If you want to have long-term progressive success with weight loss, making healthy lifestyle changes to lose weight is a must! Here are seven (7) lifestyle changes you can’t afford to ignore:
Almost everything that you need to do in order to lose weight boils down to routine, the food that you eat and the exercises that you do. If you are starting from scratch, you may feel like you have a mountain to climb, but YOU CAN DO IT, one step at a time.
When all of these factors are practiced consistently over time, you will see the rewards come knocking at your door.
It all boils down to the diet and lifestyle changes to lose weight that you make. This is YOUR choice. If you are reading this, it is highly likely that you are looking for answers in weight loss and fitness. If this is the case, you are in the right place. I will share with you some extremely valuable advice in this article that is often overlooked.
The advice in this article is mostly about the fundamentals. If these factors are considered and understood, you cannot fail in your efforts. Your lifestyle changes to lose weight will pay off and you won’t look back!
Here is a list of 7 very powerful lifestyle changes to lose weight that you may not have been considering. If you are serious about losing weight and want to start living a healthier lifestyle, please use these seven tips as the foundation for your venture. Whatever diet or training routine that you decide to follow, always keep these points at the forefront of your mind.
Identify a routine or habit you aim to develop
Let’s say, for instance, that you want to lose weight, quit smoking, start eating healthier, start running exercises, or all of the above. You should write down these goals or habits that you wish to develop. By making a physical note of your goals and plans, you somehow give them power to come to fruition.
Find your reason
It is all well and good deciding that you would like to change your lifestyle and habits, but, without a good reason, you are more likely to quit your new project quite quickly and return to the old you.
Of course, your reason could be anything. All that matters is that it is powerful enough to keep you trudging forward to hit your goal. It could be that you would like to fit into your old clothes again or it could be that you would like to spend active, quality time with your children in the park and not be too out of breath to call it quit.
The list goes on. If your reason for making the changes that you really want is good enough for YOU, it is good enough for your goal.
Again, write your reason down. If looking at it makes you want to get up and do some exercise, or not light that cigarette or not eat that packet of cookies (which you don’t need anyway), then you have found your reason!
Make your reason visible and plan a start date
This will get you on the right path right off the bat. Plan your start date. My advice is to start at the beginning of a week first thing in the morning. I would plan this to be about a week in advance. During your last week of your unhealthy lifestyle, you can make your reasons and goals more visible. By this, I mean, make them look pretty (if you must) because these goals and reasons need to be in your face.
They need to be posted on your walls, the TV, the refrigerator, your front door or anywhere else that you feel you may be weak or susceptible to temptation. Keep your reason staring you in the face at all times and it will help you out big time!
Once you have set this up, you are now ready to mentally prepare for your start date. By just knowing that you will start in a week’s time, you will be doing a great job in this preparation phase.
Tell everyone
Yep! The more people that you tell, the better. This will work in your favor in two ways. First off, it will put pressure on you to stick to your plans. If everyone knows about it, you will come under scrutiny if you are seen to be “cheating” with your plans.
Secondly, the more people that you tell, the better off you will be. As you progress on with your healthy lifestyle journey, these people will take an active role in helping you out by encouraging you and complimenting you on your progress.
The right people will help you out a lot more than you can imagine.
Don’t listen to saboteurs
Unfortunately, there will be a lot of people who will say things that will be detrimental to your success. Most of the time, the saboteur will not realize that they are discouraging you and causing you to veer off course. It is important that you are aware of this beforehand so that you can see it for what it is.
Let’s say that you are on a strict diet to lose weight and someone offers you a big slab of chocolate cake whilst saying, “Come on, one treat won’t hurt, will it?”
Such offers could come from a loved one. They will probably truly think that this kind of offer is a nice gesture, but YOU know it will not help you in the slightest way. It is not their fault; as long as you are aware that things like this will happen, you will be able to handle the situation more maturely.
Another kind of saboteur will be more obvious. They will totally flatten your idea and put that doubt into your mind that you can’t do this after all. This could also come from a friend. It may just be a throwaway remark or even them laughing at your plans after you have explained your new goals to them. Again, as long as you are aware of the impact that these seemingly small things can have on your progress, you will be better equipped to take care of the situation. All you need to KNOW is that YOU can do it! So, let them mock you all they want. Only you know the truth, that you can do it.
Stick with it
Once you start with your new lifestyle changes, your results will not be with you the very next day. If this was the case, there would be no overweight or unfit people in the world.
I always try to hammer home (in all of my books) that the hardest part of any new fitness venture is the beginning and it is not until you see your first set of results that it starts to get easier.
You just have to keep on track, stick to your plans, stay consistent and you will get those all important first results. Then this will spur you on to keep them coming!
So, it is very important to have faith in yourself and in your efforts. Keep pushing and it WILL get easier!
Give yourself a reward
The last tip is something that can help most people, regardless of fitness levels. It is sometimes a good idea to give yourself small rewards for small achievement and big rewards for big achievements.
For example, if you have had a good week of dieting, you could reward yourself with a small “cheat meal” at the end of the week. This could be something sweet or some kind of take-out food. But you only get this treat if you have done well. This does, however, require a certain amount of discipline. I would advise that this is not done in the early stages and should be a monthly reward to start with.
To sum up
If you read nothing else on this website, I would like you to remember these points. Believe me, they will help you out big time!
Remember to find your reason, make it visible and plan your start date. Once you have done this, you are on your way.
If you are serious about getting results from your new lifestyle changes, you should do all of the above now.
All too often, people will sit around and state that they will lose weight or quit smoking soon, but weeks, months and years pass by without any action!
Now is the time for you to “JUST DO IT!”
The longer that you stick at this, the easier it will be to keep progressing and the harder that it will be to go back to your old ways.
So, if you are looking for lifestyle changes to lose weight, this is where you need to start!
If you would like further help with lifestyle changes, you will find all that you need to know and more in my new book, Fitness and Exercise Motivation.
I hope that you have found this article useful and I would love to hear how you are getting on with your new lifestyle changes.
If you found this information useful, you may also be interested in the following articles:
Looking for a Quick Fix and Fast Weight Loss?
Fat, Unfit, and Need Help? 3 Great Tips to Get You Started…
HOW to Lose Weight and KEEP IT OFF
Healthy Snack Foods For Weight Loss
Also, feel free to contact me if you have any questions about health, fitness, etc. I will always do my best to get back to you.
All the best,
Jim