Mission Slimpossible?

To a large extent, the weight loss battle is one fought in the mind. That’s not to say it’s a simple case of mind over matter, because we all know it’s harder than that, but the most successful dieters will be those who think about what they are doing, as well as why they are doing it.

The ‘why’ part is easy. To be fitter, healthier. To lose weight. You may put a figure on it- 6 lbs, a dress size. It is something you can see. And that makes sense. When you’re trying to lose weight, you’re likely to want to keep track of how you’re doing. And regular monitoring will indeed be essential to help you maintain a lower weight. By way of a little aside, if you’re keeping a record, a graph may be more useful than a list of weights, as one day’s diet and exercise patterns won’t have a measurable effect on your weight the next day. Today’s weight is not a true measure of how well you followed your programme yesterday, because your body’s water content changes from day to day, and water changes are often the result of things that have nothing to do with your weight-management efforts.

Anyway- back on track…there are many obvious ways to track weight loss. However, there are other things to keep an eye on that perhaps you haven’t considered and that aren’t as obvious as a number on the scales or a notch on a belt. So thinking about ‘what’ you are doing is a key consideration. And yet could well be more important. Have you considered for example;

1. Your daily calorie intake and breakdown
2. How much physical activity you do
3. The amount of fruit and vegetables you eat
4. And perhaps most importantly- can you recognise instances in which you are likely to overeat?

Have a think. These are all valuable ways to make your way to a healthier you.

So try not to get too hung up on the numbers. Have a think about what social or environmental situations seem to encourage undesired eating, and then think about changing those cues. For example, you may come to see that you’re more likely to overeat while watching television, when you bring treats into the office for others to share, or when you’re around a certain friend. You would then consciously try to alter the situation, separating the association of eating from the cue (don’t eat while watching television), avoiding or eliminating the cue (always bring healthy treats to the office), or changing the circumstances surrounding the cue (plan to meet your friend in a non-food setting).

Changing the way that you think about your weight is a valuable key to meeting your weight loss goals. If you can come to recognise the signs that could lead you to overeat, then you will not put yourself in the position where you know you are likely to give in to temptation, and an important part of the battle is won. Your weight loss mission is definitely possible.