subject: Weight Loss Secret – What You Absolutely Need To Know To Lose Weight Successfully [print this page] Weight Loss Secret What You Absolutely Need To Know To Lose Weight Successfully
I have a friend, let's call her Gayle, who is so knowledgeable about nutrition that she could easily write a book. She could create a personalized plan for you to completely turn your health around and start losing weight immediately. She could create your shopping lists, outline your weekly meal plans and customize your work outs, all for optimum success. However, Gayle struggles with her own weight, with fatigue and depression. What on earth is going on? Gayle has all the information she needs in her head, but cannot get herself to take action on any of it. What is the missing link?
Gayle suffers from self-defeating behaviors. They may not be huge and serious like cutting herself or being addicted to drugs or alcohol. Instead they are the small things that keep her from being successful.
There is a survey, posted by the National Institutes of Health, on procrastination. It lists common activities many of us plan to do tomorrow:
Watch less TV.
Improve diet.
Quit smoking.
Floss.
Exercise.
Does this sound familiar? This survey by Choi, Laibson, Madrian, and Metrick (2002) says that "an impatient short-run view leads us to postpone sacrifices to tomorrow, so we live hand to mouth, borrow on credit cards, and procrastinate."
We want quick fixes and immediate rewards and we'd rather not be uncomfortable today to reap the benefits tomorrow. The study goes on to analyze different parts of the brain and finds that one part (the limbic structures) is impatient, and another structure (the fronto-parietal system) is patient. There is definite separation between the emotional (impatient) and analytic (patient) brain processes. You would then think that it would be easier for someone who is analytical to reason the pros and cons of delaying doing something healthy for the body, but I happen to know several people who are very analytical and still struggle with their weight and health.
What is the solution?
Step one, is awareness. If we realize that our emotional brain tries every trick to get us to put off things till tomorrow, we can say "thank you, but you really don't have my best interest in mind, so I'm not going to listen to you."
If you're like me, you have some big goals, some medium size goals and then there are the small ones, that you may not even classify as goals. The small everyday things you intend to do, the "tomorrow afternoon at work I'm going to have a healthy snack instead of a candy bar", or "I'm going to clean out that closet this week", or "I'm going to be patient with my husband when he leaves the toilet seat up." Let me tell you, it's often way easier for me to think about the big goal that I'm going to accomplish by summer of next year, than it is for me to commit to be patient with my husband today. However, I have come to learn that there is no way I'll ever achieve a big goal if I'm not willing to honor the smaller commitments of every day. So many people skip the little goals to get to the big goals. Don't. Keep all of your commitments, small or big, and whether made to yourself or others.
The key to success is to KEEP YOUR WORD. Do what you say you're going to do. Get good at succeeding at the little things. Think about your results, not your reasons of why you can't. Instead of thinking "I can't", think "how can I".
Best selling author and motivational speaker T. Harv Eker talks about the 5 elements needed for change in any area of life:
1. Clear intention (get clear on what you want)
2. Commitment (commit to achieving what you want)
3. Plan or Strategy (find a way that will work for you)
4. Action and Doing (stop talking about it and do it)
5. Continuity (Continue taking action to achieve your goal)
If you can embrace this secret to succeed at anything, you can successfully lose weight, by making a 100% commitment and deciding that your word is law. That if you say you're going to do something, you do it, no matter what. Once you have taken this huge step towards your goal of losing weight, now you can proceed to the next one, a relatively easy one in comparison; finding a program that will work for you.
If you'd like help determining a good personalized weight loss program go to http://www.HealthWorksForYou.com
For detailed steps of how to turn your body into a fat burning system, go to http://healthworksforyou.com/offer/fat-burning-e-book/
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