Together with Mieke Kosters, we will help you this month to realize your intention to become fitter. Not necessarily by eating healthier, but by changing your behavior and creating habits that you can maintain.
Runners in wind and weather are strebers
Yesterday I was running on the dike near my house. The weather wasn't great, but I walked there and thought:I'm going to have a nice day after all. It felt good out there in the wind. I continued to think:how is it possible that I usually go running now, even if I don't feel like it at all beforehand.
If I used to not feel like exercising and the wind was blowing hard or it rained a bit or the kids were at home or I was too busy… Then I didn't go. I usually didn't go. I didn't like working out in the cold (and actually I didn't like working out in the heat or in a gym). I found runners in wind and weather strebers. I said things like, "What does everyone love about running?" I was the couch potato type. I liked hot chocolate and gingerbread cookies more than exercise. Did I feel good about that? Warm, but not quite tasty. Something kept gnawing. I kept one of those voices in the back of my mind that whispered, "Wouldn't you eat less and exercise more, you want to lose weight?" I was very good at ignoring it. Time and again I failed to motivate myself.
Why am I moving now?
The is why it works now? How can I put down a bag of licorice and indeed run outside? It's not that I always feel like running. And it's not that I never want to get rid of a bag of licorice again. The difference is that I can motivate myself better now and have been for thirteen years. That's why today my top three tips to motivate yourself:
1. Take care of yourself priority
It starts with making yourself a priority:your weight, eating behavior, health, fitness are super important! Years ago I decided I wanted to get slimmer. Point. And even now, I still want to age healthy and energetic, to be sporty and to feel more attractive with a size 38. Moreover, I think it is really important to have control in my life, starting with controlling my eating behavior . As a result, I no longer fall for the excuses my brain used to like to persuade me to continue eating or to stay inside:'Your weight is not so important, tomorrow you can also train and who cares; there are worse things in the world than those kilos.”
2. Make rules for yourself (without exceptions)
I make fixed rules for myself. That is decisive for me to continue to choose the slim behaviour. I have fixed days and times to exercise (no escape) and clear eating rules. The no exceptions agreement is especially essential in the field of sports. As soon as I start shuffling and haggling with my schedule, I quit much more easily and then it is really harder to go again next time. I know that from experience and that is why it is now fixed when I exercise.
Diet rules have changed over the years. When I lost weight, my basic rule was:I keep track of what I eat, and I eat a maximum of 1300 kcal. Now there are rules like:
• in the morning I don't have a sweet breakfast
• in the afternoon I only eat a healthy snack
• in the evening I have one or two tasty chocolates or licorice
• A bowl of chips or something else extra on the weekend
• At parties or wine or snacks
• No cake (unless my favorite flavor is there – I'll take Holtkamp cake or tompouces)
• Exceptions only for eights, nines and tens (if the bite isn't worth 8, 9 or 10, I think it's a waste of calories)
3. Take advantage of 'The moment of truth'
But perhaps the most important tip:is the seconds tip. Whether or not to lose weight or maintain it comes down to a few seconds a day! The decision whether or not to run or whether or not to eat is something you make every time in a matter of seconds. That is an important fact.
It goes like this:You are having lunch and your fat self thinks:'Shall I have another cracker, it is very tasty'. “Would you do that?” slim-me argues. And that's exactly what it's about. If you don't consciously grab that moment, slim-me will immediately be overrun by fat-me:'Of course I'll take another cracker. One can. I haven't eaten that much today, I can also compensate later, I also have to deal with food in a relaxed manner and enjoy it.' And… slim me is gone. Wiped out. The moment of truth has passed, you continue to eat.
Choose what you don't feel like; then you'll be fine in the long run.
Back to that one second when slim-me makes itself heard. Because in that one second, you can change your eating behavior. It's all about your choice at that moment. If you wait longer than 5 seconds you will usually be taken over by fat in your brain (or you will continue to doubt and fight). Fat-I just want it easy. He likes everything now and doesn't like to make things difficult. In short:fat-me is completely focused on the short term.
The problem is:at the ultimate moment, your sensible choice is almost always the one you don't feel like making. The choice that you would rather not make at that moment. The difficult choice. But difficult is different from impossible. So you can definitely choose your long-term goal. Always.
STOP, this is it
If you become alert to the moment of truth in yourself, you can indeed stop eating or start exercising. Don't get carried away by your fat self with all its excuses. At that moment, say very loudly in that one split second:STOP! Grab your moment. The moment when you decide what you want with your life, your weight, your eating behaviour.
Think of a pink elephant for a moment
A handy technique is to consciously think about something completely different for a moment. For example, consider the pink elephant. Choose a strange thought, image or symbol for yourself that you can easily conjure up. Because by briefly summoning that pink elephant, you consciously break through the thoughts that are undoubtedly coming at full speed.
Keep it very small:take 1 step
The last step is the most important:get moving right away! Do something. Take the tiniest action necessary for lean behavior:close the fridge door, put the bag of licorice away, turn on the bath, take off your sweater to put on your workout clothes, etc. Don't make it big, don't make it a project, don't think about failure or fail. Stay in this moment of truth and do something small. Yes! Then you stop doubting and motivate yourself slim. Every choice moment again!
It gets easier The good news, the more often you choose slim:do exercise, put away the pan or close the candy jar. The easier it gets. Because:you learn. By doing it more often, you experience time and time again that it is much more fun in the long run to choose slim and take good care of yourself. Maybe not at the moment of choice, but shortly afterwards you feel so much better about yourself. That feeling is worth every effort and you will lose the excess kilos for good.
AND ACTION!
Mieke
Read the previous blogs
Mieke Kosters is the founder of Skinnyminds. The approach to stop dieting and dieting and start losing weight permanently through behavioral change.
Are you already on your way to a slim mindset? Download the free checklist here.
