Who wants weight loss to feel easier? All of us. When you think of weight loss, do you envision calorie counting and working out for hours at a time? Maybe it’s cleaning out the pantry and swearing off your favorite foods? For so many of us, weight loss is a nasty list of to-do’s that feels hard. And when weight loss feels hard we convince ourselves that we need something magical like motivation or a special Monday to get started on it. But weight loss doesn’t have to be hard. Weight loss can feel a whole lot easier in just a few steps.
Quit calling it hard
Weight loss will feel infinitely easier if you stop calling it hard. Now before you write this off as ineffective, hear me out.
Your brain has an amazing thing call the Reticular Activating System (RAS). The RAS filters the information that comes through our brain as important or unimportant. So in a busy restaurant, it filters out all the conversations around you until you hear someone shout your name, then you turn and pay attention. The RAS is tuned into your name as an important piece of information so it can pick it out of a noisy restaurant.
When you tell yourself over and over that weight loss is so hard, your RAS takes that as important information and goes to look for the supporting evidence that losing weight is hard. For instance, it will key in on how much you sweat during a workout or how deprived you feel when you can’t have a brownie. You think weight loss is hard and your RAS finds all of the evidence of hard for you.
If you quit saying weight loss is hard, your RAS will stop looking for all the evidence that weight loss is hard.
Start calling it easy
The next step in making weight loss feel easier is to call it easy.
Hold on…I can hear you now….. but it’s not easy! Ok. But are some parts of it easy? Be sure to point that out to yourself. Even if it is just filling up your water bottle, remind yourself that was easy. Driving to the gym? That was easy. Maybe you completed a workout and it didn’t kill you like you thought it would, tell yourself “That was easier than I thought it would be.”
Give your RAS the challenge of finding easy things about weight loss and pretty soon you’ll be feeling that weight loss doesn’t feel as hard as it did before.
Make it enjoyable
Typically the things you enjoy in life are things you want to do more often. Enjoyable tasks are not difficult or hard. What can you do to make weight loss more enjoyable? Start thinking outside of the box.
Weight loss doesn’t have to be cutting carbs and running long distances. Think about what you really enjoy eating and drinking. Is there a way to modify them to make them healthier? What exciting, healthier recipes are out there just waiting for you to try them?
Another sure fire way to make weight loss feel easier is only moving your body in ways you actually enjoy. Running or the stair machine are not your only options. There are literally thousands of options out there. Walking, chair yoga, Zumba, water aerobics, pole dancing or Tai Chi to name a few.
There are different speeds and flavors for everyone. When movement is enjoyable, it makes weight loss feel easier and you’re more likely to stick with it.
Need more ideas? Check out this blog post.
Recognize your accomplishment
I find it so much easier to do things for my family when they give me a quick Thank You for my efforts. When was the last time you thanked yourself for making healthy choices? We all want to feel like what we do matters. Recognition does a long way in increasing the chance we repeat that action.
Have you ever thought about why you can’t stop yourself from reaching for the potato chips or the chocolate? It’s because it feels good! They are tasty, the experience of eating it is fun and afterwards we get a dopamine hit. When you are losing weight we often have to resist those foods that we love and are so fun to eat. And what’s the reward?? Getting to resist it the next time we want it too.
Giving yourself recognition when you make a healthy choice is paramount to making weight loss feel easier. When you recognize your efforts and give yourself a pat on the back, you want to do more of that activity in the future. And don’t just stop at the proverbial pat on the back. Find other ways to recognize yourself. Plan for rewards after a certain number of workouts completed or pounds lost. Give yourself a high five in a mirror and say “I’m proud of me!”
So give yourself a Thank You. Even if it was just for reading this blog post and opening your mind to the possibility that weight loss can be easier.
Your Coach,
Andrea