Top Ten Weight Loss Tips You Won’t Get From A Fitness Guru

A healthy lifestyle is a holistic process in which all the pieces must come together to achieve ultimate success. The energy around you and your neural pathways can be blocked in ingenious ways, preventing us from moving forward with our efforts to lose weight and get fit. This I experienced personally when the trauma, drama, and emotional turmoil of my divorce from my marriage of 12 years was a catalyst for me to lose 30 pounds and truly lose my bikini baby figure.

It seemed like nothing I did was making me lose the weight and when I did make progress and lose 5 pounds, I would go on a sabotage binge and gain it all back again.

From being a lean, healthy figure prior to what the charts technically consider to be borderline overweight, to feeling sluggish and out of sorts, and certainly not feeling ‘me’, I’ve been on both sides of the table. And because of this, I have learned something about how to create a healthier body and lifestyle. Just as important in creating the perfect body, is also creating a healthy mind.

Now finally, after losing 10 pounds in the last few weeks, I am on my way to feeling good again.

So here are my top ten weight loss tips you won’t get from a fitness guru:

1. The Sacred Trio ~ A healthy body is incomplete without a healthy mind and spirit. There is more to losing weight and getting in shape than eating right and exercising regularly. Well-being is an emotional, psychological and physical process. Skip one and the chances of failure are high.

2. Self Care ~ Take your focus off weight loss and focus on self care. Weight loss is temporary, but self-care is forever. Focusing on self care will bring all three factors, emotional, psychological and physical, all together and make it a lifelong practice that dramatically increases your success rate. When you focus entirely on weight loss with crash diets and extreme exercise routines, it’s all too easy and common to quickly fall off the bandwagon.

3. You are an individual ~ Your body is individual. What works for someone else, say a high protein, no carb diet, or the cabbage soup diet, may not work for you. Listen to your body and let it guide you to what you want for optimal health and wellness.

4. Feeling good is NOW ~ Feeling good about yourself can start today. You don’t have to wait until you drop those 50 pounds to feel good. Dress up, make up, feel good today. It’s a decision. Make it yours.

One tip: I posted photos of myself showing my beautiful eyes and smile. Although my body was not in the optimal shape that I would like, when I look at images that show the light within me, I realize the beauty that I have NOW. It’s not something you have to wait for. Posting those photos on my Facebook and receiving wonderful comments from my friends made me feel good too.

5. Real life is not airbrushed~ Many photos of all those beautiful actresses, pin-up girls, even models are airbrushed. Don’t expect to meet those standards until your images are retouched as well. Case in point.

6. Do what you like ~ Find a form of exercise, or a few forms that you like and do it daily. Don’t push yourself in the gym if it’s not where you like to be. If you prefer to be outdoors, than running, walking or exercising outside. If you don’t like exercising alone, join a team sport. Get creative with exercise. Even pushing a heavy barrow full of horse manure is a workout for me. Exercise doesn’t have to mean trips to the gym.

7. Moderation ~ Face it, you’ll probably succumb to a chocolate cake or bag of chips at some point during your weight loss journey. That doesn’t mean you fall off the wagon and give up. enjoy it. Savor each bite and then continue on with your goal. It is not the end of the road nor is it failure. It’s about allowing moderation in your life.

8. Forget perfection ~ The pursuit of perfection will kill you. Or at least make you very miserable.

9. Pleasure vs. Pain ~ The pain of getting in shape can be more than the pleasure of losing those 50, 80, or more pounds. Wearing a size 10 dress may not be enough of a reason to miss out on weekly burgers, endure getting up at 5 am to work out, counting calories, and sweating profusely. Your reason must be compelling and greater than the perceived pain. For me, my mother’s recent heart attack and the discovery that it was an inherited genetic problem was convincing enough for me. I didn’t want to die. What is your compelling reason why?

10. Don’t make it HARD ~ If you’re not a morning bird, don’t set yourself up for failure by planning a weight loss and fitness schedule that means getting out of bed at 5 am for a run. On that note, don’t run if you hate it! Walk in place and steadily increase your pace. If you like sugar, don’t try to go cold turkey. Cut back a little each week. Break out the popsicles in the afternoon, or the teaspoon in your coffee, and swap out the sugar for alternatives like Stevia or even honey. Look for viable alternatives.