Identifying & Overcoming Weight Loss Roadblocks

Why do you eat?

You may find it helpful to keep a note of how you felt before eating. Was it because you were hungry? Was it to satisfy boredom, tiredness, unhappiness or another emotion? Or did you simply eat out of habit?

Identifying those times when you eat when you’re not really hungry will give you the opportunity to find other ways to deal with these situations rather than reaching for food.

Try Something Different

The key to continuing to lose weight is to keep your diet and exercise programme fresh. If you eat the same foods day in and day out and only ever do the same activities, boredom will quickly set in with the result that you’ll be tempted to give up.  You could make it your weekly mission to buy a fruit or vegetable you’ve never tried before, or cook vegetables in different ways, or adding fresh coriander, chopped peppers and spring onions to your usual salad of carrot, tomato and cucumber!

The same goes for exercise. Your body needs to be continuously pushed in order to burn fat and tone muscle so it’s important that you keep pushing yourself.  You will notice we change your program and increase the intensity regularly!   Try and catch up with one of our extra activities such as indoor rock climbing, kayaking etc.

Reaching a plateau

It’s also important to avoid getting disheartened if you reach a plateau where your weight seems to stick for a couple of weeks at a time, despite all your best efforts. This is common, but the good news is it’s usually only a temporary problem.

Blow out – move on!

One small overindulgence doesn’t mean you’ve ‘blown it’ or give you free licence to go on a food fest! Simply put the indulgence behind you and move on and away from the fridge! 

Identify bad habits

Be aware of things that sabotage your good intentions and swap them for new healthier habits. For example, instead of going straight to the fridge when you get home, go for a run or grab a glass of water; or if you always buy a bar of chocolate when you walk past the newsagent, take a different route. 

Don’t deny yourself

Tying to avoid certain foods means you’ll almost certainly end up over- indulging in them at some point. Instead, enjoy some of your favourite comfort foods from time to time.

Reassess your reasons for wanting to lose weight

If your motivation is flagging then it’s a good idea to remind yourself why you wanted to lose weight in the first place. Was it to look amazing for this year’s holiday or Christmas party? Was it to improve your health and fitness? Was it simply to have more energy to play with your children?

Then ask yourself what you’ll gain by shaping up. Most people who lose weight say they feel happier, healthier and have more confidence. It’s something scientists have discovered, too.

Look forwards rather than backwards 

When things get tough, it’s easy to dwell on previous dieting experiences – and even easier to find examples of times when you’ve felt like this in the past, given up and ended piling on all those lost pounds in a matter of weeks. This doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed to happen this time, too.

Thinking about past failures will almost certainly result in you giving up. Instead, the key to losing weight is to put past dieting failures behind you and instead focus on the success that lies ahead. 

Don’t waste time on negative thoughts

Add up all the hours you’d wasted worrying about your weight and compare that with the number of hours you’d spent feeling great about your size, shape and diet. Then think about the effect it’s had on you and those around you.

Doesn’t it feel fantastic to think positively? Chances are you laugh more, are more outgoing and have generally started to feel better about life.  And because you feel happier, other people have probably picked up on this and can’t wait to be around you. Do you really want to lose that feeling? 

Visualise the new slim you

When things get tough, spend some time visualising your new life as a slimmer, fitter and healthier you.

Find somewhere quiet where you won’t be disturbed, sit in a comfortable chair and close your eyes. In your mind’s eye see yourself as the slimmer you. How does it feel? How much more confident are you? How do you look? What are you wearing? What are you doing in your new life? What ambitions do you have? What changes have you made? Hold onto this image of the new you and take time to revisit it whenever you’re in need of a motivation boost.

Celebrate your success

Each time you lose a couple of kilos, treat yourself to something you really fancy – and no, I don’t mean a piece of cake, packet of chips or takeaway! Whether it’s a new CD, a manicure, a long soak in the bath or an hour on the couch with your favourite magazine, being kind to yourself will guarantee long-lasting success.

Ask for Help, not Hindrance

Get your friends, family and colleagues on your side and ask them to help you rather than hinder you. If someone doesn’t seem to want to help, then don’t feel bad about avoiding for him or her for the time being.

Instead concentrate on spending time with people who are prepared to help you reach your goal. And as the pounds fall off and you feel more confident, you’ll feel stronger and be better equipped to cope with unsupportive people.

In the early stages of your plan, friends and family will probably keep telling you how well you’re doing and how great you look, but compliments may gradually start to slow down, especially as people get used to seeing you losing weight.

Keep reminding yourself of your successes to date – that might mean trying on an old item of clothing that’s now too big for you, comparing pictures of yourself when you were bigger with ones of yourself now or simply adding up how many kilos and centimetres you’ve lost in total. You may also find it helpful to give yourself non-food treats such as a new haircut or a massage, every time you reach a new goal.

Take Control

At the end of the day, what you put in your mouth is your responsibility. Bottom line: while others may tempt you, ultimately you’re in charge of your own life. After all, you’re losing weight for yourself – not someone else!

Do’s and Dont’s of Goal Setting

Key Pieces to the Puzzle

Goal achievement, especially when it comes to health and fitness, can be a mystery. Most of us have no trouble with Step 1 (Setting the Goal). Setting a goal is the easy part, it’s those other steps that can be a puzzle. But you CAN turn achieving your goals into a science with the right strategies. Here are a few of our favourites:

DO create a plan. DON’T wait for “someday” to roll around.
Setting the goal is just the first step. Know where you’re going, what resources you’ll need, who can help and – most importantly – what Plan B is when life throws a monkey wrench into Plan A.

DO start small. DON’T focus on too many things at once.
Try focusing on one goal at a time. Use a small goal that you know you can do each day for the next two weeks, like getting up without the snooze or drinking eight cups of water. Build that first habit to boost your confidence and pick up speed.

DO write it down. DON’T forget to give yourself a deadline.
Deadlines turn wishes into goals. The act of writing down your goal is powerful enough to keep you committed and focused. Better yet, find a visual that represents your goal or how your life will be different. Seeing it makes it seem more possible.

DO be specific. DON’T deal in absolutes.
Avoid the words ‘some’ and ‘more’, as in “I will get SOME exercise” or “I will eat MORE veggies.” It leaves too much wiggle-out room. Deal in measurable things that you have control over. And never say ‘never’ or ‘always.’ All or nothing is a common attitude that leads people back to bad habits.

DO leave room for failure. DON’T expect perfection.
Persistence is the key. Accept the fact that you might not make it on the first try. In a recent study, only 40% of people who successfully followed New Year’s resolutions did it on the first try; 17% of resolution achievers took six or more tries before they got it right – but they did get it right.

DO track your progress. DON’T fool yourself into failure.
Memory can be pretty selective. It conveniently forgets that extra brownie while remembering activity that never happened. The only way to know for sure is to track goals regularly with a checklist or journal.

DO reward your success. DON’T beat yourself up over failure.
This is the step that trips up most people. Negative thoughts are usually in our heads, telling us every day what we’re doing wrong. This is not the approach to take to succeed with your goals. Why not focus on what you’re doing right instead? If you take a step back, learn from it and take two steps forward.

DO find a support system. DON’T try to do it alone.
A goal buddy can make all the difference this time. People that can help are all around you – on the BPStudio Facebook site, at work, even in your own family. Just add one person to your support group, and you double your motivation, double your energy, double your commitment – and double your FUN.

DO make a commitment. DON’T ever forget that you can do it.