I’ve been pondering the burning coals picture. You know the one – coals burn at their brightest when they are burning on the fire together. Guess what! It’s the same with us. We make a decision to change something in our lifestyle and start out with fantastic specific goals and great enthusiasm. It doesn’t take too long before that enthusiasm dries up and we are back to struggling. Like taking the coal out of the fire! Take it out and it will go out – that simple.

YOU NEED A SUPPORT GROUP!

No matter what the decision is, if you try to go it alone, you will have set yourself up for disappointment. Changing body size and shape is no different. We NEED support. The question is WHO and HOW do we do it.

1. Find someone to whom you are directly accountable – (personal trainer or friend) This can be someone you front up to physically, OR you can opt to go online for support. Add a comment here -get with other people who will hold you to your goals.

2. Surround yourself with supporters

Enlist the help of family members, neighbours  or friends who have the same or similar goals as you- plan together, do active stuff together and CELEBRATE each other’s successes.

You want to have  people who will encourage you through the good and the bad times. These are the people who will always encourage – not just when you start – some of our big ‘supporters’ are great at the beginning, but when we are REALLY successful, they can become a bit negative ( think envious). Decide NOW how you will deal with that. (more about that later - people like this are called  ’sabboteurs”)

3. Decide that YOU will be a role model for health and fitness.
Stick this one up on your fridge ” I am a walking example of REAL health and fitness at (………)” (put your age here). Now – you HAVE to read that every day – it will hold you accountable to what you sneak out of the fridge when you think no-one is looking!

Have fun and be healthy!

Great! So you have some really good positive statements – these state the OUTCOME – what RESULT you want. The question now is how do you get there? The mind set here is an ACTION PLAN that gradually will make life long behavioural changes – changes that will keep the excess fat off and keep you fit and healthy.

Your action plan will be behaviour changes that will take you along the pathway to successful weight management and great fitness.

Your action plan is in small achievable steps one week at a time.

For example:

A WEEK’S ACTION PLAN:

Step 1. From NOW I move more ! I behave like a healthy FIT person!I incorporate daily ‘incidental’ movement that will add up and help me to burn off more calories. I use the stairs instead of the elevator. I park my car further away from the supermarket door rather than closer. I’m sure you can think of others that will fit your lifestyle.

Step 2 This week, I will put in place three 20-30minute sessions of ’huffy/puffy’ cardio. ( then choose according to your present fitness – it can be ‘power-walking’, cycling, walk/run, swimming etc. but make sure you are breathing heavier than you normally do! We want to make sure those cardio sessions are working for you.) Write the sessions in your diary and do them. You can increase to 30-45 minutes once you are in the swing of things.

Step 3. I look after my muscles and do some strength training at least once a week – grab a personal trainer who can give you the good exercises ( see my post on strength training and don’t  waste time with isolated exercises or tiny weights)

Step 4. I eat good breakfasts to keep me going.

Step 5. I choose healthier versions of my favourite food ( e.g. if pasta is your favourite- try it with tomato based sauces instead of cream based ones. Try wholemeal pasta instead of white. Go for low fat milk rather than full. These small changes add up to lifetime success). You don’t need to spend money on ‘this diet’ or ‘that diet’ – eat fresh food that looks like it was grown – and you will be on the right path!

You see, it’s all about changing your mindset- and making small changes that you will keep – as life-long habits. We are getting rid of the “I’m on a diet”mentality and embracing “I live a healthy, vibrant, energised lifestyle” mentality.

THEN YOU NEED A DAILY ACTION PLAN

THIS a list of positive statements – a few at a time is good , otherwise you will put your brain into a spin! Put these into present tense format – your brain will get into the habit of thinking “this is already happening” and your body will follow.

Examples:

• I love my 30 minutes of cardio each week day.
• I’ve gotta have my cardio ‘fix’ today!
• I love eating this fresh unprocessed food.
• I choose to eat healthy snacks today.
• I’m putting my healthy snacks in the fridge NOW!
• This is the only body I’ve got – I’m looking after it!

Come back and visit soon for Part 3!

Our brains work in funny ways and ‘negative’ statements cause some confusion.

“Lose weight” – is one of those! “I want to lose weight” is the most common reason people join a fitness centre, or go to see a personal trainer, yet the very statement is a stumbling block. When you lose something- guess what! You want to FIND it again. Now that is possibly ONE reason for the weight gain immediately after you get to your ‘goal weight’ So- we want to re-phrase for clarity.

FIRST:

“I want to lose weight”  What do we actually mean? Reduce the numbers on the scale? Feel better in our clothes? Reduce the inches around our waist/butt thighs? Wear a smaller size in clothing? “Losing weight” just doesn’t cut it.

Change that to:

• “I want to get rid of excess body fat” (your brain won’t want to find that again!)
• “I want to feel more comfortable in my clothes” (your brain will like that one)
• “I want to wear size 10, 12 ” -or whatever is ONE size lower than you are wearing now. (small step- your brain will cope with that one)

Do it now:

Have another look at your goals and rephrase them- the more specific and POSITIVE you can make them, the better.