Five Surprising Ways You Kill Your Weight Loss Progress
- Tree Ryde
Stop the yoyo diet once and for all.
So, there’s a fast food wrapper trail of broken promises behind you. Your willpower is missing in action. You’re sinking in the quicksand of guilt and complacency. Your self esteem is shot.
You’ve tried everything to find diets that work — weight loss supplements, calorie counting, low carb diets, weight loss teas — you name it. It’s not fair! Other people can lose weight. So you rationalize that maybe it’s in your genes or maybe it’s your addictive personality.
It’s time to discover what you’ve been doing wrong, so that you can finally learn the best way to lose weight:
1. You’re denying yourself the things you want.
When someone tells you that you can’t have ice cream, you just want it even more. Simple human nature. Willpower…not very powerful. So instead of denying yourself, embrace your desire. Own it.
Sometimes this can be scary. You may be worried if you give yourself permission to have it, you’ll never stop.
Think of this like a pendulum; it may swing back and forth for a bit, but whatever rhythm it settles in to will be more in tune with your needs than the tune you’re playing now.
2. You crave instant gratification.
The funny thing is when you talk to people who do this (and by now I have personally spoken to many hundreds of them), they admit that they usually just gulp the junk down and don’t even pay attention to the taste. They don’t heed their body’s signals.
Admit it, after binging, your body feels at least as crappy as the guilt and shame. So why not remind yourself of this BEFORE you eat 10 chocolate chip cookies, or a whole pizza or whatever your poison. Then see how tempting it actually is.
I once had a client whose friend would call her up and say: “Let’s go for ice cream. I want to eat my feelings.”
At least when kids say, “the dog ate my homework,” they know they are lying. Let’s face it, feelings are not edible. You finish the pint of ice cream, and the momentary high is followed with feeling even crappier.
3. You’re trying too hard to be perfect.
Diets often play to the all or nothing mentality of perfectionism. They claim to have the magic formula for you to FINALLY be the thin god or goddess you were meant to be.
Let’s face it, to have healthy weight loss, there has to be room for you to be human. After all, you’re going to go out with your friends, go on vacation, celebrate your birthday, enjoy the Christmas season. That’s part of living. So, ditch perfection and shoot for good enough.
4. You don’t give it enough time.
How many times have you been bummed out that you’ve stuck to your diet plan for a whole WEEK and you STILL don’t look good in that bikini? Then use it as an excuse to say “screw it” and crack open the chips?
I don’t need to tell you that this will take time. Therefore, be nice to yourself. Remember, realistic weight loss is your friend. Stick with it. Take small achievable steps. Celebrate taking the actions. Reward yourself along the way.
