Often when I have new clients start with me we will talk about things they have done in the past to lose body fat and change their lifestyle. One word always comes up and it’s a word I don;t use at all!
What is that word? It is DIET.
People who train with me are NOT on a diet. They are changing their lifestyle. So I often talk about the right mentality to adopt. It’s time to say goodbye to the diet mentality and hello to the lifestyle mentality.
Here’s the reason why:
THE DIET MENTALITY
- will not make you happy
- will not give you energy
- will not make you feel empowered
- will not last
- will not make you lose weight long term
THE LIFESTYLE MENTALITY
- focuses on making lasting changes, for life
- doesn’t have an end date
- makes you empowered
- put you in control
- helps you lose weight and keep it off
THE DIET MENTALITY IS ABOUT NUMBERS
Success when you’re in a diet mentality depends on numbers and how well you stick to them. It is also very short term.
- number of calories you eat
- number of calories you burn
- number of points in food
- number of grams of fat
- number of grams of carbs
- the number on the scales
I don’t know about you, but I can’t live life like that, by numbers!
THE LIFESTYLE MENTALITY IS ABOUT YOU
Success with a lifestyle mentality focuses on you and the way you feel about yourself and the choices you make each day.
- you can make small changes
- you can make large changes with consistency
- you can change your life and that of those around you
- you can look and feel fantastic, for the long term
- you can learn to love moving your body
- you can learn to love eating and enjoying the right foods for life
DIET Vs LIFESTYLE MENTALITY
A summary:
The diet mentality focuses on a certain weight as the measure of success. This is why you feel like a failure and get upset when the numbers don’t quite work one day. Going a diet involves an external and time limited change. Once you reach your goal, then what? This is why so many people have failed in the past. We know that fad diets mess up your metabolism and as soon as you reach the elusive number you set out to achieve, many people start to eat the way they did before, or drop the exercise and the weight piles back on.
The lifestyle approach assumes that being overweight is usually the result of other problems, not the cause. Tackling these issues is the best way to sort the problems and the weight issue. Lifestyle mentality focuses on making small changes each day that become permanent lifestyle habits.
Making a lifestyle change involves an internal and permanent change in your relationship with food, eating, exercise, your body, mind and ultimately…yourself.
Once you recognise that the real problem isn’t what you eat, or even how much you eat, but how and why you eat, then you can make lifestyle changes that last Long Term
So many people eat mindlessly, impulsively or emotionally using food to block out other issues and feelings. People use unhealthy food as a reward or to feel better and THIS is the cycle that needs to change.
Learning to take good care of yourself emotionally, physically, and mentally is key – so that you don’t want to use food to solve ‘problems’ it really can’t.
Remember it is a lifelong enjoyable learning process that is constantly changing as your needs, circumstances and life change.
That’s what I love about this job. Once upon a time I was in the same situation but with a little self-development I looked deeper and tackled the triggers, making small changes which led to big results. It’s now second nature to me and it’s fantastic to pass on this learning and self-discovery to my clients who have made some incredible lifestyle changes… for good!
If you would like to learn how you too can help yourself, look after yourself and make those lifestyle changes that last, I’ve got two free spots this week. We’ll sit down over a cup of herbal tea and talk about some really simple and easy things you can start doing immediately to make those changes.
Drop me a text and we will arrange that chat. No more fad diets for you! Just simple and easy techniques to help you change for good. 07748 298728.
