If you’ve ready any of my past blogs about fat loss, you know that I’m not a fan of meal plans or diets that don’t come customized for an individual. I’m the kind of coach that gets to know my clients on a deep level because the only way I can actually help them long-term. I need to know their thought patterns, hang-ups and barriers they’re holding onto when it comes to their body. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, if you’re struggling to lose weight it’s never about the food and it’s all about what’s going on between your ears.
I’m going to give you three necessary mindset shifts you need to make (and a mantra to use with each) in order to make fat loss a success. Before you try another diet, buy another meal plan or pick yourself apart in the mirror thinking that’s going to give you the motivation you need to get your butt in gear, read this first.
1. Patience
We want results and we want them FAST, I get that, and it can be really hard to keep going when you don’t see the results of your labor as quickly as you’d like. When it comes to fat loss all we really have to do is put ourselves in a caloric deficit, meaning we burn more calories than we take in.
Seems simple enough, right? It is. But simple doesn’t mean easy. If it were easy, I wouldn’t be writing this blog post and to be frank, since 99% of my clients are in my programs for weight loss, I wouldn’t have much of a business, would I? ;o)
Now I know, slow and steady isn’t as exciting as the promise of losing 10 pounds in 10 days (which is a bogus claim so DO NOT BUY INTO THAT CRAP) but in the world of fat loss, slow and steady really does win the race. That initial drop can be super motivating, but guess what? It doesn’t last. The faster it comes off, the faster it will come back on, and this is exactly why patience is SO important when it comes to fat loss.
You need to remind yourself every day, several times a day that this is a slow process and usually the slower the better because that means you’re not doing a quick fix and you’re building sustainable habits that lead to long-term weight loss.
Mantra: slow and steady wins the race
2. Persistence
Persistence means you’re going to keep working towards your goals and keep moving forward despite any difficulty, frustration or setbacks. Good LORD is this hard! It’s so easy to throw in the towel when we’ve been dieting for a month and we only see a 4 pound drop, isn’t it? It’s even easier to quit when we don’t lose any weight after being so “good” for an extended period of time. It’s even EASIER to quit when the diet is so damn hard we can’t even stick to it for longer than a week.
But here’s the thing- you have to develop a persistent and resilient mindset in order to be successful at fat loss. I will be 100% honest and tell you that you will have setbacks, you will have doubts and you will have plenty of days when you want to quit and THAT’S TOTALLY NORMAL! However, it’s super important to cultivate a strong and resilient mindset so that those feelings and thoughts are fleeting and aren’t strong enough to keep you from reaching your goals
Mantra: I am stronger than my excuses
3. Positivity
This is the GAME CHANGER. If you immediately begin criticizing yourself when you look in the mirror, call yourself “fat” when you eat a treat, tell yourself you’re “so out of shape” when you feel tired at the gym…you’re literally KILLING any chance you have at succeeding in losing weight.
Negative self-talk be so incredibly damaging to our body but even more so to our minds and if we don’t get our mind right before we try to lose weight, we can’t maintain our results. I say this a lot but it’s a great reminder: when we think negatively about ourselves and our actions, we will eventually make decisions that will be consistent with those thoughts. Negative thoughts lead to negative actions and it’s nearly impossible to change our actions before we change our thoughts.
Positivity has to be a priority (I know it’s difficult, believe me) and working on just one simple thought per day of something to be grateful for can be a HUGE game changer in the long run. Those negative thoughts are just noise and when you’re taking the leap to change your lifestyle, we don’t have time for that nonsense 😉 Focus on the positive stuff, because that’s what matters.
Mantra: Focus on what matters
I talk about this stuff in depth with the women in my monthly membership group, Living Lean Lifestyle Club and I’m currently accepting new members into this amazing group of women. Get more details HERE and join us for our 30 Day Fat Loss Jumpstart beginning September 5th.
