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Replenish your healthy motivation and mojo by reinforcing a winning mindset.
Lets face it! Mindset is the most important thing! If your mind is in a good place, you can pretty much guarantee your healthy intentions are going well! Working on your mindset can help you continue doing all those healthy activities that get you to a healthy weight, tackle poor health and get you feeling better.
From diet mentality to feeling restricted, it's all about mindset!
Below are some of my mindset hacks that may help you keep up your healthy intentions long term!
1) Embrace the process – you are not on the wagon or off the wagon, on a 'diet', off a 'diet' – you are in for the ride as such! Embrace the good times and work on the struggles.
What you are actually doing when you “start that diet tomorrow” or think right I NEED to lose weight, Is try and change 30 – 80 years (however old you are), worth of default habits, conditioned behaviours and thought patterns overnight………………
Research shows that restrictive diets rarely work long term, and that people always deviate back to their old eating habits. So instead of being hard on yourself for not being able to stick to that restrictive diet, that research shows doesn’t work anyway, work on the reason you keep eating the wrong thing, or not doing something you want to be doing. It's all part of the process!
2) Get comfortable with feeling uncomfortable . It WILL be uncomfortable changing years of habits, and default behaviours. It's in that uncomfortable moment when you are deciding to do, or not do something, (eat the cake, go to bed earlier, go for the walk/run etc) when you are growing the most, and forming new habits ….......... or not!
3) Think regularity – It’s regularity and frequency that get you results. So anything you do, you need to be thinking how can I recreate this, or keep doing it, or fit it into my life/daily schedule.
It’s not a one-off event, always be thinking when can you do it again. For example meal times, eating vegetables, eating more protein, exercising, everything you do.
4) My favourite! If it is outside circumstances, or your environment that you feel keeps holding you back, take delight in activism! Be a rebel, protest, or go against the grain for the healthier good! Revel in being the different one! Who wants to be the same as everyone else. Going out for dinner might be a small example – making different choices to everyone else, asking for something different, or saying no. It's for your healthier good!
5) Accept the failures – When you deviate from your plan, eat something you didn’t want to, or a whole feast, look at it as a learning experience. Don't beat yourself!
You are only human and we all do it! Reflect on it, why did it happen, how can you reduce the likelihood of it happening again and keep trying. If you keep this mindset it might not make you 'perfect’ overnight but it will help you keep progressing towards those goals.
6) Start and accept yourself where you are right now! Tune out, tap in. Tune out to all those negative emotions you feel about your weight, or health, and tune in to all the things that will get you back to feeling good and healthy again.
Focus on all the things that will get you feeling great! They say what you focus on, you become!
7) Prepare backwards - You can normally explain a moment of weakness or deviation from a plan, overeating, eating the wrong thing for dinner for example, by looking at what happens in the hours proceeding the event.
Healthy mojo, motivation, ability to make good choices is normally depleted by what you do before the event. For example, if you don't eat the right thing in the day, don't allow yourselves breaks, get mentally drained, or stressed out, you are more likely to go for the quick pickme up, easy option for dinner, or need a pick me snack etc.
So work on what you do in the day to help you reach your danger point, (afternoon nibbles, dinner time etc) with your healthy mojo intact!
8) Don't rely on willpower - Work on structuring your life in such a way so to manage your appetite, energy and decisions, and anticipate times that might derail you. Set yourself up for success!
Minimise the background situations or scenario's that cause you to rely on sheer willpower. Reduce that temptation and the distractions that cause you to deviate.
9) Replenish your healthy motivation on a daily basis by having a crystal clear picture of what you want to achieve. Sometimes it can get skewed in the business of your day to day life.
I find either writing down what I want to achieve that day, or just sitting in the morning reflecting on the things I want to do helps me to keep focused. Take a few moments everyday to bring yourself back to what you really want. Replenish that healthy mojo!
10) Never give up! Be that scrappy kid in the playground that never gives up against the school bully!
Probably THE best mindset of all! It will at times feel hard, and you will at times feel down on the whole thing! That''s the route to success you often don't see with the peaks and troughs, ups and downs. But just know that "this stuff works", Science, research, case studies, personal experiences all tell us that you CAN improve your health through your diet and lifestyle. YOU can feel better, whatever your current situation!
I hope these mindset hacks help you adopt a winning mindset and get your health where you want it to be! If you want any help or need support improving your health or tackling a chronic condition be sure to get in touch! You know where I am! :)
My 12 week health & vibrancy programme includes 12 weeks of 1-2-1 health and wellbeing coaching, regular consultations, and weekly coaching and Q & A sessions, to help you Stop Wishing and Start Doing. Click on the picture for more information
Julie x
Helping you live a healthier, happier life
Julie Hodgson
BSc (Hons), PgDip, DIP ION, mBANT
CNHC registered Nutritionist & Health Coach
1-2-1 Health & Well being consultations and packages
T. 07971 862324