Losing weight is often a positive experience. It helps to improve your overall health and potentially reduce the likelihood of having various conditions. Plus, it’s a great way to boost your self-confidence!
However, many people assume that losing weight will solve all their problems.
While it has its benefits, you need to make sure you are losing pounds for the correct reasons. Here’s a closer look at the importance of being realistic about your weight loss goals and how realistic goals are better for accomplishing weight loss!
Losing weight gives you a huge boost of self-confidence! Many people are treated badly or judged at some point due to being overweight. This can negatively impact how you view yourself.
That’s because being overweight in our society is frowned upon. Being overweight is typically associated with the personality traits of laziness and over-indulgence.
Many people struggle to break free from a cycle of overeating and inactivity but find it difficult because it has now become a lifestyle habit. But habits are very hard to break which is why it is difficult to lose weight.
Trying repeatedly to lose weight can become a vicious cycle, which can be difficult to break free from and it wrecks your self-esteem as time goes on.
It is important to remember that while losing weight can increase your self-esteem, it is not a cure all for your problems. When approaching weight loss you have to reframe your thinking toward what you want to accomplish.
Reframe Your Thoughts About Weight Loss
Weight loss is more than increasing your self-esteem
Weight loss is typically can be beneficial for your overall health. It can help to prevent and even reverse some conditions, such as high blood pressure.
Losing weight can have the following impressive benefits for you physically:
- Lowers blood sugar levels to prevent or reduce the likelihood of diabetes
- Reduces your risk of heart disease
- Lowers high blood pressure
- Receive better sleep
- Increase mobility of the joints while reducing joint pain
- Reduce the risk of certain cancers like kidney, liver, and pancreatic cancer
It is important to discuss weight loss with your doctor before beginning a diet! Your doctor will be able to help you to set realistic goals and let you know what weight loss can do for you physically.
It is important to lose weight for the right reasons. Improving your mental and physical health is a perfect place to start your weight loss journey. Just remember that losing the weight won’t always fix everything, and you need to be reasonable when approaching the issue and when developing an effective plan.
If you keep a positive mindset and know what you are working towards, you should be able to crush goals and possibly improve your health in a realistic and achievable way.
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You still have to do the work
One of the most important things to remember about weight loss is that it is not going to miraculously solve all of your problems. Sure, you will fit into the clothes you want and have a big boost of self-confidence, but it stops there.
It isn’t going to cure your emotional state, help you find relationship, lead to career success or fix your mindset. You are going to have to do that on your own and you can!
Many people are often under the misconception that all their problems stem from being overweight, when the majority of their problems don’t relate to their weight at all.
By reframing your thinking from the “all or nothing” mindset you put yourself on the path of self-discovery that your weight is not everything.
Focus on a healthier life after weight loss
Once you achieve your weight loss goal, you may be tempted to drop your diet regiment and indulge for in food you gave up to celebrate you weight loss.
And you should celebrate and indulge, but only within moderation!
But there are still struggles and temptations that you set you back in life. If you’re not focused on how your life will look after weight loss, then you’re not seeing the whole picture.
Start implementing ways to keep healthy habits in your life to in turn keep the weight off long-term.
Practice Mindfulness With Food Cravings
Close your eyes and think of how you feel right now. What sounds do you hear? What do you smell? Take a couple deep breaths and repeat this process until your anxieties are dulled and cravings are muted.
This is called “mindfulness.” And it’s very beneficial to weight loss. Mindfulness will only help you focus on what you eat and your feelings toward food.
It’s important to be mindful of how you feel and what’s around you. You can practice mindfulness when you eat by eating without distraction (watching TV or being on your phone) and learning to slow down and fully chew your food. Savor the taste of each bite and learn to recognize early fullness cues your body is sending.
Work toward a healthy lifestyle
Weight loss comes from healthy habits. Habits take a while to form. However, once they are engrained in your everyday life you’ll begin to continue this new found lifestyle.
Instead of thinking of weight loss as “dieting,” reframe your thoughts and think of it as a healthy lifestyle. People go on and off diets all the time. They stick to a lifestyle!
Identify your trigger foods
What are your favorite comfort foods? Comfort foods are foods that give people a feeling of happiness when they’re consumed. Unfortunately, most comfort foods consist of high fat, sugar, and carbohydrates. Life isn’t fair is it!?
While it’s perfectly alright to indulge in comfort foods sometimes in moderation, these comfort foods can also trigger over-indulgence and wreak havoc on your self-esteem and weight loss goals if not controlled.
Sit down with a piece of paper and pen and list some of your go to favorite comfort foods. What foods do you run to when you’re nervous, bored, or depressed?
Now, display this somewhere you see it every day like the refrigerator. Identifying these foods can help you be mindful of what your food weaknesses are.
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Look toward long-term success
You might have short-term reasons for weight loss, like wearing a two-piece on the beach. These are perfectly good reasons but won’t help with long-term success. For reframing your thoughts think of all the reasons losing weight will benefit you for years to come.
Is it… Having more energy to play with your kids at the park? Being comfortable in your own skin and the size you are? Lowering your risk of many physical ailments?
These are all examples of long-term weight loss goals that you can reap years down the road after losing the weight.
Accept yourself the way you are
Most likely you’re trying to lose weight because you hate the way you look. That’s perfectly acceptable!
But negative self-talk is never good for anyone! This negative thinking toward your body will only make your weight loss journey that more difficult.
While hating your body might kick off your weight loss, but it won’t keep you going. Instead, be positive! Appreciate the body for what it can do for you now.
Appreciate your body for what it does and compliment your body every day. When you get to a place of acceptance, it is amazing how much easier weight loss actually becomes.
Make a Commitment to Lose Weight
Making a commitment to lose weight can be challenging. Many people resolve to lose the extra weight that is bringing them down.
However, it can be easy to get off-track and lose your motivation before you have begun. This can lead to a cycle of yo-yo dieting, which can be discouraging and make you feel like you will never accomplish your goals.
Understand why you turn to food
This is another mindfulness trick. If you emotional eat and turn to food to comfort you, you need to get to the root cause of why.
Overeating is typically a caused by a deeper emotional issue. Some people eat out of boredom and others may eat due to depression or past trauma.
If you find yourself using food as a coping mechanism with the stresses of life, it may be time to break the cycle and find other ways to deal with underlying issues.
For some people this may even mean therapy to help your understand why you have a negative relationship with food.
Find Alternative Coping Mechanisms
Once you’ve identified the cause of overeating, you need to begin to address this issue and find better coping mechanisms.
If you are eating out of boredom, you may want to find a new hobby to take up your time. For example, you could play a new instrument or take online courses to further your education.
This will help to take your mind off of eating and will allow you to focus your energy on something else.
Hold Yourself Accountable
Accountability is different than guilt tripping yourself into losing weight!
One way to do this is by tracking your calorie intake daily or tracking your macros.
It may also be helpful to track your weight and measurements, short- and long-term goals, and keep a food journal.
Monitoring the progress makes you accountable to yourself and your new healthy lifestyle.
Conclusion
It is important to lose weight for the right reasons. Improving your physical well-being is a great start!
But you need to remember that losing weight won’t always fix everything in your life.
You need to be reasonable with the goals you set for yourself and any underlying issues you may be dealing with as these affect your weight loss.
As long as you keep a positive mindset and reframe your thoughts about weight loss, you will find the success you are looking for to become the best version of yourself.
