Winning Weight Loss Tip No. 5: Doing it differently!

If you keep doing things in the same way, you’ll get the same results. When you start doing things differently…

If you want to get different results than those you’ve had up until now then you need to start making some changes.

Now these don’t have to be life changing things that turn your world upside down, just by simply doing things in a slightly different way you will notice how easy it is to change and get the results you want.

For example, many people plonk themselves down in front of the TV at night, start getting a bit bored and then wander into the kitchen to find something whether they are hungry or not.

So anytime you start to feel that temptation to eat because it’s there, do something different! Go into a different room, make a phone call, check your e-mails, do that thing you’ve been putting off or better still, go for a walk.

You can also make sure that you keep tempting foods out of sight in the cupboard so you don’t happen to catch a glance of them and automatically reach out.

Many of my clients learn to pause for a few seconds before then deciding to eat something – they ask themselves if they are really hungry, picture how they want to look and decide how what they are doing now takes them away from or towards that future (of course you can still decide to have it – just know you are taking 100% responsibility of the choice and the impact on your future goals).

To win with weight loss try the following and see what impact they have. You can tweak them to work for you in any way that gives you conscious control over your eating decisions:

• Keep ‘treat’ foods out of sight – when you can’t see them you are less likely to be tempted.

• In any situation where you may be tempted to graze on snacks, use the other hand to the one you normally would. Just making this change means you will consume less.

• Consider using a smaller plate to find out how large a role your eyes make in your eating decisions (you may be surprised as to how the same portion looks so much smaller on a larger plate and may encourage you to think you haven’t had enough).

• Do something different when in the past you would have been bored or snacked (when not hungry). Instead of going to the kitchen, keep busy and do something different, whether it’s a hobby, housework or going for a short walk.

• Drink more water – it’s impossible to tell the difference between hunger and thirst so have a glass of water and wait for a few minutes to check whether you really are hungry.

• Find time to relax – if you use food as a sticking plaster to try and make you feel a bit better then make sure you find 15-20 minutes a day to relax and unwind.

• If you aren’t hungry and find yourself tempted, pause and imagine sticking the food to your stomach/bum/hips etc. Because there’s a good chance that’s where it’s going to end up after a few seconds of taste in your mouth.

• Many people like to take a photo before they start (or keep one that’s ‘inspired’ them to lose weight) and then take another one a few months later so you can see real progress (sometimes it can be a bit like growing taller as a child – you don’t notice the subtle changes at the time but someone who hasn’t seen you for ages notices how much taller you’ve become)

If you find something that works for you then keep doing it! And e-mail any other tips to me at dan@elymindcoaching.co.uk so you can help others too.

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