Have you heard of weight loss mindfulness? We’ve all heard the benefits of being mindful and taking time for ourselves, and polls seem to suggest that most people are heeding the advice and attempting to lower their stress levels – but using weight loss mindfulness is a novel idea. Here’s how to do it!
One of the main principles of weight loss mindfulness is that you shouldn’t give up. You need to keep your wits about you at all times, and that includes accepting it when you slip up, and carrying on regardless. Even the biggest mistakes can be put back on track, so keep moving towards your target and forget about it. It’s even recommended that you don’t keep talking about it – it’ll just guilt-trip you, and you need to forget and move on.
When was the last time you ate because you were hungry, rather than because your watch said it was time? We’ve got in the habit of having breakfast at 8am, lunch at 1pm, tea at 7pm…and it can be really easy to forget how hunger actually feels. Try imaging a plate of vegetables – if it looks appetizing, you are probably hungry. If you can take it or leave it, you should leave the cheeseburger, too.
Stop eating in the car! That goes for when you are walking, watching TV, at the cinema or chatting with friends, too. Concentrate on just eating, and you’ll find your mind focuses, and you are much less likely to overeat. They use this tactic in weight loss bootcamps, it’s that effective.
Everyone has heard that rewarding yourself during a diet is important to keep you motivated, but are you rewarding yourself for the wrong things? Ignore those lost pounds, and instead treat yourself when you stop being drawn to fatty foods, or when you realize you’ve cut snacks out of your weekly shop. Remember to keep your treats food-free, too. A massage, a manicure or a girls' night in are great.
Hate spinach? Cut it out. There are hundreds of diet foods, so don’t force yourself to consume ones you hate. If you don’t mind kale, it’s a great smoothie ingredient, and really healthy. Eating things that you dislike is demotivating and not enjoyable, so don’t do it. After all, food is precious – don’t waste your allowance on things you aren’t enjoying.
Really craving a cream cake? Try imagining it. Yes, that sounds totally crazy, but give it a shot! Really think about the cream cake. The smell, the texture, the taste. Picture it from all angles, as if it was right in front of you. It does take some practicing, and it’ll probably feel a bit loony for a while, but it really does stop cravings. It works for anything, too – from brownies to ice cream to cheesy chips.
Planning a trip to a restaurant, or a BBQ? While the dieter in you will be fighting to resist temptation, you’ll have an overwhelming urge to devour the whole cake and eat 10 sausages, too. Prevent yourself from going totally overboard by allowing yourself a small portion of what you fancy. Honestly, it won’t do too much harm. Nowhere near as much as if you eat the whole cake, anyway. This weight loss mindfulness really works!
The final trick for weight loss mindfulness is called 15 minutes – eat a quarter of something such as a slice of cake, entertain yourself for 15 minutes, and only eat the rest if you really want it. You have to properly concentrate elsewhere for those 15 minutes, but chances are, you won’t want the rest. Win! Have you tried weight loss mindfulness? How are you getting on? I’d love to know!