Carolyn Hansen: Want to get in shape? Shape your mind first

Misinformation and negative thoughts about nutrition, dieting and exercise can combine with some plain old self-delusion to poison our learning opportunities. Photo / 123rf

OPINION

If you want to get into better physical shape or lose weight you have to treat yourself well, very well. You have to feed yourself the right types of food, eat the right quantities and you need to exercise. But you can only treat your body as well as you feel about yourself on the inside. This means your thoughts, emotions and self-beliefs need to be a match.

Before you attempt your self-transformation you need to get this inner mind programming working with you and not against you and then your body will follow. Most of us do this backwards.

We tell ourselves that we will feel better about ourselves after we lose the weight but it doesn’t work this way. You need to feel better about yourself so you can get a healthy, feel-good body. Becoming overweight can mean you are not looking after yourself properly. Eating the wrong types of foods, too much of them and avoiding exercise is never going to serve you well and the outcome is you become stuck in a less-then-feel-good body. So to reverse this we need to “fix” up the inner mind programming first so it doesn’t derail you time and time again no matter how many eating plans or exercise programmes you begin.

Misinformation and negative thoughts about nutrition, dieting and exercise can combine with some plain old self-delusion to poison our learning opportunities. If our thinking is clouded with unhelpful doubts and pessimism, just as junk food is unhealthy for our bodies, junk thoughts are unhealthy for our state of mind and if it is not changed you will continue to be stuck.

When you harness the power of your mind/body connection it is a very powerful tool not only for helping you lose weight but keeping it off. Before you can accomplish any major goal you must be able to see yourself doing it first in your mind’s eye. You need to believe and keep on believing that the life and body changes you need to make to achieve it are worth doing for the long term.

These are the lessons that need to be learned and are key to successful body transformation without having to go on any type of restrictive diet; and yet almost every single traditional weight loss system on the planet ignores this aspect. Little wonder 95 per cent of them fail.

The key to getting your mind to assist you to reach your goals is to stay focused on the solution. Instead of focusing on the negative and the problem and what you have to give up for example, focus on what you are going to get by getting into better physical shape — what it will mean to your life. All the good things, like fitting into your clothes better, feeling fantastic, being able to really play with the grandchildren and so on.

After all, we tend to get more of what we put our attention on. When we are overweight attention is mainly focused on food, your weight, scales, calories, fat, diets, carbs and so on. You are focused on the problem and are negatively focused. It is all about adding to your life rather than taking away, adding things like better food choices, proper exercise, getting enough sleep and doing things to nurture and take care of yourself.

Your mind also has to be reprogrammed to start identifying more with a slimmer, healthier version of yourself rather than the heavier, less energetic and unhappier version.

Only then will you automatically start believing, thinking, acting and doing the things that will bring forth your slim vision. It has been well proved that when your mind creates a positive expectation of success, it also creates a powerful energy shift.

The body and life actions (healthy eating and proper exercise) begin to align with your new intentions because they are laid down in the pathways of your brain. The old roadblocks have been removed and will no longer sabotage you at every turn and your goals will be realised without struggle.

As you embark on your journey, as time goes by not only is your body transforming but your mind is too, and things like self-discipline and motivation increase and it gets easier. The end result is it’s no longer just something “you do” but someone “you are”.

Carolyn Hansen is co-owner Anytime Fitness