Will Power Is Not Enough...
This year many will try a diet and most will fail to lose weight. The usual response to this failure by the people marketing diet products and plans is to blame you for that failure. This leaves you feeling defeated and guilty because of your lack of "will-power"
Blaming the individual also preserves the illusion that diets are an effective way to lose weight. I's time to stop the blame game and explore the real reasons diets fail.
I will get to the 5 steps shortly, but first, it's helpful to understand the 'why' of failure before we can overcome it.
The Heart Wants What The Heart Wants
I will use an example to explain.
When you see something like a candy bar it is not long before you feel a desire to eat it.
Most folks will blame the candy for causing the desire. They will then try to battle the craving with "will-power". Eventually they lose this battle and sooner or later give in and eat it. This "giving-in" often marks the end of the diet.
Giving In And Giving Up Is The Natural Choice, Unless.....
Now lets look at why this "giving-in" occurred. We know that the cognitive process that caused the craving for the candy went something like this; sensory input was received through the appropriate receptors [mainly eyes in this case] and the mind formed some type of neural or sensory representation of the object that will be defined as a candy bar.
We can regard this process as inescapable. If the sensory receptors are in working order, the mind will form a representation or neural image of the object.
When the image is formed our brain assign meanings, from memory, to the image. This thought is followed by an emotional response. if the meaning assigned included past memories of pleasant experiences,the craving is amplified.
A Candy Bar Has No Power...
So really it wasn't candy that caused the craving, but the cognitive process outlined.
Skipping past the 'sci-ency' stuff, when you see something you like it triggers a pleasure response and you will continue to want it until the craving is satisfied.
OK, Now That I Know The 'WHY" , How Bout the 'WHAT'
Get Emotional To Get Motivated
OK, my brain won't let me off the hook, so what can I do to fix it?
Get Emotional To Get Motivated
It's not as hard as you might think.The answer is to focus on your desired outcome (in this case weight loss) and understand fully that instant gratification will impede your progress.
You do this by defining your goal in an emotional way. It's not about losing 60 lbs, it's about having more energy, feeling better and being attractive, It's not about dropping dress sizes, it's about the feeling you get when you look in the mirror. It's not about self blame and shame, it's about self love wherever your journey takes you.
Focus on the feeling and your half way there.
Have you ever heard the expression "if you fail to plan, you plan to fail". Do these 5 steps in the planning stages, before you start your next diet. The diet you choose is less important than planning to overcome the roadblocks that you will encounter..
The 5 P's for Dieting Success.
Perceive
Think about what your future will be if you do nothing. Then set a goal based on what you want your future to be. write it down how much weight you need to lose and why you want to lose it. Be specific, remember to keep it emotional, e.g. when I lose that 50 lbs I'll feel better, look better and might want to socialize more. When I lose that 50 lbs I won't be embarrassed to get undressed in front of other people any more, When I lose that 50 lbs, my wife will find me more attractive and that's a turn on for me.
Prepare
Prepare for obstacles. Life never happens without problems. Decide in advance how you will handle eating out.
What healthy choices will you make? What will you do when you're in a hurry and just wanna grab some fast food? Write it down. e.g. When I go out to dinner I will have a salad with chicken, When I get a hamburger, I will only eat half of the bun and replace the fries and drink with a side salad and Water.
Plan
Plan for emotional eating. How will you handle it when something triggers a food craving? Do something else That you enjoy, instead of using food to make yourself feel better.
Count to 5 and take a short walk. Call a friend and talk about what's got you down. Write your plan down in advance. e.g. When my boss makes me mad I will ____ instead of eating. When I have a fight with my husband/boyfriend I will _____ instead of eating. If give in to temptation and eat something i know I shouldn't. I will _____ instead of eating even more.
Please Yourself
Create a reward system not based on food. When you reach a milestone, say 10 lbs reward yourself with something you have wanted. Write it down, e.g. When I lose the first 10 I will buy that new dress I want.When I lose the first 20, Ill get that new set of golf clubs I saw last week. When I lose 30 I'll go for that spa day.
Pick the Day
Pick a start date, Mark it on the calendar. it doesn't have to be tomorrow, in fact a week may be better. It will give you some time to research the available diets on the market and choose one that fits your lifestyle, personality and goals.
Do the 5 P's as soon as possible and you will get to the Sixth, which is Progress
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Writer: Bob Leverton (Fitness Author)
“Believing in negative thoughts is the single greatest obstruction to success.”
― Charles F. Glassma
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