HERE’S an amazing fact about mindset: Most women who go on a diet give up after five weeks and two days. So why do so many people keep on doing it year after year? Because it’s a habit. We think dieting or going to the gym will solve the problem of a bulging waistline – and every year we do it.
If we thought about it logically we’d realise that if dieting’s really the answer we’d only have to do it once, not repeat it time and again.
So what is the answer? I’ll tell you – losing weight is about your mindset.
Mindset is a way of thinking that determines your behaviour, outlook and mental attitude.
Very often, what you think also determines what you eat.
Here’s a little test for you: Are you over-eating for emotional reasons – because you’re bored, sad, lonely, angry? Does it make you feel good? Is food a reward?
Do you eat biscuits or cakes because it’s what you do – biscuits with morning coffee, cream cakes with afternoon tea – and you’re doing what you’ve always done?
It’s easier than many people might think to break habits and create new ones. If you answered yes to the questions I’ve just asked, then you’ve already taken the first step because you’ve recognised that so much of what you do from day to day is governed by your mindset.
The mindset that has made someone put on weight is the same mindset that can help them lose weight.
We’ve all seen how sports stars use the power of the mind to achieve success – Jonny Wilkinson, Jessica Ennis, Andy Murray, Tiger Woods, Serena Williams all channel their minds to do what it takes to win.
What surprises many people is how easily the mindset can similarly be retrained to automatically choose to eat less, feel full quicker and be more active.
That’s why at ThinkingSlimmer.com we created the Slimpod, a 10-minute voice recording you listen to every day, to help you change your lifestyle. One woman emailed me to say: “It’s as if the Slimpod has reached into my mind and turned down the volume on my appetite.”
There is another way, of course. You can always go on doing what you’ve always done. But then you’ll get what you’ve always got.
Have you trained your brain to eat less? Tell me about your success by leaving a comment below.
