Steve Siebold, author of Die Fat or Get Tough: 101 Differences in Thinking Between Fat People and Fit People and Fat Loser! Mental Toughness Training for Dieters, says anyone can do it with the right approach and a little tough love.
His top 10 tips:
Take responsibility: Being fit and healthy is completely your responsibility. If you’re fat it’s your fault. You are the problem and you are the solution. Stop blaming the holidays, the restaurants, portion sizes, the food manufacturers, etc.
Stop cheating: 99% compliance on a diet is failure! Sounds harsh, but if you’re going to get fit, it’s all or nothing. If you are in a committed relationship you wouldn’t cheat on your significant other just one time, so why would you cheat on something as important as your diet?
Expect challenges: Expect the cravings and other obstacles to come, and have a plan in place to push forward when this happens. Be prepared so you don’t self-sabotage in the moment.
Ask the question: Before you put anything in your mouth, always ask yourself, “How is this food going to impact my health?” If the answer is negative, put it down and find something else to eat.
Be coachable: Find a partner to work on your weight loss goal with. Even better: find someone who has already lost a lot of weight and ask them to coach you. When you have someone else to help hold you accountable, it makes the process much easier.
Stay focused: Create a vision board filled with pictures of lean, fit and sexy people. Hang it in a very visible location. When you feel discouraged, feel like giving up, get the urge to eat bad or cheat on your diet, look at the vision board which will reinforce your health goals and keep you on track.
Be careful what you say: 77% of what we say to ourselves is negative. Developing a world-class self-talk may be the greatest mental toughness tool of all. This is one of the things that will really help you change your core beliefs about diets and exercise.
Stop starting over: How many times have you told yourself, “I’ll start over on Monday.” Starting over on Monday is an endless loop that will keep you fat forever. Eventually you are going to run out of Mondays. Grow up emotionally and develop the mental toughness to do this once and for all.
Get around fit people: Fat people follow fat people. Fit people follow fit people. Decide on the person to follow based on the results you’re seeking. As Einstein said, “Consciousness is contagious.” Get around fit people and pay attention to their food choices and commitment to exercise. It will rub off on you.
Stop seeing diet and exercise as drudgery: Instead, start looking at your diet and exercise as a strategy for a lifetime to keep you healthy, looking good and feeling great. The way you approach it makes a big difference.
--Sarah Hagerty
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