What's holding you back from creating a healthy lifestyle?

  • Ali

I talk a lot about mindset and health and how the two are intrinsically linked. I believe courage plays  a major role in whether you’ll be successful in creating lifestyle change and in sticking to it long term.

So how do courage, lifestyle change and weight loss come together?

Firstly I believe you have to have the courage to adjust your priorities. So often we put all those around us first, eating poorly or missing out on exercise so we can fit things in for our families. How often have you downed a coffee in lieu of breakfast but made sure the kids eat before leaving for school, or skipped your own gym class so you can be there to make supper. When it comes to your own health you have to have the courage to put yourself first. 

Sometimes we are in blame mode and not ready to face up to the fact that if we’re to change our health we have to take responsibility for changing it. You have to have the courage to be HONEST with yourself about your excuses. Perhaps you were cross with your partner because he was home late and you couldn’t eat together but did that really make it his fault that you ate a whole layer from your box of Thorntons while stewing over some nonsense on the TV? When we focus on our own emotions we can often work out what’s not right in our lives and sort the feelings out without resorting to food and then blaming someone else for our fall. You also need to have the courage to ADMIT when you are not holding yourself accountable and to start to do so.

I’m not saying this is easy. Sometimes you have to have the courage to make really SCARY decisions at times like leaving a stressful job that is destroying you or speaking to your partner about how your relationship isn’t fulfilling your emotional needs. 

For many of us we need to understand how our own comfort zone, created around us to keep us safe, is actually hindering our ability to move forward toward better health. We have to expand our comfort zone by stepping out of it and knowing that it will HURT but that with the hurt, comes growth. Every time we step outside our comfort zone our comfort zone expands. Whether it’s visiting a new vegan restaurant and trying out the menu or booking ourselves into a gym class we’ve never done before. It’s painful the first time -  we have no idea if the trainers we’re wearing will be the right type or if we’ll be able to keep up, but once we’ve done it, our comfort zone accepts that that class is now part of its range and the second and third time we book in we’re feeling much more in control. It’s all about having the courage to try new things. 

I often talk to clients about what they can do to build the courage to break a habitual CYCLE that doesn’t serve them. Perhaps it’s eating late at night, getting too little sleep and feeling frazzled in the morning, perhaps it’s drinking too much after a busy and stressful day in the office or with the kids. You have to accept the cycle you’ve been living and commit to changing it through small steps repeated day in and day out until they become a new normal. 

For many, self doubt is a shadow we carry around with us. It permeates so many aspects of our life from will I be good enough to go for that promotion, to should I swipe right and see if that guy/girl is interested in a date too. When it comes to our health so many of us have a story of the past that we repeat to ourselves. If you’ve yoyo dieted all your life it’s easy to believe that this time will be no different. That you’ll not achieve anything now either. All too often we strap Debbie Doubt into the passenger seat of the car and she takes off with us telling us all the reasons we’ll fail. Far better to look for a few positive things you’ve done in the past and build on them. Kick Debbie Doubt out of the front seat and strap Belinda Belief in beside you. She’ll be there to champion your cause and remind you that you’re doing a great job. You’re at the beginning of a journey and that it doesn’t matter if you slip up, what matters is how quickly you get back on track.  You have to have the courage to BELIEVE in yourself and walk away from SELF-DOUBT. 

I so often hear that I can’t afford to think about my health, that I can’t afford healthy food. Having the courage to prioritise your health above your MONEY worries is ALWAYS the answer and it doesn’t have to be expensive. Cooking from scratch, rather than buying ready meals, can actually save you money and, if you have time for Facebook or Instagram, you have time to cook! 

Another big worry for people is the fear of how they look. It takes real courage to look at yourself and your body with PRIDE and RESPECT, instead of DISAPPOINTMENT and REGRET but that is what I’m asking you to do. Yes you may have stretch marks, wobbly bits and perhaps you can’t see your feet over your tummy yet, but you know you are doing something about it to create a healthier, more energised version of you. Those wobbly bits, those stretch marks, they all tell a story of a life lived and that is important. 

Finally you need to have the courage to actually do what you say you are going to do and to KEEP GOING, sometimes over the LONG TERM which takes patience and resilience and, you guessed it courage! 

And above all you need to have the courage to see that your FEARS are not REAL. They’re all in your head and only you can help you get out of your own way.

If you need help and support in finding your courage, keeping it alive and building a healthier, more energised you, please reach out to me. I love working with people to change lives.