If you missed last week’s free teleseminar, you missed some great questions about coping with overwhelm, how to get motivated to exercise, and tips for dealing with stress and the economic worries (a post on that is coming soon). We also talked about some of the mindsets that people mistake as “helpful” but that can quickly sabotage attempts to take control of emotional eating, lose weight, or adopt other healthy lifestyle changes.
Here is my short list of mindsets and mistakes you’ll want to avoid to avoid sabotaging your plan for change:
1. Perfectionism. I’ve covered this one in previous posts (and here ) but it bears repeating. Perfectionism—the belief that you have to get it perfect in order to be successful—will sabotage a plan for lifestyle change (and may trigger emotional eating) faster than any other mindset. It’s not possible to be perfect and the pressure a perfectionist puts on herself is entirely unrealistic and unhelpful.
2. Go big or go home: Taking steps that are too big. Trying to do too much too fast is a quick and easy way to overwhelm yourself. Even if you can take the big steps in the short run, drastic change is a jolt to the system and can be very difficult to maintain for the long haul. It’s generally better to take small consistent steps that you can gradually integrate into your existing life and way of doing things.
3. Choosing the plan you “should”: Taking on a plan that doesn’t honor who you are, what you’re good at and what you do and don’t enjoy. Think carefully about a plan that will work for you before you try to make yourself work a plan that might not be workable. The more any new plan of action meshes with who you are and what you enjoy, the more likely you will be to remember the new behaviors, to be consistent with them, and to gradually develop changes that will last.
4. I just need to eat healthy food: Choosing a diet or program that tells you WHAT to eat but doesn’t help you figure out how NOT to overeat. Success requires the necessary tools—all the necessary tools. You can’t build a house with a screwdriver but no hammer. Likewise, you aren’t likely to be successful with taking control of emotional eating, overcoming your unique challenges and hurdles, or creating a fitness program that lasts if all you have is a food plan. I feel so strongly about this that all of my programs and resources have a component to allow you to assess the unique tools you need to build you own success.
Avoiding these mindsets will help keep you on track and help you avoid a downward spiral in motivation. At the teleseminar I included one additional tip: If you’d like more support, companionship and help with motivation and accountability as you continue to move forward, you might want to take advantage of this month’s special at the Weight Loss Winner’s Circle. For a limited time, new members can use the code WWC01 to enroll in this ongoing program and pay only $9.99 for the first month.
Take good care,
Melissa
