My girlfriends are often talking about losing weight and how they need to be more strict with food, spend more time at the gym, or drink less wine.
But it’s always followed by the same simple reasons why they’re not doing it: exhaustion, stress, and lack of time.
So when I explain that even though lifestyle, nutrition, and exercise are important, mindset is actually the biggest hurdle – they’re always shocked.
To clarify, I’m not talking about “if you think it, it will happen” (not a believer … sorry, not sorry) – I’m referring to changing your viewpoint and outlook. And when it comes to your weight, this is a pretty critical step that’s often overlooked.
If you think you might be struggling here, then just know that I wrote this article for you (and me, because I’ve totally been there).
Since my own personal struggle with weight loss, and now with my years of experience with clients, I’ve noticed 5 ways that your mindset could be preventing your weight loss:
1. THE WRONG FOCUS
When your mindset around weight loss revolves around dieting or food restriction, over-exercising, or even the scale – you’ll focus on the “all or nothing” mentality, and throw in the towel when results don’t happen fast enough.
So instead of checking the scale daily to see if the food restriction and over-exercising are working – throw out the scale and focus on how the food you’re eating and exercises are making you feel. Does it feel good? If so, keep going!
2. TEMPORARY RESULTS
Ignoring your mindset means you’ll focus on the superficial side of weight loss. In fairness, this tactic can get you great results, but those are really hard to maintain because the focus is on obsessive and restricted behaviours.
It’s better to put your effort into a different outlook in order that your results can be permanent – like seeing it as a daily decision and preventative health, instead of a goal to get a summer bikini bod.
3. UNHEALTHY HABITS
These same behaviours can lead to bad habits like calorie counting, over-exercising, weighing yourself every day, avoiding healthy foods, and ignoring the lifestyle and mindset factors.
When you adjust your mindset, the little things don’t matter anymore and it’s all about the bigger picture. Try making healthy decisions, without feeling guilty for having birthday cake for a celebration or missing a workout to help out a friend.
4. CREATES COMPARISON
Avoiding the mindset work encourages you to focus on how you look or eat compared to other people, instead of simply focusing on your journey and how you’re getting through it.
Paying attention to your mindset allows you to look inwards at your own why and not care about other people (this is a huge part of release!). So stop scrolling through instagram pictures and start being more present in your own journey.
5. LOW SELF-CONFIDENCE
All of these things lead to a poor relationship with food and cause the yo-yo dieting and lifelong struggle to understand how to eat healthy and love your body.
Changing your mindset by learning to let go is an important way to get the weight to fall off.
Understanding that your weight is a symptom frees you to dig deep and discover what the real cause of your weight gain is. This freedom allows you to do the work to accept your body and build self-confidence, break free from unhealthy patterns, perspectives, and the obsession of dieting, and change your relationship with food and your body by creating new and healthy habits for the right reasons for you.
If you’re “stuck” in your weight loss journey – maybe consider stopping the “diet” and doing the mindset work to pivot your journey to a healthier focus and better habits.
