ThinkSlim

Weight Loss Motivation

In my post last week Why Can't I Lose Weight? I talked about the missing factor in your weight loss efforts.

Motivation!

You may call it willpower but I think what is really missing is "want power".

You may want to lose weight but in the actual moment when faced with a piece of cheesecake you want the cheesecake more than any desire to look good on the beach in the summer. 

You may want to lose weight, but in the moment when faced with staying in bed or getting up extra early to go to the gym before work you seemingly want more sleep much more than you want to drop 10lbs.

So how do you get that elusive motivation to lose weight?

Lots of ways and I have a whole free weight loss motivation course on the subject so I won't go into the details.

But even with that course you have to follow it. You have to do something.

There is no magic pill, patch or potion which will help if you're not prepared to take action.

But if you're ready to lose weight you can do it - anyone can - you just have to want it enough to do what it takes.

Are you sure you want to succeed at losing weight? How sure? Are you ready to work on your weight loss motivation?

Why Can't I Lose Weight?

Why Can't I Lose Weight?

This is a question I get asked over and over again.

"Why can't I lose weight? I eat healthily and I'm walking to work..."
"Why can't I lose weight? I eat so much less than my friends and I drink a lot of water..."
"Why can't I lose weight? I don't overeat and I go to the gym three times a week..."

The fact is that if you're not losing weight then you are probably eating too many calories or not moving enough.

If you take in more calories than you use you will gain weight.

If you take in as many calories as you use you will maintain weight.

And if you take in fewer calories than you use you will lose weight.

It's simple to say of course but not so simple to do. But that's the size and shape of it. Although there's one more factor that counts.

You see, all that any weight loss program consists of is a strategy for eating fewer calories and/or using up more of them. You can use my weight loss program or devise your own but until you do that you won't lose weight.

But even if you have 101 strategies you have to actually use them. You have to change what you eat (or how much or both). You have to make the extra effort to exercise.

Are you?

And if you are, are you doing enough? often enough?

If you're not losing weight, you're not! It's simple as that. The missing factor? Motivation!

More on that in my next post.

How to Bead Your Way to Weight Loss

You can tell I've got something new on my brain with that title LOL but I've not gone quite mad yet.

The thing is, I started a new beading class on Tuesday morning and instead of feeling hungry around 11 am and ready for lunch, as I usually do, I was lost in a world of choosing beads from the vast array the teacher had on display and putting them together into something that resembled a half-decent pair of earrings and a bracelet.

I had a great time with a friendly bunch of people and a very helpful teacher and was totally absorbed in being creative. I could have quite happily put off lunch for another hour - it's almost unheard of for me to manage not to eat my lunch before 12 if I'm working on something on my PC at home.

So often we eat (or think we feel hungry) because we are bored.

Now what will keep me happily absorbed (and not thinking of food) may not be for you but if you can find something that interests you like that it can keep you hands busy and out of the cookie jar and your mind on the task at hand instead of on what you can eat.

The trick is to find something you love and which you can be actively involved in during your free time to stop yourself getting bored.

These days many of us spend a lot of our leisure time passively in front of the TV and that leaves us too open to thinking we are hungry (especially after watching food ads or cookery shows) ... see if you can replace some of that time with a hobby - and if you can make it one that get's you moving all the better. Unfortunately beading doesn't use many calories :)

How to Stop Eating

I had an email from a lady, let's call her Penny for the sake of anonymity, who wanted to know

"I read a book to motivate myself to quit smoking...how do I get motivated, really motivated to stop eating"

The thing is, eating is even more addictive than smoking. We are biologically programmed to eat. It's definitely NOT the same as smoking. If we don't eat we die. If you don't smoke, you live longer! We can't just not buy food or stay away from other eaters. Or chew a food substitute.

And unfortunately for the state of our waistlines, it seems we are also programmed to eat as much food as we can when food is plenty so that we are able to cope with lean times ahead.

Now the trouble is that these days there are no leaner times to use up our fat stores so some of us (well a whole lot of us actually) just eat and eat to the point of obesity

Those of us who want to be slim, simply have to learn to regulate ourselves, like it or not. We have to learn to read our body's signals. To know when we are physically hungry and when we have had enough. We have to eat slowly and pay attention to our bodies.

And once you are aware that you have eaten enough you have to stop eating before you feel stuffed. And not start again until you are physically hungry.

There are a few strategies you can use to let your body (and mind) know it's time to stop eating :-

• Like smoking, eating too much (or eating when you're not physically hungry) can be a kind of habit so if you stop yourself snacking or eating too much at each meal (using sheer willpower in the beginning) eventually you will be quite used to that and stop naturally.
• If you like chocolate (like me) you may allow yourself a square with coffee at the end of your meal to signify that you have finished eating. You won't mind stopping so much, because chocolate is coming :)
• Some people find it useful to brush their teeth when eating is over. This may be a helpful strategy for Penny who used to use a cigarette to signal the end of a meal.
• You could also use clearing the kitchen of all dishes and leftovers, rinsing out the sink and putting out the kitchen lights.

Penny is also asking how she can be motivated to WANT to stop eating.

For that you need to understand what you want to achieve by losing weight and keep reminding yourself how much you want to achieve it - every time you reach for food you don't need.

If you don't want to lose weight enough then the compulsion to eat will be too great. So reinforce your reasons by going through them (in your head or on paper) whenever you can.

Plus, if you want more help with motivation and strategies to follow you can get my FREE 7 part weight loss motivation course here

Is it Your Hormones?

I had a reader ask me a question recently about losing weight caused by hormonal imbalance. She was looking for help to find websites which deal with natural remedies which would make the process of losing weight easier.

In these situations I always try and find the true cause of excess weight and I answered her with a few questions to try and get to the heart of the matter. I add my response here in case it helps anyone else. As usual I try and tell it like it is - I won't tell you there's an easy solution when there isn't.

"Mmmmh... Why do you think you have a hormonal imbalance? Has a doctor diagnosed that? If so, your doctor is the best person to give you the answers! Or visit a natural therapist locally who can can look at your case on an individual basis - they treat the whole person not just the symptoms - so there's no single solution to an imbalance but there are many answers to suit different individuals.

 

In this case I would never follow anything you read on line as there is more misinformation than information - always use a properly qualified medical practitioner.

 

If a hormonal imbalance has not been medically diagnosed then it's back to my question ("Why do you think you have a hormonal imbalance?") because so many people use hormonal imbalance as a reason for being overweight  but I have to say in my experience it is rarely the main cause (unless again there is a proper medical diagnosis).

 

Just something to think about...

 

By the way even if you do have a hormonal imbalance, there's no magic herb you can take to whisk weight away. Unfortunate but true. You can generally correct the hormonal imbalance through medical treatment (natural or otherwise) but the weight still has to be lost.

 

I'm sorry this may not be the answer you want to hear but I hope it helps you get clear about the task ahead."

Now as it happened, my reader responded and she did have a problem with polycystic ovary syndrome which had caused her to gain weight fast and was making it difficult to lose weight. So in this case there was indeed a medical problem.

I am not a doctor and have no training in this particular medical condition but if you have PCOS the following part of my response may help you too

"Instead of looking on the internet where there is a lot of misleading information I know I have seen a good book on this problem which dealt with weight gain caused by polycystic ovaries - the PCOS diet book - but there are a whole range of other books too which might help you as I just found on Amazon.

I have a cousin who has thyroid problems and it is just the same for her - very, very difficult to lose weight. But the things you are already doing will keep your weight in check even if you do not lose it and will help you remain as fit and healthy as possible until you get your medical problems sorted out. Please don't give up!"

 

If you have a medical condition, which is making it difficult to lose weight, get as much help as you can from a properly qualified medical practitioners and don't trust everything you read online. You'll find a whole lot of misinformation about Chinese herbs, berries, pink patches and GI capsules out there.

Lose Weight: Change Your Question

As a weight loss coach I have to admit that I'm far from perfect. I have no magic wand.

(Unfortunately there is no such thing as a magic wand for weight loss - and no magic, pill, patch or potion either which will make you lose weight)

I have to work on my motivation and habits just as much as anyone else to stay in shape.

So when I catch myself in  bad habit I like to let you know!

But anyway I was just getting myself a cup of coffee the other day and caught myself thinking "Now, what can I have to eat with that?"

Not much wrong with that you might say, but I was about to reach for a chocolate chip cookie and you know how one leads to another...

The thing is, I really wasn't hungry at all - hadn't thought about food one bit until I got the coffee. Having something to eat with coffee had slowly but surely become a habit!

So now I am re-training myself to ask "Do I really need to eat anything with that?" and if I think I do need something to eat I wait until after I have had the coffee. The urge to eat has often gone by then and I forget all about it.

Also for some reason it's easier to eat something healthy if it's not actually with the coffee. Carrot sticks and coffee just don't go together!

Walking Update: January walking plans are going well but not without hassles. My new pedometer order has been a bit of a fiasco. Serves me right for ordering from a slightly cheaper supplier instead of good old Amazon who have never let me down. Anyway I received an Omron pedometer instead of the one I ordered and so I sent it back - still waiting for the one I ordered....

Anyway I will get there in the end no doubt. Meanwhile I'm just walking every day without the pedometer. I WOULD like to know how well I am doing increasing my steps but I will just have to wait....

Party Leftovers (and Walking Update)

I hosted the monthly book club I belong to at my house yesterday evening.

With me (and probably you too) there's a big danger of overeating before, during and after a party with so many snacks, wine and leftover food around!

But don't panic, there are some things you can do to help prevent yourself consuming too many excess calories when you have a party.

• Don't drink too much - lots of empty calories in alcohol - stick to one glass of wine
• if it's a buffet, stay as far away from the food as you can after you serve it
• Keep busy serving others with drinks, plates, napkins etc
• Get rid of the leftovers straight away after the event
• Walk off any calorie damage the next day

What happened with me yesterday?

I ate a bit more than I usually would of course (I don't normally eat anything all evening after dinner) but not so much that I regret it today.

Any leftovers I can't rely on my boys to "hoover" up quickly are safely in the trash.

And I went for a 40 minute walk this morning ...

Update on my January walking plans

Walk accomplished today (see above). Still waiting for my pedometer to arrive to start my proper step program - hopefully it will arrive today.

Yesterday, I didn't get out at all - preparing for my visitors was my excuse but with minus 10 degrees C temperatures in parts of the UK yesterday I just didn't want to go out. If the Norwegians don't think there's such a thing as bad weather only bad clothes (see previous walking post) then all I can say is that they have warmer clothes than me :) Coward that I am, I stayed indoors. Anyway, "never say die" - instead of walking, I stepped for 45 minutes in front of the TV which made up for my missing walk.

Take a (Virtual) Walk with me and Lose Weight

It's about time I got going with some kind of formal exercise again and this year I've decided I will do it the easy way and just walk. (If you've been following my posts for a while you'll know that I take up running every year for a charity race and then promptly give it up (with huge relief) after the race is over).

My aim is to follow my own walking guide "Lose weight in 28 Days with your Pedometer" though I will be using it more for fitness than weight loss. I'll probably just dust off my old pedometer though I must say I'm tempted by some of the new ones available these days.

If you want to join in you can follow along my progress on the blog here and I'd love it if you decide to walk too and want to comment on your daily progress as well - I'll add some tips to help keep you going. 

By the way, if you'd like a specific plan to follow and don't have one, you can buy a copy of my "Lose Weight in 28 Days with your Pedometer" program on Amazon in paperback or for the Kindle. More details here. 

Losing Weight: Success Starts Here

One of the main obstacles to losing weight is within your own head.

If you think it will be impossible you are right!

You'll simply find reasons to give up whenever you have a slight setback. You'll be saying to yourself "Why persevere if it's never going to work? I may as well enjoy myself "

But, you know losing weight IS possible for everyone. There is not one of us who would not drop pound after pound if we were locked in a prison cell and forced to survive on water and a bit of bread.

Annie (who I mentioned in my last post) can rattle off a whole host of reasons why losing weight is not going to be easy. But then I'd have to ask

• Has anyone who is menopausal ever lost weight? Of course they have. then you can too!
• Has anyone who is reluctant to exercise ever lost weight? Yes, they have
• Has anyone with a husband who eats tempting snacks in the evening ever succeeded? Yes, again!

and you could go through every problem she mentioned to me, every difficulty and see that it doesn't make it impossible.

Will it be easy? Of course not! But with focus and determination Annie and everyone else who wants to lose weight can reach that elusive target weight.

Instead of piling up reason upon reason (or excuse after excuse) think about why you CAN succeed. What have you got going for you?

• a body which is physically capable of exercise (even if your mind is not so willing)?
• past experience of losing any weight at all (even a pound)? (Annie herself managed to lose 45lbs one time)
• a love of healthy food (any healthy food!)
• a huge desire to succeed
• support from friends (or this blog!)
• plenty of available information
• a knowledge of nutrition and calories
• an understanding why you gained weight etc etc

List reason upon reason why you can lose this time and whenever you feel yourself slipping back into a negative spiral read your list again.

Because mindset is everything, it is a major strand throughout my weight loss coaching program - don't just look at what you eat or how much you move - get your head right too or you may as well not begin!

Weight Loss : How to Deal with a Big Problem

Sometimes losing weight can seem like an overwhelming problem. Maybe you've tried many times and failed. Maybe you got so far towards your target and then for some reason just gave up. Maybe the road ahead just seems TOO long.

Now this may surprise you (and even irritate you a bit) but in most cases, weight loss does not have to be as difficult as you think it is, if you approach it in the right way. 

What set off this blog post is an email I had from a lady a couple of days ago. Let's call her Annie for the sake of anonymity. She described a whole lot of issues and explained that she had been trying to lose weight for two years and had been "floundering".

Now that is not unusual - floundering is what many people do when it comes to weight loss but that whole feeling of looking at your weight and thinking that it is a huge (even insurmountable) problem has to go if you are going to tackle it and succeed.

You see you didn't wake up one morning 20lb or 50lb or 100lb heavier than you were the day before. You got there by one small decision at a time - the extra cookie here, a bigger portion than you needed there, a snack you didn't really want but it was "around", a meal out where you ate too much, a few drinks, a "yes" to the offer of cake when you meant to say "no", a "couldn't be bothered to exercise today".

You'll know your own weaknesses and issues - and if you are overweight, chances are you have multiple habits which got you where you are today.

But instead of seeing the whole of your weight problem as one big, impossible-to-tackle issue, try breaking it down into the decisions, the situations that make you gain weight. Each of those decisions I mentioned above can be tackled  if you are focused and vigilant.

You won't succeed in making the right decision 100% of the time but you can certainly make enough of them to change your body and your life one decision at a time.

Think through and put in a place a strategy for dealing with each of those issues or problems one by one. Then keep focused on using your strategies until they become simply the way you behave. That is the way to change your habits long term and keep weight off. 

Of course a drastic diet will give you drastic (maybe even fast results) - but chances are you'll not be able to stick to it as long as it takes to reach your target and what's worse, you'll still be left with the problems that made you overweight in the first place after you come off the diet - because no one can stay on any kind of rigid diet forever.

Result: rapid weight gain undoing all your efforts.

Better to confront your issues one at a time and succeed forever. Please do this even if you opt for the drastic diet!

I'll be looking at Annie's issues and helping her to devise some strategies over the course of the next week or so - and I'll share any that may help you here on the blog.

Meanwhile think about your own issues and how you could tackle them one at a time.