Yes, that’s right.  When it comes to weight loss and a healthy lifestyle, you are the only one responsible for taking the appropriate steps to get there.

No one else can do it for you. It’s not like going to the hairdresser or the beauty therapist, or having a massage, where someone performs the service for you while you enjoy the time out. No, achieving a healthy lifestyle and losing weight requires you to actively work on it every day.

These days, more than ever, we tend to expect instant results. Whether it be buying a new car, renovating a house, having your garden landscaped or something else that makes a big change to your life, we want it and we want it now. Applying this mentality to weight loss is a sure fire way to be disappointed.

The majority of clients I see would like to lose 10 kilos plus and that is not going to happen instantly. It will require perseverance, it will require digging deep when things don’t go to plan and it will require some good old fashioned discipline.

Keep in mind that losing weight is a mental challenge, it is a head game and there will be lots of challenges along the way.
 

Before you embark on your weight loss journey you need to clarify exactly why you want to lose weight.  Do you have a goal in mind?

If you do and it is important enough, it can make it easier to get back on track when things don’t go to plan. You can read more about goal setting here.

Initially, it is a lot easier to cave in and revert back to eating high sugar, processed food than it is to stay eating healthy nutritious food. Our bodies crave sugar and when we eat it, our brain sends out feel-good chemicals that keep us coming back for more. Food addiction is a real thing and the more we stoke it with simple sugar and unhealthy food, the more we are driven to seek those foods.

When you get on a ‘bender’ and hit those kinds of food, all the excuses you can come up with for not eating good food and exercising make sense to you. You haven’t got time to prepare good food, your friends are eating pizza / takeaways / junk food, you are too tired to exercise, you are hungry and need to eat right now.

Yes, it’s all too easy to find a ‘reason’ why you can’t keep to your eating plan when your head isn’t in the right place.

Know that you are going to have those thoughts and that there will be times when you want to chuck it all in, but also know that eventually you will decide you aren’t happy and that you will need to start again. Believe me, it is way better to make slow, but sure progress, than to have to attack it all over again.

Slow progress is absolutely fine, it isn’t a race and the longer you persevere, the more likely it is that you are making permanent changes to your nutrition and lifestyle which will keep you in a good place. Keep in mind too that consistency is important. You simply won’t make progress if you eat well Monday to Wednesday, slack off a bit on Thursday and Friday and blow it big time at the weekend!

Too many people think a healthy lifestyle is a punishment or boring and see it in a negative light. What’s negative about eating vibrant, colourful and tasty food and having an abundance of energy? What’s negative about feeling good about yourself and fitting into clothes you love to wear? What’s negative about meeting a friend for a walk along the beach on a beautiful day? If you look for the downside, that’s exactly what you will find. Turn it around and look at the positives, there are so many more of them than negatives.

So the bottom line is that it is up to you. It isn’t about the perfect diet or the perfect exercise regime, it is about persevering and making good decisions most of the time.

Tips and Tricks

Have you read my nutrition tips? Give them a go to keep you motivated and on top of your weight loss goals.

Clients of the Month

I am so thrilled for both Alton and Bill who have now lost 20 kilos and 19.8 kilos respectively. They have persevered over winter and just kept at it. Both have had to buy new clothes and they each look so different to when I first met them. What a thrill for them to be feeling and looking so good in time for summer. Keep it up guys!

Spring is a time of renewal and the wonderful weather we had last weekend reminds us that summer isn’t too far away. If you want to be in great shape for summer, but need motivation and accountability, contact me now so that we can get you where you want to be. Do you know that it is a mere 11 weeks until Christmas?  How scary is that!!