What if we took the focus off of our weight?

Many of us approach weight loss with a focus on losing pounds -- and understandably so.

Lately, I’ve been focused on the idea that weight loss is really the result of the actions that we take or don’t take. 

Going a step further...it’s a result of the actions we’re willing to repeat and turn into sustainable habits

I’ve been practicing this power thought: weight loss is about building habits, one at a time.

A power thought is something I teach my clients to use that will generate positive feelings -- or at least feelings that will help us want to take action.

When we experience a positive feeling -- such as feeling determined or committed or simply, feeling willing -- we’re more likely to take actions that move us toward the result we want.

When I tell myself “I really shouldn’t eat that or I should drink more water...,” I typically don’t feel determined or committed.

Sometimes I even feel resistant -- it smacks of diet rules and someone telling me what to do.

And the crazy thing is how fast this whole thought-feeling-action process happens in our little brains.

When we decide to shed some weight and then just a few days later we stop doing what we said we would do…we wonder what’s wrong with us?

The answer is nothing.

We just have human brains that are operating on autopilot.

When we can unwind this thought process and choose a better thought…we generate a better feeling and it’s easier to take action. 

There’s much less resistance.

And when we start focusing on -- and celebrating -- the habits we’re practicing, we inevitably see weight loss results, too.

We also turn our attention to acknowledging the habits that got us to our result.

So, when we have a week where we don’t see the scale move or we see a gain -- we can return to the habits that worked for us instead of hyper-focusing on the number on the scale.