How To Achieve Permanent Fat Loss

Mar

How To Achieve Permanent Fat Loss

Nick Mindset 2010-03-04

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Finding motivation in things that seem so mundane is not always easy, but as my dad always said breaking something big into smaller bit size pieces always helps. Then once you have done something successfully it seems easier to do it again and before you know it you look back and wonder why it seemed so hard before. Focused action pushes forward to success like nothing else, and success is something that brings more motivation.

Understanding the motivation cycle to reduce your body fat percentage:

Need for change: We all have needs as human beings and we all have different reasons and ways that we would prefer to do something. Many times in the “fatloss workout” world the idea is that “your need” is a cookie cutter and they have the exact thing that is needed. Well developing your “why” is very important in discovering your need in reducing the amount of fat you have.
Drive or Push: Once you have your need or reason why and are committed one hundred percent to it then the drive to do the action will be in place.
Action: This is the actual doing part, whether that be walking, cycling/biking, hiking, swimming, jogging. But if that all sounds to complicated then simplify it by simply increasing the amount of daily activity that you do. There are plenty of weightloss books out there that can give you many, many idea’s on what you can do in order to achieve an increase in caloric output. But let me try and illustrate how simple it is for someone to “increase” their activity. For example sake we have a person that sits on the couch all day long only getting up to use the restroom and to get food and water. If they simply added one thing to their day such as walking down to the post office, the store, or around the block this would be an increase. Once that doesn’t seem so bad they could add something else that seemed reasonable until they achieving the desired goal.
Now the other half of action is the caloric input and there is plenty of resources out there that deal with this so for brevity sake I will just mention that the right kind of foods coupled with increased activity can produce a result a lot bigger then you think. Also rather then reducing the amount of food just simply find some way to get more of the healthy stuff in you.
Achievement: Once your drive and activity give you the result your looking for, it will continue to drive you to continue do what is working, and tweak what doesn’t seem to work.
Satisfaction: This stage is when you can look in the mirror and smile because all your hard work has paid off. Again the old saying holds up that success fuels more success and that holds true when you go from a fat belly to a flat belly.

Developing your fatloss health plan:

After reviewing the above steps in what makes a successful fat loss plan you can then make it personally yours, custom fit for your situation. As you put together your plan consider what your “why” is, that underlying reason for making a change. Once you know that then your set to find those things that you enjoy and that increases your activity.

Less empty calories:

If you are someone that puts a lot of empty calories (cake, muffins, cookies, junk food, etc.) you might look at ways to cut that back and replace it with something else healthier. So for example if I am someone that eats fast food five days a week I might try to cut back to four days and pack a lunch for the 5^th day. I might choose fruit juice over soda pop. If I am someone that eats 200 cookies a day I might try to cut it back to 190. OK so that last example might be a little extreme but you get the picture. Again small consistent changes is what wins this race not the quick things that you stop doing three days later.

Working Your Plan:

It’s important to note that the source of your motivation may change over time and as those needs change and your life changes it’s good to keep this cycle of motivation in mind and then you can tweak your plan accordingly. Something that might be the case for you, as it was for me, that while jogging or running and really enjoying the results that it is giving you and then injure a leg or ankle, you have to rethink the activities. So take up something like golf or maybe gardening, just something that doesn’t use the injured leg. The main point here is to reassess where you are in the fat loss motivation cycle and keep the activity level at what you had or moving up so your action doesn’t slow down to a complete stop.

Now admittedly it is really tough at times to keep your mind and body in sync after a big set back. Whether that set back be an injury or some other unseen element in life, simply go back to step one and look at how your motivational needs have changed and what really drives you NOW at this place in your life. We are dynamic people and that means we have to give ourselves some flexibility in everything we do to avoid getting stuck.

My hope is that this idea of motivation, whether it be external or internal, breaking it down into steps can help in making this race to loose fat one that you can win. Please leave a comment; I am interested in your thoughts and idea’s. And thanks for stopping by to give this a read I really appreciate it.

Working to be motivated,
-Nick