People say that the key to weight loss is all in the mind, so could you trick it into better wellness? It sounds odd, but if your wellbeing is at stake of weight-related health and emotional problems, maybe a little trickery is in order.
Firstly, do not tell yourself that you’ll start tomorrow. This only gives you the excuse to overeat, as it creates a sense of obligation to eat whatever you can today. When it comes down to it, you know today is not going to be our last opportunity ever to eat cake and if you keep putting it off, tomorrow will never come. Instead, tell yourself you will have it – just not today. Over-restriction leads to an even greater craving because you want the things you can’t have. By saying ‘I can have that, but not today’, you exercise discipline and self-control and prevent yourself from feeling over restricted. You might allow yourself a treat tomorrow, or you might feel able to repeat the mantra again, which will lead to a few good days or even weeks of positive results.
Next, tell yourself that you’ll work out a little bit. There are always going to be days when you just don’t feel like it but making yourself do just a little bit at least gives you some form of exercise, which is better than doing nothing. Also, if you set yourself a stopping point, like telling yourself you’ll stop when you hit 10 minutes on the treadmill, or when the treadmill tells you you’ve burned 123 calories, you might find you tell yourself that you might as well make it an even 130 or 150, or another 5 minutes on top of your 10. Getting started is the first hurdle, and you can trick yourself into going a little bit further once you’re up and doing it. You can stop at the time you set, which is fine too, but more often than not you have a little bit more petrol in the car than you thought you had, and can keep going.
Finally, the scale is not your friend so steer clear of it. That number doesn’t really matter for a number of variables, as you may have made tremendous progress that the scale doesn’t register. The weight didn’t arrive in a few weeks, so it won’t go in a few weeks either. Stay away from the scales for at least a month after you start your wellness programme, and instead gauge the changes by how your clothes fit and how much energy you now have.
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