There’s a lot of talk about the relationship between mindset and successful dieting. Most people know it plays a role but often the conversation doesn’t go further than “having a positive mindset is helpful”..
Let’s dig into some of the key mindset principles I try my best to live by and also instil within my clients so they (and you) can nurture their mindset and not only get the most out of their diet, but actually enjoy it at the same time (you may not believe me, but this is actually possible!).
- Strive for progress not perfection
Perfection doesn’t exist, in anything in life. Striving for it will leave you feeling frustrated and disappointed.
In many cases, striving for perfection acts as a barrier to starting when people adopt the mindset of, “If I can’t commit 100%, I’m not going to commit at all”.
I see this a lot, individuals will put off starting to work on their fat loss goals because of X, Y and Z social occasion happening that month.
Remember, taking no action is also an action and 9/10, deciding to take no action won’t just leave you in the same position, it will put you in a worse one so that when you do eventually decide it’s time to take action, you’ll be wishing you started 6 months prior.
Luckily for you though, perfection is not needed to achieve great results. Your fat loss results are dictated by the average of your actions, i.e. what you do most of the time. You don’t need to hit your steps or your calories bang on everyday to get closer to your goals, just more often than not.
So, progress, NOT perfection. Ask yourself this; How can I make today better than yesterday?
2. Chase feelings not results
This is one of my favourites.
When fat loss is the goal, getting caught up in the numbers, whether that be scale weight or measurements is extremely common. This is largely because they’re tangible markers of progress, they’re easy to track and easy for us to determine whether or not we’re moving in the right direction.
What’s forgotten here though, is that fat loss is not linear and so focusing solely on the scales and/or measurements is again, going to leave you feeling frustrated and disappointed.
Instead? Chase the feelings!
Ask yourself;
- How can I make a choice I will be proud of?
- What can I eat that will make me feel good?
- How can I act in a way that will make my body feel alive?
The beauty of this way of thinking is that letting feelings dictate your actions is what is going to elicit the results that you desire in the long run, with the added benefit of loving the process rather than feeling constantly frustrated at the scale weight.
3. Empowered choices
No one is forcing you to work on your goals, to hit your calories or to go to the gym 3x a week. That is your choice. Stop staying “I have to..”.
Similarly, there are no foods you can’t have when you’re dieting (at least not with my approach) and no social events you can’t be a part of. Stop saying “I can’t eat X..” or “I can’t go to Y..”.
This language breeds a negative mindset and a belief system that you don’t have a choice in the matter. You do!
Take ownership of your goals and the choices you make inline with these.
Instead of saying “I have to” start saying “I get to”.
Instead of saying “I can’t” start saying “I choose not to”.
4. Expect to fail
We are human and as we have already established, perfection doesn’t exist. There will be tough weeks and crappy days, it’s a normal part of dieting and ultimately a normal part of life.
While I am huge believer in that idea that there is no such thing as failure, only lessons, the phrase “expect to have tough weeks and crappy days” doesn’t quite have the same ring to it, so we’ll go with the above.
My point being, if you can expect the crappy days, they’ll be far less of a slap in the face when they do arrive. Better yet, if you can accept that they are normal and happen to the best of us, you’ll be far more likely to treat them as a little bump in the road and move past them rather than a big failure that causes you to throw in the towel. Better yet again, if you can learn something from every tough week, crappy day, bump in the road (or whatever you want to call them), eventually you’ll have a clear roadmap of how to make these incidences less likely in the future – win!
Ultimately, these 4 mindset shifts are ones you can apply to all areas of your life!
I hope you find them useful and if you do, please share this article with someone else who might too.
