|
“How can I lose this fat?” is the question I’m asked time after time by both regular and prospective clients. Some say it in an interested, conversational tone, some with utter despair in their voices. And I tell them that the “How” isn’t the issue. I can teach them how to eat and exercise to lose fat. And when to eat and exercise; and even what to eat and exercise with!
BUT (And this is a big but. Just one “t” on that.)
It’s all down to them. I can’t lose the weight for them. If I could, believe me, I’d be richer than Madonna and living in the Bahamas instead of on the cold, wet east coast of England.
Many of these clients come to me hoping for miracles – the miracle fat-loss pill, the miracle exercise program which will enable them to lose fat without breaking a sweat – and so on. And when I point out to them that losing fat takes time, effort and – horror of horrors - willpower, their little faces fall a mile. One client even offered me more money, in the hope that my line was a sales gimmick! In this world of today you can pay someone to do most things for you. With a few notable exceptions; dying, and losing weight.
Let’s face it, they already knew how to lose weight. And so do I, and so do you. Eat less, exercise more. That’s it.
So why haven’t you done it?
Or, if you have lost a lot of weight in the past, how come you put it all back on again??
There’s one simple answer to those questions: Your intent.
.
That’s right – your state of mind in approaching weight loss is absolutely essential. If you are not in the right mindset, you will fail. It may take a week or ten weeks, but your failure is as inevitable as rain in England in July. Getting into the right mental attitude is the most important thing that I – or any other exercise professional – can teach you. Your mind can move mountains – we’re just asking to shift a few pounds here! It is you who has to find the self-discipline to do the work to lose the weight – not your family or your friends; not your Personal Trainer or your boss or your dog (although he can help). You and you alone.
You need to be ready to put in a little time, effort and self-discipline. And if you are not prepared to put these three things in, then I cannot help you. Only your intent and commitment will make this work for you.
Any diet and exercise program will work if you stick to it in the long run. You failed in the past because you gave up – how many times? Once, twice maybe? For some people hundreds of times! You lost the will to continue – made excuses that you just couldn’t fit 10 minutes of exercise into your day – had to have a second slice of cake because you’d had a rough week. And that was it. Instead of putting it behind you and getting back on track, you sat down discouraged and gave up altogether. Sound familiar?
Never forget - mind and body work together. You have to really want this change in your life in order to make it happen.
So here are some pointers to help you get into the right frame of mind: -
- Find a compelling reason why you want to lose weight. It has to be your reason, not your partner’s or anyone else’s reason. For example, losing weight to get into that little black dress, or to play football with the kids, or even just to feel like you used to feel – all good reasons. Think “If I was my ideal weight I could…”
- Imagine what it would be like if you were at your goal weight right now. Imagine how you’d look and feel – think of what you’d do, where you’d go. Make these images real – you have to be the image, really feel it, sense it, enjoy it…are you there yet? This may sound like a silly game for children, but believe me; if you can’t imagine or pretend that you are your ideal size and weight, how do you ever hope to get there?
- Visualise your mind as a guided missile. Your intention is the fuel, and your image of your goal weight is your target – because without a target, how is your missile going to get anywhere? It will just fly round in circles until it runs out of fuel and drops out of the sky. And thus another weight loss attempt is consigned to the rubbish heap!
Never forget that, every time you try a diet and fail, you are sending your mind a negative message. You weaken your belief in yourself – which makes the next attempt even more likely to fail. You convince yourself that you cannot do it and, deep down, you feel that it is absolutely pointless even trying, creating an endless vicious circle.
I once had a new client say to me that she’d tried “everything” in her attempts to lose weight.
“Everything??” I queried, raising one eyebrow in a very Spock-like manner, “How many things have you tried? A hundred?”
“Well, no..”
“Okay then, fifty?”
“Er, no.”
This continued until she admitted that she’d actually only tried a couple of things – and then it came out that she’d only consulted me because it was her husband who’d suggested she lose some weight. Doomed to failure before she even started. She would have attended her first few Personal Training sessions, taken no notice of my advice, and then cancelled because PT wasn’t “working” for her. Well, not on my watch, Ma’am! I gave her all her money back and suggested she attempt to lose the husband instead.
Which takes us back to Point #1 above. Find the right reason to lose the fat – make yourself really want it, and you’re well on your way!
So in the next few days I want you to:-
- Write down your compelling reasons for wanting to lose weight.
- Set aside 5 minutes a day where you sit down in a quiet, safe place and allow yourself to imagine you’ve reached that weight loss goal – make it real, remember?
- Then set your intent and do something about it. Start by reading Parts 2 and 3 of this article!
Carol J Bartram
(Personal Trainer, Pilates Instructor & Massage Therapist)
How To Lose Fat - Part 1
|