10 Powerful Mindset Tips for Weight Loss

May 29, 2024 Stan

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A photo of James on an orange background with the words Vegetarian Health and Longevity

Here’s the tenth podcast of Vegetarian Health and Longevity from Hurry The Food Up and Sports Nutritionist James LeBaigue.

Your diet and the food that you eat is incredibly important when it comes to weight loss, and without being in the right calorie deficit you won’t lose weight.

But numbers and calorie deficits aren’t the only thing that are important. Weight loss should be seen as a journey, with twists and turns, bumps and bruises. It’s very rare that weight loss goes 100% to plan.

Underestimating factors like realistic timeframes, missing non-weight successes and failing to prepare for stress periods can completely derail your attempts at weight loss.

In this episode, I walk you through 10 mindset tips which have the potential to transform your weight loss journey and your life.

Listen to the podcast on your favourite provide r or click play below.

Introduction

If I were to define weight loss in a nutshell, I’d say that it’s simple but not easy. The theory is simple; you eat less calories than you need to maintain your weight, and that’s based on established formulas and calorie amounts.

But the actual doing part, the sticking to your calorie amounts and following a diet that puts you into an appropriate caloric deficit part, that’s difficult.

And while the importance of eating food that you enjoy and leveraging powerful weight loss principles like a high-protein diet and fibre is critical, there’s a lot to be said for your mindset too.

In today’s episode I’m going to run you through 10 powerful mindset tips that can help you to lose weight by changing how you think about food as well as yourself.

Some of these seem so simple but I can bet you don’t consciously do them, but by the end of the podcast you’ll know how to use these tips strategically to improve your chances of successful weight loss.

Proven Contributors to Successful Weight Loss

We know that there are a couple of proven contributors to successful weight loss; things like a healthy balanced diet, staying hydrated, getting enough sleep and exercising.

But even if you do these, do you sometimes feel like you struggle or lose motivation along the way? Lots of clients I’ve worked with in the past focus specifically on weight loss as the primary outcome – they focus on eating the correct calories and the number on the scale, and that’s it.

But they miss out on a potential huge factor which positively impacts your chance of weight loss, and it’s the weight loss mindset.

By using these 10 mindset tips you’ll put yourself in the right frame of mind to get started on a weight loss journey, stick to your targets consistently over time and get to where you want to be. Let’s go through these tips to help you develop a healthy mindset for weight loss.

Change Your Self Image

Imagine for a moment you’re a sculptor, about to start on what you want to be your masterpiece. You want to be proud of what you’ve accomplished and know that it won’t happen overnight.

It’ll take dedication and time, but every action you take, every stroke of the chisel that gradually shapes your art is important and a positive step towards the finished product.

This is the way to think about your journey with weight loss and how you frame your actions. Choosing a healthy meal and choosing to exercise should be seen as successes, contributing to the person you want to be at the end.

This tip revolves around changing your self-image, moving from a struggling, unsuccessful dieter to a healthy and balanced person.

Having Realistic Expectations

It’s normal to want results quickly. We want to see the scales change and we want something to show for the hard effort that we put in.

We’re so used to things happening quickly and instant gratification that it’s only natural, and let’s be fair, it’s shown in the media too.

Diets that help people lose 15lbs in the first month are all the rage, and sound so appealing.

But there’s a problem with this, and it has stopped heaps of people from hitting their goals in the past, and I have no doubt it will stop in the future too, because it’s so common.

People want to lose weight quickly, and this creates bad habits and weight loss changes which just aren’t sustainable over the long term.

The key to this mindset tip is to have realistic expectations for weight loss from the very beginning, because this will keep you on track and not get discouraged if you aren’t seeing dramatic results.

Stop Labeling Food as Good or Bad

Imagine a world where colours were labelled “good” or “bad”. You’d find it difficult to enjoy the “bad” colours, and the chances are you didn’t even get to decide what colour was bad.

Someone else decided for you, or you were taught it from a young age that it was fact. This is how so many people approach food and this is one of the killers for long term consistency with your diet.

One of the things I’m incredibly keen to tell HTFU members is that no food is strictly off-limits, and to see food as more than just healthy or unhealthy, good or bad.

All food is somewhere on a spectrum of this unhealthy and healthy range, and contrary to what many think, it’s value might change depending on the situation.

I’ve spoken about this before in episode 6 of this podcast, but “junk food” can actually be super useful in the right scenario.

Focus on the Non-Weight Benefits

Many people forget that it took years to gain weight; it didn’t suddenly appear overnight. Likewise, it won’t disappear overnight either.

As we’ve already been through, realistic expectations are so important. But sometimes, even if you know this, looking at the scales and focussing only on the number can cause you to get frustrated, and sometimes, want to throw in the towel.

But there’s one mindset shift here that can help you to stay on track with your goals and has the potential to reinforce the positives, even when the scales aren’t budging – and that’s to focus on the non-weight benefits.

The scales aren’t the only indicator of weight loss, nor is your weight the only thing that will be affected by eating and living healthier. Do your clothes fit better? Do you sleep better and have more energy during the day? Does your skin look clearer?

Make Small Changes

“I’m a bit of a nerd, and one of my favourite book series is called “The Stormlight Archive”, by Brandon Sanderson.

After going through an incredibly tough period, one of the main characters says a line which is so relatable:

He asks: What’s the most important step someone can take? It’s the next one.

Sometimes, when you look at the big picture, the big goal, things can seem overwhelming – and the same goes for losing weight.

Just the act of being in a calorie deficit isn’t easy, and if you then consider how much weight you want to lose, what meal plans or recipes you’re going to follow, how long it will be until you hit your goal weight, then it’s not surprising that many people don’t even get started.

The mindset change that is important here is to make small changes that fit into your lifestyle rather than sudden, drastic changes.

Shift Your Focus Towards Progress Goals

When people try to lose weight they often focus on their final target weight, and this is called an outcome goal. It’s super important to have this outcome goal because, if set correctly, it creates a beacon for where you want to get to.

However, focusing only on the end goal may ruin your motivation in the short term, and this goal-setting error can really derail your efforts.

There are ways to get around this which will help you stay consistent with your aims, and this mindset tip is to shift your focus toward progress goals.

While it’s not necessarily sexy, using a framework like SMART, which stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely can help you to create realistic, shorter term goals that will make the journey seem much more manageable. Instead of “I want to be more active”, try “I will go for a walk for 10 minutes a day”.

Be Aware of Challenges and Setbacks

When you start your weight loss journey, life carries on around you.

Sometimes it might seem a bit unfair when you feel like you’re on a roll, or you might feel like you don’t have extra capacity to deal with additional pressure.

But the truth is that there are still birthdays, holidays, social events, and stress factors at work or home.

You might not be able to change them, but you can change your mindset towards them and by doing this you’ll reduce the chances of you falling off the wagon.

When you go away on holiday I’m willing to bet that you run through the different situations and events that you’re likely to encounter; maybe a beach day, maybe a couple of evening meals out, maybe visiting a local park.

And because you’ve gone through them, you pack the right clothes and footwear. It’s no different with managing weight loss, and preparing in advance is key to staying on track.

Accept That Things Won’t Always Go to Plan

Remember when you were first learning to walk? Did you walk just like that without falling down a couple of times?

No, you fell, got back up, and tried again and again until you learned to walk. The same is true of riding a bike. No one expected you to be able to do it first time, and it was accepted that things might not always go smoothly.

The same is definitely true for a weight loss journey; you’re gonna have some downers during it.

This is perfectly fine and it’s normal, and if you can understand this it’s going to make a huge difference to how well you can stick to your long term plan.

If you don’t, then it’s so easy to let your negative thoughts get the better of you and make you want to give up.

No More “All or Nothing” Approach

I recently had a catch up with one of my clients who told me she had been doing quite well with her diet until she hit a stumbling block; she scoffed her Easter chocolate in one go.

She knew at the time she didn’t want to do it, but had been feeling a bit low and decided to do it anyway. Obviously this wasn’t ideal, but do you know what the amazing thing was, that you can use if you take the right mindset approach?

The next meal was back on her plan and she got stuck into her routine.

The trap that people commonly fall into after something like this is to just think that everything is lost and it’s not worth sticking to the plan for that day. Maybe they’ll try again tomorrow, or perhaps later in the week.

Creating Habits

I mentioned earlier how important it is to have a realistic, long term goal because it creates a beacon of light that guides you toward your end goal.

It’s the reason that many people start on the journey and when combined with the other mindset tips today will really give you the best chance of success.

You’ll reach your goal, and then you’ll have to continue doing many of the same things to stay at your goal weight.

Creating habits is something that you’re likely already familiar with. I know there are certain habits that I do almost automatically, like brushing my teeth first thing in the morning.

These habits reduce the likelihood of setbacks happening, and I’m sure you can think of a couple of your own already.

By building habits that work in your favor, you can set yourself up for success and keep the weight off long-term.

Conclusion

Losing weight requires more than just eating the right number of calories and exercising regularly.

It’s also about developing the right mindset and habits that will help you stay consistent and motivated over the long term.

By focusing on changing your self-image, having realistic expectations, not labeling food as good or bad, and creating small, manageable goals, you can improve your chances of success and make your weight loss journey more enjoyable and sustainable.