Samantha Taylor
Samantha Taylor Fitness
After training over 7,000 women to lose 65 tons of fat and maintaining my own weight for 17 years, I have learned that weight loss starts in your head. Many of the reasons why we become overweight are because of our thought life and what we believe is acceptable for our bodies and our life.
Unfortunately, this can be programmed into us from childhood: some had a skinny sister whom they were always compared to or a mean brother that would make jokes about their weight or some were abused as a child so they turned to food to emotionally comfort themselves.
Whatever the reason is that you are stuck, meaning no matter what you do, it doesn’t seem like you can get yourself to stick to any plan, the first place to start is to realize it starts in your mind.
Addressing our thought life is just as important as what we eat because if you don’t improve the way you think about food and your relationship with it, then you are not going to stick with eating a healthier way. The question is how do you have lasting change? Not just lose 30 pounds but how do you keep it off and not feel like it’s a battle?
It has to do with learning how to think differently about food and why you CHOOSE the foods you eat.
And it also has to do with learning how to stop eating emotionally, out of boredom, or from cravings or impulses.
When you can actually get to a place that you consciously choose a meal based on the outcome of that meal not only 10 minutes after you ate it but thinking about the outcome the next day, week or month, this is when you know you have matured in your relationship with food.
It’s called “mindful eating”. Why? Because so many of us eat mindlessly and we just grab whatever is there or whatever we are craving. It’s as if we forget at that moment how much we are going to regret it after we eat it. And, actually, you do forget at that moment, so the goal is to learn how to get yourself to stop and THINK about what you are doing, being mindful about your food choices.
I heard an acronym years ago called STOP: S=Stop, T=Think, O=Options, P=Pick a choice. Today I encourage you to practice this stopping and THINKING before you eat each meal. What are your options? Pick a choice based on a conscious decision of an outcome you will be happy with, not just a decision on impulse based on flavor.
Your temptations may say, “Oh I will be happy with the outcome of eating 4 donuts.” But in reality we know that after that flavor and experience is done about 10 minutes later, you usually regret it.
So learn how to stop yourself before you eat it. And keep in mind, if you don’t learn how to deal with the cravings and thoughts in the mind about food, that is one reason why so many people gain weight back.
Learning to really think about my choices is one way of how I overcome my food issues and how I have helped so many people do the same. If you would like some help with this, we have five locations with personal training including a licensed nutritionist!
We have a complete system of healthy eating, accountability, and 30-minute workouts. Go here to book free a Body Transformation Analysis: www.SamanthaTaylorFitness.com.