Are you looking for change in your life? Any kind of change? New job, new relationship, new car, losing weight perhaps? If so, what is required to achieve that change.
If you answered “yes” to any of the above, then the answer to achieving change is change! To achieve change in our lives, we typically need to take on a certain amount of transformation to get the desired result.
When it comes to weight loss, most people know what modifications they typically should take on, or they have a general idea of some of the things they should change. If they know what changes they should embark on, why aren’t more of us successful?
Let’s investigate that a bit. If most people know what to do, why are obesity numbers in North America continuing to climb? We have more health facilities and 24-hour gyms available to us than ever before, more ripped Instagram influencers than you can shake a stick at, yet we’re not seeing the numbers come down.
We are not here to break down all the reasons why obesity continues to rise and plague modern day society. What we do want to address is the fundamental fact that seeing results requires change.
We see it so often, a client joins a weight loss program and doesn’t fully adopt the idea that they are the ones that need to change their habits for the journey. They place too much responsibility on the coach or trainer. Yes, the health coach is there to guide them and even give a push in the right direction every once and awhile, but it’s not all up to the health coach. The client needs to commit and commit to what is being suggested to improve their weight loss. If and when you make that mental shift, the results will be absolutely life changing and your weight loss goals become a lifelong priority. Decisions, discipline and commitment become a whole lot easier.
Remember, a lifestyle change isn’t static. You don’t just take on a specific couple of changes and never alter from those. What works now, might not work as much for you later depending on where you are in your life. You have a lifetime to figure out what makes you feel and operate optimally, but you need to commit long-term to the new formula. You may initially decide to remove processed foods from your diet and start to move/exercise 3 times a week. Over time, those changes may shift to include a lot more detail. Perhaps you improve your hydration, upgrade the quality of your whole food diet, focus on sleep quality and start new physical activities you never dreamt of.
It’s okay if your goals and target shift along with it. You may have set out to originally lose 20lbs or 30lbs and you find along the way that losing the additional 15lbs that you never thought was possible is just a byproduct of the lifestyle changes you’ve firmly adopted. Consistency is the key and when you have a bad day, do not dwell on it. Forget it happened, today is a new day!
The human body is incredibly resilient. It is fascinating to see how adaptable we can be when we need to. Something such as taste buds can be altered with just a few weeks of “practice”. So many of us have acquired strong tastes/desires for sweet and/or salty flavours and it is not your fault. So many of the foods we consume today are filled with hidden added sugar and salt. Our taste buds get programmed to expect them and will actually search those tastes out in the way of cravings. If we are able to adjust our food intake, reduce the sweet and salty for a few weeks, our tastebuds will adjust and not be so hypersensitive to them. To do this, it takes a bit of time, consistency, achievable (and moderate) goals and the adoption and ownership of a bigger journey.
To achieve sustained change, you must commit. The journey won’t always be easy or short-lived. There will be bumps along with way, but you need to embrace those bumps and understand that you are not alone on your path. What you do today, paves your path for tomorrow.