Part 2 – What’s the Secret to Start Losing Weight?: Mind 180

What is the Secret to Start Losing Weight?

Have you ever witnessed someone be successful at losing weight and wonder, “How did they lose the weight? What was their secret?”

Those are the typical questions, right?

But, have you ever wondered how they started on the journey to losing weight?

None of what I did to start losing weight had anything to do with me changing what I ate or by me exercising. – Pamela Burke

That is what I mentioned in Part 1, Learn How to Start Losing Weight for a Happier You, of this series. What I learned is that you have far more success getting started, and staying the course, if you understand why you are having a hard time getting started in the first place.

Here, in Part 2, I go through the process of why and what held me back from starting and keeping to a my goal of losing weight. I also share how I twisted those same blockers to help get me started.

As you read through my self-assessment, take note of each transformation of thought. Trust me, I finally realized your mind transformation is how you successfully start losing weight.

Dig deep into your “Why?”

We all have reasons why we should lose weight, or at least not gain weight. Here are some of the reasons why it was important for me to lose weight:

• Family history of diabetes. Diabetes took the life of one of my mother's brothers. Her father had diabetes. My mother has diabetes.
• Universal doctor's prescription. Every doctor I went to for something – my knee, my back, my stomach, my annual OB/GYN visit – they all said the same thing. “Lose weight.”
• Self-loathing. I hated looking at myself in the mirror. I avoided meetings with old friends because I was so embarrassed that I had let myself get so big.

Pretty good reasons to lose weight, right? But what happens instead? Those same whys depress us or frustrate us into continuing to not be healthy.

We know what needs to be done, don't we? The question is, why are these not reason enough to put us into action?

That was the question that I asked myself. I knew then that I needed to dig deeper.

Embrace the cold hard truth

When digging deeper, I began to embrace the cold hard truth:

• I was none too pleased with myself letting myself go, but obviously, not so much that I was willing to change, for good.
• I avoided doing what I know needed to be done because merely thinking about what needed to be done to lose weight exhausted, and sometimes, depressed me.

You know what? As badly as I felt, no one had done that to me, but me. That meant it was up to me to do something about it.

I then dug even deeper to understand why I had yet to do anything about it.

Face your obstacles

To do something about finally losing weight, I faced these obstacles:

• To reach my desired weight I needed to lose 85 pounds. EIGHT-TEE! FIVE!
• It would take 10 months to lose that much weight at a healthy rate of 1-2 pounds per week.
• Being older, the weight loss process was going to be slower.

When facing my obstacles, you know what I determined as my greatest obstacle? It was me and my thoughts.

There are plenty of obstacles in your path. Don't allow yourself to be one of them. – Ralph Marston

I no longer wanted to be my own obstacle, but you know there's always that, “but…”

Identify your excuses

I often thought to myself, “When would I have time to workout if…?”

• The work commute is almost two hours, door-to-door.
• I can't go to the gym during lunch hours because meetings are scheduled during lunch.
• I don't like gyms anyway. I want to be in and out, not waiting my turn for a weight machine.
• Keeping to a workout schedule after work is nearly impossible when you are not sure when the work day will end.

I replied to my own question with a question? Why did you decide those were your only options?

Your Overall Assessment

There you have it. After digging deeper, it was crystal clear…

• I was my greatest obstacle.
• I needed to create my opportunity and stop facing the consequences of my excuses.

Essentially, there is no secret to start losing weight. It is up to you to do a mind 180.

That was my process to get started with losing weight. The assessment revealed what was going on in my life and in my head. Now you give it a try.

1. Ask yourself, “Why is my health and family not reason enough to start losing weight?”
2. Embrace the cold hard truth as to why you are where you are and who is responsible for what you ultimately do.
3. Face your obstacles to determine your greatest obstacle.
4. Identify your excuses in order to create opportunities from them, rather than live the consequences of them.

What Do You Do Now?

With this information you are armed with what you need to get started with losing weight. In the final part of this series, I will share what I did after completing my assessment.

What secrets did you share when asked how you started losing weight? Share your comments below, on Facebook or Twitter.