3 pillars to successful weight loss and keeping it longs lasting with strong foundations.
When we get the surge of motivation to get healthy, go on a diet and finally lose the weight that’s causing health issues or unhappiness we often go straight to the extremes
We look at what’s maybe worked for us in the past, even though you may not have sustained it. We look at all the new trends and quick fixes and fad diets. There are so many options out there now its nearly overwhelming. Diet clubs , gyms programs, fad diets and weight loss challenges and lots of online coaches. I’m not saying some of these wont work. They are so popular due to the fact that they do deliver some sort of results. But will they last or will they become another thing on the list that worked in the past till you went back to “normal”. Jumping into these without the right foundations can be detrimental to our emotional health if they throw you back into another yoyo cycle and another thing to the list of tried and failed.
If we jump into a new diet plan, fitness plan for weight loss challenge without these 3 pillars of setting a strong foundation for our health it’s basically like building a house on sand. It will sink and fall apart.
Imagine you were building a house and investing so much, you would most definitely make; it was being built on a strong foundation to make sure it would last forever. So how do we build this strong foundation for ourselves, getting to your desired health and weight that you deserve and staying that way.
In my years of dieting, training and then being the personal trainer and nutrition coach myself I’ve seen it all and most of all I felt it all personally.
I have fully built my strong foundations and they are
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Mindset and emotional health
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Relationship with food
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Day to day activity
When we jump into a plan, program or challenge we are driven from motivation, sacrifice possibly driven from negative self image and talk. Then we step away from the plan with results. We still have the underlying bad relationship with food, when we are tired or something bad happens we still have that coping mechanism and we haven’t actually added the daily movement and activity to our day to day lives so when the coach is gone and theres to time for the gym the activity gets less and less and over time all these little things may add up to us getting back to where we started. This cycle is so disheartening after all the hard work, effort and time. It’s so exhausting.
So let’s talk about these 3 pillars to build our strong foundations so that the next time you’re ready to take the step towards a healthier life that it’s going to last and be a positive journey!
Mindset and Emotional Health
Often our weight loss journey or journey to good health is driven from a place of negative self talk, health anxiety, fear and low self esteem. So when we come off our short term plan all this comes flooding back in. I work with my clients on changing their belief systems, do you actually believe this is available to you after all these years? And the answer is yes it is available to you. Is your belief system supporting your goals? Another thing is having the self worth to make the changes for you. A Lot of the time we will make healthy food and put the effort in for a loved one, friends or our kids. Do you have the self worth to keep making the choices and putting the extra effort in for yourself? The most important one is our self esteem. This journey is so much healthier and 100 times more achievable if we are doing this from a place of self love and respect.
I work heavily on this part with my clients as it is the driving force to building the winning mindset to achieve your goals and dreams you so desire and deserve.
Belief system
Self respect
Self worth
Relationship with Food
Our relationship with food is the biggest part to play when it comes to our health. In Fact it’s never usually anything to do with the knowledge around food or what to eat to lose weight etc. in fact I think 90% of my clients would qualify to be a weight loss coach when it comes to their knowledge around food haha. If we are carrying an emotional entanglement with food, whether it’s addictive eating, emotional eating, binge or just pure self sabotage it’s very hard to reach our desired health and stay there. No matter what coach, diet plan and all the recipes and tips you can get online these emotional entanglements tend to override the science and the logic unfortunately.
This relationship with food can be broken and you can be set free. This can be done by going on an inward journey to understand why and where this came from. Becoming very present day to day to override this pattern which will take a lot of discipline and consistency driven by self love and self worth.
This is the biggest thing I work on in my program with clients using rapid transformational therapy and hypnotherapy and it really sets my clients free and is so life changing.
Daily Activity
When we jump on plans whether it’s in a gym, online coach or bootcamp based we are upping our movement, activity, our metabolism creating muscle and most of all a calorie deficit. All amazing and is all so good for our health. It will definitely help us lose weight and get into shape. But is it a strong foundation in your lifestyle? Are the days we are not at the class or in the gym active enough? What happens when we can make it to the class or have someone stand over us or simply this is not available to you anymore due to finances, traveling, family life or work work demands. When The program is over or you reach your goal are you able to keep this level up full time. To build a really strong foundation when it comes to activity is to build your normal day to day activity. Looking at your activity and lifestyle is like day to day without the addition of the gym and fitness class. Now it’s so easy for this to be very low with using transport all the time, working in an office or even working from home. Are we even hitting the basic 8-10k steps? I remember years ago when I worked with my first personal trainer and I was in tech sales at the time. I was so determined. I was showing up to all the sessions and pushing myself so hard. Following the food and somehow I wasn’t seeing the results. It was a puzzle to both of us till one day he asked to see my phone and looked at the health tracker. I was barely hitting 3k steps a day. I was shocked. Once I was aware of this and started upping this activity I started to see so much change that I had been working so hard for. Our daily activity has a huge huge part to play in our metabolic rate, using the energy we are taking in and so many other health benefits. So this is why working towards your day to day activity is so important in building a strong foundation in life lasting weight loss and health. Working walking into our lifestyle is so healthy, and lots of other activities. Imagine swapping out food as a coping mechanism to using walking as a coping mechanism, to have the need to get out and move and into the fresh air to clear your head in times of difficulty. To swap out a coping mechanism that may be hurting you to a coping mechanism that is healing for you and your health.
Walking is available to us all the time, whether we are traveling, no access to a gym and even incorporating it into family life. Take a look at your lifestyle and movement and think where you can make changes to build this foundation strong.
Look at these 3 pillars and imagine a journey to health and your desired weight having been focused on these. Imagine what’s possible. How much more of a positive and self loving journey it would be for you. Then to add those healthy recipes or going to the gym is a bonus to drive ever lasting results.
The most important thing is to remember everyday
You are worth it
You are enough
And it is available to you
Don’t let all your hard work sink in the sand!
I hope this helps
Martina x
