Weight Loss Tip: Do What Works for You Not What Works for "Them"

We are all different and sometimes that means what works for one person, ie our teachers, parents, best friends, co-workers, doesn't work for us.

This is true for just about every facet of our lives, including successful weight loss.

I firmly believe there is no one plan, diet, exercise routine, or lifestyle that will work for all of us. What is universal is how much our attitude plays a role in our weight loss success.

One of the best weight loss tips I can offer is for you to find something that helps you to feel good about yourself and moving towards your health goals...in other words, be loving towards yourself...and you will have success.

On the other hand, if you are constantly criticizing yourself and the progress you are (or are not) making, comparing yourself to others then you will not have success. At least, not permanently.

Don't "should" yourself into further failure, as in

• It should work for me, it is how Sue/Mary/Bob lost weight
• I should be able to stick with this

Criticizing ourselves and "shoulding" ourselves only makes us wrong and puts our focus on what we don't want. Shift that focus to what you DO want.

So look at what you are doing a little more objectively and with love. Evaluate it as you would help your best friend out...without judging her as wrong or bad. And if you find that what you have been doing isn't working, then be open to the possibility that something else might work for you and it is time to try a different path.

Begin to focus on positive things that work for you, help remind you of your success, how you deserve health, what your goal is, and that you can do it.

Here are some ideas or tools that have worked for me or people I know

• Daily affirmations
• Dream board (or vision board) with images that represent the body & life you want
• Meditation, or visualize your healthy body
  
• Pictures of yourself when you were a healthy (healthier) weight
• Post positive messages on your mirror
• Picture of a bikini
• Find a weight loss (or walking) buddy
  
• Loving notes in or on the cupboard/freezer/frig reminding you to think before you eat
• Listen to (or watch) positive body image messages
• Write in a journal WHY you want to change your body, your successes & challenges
• Express gratitude for the current level of health you have & the possibility of even more

You don't have to do them all...and not all of these techniques will work for you, so feel free to use what feels good and throw away the rest! Or use them to springboard an entirely different idea that helps YOU...and if you come up with one, let me know what it is--post it in a comment here so other people who are struggling can benefit from your weight loss success!

Creating Your Vision Board

You have your poster board and a pile of magazines...have a pair of scissors and a glue stick handy and you are set to start!

Look through the magazines that you gathered and cut out pictures and words that symbolize to you the body and health you are going to achieve.

Find some pictures of bodies or lifestyle. For example, you may cut out a picture of a slender person doing yoga because of their body shape and flexibility. Or perhaps you see a picture of a person walking and that appeals to you, so you cut that out--or maybe it is a picture of someone playing with his/her children. Find the picture or pictures that speak to you and the life you want.

Also look for pictures of foods to reinforce bringing healthy food choices into your life. Perhaps that is a gorgeous salad or bowl of vegetables, or lean meat. If portion control is your biggest issue than maybe look for a picture of smaller servings -- as long as that doesn't feel like limitation! Whatever you choose, make sure they are photos that look delicious to you -- so if you absolutely hate brussel sprouts, do not include a picture of them in your vision board!

You might even cut out words that feel good to you. Words like "total wellness" or "health" or "fitness". I have on my board "Breathing Space" because I know how important breathing is...and when I was 100 pounds heavier, it was hard to breath! So now I have created a space in my own body where I can breath easily! I also have "Simply the Best" because that is what I want for myself -- for my body and my entire life. The message here is not to tell you what words to use, it is to support you in selecting words that are powerful and meaningful for you, even if they are not meaningful for anyone else.

The key point to remember in everything that you choose to put on your board is to put only things/words that you want to INCLUDE in your life. These are all the positives you WANT. If you see something that you do not want in your life, be sure to leave that item off your board.

Once you have all your clippings, arrange them on your poster board in a way that is pleasing to you. Don't worry about being "artistic", it will be beautiful because it is your vision. Glue them down and your board is ready to be posted!

You can choose to put the poster in a frame, or just pin it up as it is, that is up to you. The most important part is that the images speak to you and you can easily see it.

Look at your poster many times during the day. Take deep breaths while you look at it. Allow those images to fill your heart. Feel how good it feels to see that healthy body, the delicious food, the physical activity that you enjoy. Know that this is your life, and be grateful for your healthy body, the good food and activities that help maintain that body, for the energy and vitality that you feel.

I Believe I CAN Lose Weight

So the next step is the belief that I can lose weight. That is a great place to start. Let's see how we can further bolster that belief so that it becomes part of our inner core -- an unshakable KNOWING -- a strong vision of our life, of our very being!

We've discussed affirmations before, and they are an incredibly awesome tool. Definitely keep them up.

Today let's work on a tool to help visualize our new bodies and life. This may take a little time, so don't feel pressured to get it all done today.

If you watched The Secret, then you are familiar with a Vision Board. Some people call them Dream Boards. I like "Vision" better because for me "dream" has more of a sense of fantasy and I am visioning my future into reality. You can call it whatever feels better to you.

This vision board is going to be highly focused on just some key elements of your life, those related to your health and fitness...

Find or buy yourself a piece of poster board...make it a size that you can hang up where you will see it the most. In other words, if you are at your computer most of the day, make it so you can put it close by and look at it frequently. Since this is a focused board, rather than one that covers all elements of your life (like dream home, life partner, etc) it doesn't have to be very big. 18x24 is probably going to be just fine.

If you like, you can create more than one board...say one to have at the office and one for home.

Next, collect magazines that you can freely cut things out of. If you don't have any magazines, talk to friends, your doctor, the local library--just be sure that they are giving you things they do not expect back! If they want them back in one piece, then be sure to photocopy anything that you want to include in your board.

Come back tomorrow for some tips on things to include in your vision board!