4 Mindset Shifts for Lasting Weight Loss

I am ____________.

How would you fill in the blank?

I am beautiful. I am loved. I am worthy. I am confident. I am capable of achieving my goals and making my dreams a reality.

Or is it more like this most days? I am fat. I am alone. I am unlovable. I am pathetic. I am never going to lose weight. I am tired of trying.

Hopefully it’s more positive like the first set of affirmations but my guess the second set rings true most days. Our self-talk can be rough. But if you’ve ever thought these thoughts, you’re not alone.

Before losing over 25 pounds, I had the same thoughts. I felt the same way as you do now. I did Weight Watchers for a year before I realized the only person I was cheating when I tried to cram as many “0 point” foods as possible into one day was myself. It was then that I realized food and exercise were only half the equation.

I needed to change my mindset.

Once I changed my mindset, everything started to click. Even when the scale didn’t move, I had the motivation to keep going.

Here are my four biggest “aha’s” and the mindset shifts I share with my clients:

1 | Change your story.

As long as you keep self-identifying with the story that led you to become overweight, you will never be able to break free. Especially if you have been overweight your entire life or recently experienced a traumatic event and turned to food as a coping mechanism, these stories can be hard to shake. Give yourself time and don’t be afraid to reach out to a therapist or qualified professional to help you navigate this step.

2 | Stop making excuses.

As a nutritionist and wellness coach, I have heard every reason (excuse) in the book and have even used them myself at times. At restaurants we order the usual 3,000 calorie meal we’ve always ordered because we are afraid of what people will think when we ask for grilled chicken and steamed veggies. Besides, what’s the point of eating out after all if we are just going to order something healthy or off-menu? Or how about this one - “I had to eat the pie. It would have been rude to turn it away.” Really, people?? We are all adults and are responsible for making choices that either help us or hurt us. Sure, there is room for “fun” restaurant meals and pie in a healthy diet, but when we use these excuses over and over again we will never see progress. Which brings me to…

3 | You can’t keep doing the same things and expect a different outcome.

This one was HUGE for me. When I finally made the choice to join Weight Watchers, I was in college. I decided to join online at first because it was cheaper and, to be honest, I was embarrassed to go to meetings. After all, I was studying health and nutrition and was a self-proclaimed health nut so going to meetings would have meant admitting I didn’t have it all together (because my 30 pound weight gain definitely didn’t give that away). Plus, everyone knew Weight Watchers was for old ladies. Well, long story short, that didn’t work. I thought by doing WW online, I was being sneaky. No one would really know if I gained weight or lost it except me. I would track my food until I ran out of lines on my tracker after going on a pantry raid and then would just say, “Oh well. I will start again tomorrow.” And continue to binge on chocolate and peanut butter. For some reason, I thought it was OK because, hey, at least I tried. But this doesn’t work! If you keep “trying” and “starting tomorrow” you will never see results! Try for real and start for real. Today. Not tomorrow. And if you mess up, so what? Start again immediately, not tomorrow or next week. And no matter how well you think you’re doing or how healthy you think you are eating, if you’ve made it this far in the blog post you probably need to do something differently to see the results you want. Just sayin’ ;)

4 | Envision your ideal self and cling to it.

I love this one and think it is the most fun and inspiring. I often have my clients create a vision board and place it somewhere they will see it every day. I encourage you to do the same. When you create it, really feel how your future self feels. Is she confident? Is she less bloated? Does she have more energy? Now think of what she eats for breakfast, her morning routine. Does she exercise every day? Three times a week? What does she eat for dinner? Find images or words that reflect your ideal self and put them on your vision board (you can also create a digital board like Pinterest if you use your computer every day). When you’re tempted to skip a workout just because you don’t “feel like it” or eat seconds when you’re not hungry, channel your ideal self. Often times, being able to reconnect with those feelings of accomplishment is enough to motivate you to get your booty to the gym or pass on the second slice of chocolate cake.

You’ve got this!