How's your new diet going? If you're like many people who set weight loss goals, maybe it hasn't gotten off to such a great start-but you're trying. You really want to lose weight this time. Or maybe you are doing really well-you've managed to stick to the new goals you set for yourself and you're checking your lists off every day with a proud smile.
Eventually, though, reality often sets in. Life gets hectic and your trips to the gym get less frequent. Or you say 'well just this once' as you plunge into a hot fudge brownie sundae and then find it easier to do the next time, and the next. I don't have to tell you how disappointing this is on some level, to yourself and your dreams of a slimmer, healthier you.
What makes it so hard to stick to those new regimens and make the changes we really want to make? What gets us over the hump and into the new bodies and lives we so badly want? Follow these three transformative tips and watch how they help you get closer to your goals!
1) Use Your Dreams.
It's almost impossible to make positive changes from an old state of mind. There's a reason why we dream about being sexy in a bikini on the beach or wowing people with a new fitness goal. Instead of dismissing these thoughts as useless fantasies, embrace them and keep them in your mind.
When you go to grab for that candy bar or pint of ice-cream, call up your ideal vision--the biggest fantasy you can create--until you can feel yourself in it. Really ask yourself how it feels, what you're doing, and how you're relating to your body from this new place. This is the way you want to feel all the time. The more you call that vision forward, the easier it is to make healthier choices that get you closer to your dreams.
2) Create a Truce With Your Body.
So many of us accumulate years of baggage around our body weight and how we look. We may have gained or lost weight, felt good about our bodies for awhile and then sunk into old habits or patterns. Believe it or not, our negative self-talk is just as bad for our bodies as it is for ourselves. It's hard to create positive behaviors from a place of judgment, blame and dislike.
See if you can practice listening to your own negative thoughts about your body and replace them with kinder ones. Instead of seeing your body as the enemy, imagine that you are in this together and that you both want the same thing: a healthier, more beautiful expression of you and your life. A change in attitude has the power to help you achieve your goals more easily, from a place of connection rather than frustration.
3) Remember What You Love To Do.
A lot of times our poor diet and exercise habits come out of feeling bored, stuck or lost in our lives. Obsessing about our weight and our habits becomes a negative cycle. Food becomes a consolation prize, but it might not be our real first choice.
Instead, make a list of things that you love to do-things that really make you feel lit up inside-and then ask yourself how often you actually make time to do any of them. Have you always wanted to scrapbook? Write a story? Do you wish you talked to your closest friends more often?
Choose one item from the list every week and practice giving yourself the time and space to make it happen. The urge to reach for something else-like a bag of chips-to give yourself a treat becomes much less essential when you know you're 'treating' yourself in other more meaningful ways in your life.
No matter what happens, don't give up hope. This process of self-transformation is never easy, but-of course-it opens you up to the best things that life has to offer. Remember your dreams, be kind to yourself and your body and make time and space for the things that really matter. You will be well on your way to the body and the life you've always wanted!
Author Resource:-
Anna Stookey is psychotherapist & bodymind specialist who helps people move into their highest vision of health and wellness by partnering with their bodies rather than working against them. Read her ongoing blog at www.bodyreunion.blogspot.com or sign on to the website: www.bodymindguide.com
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