of staying on plan and finally reaching your goal weight.
The thing you have to change is, of course, your mindset! Yawn, yes I know you have been told this before, but to really change your mindset you have to understand why your brain keeps telling you to give up. It is all because of the way our brains have been programmed. Our brains are conditioned to seek pleasure, avoid pain and expend as little energy as possible in the process. This is how we have evolved, there is nothing you can do about it. This programming worked in the past when we lived in caves and were hunter gatherers, relying on our instincts for survival. The problem is that the programming is outdated for our current lifestyles when we need to do the hard things in order to learn new skills. The pain our brain is trying to avoid is no longer a physical pain but the emotional battle of taking action and doing the things we know we have to do rather than choosing comfort.
Knowing this will help you understand why your brain wants you to give up when your weight loss plan becomes difficult. When you are tired and would rather order a take away than cook dinner, when you are feeling anxious and want comfort food rather than a salad. It does not mean you are weak or lazy or whatever else you are telling yourself, all it means is that your primitive brain is doing its job.
So if this is the way our brains have evolved, how do we change them, how do we change our mindset? The good news is that we have another part of our brain, the pre-frontal cortex, which has the ability to overrule the primitive brain. This part of the brain knows about consequences and can rationalise and evaluate situations. It is this part of the brain that we need to activate if we want to stay on track with our weight loss plan. This is this shift I am referring to when I ask you to change your mindset.
The change you have to make is to hear everything your primitive brain tells you but then allow the other part of your brain to kick in. Allow that pre-frontal cortex to remind you that yes, sitting on the sofa with some chocolate will feel great now but how will it make you feel later? How will you feel about yourself in the morning when you have had another evening of comfort eating and have to recommit to your plan for the hundredth time?
Making this change is possible and it is the difference between sticking with a plan until you reach your goal, and continuing in the endless cycle of committing to a plan, giving up on your plan, feeling rubbish then committing to a new plan and so on.
The more times you are able to listen to this other part of your brain and allow it to overrule what your primitive brain says the easier this will become. Like any skill, you have to practise and practise until it becomes a habit. This is why I run regular “habit reset” plans with my clients so that we can continue practising these skills. You need to practise until it becomes normal to choose discomfort over comfort, the hard option over the easy one. Until your mindset is such that you take the actions required by your weight loss plan even if they are more demanding and less enjoyable in the moment than the easy option would be.
To lose the weight you have always wanted to lose and achieve the results you have been dreaming about, make a positive change to your mindset and you will be able to stick to your plan for long enough to enable it to work.
