If you're American, then weight management is a sensitive topic. Every day, people look at themselves and wish to be less. What if we told you that you should stop trying to lose weight? Follow along...
We all know the key to weight management is an active lifestyle and a healthy diet. If you struggle or have struggled in the past with motivation to continue to be active, desires to make healthy choices, or stress-related binges - keep reading.
Why You Shouldn't Focus On Weight Alone
As we stated, an active lifestyle and a healthy diet is the key. If your sole motivation to make a LIFESTYLE change is related to losing weight alone, there is a high chance of failure and/or weight regain.
Why?
A LIFESTYLE involves identity and consistency. You must see yourself as the type of person that passes on the extra helpings of dessert and the type who exercises on vacation. Those are lifestyle choices that people make who maintain healthy weight management. So if you want to change into that type of person, you must adopt a lifestyle in that lane.
If you only want to lose weight, the motivation to change isn't high enough to generate consistency.
Those who succeed in adopting healthy lifestyle habits not only want physical benefits but also are connected to the mental benefits of the lifestyle.
If changing your lifestyle seems like something you won't enjoy - you won't succeed. However, when you link the mental health benefit of the lifestyle change, you now have an internal motivation source to adopt a healthy lifestyle fully.
Example 1:
Joan wants to lose 20 lbs. Joan works out 5x per week and only eats chicken and rice for 10 days. She wakes up on the 11th day and doesn't want to exercise and skips a day. The next week she works out twice, and her diet starts to slip. Joan is losing motivation because she thought she should have lost more than 4 lbs by now and thinks what she's doing isn't working. Joan quits and tries a different plan 6 months later.
Example 2:
Joan is stressed and overweight. She knows that when she shows up at the gym, she feels better about herself, and her mood is improved. She also realized that eating balanced meals helps her energy stay strong throughout the day. Joan shows up and eats right because she understands how much better she is mentally and physically when she has a healthy lifestyle. After 6 months, Joan is still going strong and has lost body fat!
As you can see, once Joan is connected with the mental/emotional boost that a healthy lifestyle offers, she stays the course and becomes a person that has a healthy lifestyle.
If you have ever attempted to lose weight and struggled with the consistency required to see it come to pass (long-term), then we want to encourage you to shift your focus.
Exercise, nutrition, and a healthy lifestyle are more than physical - it is mental! Commit to doing it this year not for the weight loss but instead for the mental boost that comes from doing what you say you'll do; endorphin release from exercise and balanced blood sugars/hormones that come from proper nutrition.
Need more help?
9Round Fitness is here to support you on the journey. Schedule a free transformational consultation to talk to us about how we can help!
Call/Text to 919-977-3033
P.S.
9Round Fitness Moore Square is locally owned and operated. No robots, no fluff, no shake diets - real people, offering real help!