The Psychology of weight loss

As a Personal Trainer and Peak Performance Coach, i have helped many people with weight loss. 


During this time i have found that there is a specific psychology that separates those who achieve the results, and those who don't.


In fact, i am now able to pick the ones who come to me with the mindset already embedded within them, to lose weight, compared to the ones who are not yet ready for the weight loss. 


The good news is that this mindset is a conscious choice. And it comes from gaining leverage on yourself. I call this the pain vs pleasure model of the world. As humans, we are more likely to make change by moving away from pain, rather than moving towards pleasure. 


If i work with a client who has no leverage on themselves. I work with them to create that leverage, as well as define the goals, and set the action plan, and the weight loss follows. 


 If you think to yourself, 'It would be really nice if i was able to lose 5kgs'. Do you think this is a compelling reason to drive you and motivate you to take massive action and get the job done?? No... 


But... if something happens to you like a health scare, or you see a photo of yourself and you are shocked at how much weight you have recently put on, or a family member 'sits you down, to have a word with you about how much weight you have gained'... These things create pain. This pain comes in the form of an emotion. Like sadness, anger, frustration, what ever it is for you. 
And it is these negative emotions that you can use as a powerful tool to create a shift in mindset to have the motivation and drive for any change.


This is the psychology that makes the difference in weight loss. 


So if your not quite sure how to use this information for yourself to lose weight, I have defined some simple steps to get you in the mindset to have success with weight loss. 


Step 1# 


Decide what you want. 
Do you want to lose 5kgs?, 10kgs?, 40kgs? Do you want to feel more sexy?
Do you want to be able to wear a bikini at the beach this summer? What ever it is for you, figure it out so you have a goal. Without a target in sight, how do we know where to point the bow and arrow? 


Step 2# 


Find your purpose. 
Once you have decided what you want, you now need leverage on yourself before you begin your execution.
So the question to ask yourself is why do you want this? What does losing 5kgs do for you? What purpose will it serve?... Ill give you a hint... It will always come back to an emotion. It may improve self esteem, it might make you feel more confident, maybe you are worried about your health. Is it to help you to meet the love of your life?... or is it to keep the love of your life?
Maybe you dont feel beautiful anymore?. These thoughts all create emotions that don't feel nice. Ask yourself, how much longer am i prepared to put up with this?
Purpose is power, it gives you drive. 


Step 3#


Take Action.
Now that you have completed the first two steps of defining your goal, figured out your purpose for this goal, and created leverage on yourself, its time to take action... 


You hold all of the tools and resources required within you right now, to have the body you deserve. 
So what are you waiting for? Be like Nike and just do it!




Stay tuned for my next blog on what specific actions to take to get the weight loss results you always wanted, FAST! 




by Jai Bazevski.