Whether your goal is to lose weight, tone up or maintain your current fitness level, maintaining a healthy lifestyle is about more than just hitting the gym and eating a healthy, well-balanced diet. Believe it or not, your mental state may just make or break your health and fitness goals. It’s time to get break those old habits and throw out those negative thoughts that are holding your back from achieving your goals. Let’s take a look at some of the most common mental roadblocks when it comes to leading a healthy lifestyle and what you can do to stop them.
Are you constantly putting yourself down? Whether you feel bad about your food choices or the fact that you may not be able to exercise as long as you would like, feeling bad or shameful about yourself can actually hinder your ability to achieve success in the health and fitness world. Instead of focus on the negatives, think about what you have achieved. Instead of putting yourself down, be sure to reward yourself for all that you have accomplished. Remember leading a healthy lifestyle and seeing changes in your body does not happen overnight. Reward yourself along the way and expect progress to take time. Next time you achieve a goal, give yourself a small reward — whether it’s a new workout top, a night out with friends or relaxing by the pool with a good book do something to reward your hard work. You’ve earned it.
Do you have trouble picture what the new you is going to be like. If you have struggled with your weight, exercising regularly or eating healthy for years, you are likely to have a hard time envisioning what a thinner, healthier or more toned version of you is going to look like. In order to stir up some inspiration and build confidence, consider creating a healthy vision board. This can serve as a tangible reminder of what you would like to achieve. Cover the board with inspirational quotes and images. When you are feeling down or have trouble envisioning your success, take a look at this board to boost your confidence.
Are you too focused on the scale when it comes to achieving your weight loss goals? Sometimes to be successful, you need to turn your focus away from the scale. When it comes to losing weight and leading a happier, healthier lifestyle, it’s not always about the number on the scale. Instead of becoming discouraged when the number on the scale is not dropping, focus on your accomplishments — such as your clothes feeling loser, you running your first mile or having more energy all day long. Once you realize what you are capable of achieving, the positivity should remain with you.
Are you stress out? Stress management is key when it comes leading a healthy lifestyle or losing weight. When your body is under stress, it produces an extreme about of a stress hormone known as cortisol. Cortisol reduces your body’s ability to burn fat. Even with healthy habits, stress can make it difficult to achieve weight loss goals.
Whatever your road block, it is important to realize that with motivation and effort you can overcome any obstacle. If you are willing, your fitness goals are within your reach!
