Junk food is alluring in many ways. It’s physically addictive and emotionally addictive. In this post I just wanted to address one reason that I think is fairly common when it comes to junk food cravings and emotions.

The worse time for junk food cravings tend to be in the evening. The evening is the time most people sit in front of the TV to “relax” and unwind from a hard day at work. We kick our feet up after dinner and then not too long after we head to the kitchen to find something to nibble on. Why?

Well we very well may still be hungry because the dinner we threw together was nowhere near to being nutritious or of any substance to keep us full. But the most common reason is boredom. That relaxing time in the front of the TV is not relaxing at all. I mean do you find boredom relaxing? I certainly don’t.

The best thing that you can do for yourself is to either put the TV away for a few weeks (and make it really difficult to get a hold of to watch) or chuck the TV out completely. I don’t have a TV anymore and it has been the best decision I ever made.

You may still be holding on to the idea that TV is relaxing and thus thinking “Well what the heck am I suppose to do in the evening then?” The answer? Whatever your heart desires!

The reason we eat in the evening is to numb our feelings of boredom. We do this instead of actually addressing those feelings and fulfilling our emotional needs. You may have a desire to be creative, a desire to fulfil a passion of yours or just to get up and go out and exercise. You probably don’t even realize you do.

So first things first write a list of activities you can do instead of watch TV. Write down things you have always wanted to do, things that you are interested in. The bigger the list the better. You could start your own vegetable garden, join a yoga class so you can PROPERLY relax after work (or you may even want to start on your own at home) or start reading a book, learning a language. The possibilities are endless and far more exciting than coming home to pig out in front of the TV. Trust me.

So go without your TV for a week or so. Do this one little thing and you might just spark a new interest in life that has long been waiting to emerge.

Stop Eating Junk Food

Are you wondering how animal fats – meat/dairy affect your health?  Maybe you eat these products thinking they are good for your health.  Well today, I came across a great video about animal fats and their effect on the human body and wanted to share it with you.  The link is below.  I would love your comments on it!

The Effect Of Animal Fats On The Human Body

So by you probably have a better indication of the type of person you are, how you eat and what specific goals you would like to obtain when it comes to losing weight.  So in the next few posts I just going to go through specific disciplines or aids that will help you stay on track with your progress and success.

Believe You Can

So you have decided to go on a diet 6 times and now you are on your 7^th. No one seems to be supporting you, your family entices you into eating something you love at every moment, telling you, you are silly and you don’t need to lose weight. If you are honest, you really don’t believe you are going to do it, do you?

And that is where the fault lies. You need to believe in your self.

Having faith in you is a decision. Many of us battle with this – we don’t believe we can lose the weight, curb the craving or make it past the front door alive! But faith is the foundation of behavior and it is a decision you can make.

Believing in yourself or rather making the decision to believe in yourself can be one of the simplest things you do and be one of the most helpful in combating your cravings and reducing your weight. This mindset will bring about the you want. It will lay the foundation for positive outcomes.

Don’t wait until all the doubt, unbelief and unanswered questions have been taken care of before you decide to put your trust in yourself. Face it all with confidence.

(Another help article in reference to beliefs: 3 Beliefs You Need)

Stick to It

Counting the cost of the large step you have made will help prepare you for the dark times, the low moments when you think your decision seems foolish, useless and a major inconvenience.

Rationalization has been responsible for sabotaging millions of decisions all over the world. Have you rationalized making a certain decision when it comes to your weight loss like these?

“It’s really not that bad”.

“I’ll start tomorrow”.

“It won’t hurt this one more time”.

“This will be the last one”.

“I shouldn’t oppress myself”.

“I’ve worked really hard, I deserve it”.

“Just a taste”

First of all, get it in context.

A craving creates tunnel vision – in the midst of a craving all that matters is that craving – it’s the most important thing in the world at that very moment. You need to step back and count your blessings. An important part of sticking to your diet plan is to allow for failure or slip-ups. Failures are building blocks for success in a way. Most people don’t have the courage to risk failure so put their selves out of the situation and don’t lose weight or attempt a lifestyle change i.e. their diet.

When you fail, which you will at times, don’t get discouraged. See it as a learning experience. Note how you felt before, during and after your slip-up.

Did the food have the desired effect you were looking for?

What do you think made you slip-up?

Slip-Ups can tell you a lot about yourself and also can be very eye opening. When I first changed my diet in the way I will lay forth to you, I was amazed at how often I turned to food for emotional comfort not to mention how many different cravings I had and how they made me feel physically and emotionally. I often discovered that after a while of being aware the food I had wanted and had given into just made me feel very tired or simply was not giving me what I used to get from it: comfort and joy.

Refresh Your Decision Daily

Now that you have written your decisions down, keep them by your bedside. When you wake up in the morning and lift your head off the pillow, grab that piece of paper and read through your decisions. I know this may sound like the hardest thing to do in the morning if you aren’t the morning type, but it is important to start your day on the right side of the bed as opposed to the wrong.

Read through your decisions and believe in them. Make yourself aware of them. This is your time to organize your day to succeed.

Related Articles:

Weight Loss Mindset 1: Making The Decision To Change

Weight Loss Mindset 2: Being Honest With Yourself

Weight Loss Mindset 3: Figuring Out The Why

Weight Loss Mindset 4: Starting On The Right Foot

Weight Loss Mindset 5: Believe You Can, Stick To It & Refresh Daily

There are many decisions that can be successful only when they are made on the backs of other decisions. For example, if you do not decide to eat healthier foods, you will not lose weight.

Your success in quitting the junk and eating better to lose weight will be dependent on your ability to remain focused as you deal with the withdrawal from certain foods you love (like chocolate, bread, dairy).

One of the keys to succeeding is to treat decision-making like building a house. You lay the foundation before you build the walls. Although it is exciting to add the final touches – decoration – they can be completed only when the rest of the house is finished.

We would all love the blessings of freedom from bad habits, bad food choices, irritating compulsions to eat, and bingeing but first we must lay the foundation.

Bundling Your Decisions

Often, one large decision will involve many smaller but equally important decisions. Let’s look at an example. Say you are trying to get over a sugar addiction. You can’t keep away from your sweets to save your life! This may involve your decision to stay away from donut shops and other places where temptation rears its ugly head. It also may mean avoiding situations that are stressful because stress is another factor that can lead you to your sweet treats.

You may therefore need to make a list of hot places and avoid them for a certain period of time until you are confident you can resist their temptations. Often failure of a large battle is as a result of the small battles, which we all face throughout the day. Making a hard decision is very stressful too. When you feel like you are one step away from failing, decide right then and there to get alone and recharge.

The next points to consider, and that will be considered in the next few posts, are going to evolve around disciplines that will become the foundation of all the decisions you will make and are important in ensuring you stay on track!

Related Articles:

Weight Loss Mindset 1: Making The Decision To Change

Weight Loss Mindset 2: Being Honest With Yourself

Weight Loss Mindset 3: Figuring Out The Why

Weight Loss Mindset 4: Starting On The Right Foot

Weight Loss Mindset 5: Believe You Can, Stick To It & Refresh Daily

In Part 2 I talked about being being honest with yourself. I think many people fool themselves into a false sense of honesty and this is something that we must address if we want to feel better about ourselves and also to achieve our goals. In Part 3 I just want to get you to think about exactly why you want to lose weight and what you

It is easy to make decisions in the heat of guilt (you just gave into a large slice of chocolate cake drizzled in cream and vow never to do so again!) but remorse is a poor base for decision. Emotions change like the wind and we soon forget the guilt we felt for eating what we shouldn’t and do the same thing again.

This is why deciding to go on a diet after a binge is destined to failure. Guilt can be a great motivation but it doesn’t last and it becomes a vicious circle. So what you really need to do is delve deep down inside and get your TRUE motivators for wanting to lose weight, give up chocolate etc. Knowing the real reasons for your decision and not quick guilt will help you stay on track and firmly.

The decision that you make today will affect you for years to come. To deal with compulsive eating or any craving and addiction will force you to face painful things inside your heart and they will rise up in power if they are disturbed through decision. This is why it is important to get a clear image of what you want and why exactly you want and need it.

Related Articles:

Weight Loss Mindset 1: Making The Decision To Change

Weight Loss Mindset 2: Being Honest With Yourself

Weight Loss Mindset 3: Figuring Out The Why

Weight Loss Mindset 4: Starting On The Right Foot

Weight Loss Mindset 5: Believe You Can, Stick To It & Refresh Daily

So in Weight Loss Mindset Part 1 I talked about making the decision to change, when it comes to weight loss or cravings. Hopefully you took the time to observe yourself throughout the day to see what you are actually eating, whether you are making conscious decisions in what you choose to eat and what triggers cravings for food (whether emotional or simply because you haven’t been eating enough).

You may find the activity in Part 1 quite an eye opener. You may not have realized how often you use food to comfort you emotionally or may not have realized how often you just simply eat/snack. Before we can take this any further though I think it is important to address some of the issues that can stop us being successful in our decision-making. Then I will come back to how we can progress further we our new found knowledge.

Part 2:

Before you can begin to even think about decision-making, you have to be honest with yourself. Most people trying to lose weight or combat a craving say they struggle. The number one phrase I hear from people trying to lose weight or give up something they love (like chocolate) is “I’m struggling”.

It would be refreshing to hear someone say “I’m lazy, I’ve compromised, and I’m blowing it”. You can move forward from here (I am not saying it isn’t hard to change or that you won’t struggle, but usually when people say they are struggling it is an excuse to indulge more so than a honest expression of what is happening to them).

You don’t have to feel guilty for the way you are, or to beat yourself up for not being better. It is about being true to you. Yes, you can have regrets – repenting can be one of the most powerful forms of decision, but to beat yourself up can be just as detrimental to your progress as can lying.

For example, most people who are overweight are compulsive eaters (even thinner people can be this way – I know some very skinny people who can’t give up their chocolate addiction). Now if you were to ask them or even yourself (because you most likely are if you are reading this) whether you desire to eat a chocolate bar a day for the rest of your life, you would probably answer of course not. However, if I was to ask you if you wanted to be free from food addiction, filled with spirit and contentment and joy you would probably answer yes – it is your heart’s desire. It is a desire that lives constantly inside you, even during the most painful times of indulgence. It is there but for most remains there. A desire never fulfilled due to the clutches of addiction and craving and feeling fat.

Of course, it would be false of me to say that you wouldn’t want to eat a chocolate bar. But you don’t always hunger after junk food either do you?

The temptation for the compulsive eater comes like a powerful tornado – it whips you up into a whirlwind of emotion and inspires an imagination of pleasure. These storms have triggers. These triggers are usually something like hurtful words from a spouse, feelings of depression or insecurity or of not being in control, a bad day at the office etc. I could list books worth. You become seduced by the food for its comfort and once you have fulfilled that feeling, that feeling is soon swept away and met with guilt and despair. As a result we often tell ourselves we will be stronger next time.

Many health food “gurus” or diet systems will tell you that it is perfectly ok to compromise – indulge now and then. But compromising between the two desires of the heart is not the answer.

So how can I be successful in making a decision and seeing it through? See Part 3…

Related Articles:

Weight Loss Mindset 1: Making The Decision To Change

Weight Loss Mindset 2: Being Honest With Yourself

Weight Loss Mindset 3: Figuring Out The Why

Weight Loss Mindset 4: Starting On The Right Foot

Weight Loss Mindset 5: Believe You Can, Stick To It & Refresh Daily

I have decided to put a little series together about the weight loss mindset and how to overcome some of the difficulties that we face including sticking to decisions and being honest with ourselves. If anything I hope that you will find these posts useful in your own pursuits in regards to weight loss or craving control.

I will be adding activities within my posts to help you think more critically about what could be holding you back or where you can start in freeing yourself from a lifetime of habits and weight issues. These activities are things I have used to help myself overcome many of my food cravings that have held me back on my path to a healthier existance and without them I don’t think I would have progressed as far as I have so far.

So here goes for the first part…

Where is that moment, that defining moment, when we rise above those outside influences and develop our own individuality – the moment of decision? When is that moment when we choose to do what we know deep down is right and best for ourselves? Do we need to reach the brink of explosion? Do we need to push ourselves over the edge in order to get there? Sometimes. But that doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing, it can be the start of something wonderful.

There are powerful influences clamouring for that place inside of you that makes choices, whether they are your eating habits, shopping habits or even your faith. We can make decisions that are easy, that follow the norm and we can make decisions that are painful, that are downright difficult and even isolate us from the world around us, for a while (or so it can seem).

Eating is ingrained in our culture as a social thing. We celebrate birthdays, thanksgiving, Christmas with a delicious table full of different foods. We get together with friends over lunch or dinner. It is familiar to get stuck to what our society does and can be difficult to let go of when we want to change our ways and live a healthier lifestyle despite what the rest of the world wants to do and wants us to do.

Losing weight is a step towards a healthier lifestyle that can be met with pessimism from others who want you to remain in their world of obesity and cakes. It can be what breaks you and convinces you back into habits you are desperate to leave behind.

But at the end of the day, it is our decision to make.

We can either continue to follow the herd and fool ourselves into happiness or we can break free and make the changes we have always wanted to make.

Decision-making has creative power. Decisions have their own inaction that can build in momentum. Many people have dreamt of what they want to do and made it happen. The world is full of dreamers, but it is only those who act on their dreams who get to where they want.

So much of daily life ends up like this – devoid of decisions. That isn’t such a bad thing if our history had been built on good choices, but if not we must stop and dismantle the destructive decisions and any patterns that dictate unconscious behavior and create new healthy decisions. This is crucial in our weight loss endeavors but in literally every aspect of life.

This can be extremely tough at first, because we are so used to being carried along in a culture that has made nearly every decision for us – have you ever stood back and questioned whether your society’s decision making really works in favor of you?

All of us at some point have moaned about the many decisions that have been made for us or moaned about our weight or our living conditions etc. But what have we done about it?

What have you done about it?

Instead of moaning and praying that things will work out it is time to believe in yourself and the decisions you want for yourself and act.

You have all you need in order to change.

Related Articles:

Weight Loss Mindset 1: Making The Decision To Change

Weight Loss Mindset 2: Being Honest With Yourself

Weight Loss Mindset 3: Figuring Out The Why

Weight Loss Mindset 4: Starting On The Right Foot

Weight Loss Mindset 5: Believe You Can, Stick To It & Refresh Daily

Here is a great video by Dr Doug Graham of www.FoodnSport.com.  It will give you a few things to think about in terms of what you eat, especially oil   Enjoy!

I don’t know anyone who doesn’t care what others think of them. Some may not admit it, but for most of us we care how others perceive us and the way we are – even if it is only a little bit. There is a great desire and want to “fit in” and when we are bombarded with advertisements to be slim, trim and healthy – it can leave us feeling left out and a failure. But this message is conflicting.

Despite this need to fit in, being overweight and unhealthy is the NORM! I think this is something we all really need to focus on. It is normal to be overweight and it is normal to eat junk food. It isn’t normal to be healthy and slim. In the Western world at least two thirds of us are overweight. So what is normal and what is fitting in is being overweight and desiring being thin – not being thin.

Despite being normal we all want to be perceived as healthy and fit. It is a great attribute to have – it’s desirable. Being unhealthy isn’t exactly something wonderful to live with. Who wants to feel tired, stressed and miserable all the time? No one does, but a lot of us feel that way.

But even so, when we take a step out of the bubble of junk food and maccy d’s, we are odd and people notice. They notice you trying to be healthy, trying to lose weight and it makes them feel uncomfortable. They deal with this by putting you down or joking about what you are eating. When you don’t have the support and esteem it can be very hard not to become what they say – a quitter!

Caring what others think about us can stop us from getting where we want to with our weight loss. I remember talking to one of my friends a few years ago about their weight loss. Their problem was that every time they tried to make healthier choices and to start a diet program, their family would give unhelpful negative comments e.g. “Oh this isn’t going to last – why don’t you just have some dinner with us?” etc. Their family made it much harder for them to move away from unhealthy dietary choices. Instead of my friend sticking to their guns about the healthier choices, she would often fall back into her family’s way of eating and it was making her miserable. She cared what they thought about her and by caring she ultimately lived up to their expectations (not lasting one second on her new diet).

Her need to be accepted by her family overtook her need to lose weight and be healthier. He family was also overweight and maybe they felt threatened by the desire of their daughter to lose weight as though they should care about theirs too.

If you care what others think you may never reach your goals in life. If you allow others opinions to bring you down and stop you eating the way you want to, to lose weight, you won’t make it. So it might not be normal for you to go to the gym or to eat a salad but it CAN be. The desire to change, to be healthy doesn’t have to be forgotten because that isn’t you (according to friends and family). It is you and you need to be determined and motivated to stick with it. Focus on your wants and don’t concern yourself with what others think of you

If people put you down or belittle your attempts it is only out of their own insecurities about themselves. It is much easier to attack you then for them to look inside themselves and see the real issue.

Insecurity can lead you to conform and continue to sabotage yourself and your goals in life. And although it may feel comfortable socially, within you, you will be dissatisfied and unfulfilled. Why allow others to control you? It isn’t their life to lead – it is yours and you should live it the way YOU want to.

How do you stop caring?

When you decide not to care what others think it is something that is a working process – just like losing weight. You first have to make the decision not to care anymore and remind yourself as often as possible that you do not care what others think. You need to remind yourself so you can stop yourself making choices on the basis of others’ opinions.

If someone says “oh this diet isn’t going to last, just have a little cake”, if you don’t remind yourself that you don’t care what this person thinks, you may haphazardly give in to this because you feel upset by it and by doing so you make your weight loss goal that little bit harder to reach.

Of course sometimes, someone’s opinion can be helpful to you and losing weight so ignoring all opinions may not be beneficial. Instead you need to listen to each opinion, pause and consider whether it is of value to you or not. If that person understands where you are coming from, what you are trying to do then their opinion will more likely be valuable. They may have wanted to pointy something out to help you as opposed to put you down. This is when you should listen and take it into consideration as this could help you as opposed to hinder you.

Be honest with yourself and don’t allow others opinions of you hold you back from making the lifestyle changes you need to lose weight and live a healthier lifestyle.

Helpful Posts:

Weight Loss Goals Part One: Creating A Positive Weight Loss Mindset

Weight Loss Goals Part Two: The 3 Beliefs You Need For Weight Loss Success

Weight Loss Goals Part Three: Weight Loss Planning

Previous Post: Weight Loss Obstacle NO.2: Giving Up Too Quickly

When following a weight loss program or someone else’s guidance in trying to achieve our slimmer figures, we can sometimes give up too quickly and easily before we see any real results from it. We then deem it a failure on the part of the weight loss program as opposed to really evaluating the true cause of our failure. Yes it could be as a result of the program but we will never really know this because we gave up so soon.

Now giving up could be as a result of fear and insecurity. Many of us don’t go after what we truly want because we are fearful or unsure. We end up living a life that just doesn’t feel right. Most of us also aren’t fully or consciously aware of this fear. We don’t know or simply do not understand what is holding us back from what we want in life.

If you truly want to lose weight and it is something that consumes you on a daily basis – don’t give up on it.

Of course losing weight can have a number of meanings for us other than just losing weight. It can symbolize better health, reducing an illness or many other things.

Do you want to look back and regret that you never lost weight or made your life easier and more healthful because of fear and insecurity? Do you want to regret not making the right choices for yourself and being a good example for your children?

When pursuing my own goals in weight loss and health, one of my biggest motivations was my son. I wanted to be a good role model and wanted him to have a healthy start in life. I didn’t want to have a negative influence on him (or what I saw as a negative influence on him) and wanted to show him and be able to show him that with determination and perseverance you can achieve the goals you set for yourself.

It can be very difficult to find your hearts true desire – the real reason for your weight loss goals as opposed to the superficial reasons – because of social conditioning. We to some extent are bound up in society’s habits and restrictions, so knowing what we want can be hard to assess. It is important that you take some time to really get to the root reasons for wanting to lose weight so you have something more valid to work towards. Superficial goals don’t always give you the determination you need to succeed or to keep going when you doubt yourself.

Finding your true reasons for weight loss will take care of the motivation. My son was only one reason for me and wouldn’t necessarily have been a big enough reason to change without my other personal motivations. I wanted to overcome my asthma and allergies. I wanted to feel calm and more at peace. I have overcome my asthma and allergies now and do feel calmer (although this is something I am still working on). The point is if you give up too soon you will never reach your goals.

Add Emotion To Your Goals

Another reason to find your true reasons for losing weight is to add emotion. The thought of spending another second being controlled by my asthma was a good starting point for me. I was sick of it. I was sick of constantly having a runny nose, no matter what time of year. Writing down my reasons with emotion really helped me stay focused. With weight loss you are more likely to see results a LOT sooner than I did with my asthma. It took me a long while before I saw any improvement and I tried a lot of things. I think overcoming these issues really set me up with becoming more focused with my weight loss after pregnancy and so I use them to remind me of what perseverance can achieve for me.

The more reasons you can come up with to achieve your goal the better. The more fed up you will get with your current situation and the more likely you will persevere.

It will also help you to not give up due to slow progress.

Don’t Give Up If Your Progress Is Slow

If you are pursuing your true desires for weight loss, then you will find you are less likely to quit early on. When your desire and need is so strong, your progress isn’t as relevant as it would be if you had no clear direction or no real want.

Of course you may feel discouraged if you suddenly come to a halt in your progress. You may be unsure how to overcome it and feel like giving up. Writing down a plan of action will help overcome this – whether that is to read up more within nutrition or to find inspiration to keep you going.

Remember though you can’t change everything all at once and so quickly. Yes seeing some quick results is a good sign that you are on the right path but really you should be aiming for slow steady progress. This will not only make sure you keep the weight off for good but will also allow you to enjoy the progress, focus on the good and not feel panicked when there seems like no progress has been made, because most likely there has been progress you just can’t physically see it yet.

Be Flexible

Don’t let who you are now stop you from being who you want to be. Be willing to make changes to your lifestyle, learn new things if you need to, so you can reach your goal of being slimmer and healthier. If you aren’t willing to change and be flexible, then you will find that your goals will be unreachable.

If it feels quite daunting to change, make small progressive changes to help you lose weight. For example, as mentioned in Obstacle No.1, start by changing your breakfast to something healthier for a few weeks and then move on to changing other meals in your day. Also incorporate exercise in slowly too if its something you really struggle with.

This leads me to say…

Don’t Give Up Out Of Laziness!

There are no shortcuts to achieving your goals. If you want something then you have to work for it. As you work at it you will find it does become easier especially as it becomes your new habit(s).

Living a lazy lifestyle, never achieving anything will ultimately lead to dissatisfaction. Start living a productive life and you will reap the benefits. Living a satisfying life is hard work though, especially at first but that shouldn’t’ put you off achieving your goals.

Success Is Closer Than You Think

Don’t give up, even when you want to! You could be so close to achieving your goals – closer than you think! If you give up, you have to start the cycle all over again. Persevere and if you aren’t gaining quick results, at least be happy in the knowledge that you are building a great life long habit. Eating right and exercising are crucial parts to any health/weight loss program.

If you give up on your weight loss goals, how do you know you won’t give up on other goals in life just as easily? Maybe you do. I think that for me, achieving an asthma and allergy free life has been an important and crucial achievement in my life. It has made me realize ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE if I persevere. It makes achieving other goals a lot easier, because I know eventually I will get to where I want to be and as a result I am living a much more fulfilling and content life.

One Tip To Get You Going

Start visualizing what you want now. The more and more you visualize where you want to be the more focused you will be and the more likely you will persevere. Visualize yourself slim, confident and happy. Visualize yourself involved in exercise and enjoying it. Visualize how much energy you have.

Visualizing can be very powerful but the key is to be consistent with it and to keep believing in yourself.

Remember: It is possible for you to lose weight, you are able to lose weight and you deserve to lose weight. Just don’t give up too soon before you can see results.

Helpful Posts:

Weight Loss Goals Part One: Creating A Positive Weight Loss Mindset

Weight Loss Goals Part Two: The 3 Beliefs You Need For Weight Loss Success

Weight Loss Goals Part Three: Weight Loss Planning

Previous Post: Weight Loss Obstacle NO.1: Always Looking For The Shortcut