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Developing a WeightLoss Lifestyle
By Tysan Lerner Is one of your 2014 New Year’s resolutions to lose weight? If so, how did the first month and a half go? Did you meet your January target of pounds lost or number of fitness classes attended? More importantly, how do you feel about your weight-loss self? If you find yourself struggling or feel as if you are meeting your goals by dint of will power that is sapping your enthusiasm, then read further. Unsuccessful weight-loss attempts often have nothing to do with lack of information or will power, but more to do with not
having the right mindset and not finding the right combination of solutions that work for you. Oftentimes, people who wish to lose weight think about how they must change their diet or get to the gym, but fail to succeed simply because they never took into account their lifestyle choices, or the underlying patterns that led to their being overweight in the first place. In order to be successful at getting to your optimal weight, you must build a skill set that supports weight management in four key areas of life: lifestyle, psychology, diet, and exercise. When you strengthen all four
skills, you will be more successful at losing weight and maintaining your weight loss for a lifetime.
1. Lifestyle
There is a myth that weight loss can be easy, that it doesn’t have to be hard. I’ve contributed to that myth because when I finally got the formula right for myself, weight loss suddenly felt easy. But the reality is that in order for weight loss to ever feel easy, we must make the commitment to change, and big changes are always hard. However, once the change is made and you are living it, it becomes so easy that we often forget how hard it once was.
So by broadening your weightloss strategy to include changing other areas of your life, you may very well find that your body will easily transform. Unresolved issues in another area in your life may be the very thing that is inhibiting your weight loss. Although changes in your lifestyle may be tough to make, once you’ve made them, you will reap the rewards of ease and joy. Start by taking a look at your current lifestyle. Where are the trouble spots? Take a good, honest look at your work, relationships, home, spirituality, and finances. Assess how they interweave with each other and what changes would