Have you been in the situation where you try to be on track, eat right and exercise, but your weight just doesn’t come off? It may not be what you’re doing, but how you’re thinking about losing weight.
Your MINDSET is one of the most important things to help you lose weight – and it’s something the other weight-loss programs out there don’t talk about much. Once you have the right mindset, everything falls into place and your weight sheds off so easily.
I’m excited to introduce my friend Dan Mendilow, founder and CEO of Breakthrough Life, LLC. Dan’s clients have doubled their income, lost 24 pounds in a month, gotten off blood sugar and heart medications, and launched their own successful businesses.
Dan has written a special article for MasalaBody.com readers to talk about the three mindsets for weight-loss you can use today for remarkable weight-loss. He recommends specific steps you can do now to develop these three mindsets (and also talks about the exact foods he calls “The Witches of Wider Waistlines!”).
Enjoy and listen to his words below and do at least one of the activities he recommends – and you’ll open the door to more weight-loss and your own body transformation.
After what she’d gone through, who wouldn’t be frustrated?
Evelyn – one of my clients – felt like she had tried every diet out there. Juicing, cleansing, that diet where you drink only lemon water with cayenne, she even tried not eating for multiple days at a time. She just wanted to look like she did in her wedding photos again! So she tried whatever she could.
The Wrong Way To Lose Weight
So she went online and found diets that looked good. But no matter how many pictures of ripped women in sports bras they had on their sites, their diets didn’t work. For multiple reasons:
- She HATED how she felt on them! They cut out all her favorite foods and told her to eat carrots and celery sticks all day. She was sick of feeling hungry, irritable, and uncomfortable.
- Sticking to a diet was torture, especially because her full-time job and side business left her exhausted. At the end of a long day, all she wanted to do was eat something quick and relax. She’d rather have Taco Bell than cook for an hour just to have dinner.
- All she wanted was bread, cheese and sweets when she was stressed. She knew it wasn’t healthy, but it helped!
- Weekends were free game. She just worked a long, tiring week. She deserved some comfort food, right? Weight loss just wasn’t a priority.
Sure, some diets helped her lose weight, but it all came back the instant she took a break. It felt like even if she lost five pounds, all it took was one pizza night and BOOM! She woke up seven pounds heavier the next day.
Gaining weight was driving her crazy. She kept looking at her wedding pictures, looking at her neck, her arms, her hips…just wishing she could look like that again. She HATED feeling her thighs rub together when she walked. She HATED having a closet full of cute shorts and sleeveless shirts she couldn’t wear.
SO she needed a way to lose weight and keep it off – without making herself miserable. And right when she started to think it didn’t exist…she found it.
Changing mindset for weight loss
Evelyn really wanted to lose weight, but nothing worked. She thought maybe she should just give up and be overweight forever. Then, in the span of just one month, everything changed.
In just 30 days, Evelyn went from thinking she couldn’t lose weight to burning more fat than she ever had on any previous attempt. Her friends kept asking her she was doing to look so good. She didn’t have hours to spend in the gym or the kitchen…so what was her secret?
What did she change that took her from frustrated to fat-free?
It wasn’t her diet program.
It wasn’t how much time she spent working out or cooking.
It wasn’t even how much food she ate or when.
It was how she viewed herself, her food, and weight loss in general. Her mindset made things so much harder than they needed to be. But it didn’t have to be like that. She realized something most women never do: The instant you change your mindset, weight loss becomes easy.
It reminds me of one of my favorite quotes,
“What the mind conceives, the body believes.”
I know – cute, and bonus points for rhyming, but you’ve heard about mind over matter before.
But if it’s so obvious, why do we still get our inboxes stuffed to the brim with “The 10 healthiest superfoods,” or “Three exercises to give you rippling abs tomorrow,” or “THE absolute, all-time best diet, we really mean it this time”?
Emails like this make me want to scream. WHO CARES what the best weight loss foods are if you eat McDonald’s every night of the week?? There’s someone out there, right now, reading about how important kale is while ordering a Big Mac and fries.
Information is useless if you don’t know how to apply it. Only reading about WHAT to do will not help you lose weight.
You’re much better off learning a little about WHAT to do (matter) and a ton about HOW to get yourself to do it (mind).
If all we needed to know was WHAT to do to lose weight, there would be no overweight people. There certainly wouldn’t be fat doctors. It’s like telling a smoker they should stop because those cancer sticks will kill them – and expecting them to quit on the spot. It just doesn’t work that way.
How to motivate yourself to lose weight
If you want to lose 10 pounds in a month, you’ll have to change some eating habits. You may want to eat some foods less and start eating others more. You may want to put time aside to cook for yourself more often. And you may want to put some limits on how much you eat at each meal.
Deciding to do it is an important step, but how will you make sure that you follow through on these changes? How many times have we told ourselves “I’ll start eating healthier on Monday,” and didn’t? Or “I’ll have just one more piece,” and had three? Or “I know I shouldn’t,” but did anyway?
We knew what to do, but we didn’t have the mindsets that helped us get it done.
The wrong mindsets will make weight loss 10x harder, or even impossible. It’s easy to eat fattening foods when we think it doesn’t matter. We won’t try to change if we think we can’t. And we won’t be motivated to try new strategies if we think weight loss is just about looking good in sleeveless shirts and shorts.
On the other hand, the right mindsets can help you lose 10 pounds in a month and make it feel easy.
They’ll help you make consistently healthy choices; giving you the drive you need to stick to your weight loss plan no matter how busy you get.
They’ll remind you that you CAN reach your ideal weight, and because you can, you WILL.
It’s all in the way you think about food, your body, and your ability to change.
If you want to lose weight and keep it off, you need the right mindsets. Here are three you can use today for remarkable results:
- “Every meal I eat will help me lose weight, or gain it”
- “Losing weight is about more than just looks”
- “Weight loss is a side effect of a healthy lifestyle”
Here’s why they are so effective, and how you can start using them.
Your body needs calories and A LOT of nutrients to get healthy enough to burn fat. That’s why eating less doesn’t always work – you can actually eat too little to lose weight! Some women eat so little their bodies hold on to everything they eat, turning it into fat. It sounds insane, but they try so hard to lose weight they gain it!
Most busy women don’t get enough vitamins and minerals to burn fat, either. They think that a salad a day gives them enough, but they need MUCH more. In fact, you need so much that the only way to get enough is by eating huge quantities of vegetables with lean meats on the side. Now bare with me – I’m not saying that’s all you can eat – but the more veggies you eat the more fat you’ll burn.
Think of every meal as an opportunity to supply your body with the nutrition it needs to lose weight. The healthier the meal, the more fat you’ll burn, and the closer you’ll get to turning heads in a bikini. Imagine rolling out of bed, throwing anything on – even if it’s a t-shirt – and looking cute in it. What can you eat to have that as soon as possible?
Not only will this mindset drive you to eat more nutritious meals, it will help you steer clear of decisions that will keep your skinny jeans collecting dust in the closet.
Fatty Foods Be Gone!
Some foods are sure-fire ways to gain weight quickly.
Take bread, sweets, pasta, rice, and cheese, for example. These are the most fattening foods out there – The Witches of Wider Waistlines. They have almost no nutrition and take up room where healthy food should go. Every time you eat them you make your body store more fat AND you have less room for foods that will help you burn it. And the icing on the cake (that goes straight to your hips) – the Witches actually block your body from absorbing nutrients! That means that some of those fat-burning vitamins you got from your salad will be wiped out by the breadsticks you had on the side.
Fortunately, there’s an easy way to avoid all that – just focus on getting the most nutritious food possible. Fill yourself up with as many vegetables as you can, with lean meats on the side. You’ll get all the nutrients you need to burn fat, and have no room left over for The Witches.
Remember to ask yourself: “Which option will bring me my bikini body fastest? Which one will get rid of my knee and lower back pain the quickest? Which will make me love my body the most?”
For Remarkable Results, Try This
Make a list of all the fat-burning vegetables and lean meats you enjoy and put the list on your fridge and phone. Focus on eating foods off that list. This way you always know what to buy, cook and eat to lose weight.
In the battle of bikini body later vs slice of pizza now, the bikini body rarely stands a chance. For most women, the motivation just isn’t strong enough to win. But that’s because they’re only thinking about weight loss as a way to look better. It’s so much more than that.
It’s also about how you feel. The foods that burn the most fat also provide the most energy. Loading your diet with vegetables and lean meats will slim you down AND give you the boost you need to manage whatever life (or your child) throws at you.
You’ll also spend less energy carrying yourself around… because you’ll have less of you to carry! That means more for your family, career or just for yourself. Imagine how much easier just playing and cleaning up will be when you feel lighter and more energetic. You’ll be able to get even more done with even less sleep, and tackle your never-ending to-do list without getting worn out.
This Could Be Yours
Imagine waking up early to eat and play with your prince or princess, killing it at work, knocking out chores around the house, and still having some left in the tank to roll around the sack with your husband. You’ll feel like an even better mom, an even better professional, and an even better wife.
AND you’ll love the way you look in sleeveless tops, shorts and bikinis. You’ll be able to wake up, throw anything on, and look good in it. That’s a nice bonus, isn’t it?
Losing weight isn’t just about looks. It’s about being the best mom, professional, wife – the best YOU you can be. It’s about getting the most out of life without killing yourself doing it.
In the battle of this vibrant future vs slice of greasy pizza, the winner is clear.
For Remarkable Results, Try This
Make a list of all the things losing weight will add to your life. Think about what you’ll do with all that extra energy, confidence and motivation. What will you wear? How will your husband react to you? Write it all down and put it on your bathroom or vanity mirror so you see it every day. Add pictures from magazines, the internet or your own collection to make it 10x more powerful.
Is it easier to eat healthy food when you’re stressed out or when you’re happy? When you focus on what’s wrong or what’s right? When you’re tired or energized?
What do you crave when you’re stressed? The Witches! Sugar, bread, cheese – comfort foods! But stress isn’t the only thing that makes us reach for the Haagen Dazs. Anger, sadness, and hurt make us want to eat a whole tub of it. Stewing in those emotions only makes us focus on what’s wrong in our lives, and how badly we want to eat an entire cheesecake on top of it all. And all that negative thinking is exhausting, wiping out any will power we might have used to get a salad.
It’s bad stacked on worse, piled on terrible. And it all leads to eating junk.
So we eat the wrong foods and gain weight. And that increases our stress levels, brings up even more negative emotions, and wears us out even more… making us crave even more unhealthy food! Welcome to the Negative Spiral. Some people get stuck in it for years.
But it doesn’t have to happen to you.
The Antidote: A New Weight Loss Mindset
Positive feelings such as joy, exuberance and gratitude eliminate stress and negative emotions. They reduce cravings for fattening comfort foods. They also provide the energy to find or make healthy meals, and the willpower to make healthy choices.
Negative emotions leave us feeling powerless and weak, making it easier to make unhealthy choices. Positive emotions do the exact opposite. But words can only describe emotions so much… this will help you feel the difference.
Take a second and think about a moment in which you felt sad. Go back to that time, see what you saw, hear what you heard and really feel the feelings of sadness in that moment. Can you feel the sinking sensation in your chest? The weakness starting to take over? Or perhaps the anger building inside, clouding your thoughts? Good. Clear the screen.
Now think about a moment in which you felt happy. Go back to that time, see what you saw, hear what you heard and really feel the feelings of happiness in that moment. Can you feel the lightness begin to spread in your body? The strength in your muscles? The energy picking up in your veins? Great! Clear the screen if you want… or just stay with that feeling.
Which emotion makes it easier to choose a salad over pizza: sadness or happiness?
Of course happiness!
And making healthy choices has its own emotional benefits.
Nutritious meals give you the vitality and strength you need to crush it in all areas of your life – in and out of your home. Your jeans will fit better, work will become easier, you’ll have even more fun with your family. You’ll feel even more accomplished, confident, and vibrant every day. Don’t be surprised if you start making healthier choices without even thinking about it – like you’ve programmed your body to seek out the amazing feelings you get by making them.
This effect is called a Positive Spiral, and it’s about more than just your body. It’s about having a wonderful life. Burning fat with ease is just a sweet side effect. And the more you feed into the Positive Spiral – the more fulfilling your life becomes – the easier it will be to reach your ideal weight.
For Remarkable Results, Try This
Make a list of all the things that could add positivity to your day. They can be big or small, complex or simple. Think about what you do, listen to, hear people say, what you see… anything that makes you feel even a little bit of joy, accomplishment or satisfaction. Put this list on your bathroom or vanity mirror and fill each day with as many items off this list as possible. Add pictures from magazines, the internet, or your own personal collection to make it 10 x more powerful.
For permanent weight loss, a person should…
Most women pick a weight loss plan and stick to it – for a few weeks. About a month in they get frustrated by the lack of results, or find it too hard to maintain. So they quit. Some try again later, and fail again. Some end up believing they can’t lose weight and stop trying altogether. All because they learned WHAT to do, but not the mindsets to help them do it.
Avoid that trap by integrating the three mindsets above into your life. Live them out every day, with even little actions, until they become habits. You will be surprised at how easy it becomes to lose weight.
Dan Mendilow, founder and CEO of Breakthrough Life, LLC, has spent the last 7+ years helping people transform their minds and bodies. Learn how to rewire yourself to master your thoughts and behaviors so you can conquer your limitations, crush self-doubt and become 10x more effective in everything you do.
A master of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), Hypnotherapy, Positive Psychology, Time Line Therapy and Nutrition, Dan gives you the tools you need to live the life you want. His clients have doubled their income, lost 24 pounds in a month, gotten off blood sugar and heart medications, and launched their own successful businesses.
You can study with Dan at the following seminars: Double Your Production and Lose Weight At Will, NLP Practitioner Level, NLP Master Practitioner Level, and Speaker-Presenter Training. Private consulting also available.
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