The New Year has come, and many of you have made New Year’s weight-loss resolutions. You might be crushing your goals, or you might be struggling. Statistics have shown that only 10-20% of you are able to stick to your resolutions—the others fail within the first month or two. Despite which category you fall in, check out these points to help you become more successful either way:
1) Your body fat percentage isn’t a mystery or an accident.
Our bodies hold adipose tissue (body fat) due to a balance (or imbalance) of fuel (food we ingest) and energy we use (calories we burn). A lot can go into this equation, but your body is holding however much adipose tissue it has for a reason. Yes, genetics, family history, body type and many other factors can play a role. Nevertheless, it’s for a reason, and it can change. Consider your body fat % as feedback that your body is giving you. It’s saying, I need this much adipose tissue because of what your feeding me and how your using me. Your body is giving you feedback. It’s up to you to decide you’re going to use that feedback and make some changes. Do you want less adipose tissue? Give your body a really convincing reason to get rid of it.
2) Your body fat percentage is yours.
Take responsibility for it and don’t blame your childhood, genetics, your parents or your environment. Own it! You’ll find plenty of excuses and reasons it’s not your fault, or how it’s out of your control. Don’t buy into that. Own your body and take responsibility for your actions. It might be hard, but if our perspective isn’t one of 100% responsibility, we’ll live our life blaming everything but ourselves. And, guess what? While blaming something else might make us feel better for a moment, we will remain the same. The responsibility is yours. Even when you think it isn’t, it still is. As soon as you realize this, you can begin going down the road of change.
3) Changing your body requires changing your behaviors….substantially!
Change isn’t easy. Too many people want it to be easy. They want to change one small habit in their life and lose a bunch of weight. If it was easy, we’d all be exactly what we want to be. The fact is, changing our body is difficult work. Whether you are trying to gain muscle and weight, or trying to lose fat and weight, it’s hard and takes hard work. If you see something telling you it’s going to be easy, don’t buy into it or you’ll just be disappointed.
4) Why do you want to be different than you are?
Challenge yourself with this question. Do you want to get fit so you can look like some person/model you idolize? Do you want to do it for someone else? Maybe a family member or spouse is pressuring you? If you’re not doing it for yourself because you value being fit and healthy, it won’t last. The only reason that will sustain you through this difficult change is believing it for yourself because it’s a value to you. So, what’s your reason for wanting to change?
5) Nothing is wrong with you!
You’re not a failure! As soon as you decide to believe in yourself and that you have control of your life and your weight, you can begin to change. Stop looking at your failures as a systemic problem. Your failures are great examples of what doesn’t work. There’s nothing wrong with that. We’ve all failed. Just analyze those failures and use them to your advantage. Use them to figure out what does work and stop focusing on what didn’t.
6) Don’t look for some magic pill.
Or a brand new amazing technique, some super cool new technology, or anything else outside of yourself. Change comes from within when you decide, “I’m in control of my life and weight. I CAN change. It’s going to be hard, but I believe in myself.”
7) Do it! Take action! Don’t start on Monday.
Start right now! Yes, this very minute. Put down that drink, or that snack. No time will feel convenient. You won’t magically wake up one day and say, “today I feel like giving up everything I love.” Nope! It’s going to be as hard on Monday as it is today. So, why not now?
If you’re looking for a coach to work alongside you, encourage you, and provide great knowledge and information, we have some terrific coaches available. Check out our personal nutrition coaches, or our nutrition workshops.