Weight Loss: The Single Most Important Thing I Do With My Clients

I've spent a lot of time talking to people who have successfully lost weight. When I ask them how they finally succeeded they often look a little sheepish. They tell me they just did the things they always knew they should. They ate better and they exercised.

I'd like to start with a questionnaire. If you would like to be slimmer then please follow along:

Do you know what your ideal weight is? Yes or No

At your ideal weight do you:

Have a clear picture of how you'll look? Yes or No

Have a clear picture of how you'll feel? Yes or No

Have a clear picture of what you'll be able to do? Yes or No

Have you written all this down? Yes or No

Did you answer yes to all of these questions? If not then your weight loss is harder than it needs to be.

You can make weight loss easier (and much more likely to succeed) by taking 10 minutes and properly answering the questions above.

I do it with all my clients, it makes a huge difference, and I'm going to walk you through the exact process I use.

Let me explain how (and why) it works:

After so many failed attempts to lose weight, what makes people finally succeed?

I've spent a lot of time talking to people who have successfully lost weight.

When I ask them how they finally succeeded they often look a little sheepish. They tell me they just did the things they always knew they should. They ate better and they exercised.

There was no amazing secret.

They made simple changes and acted on them consistently. Those changes became habits and routine, and that routine led to consistent weight loss. (For the record: healthy weight loss is 1-2lbs per week).

But these are the same people that had tried to lose weight before and failed.

So the question is: what made them succeed this time and not before?

Successful weight loss is like studying for an exam.

We've all been there. You have an exam, it's a month away, you've got lots of time, you don't need to study yet.

It's two weeks away, you're uncomfortable now, you want to be working, but you're not.

It's a week away, life is no fun, and you're experiencing serious guilt. Amazingly, even this isn't enough to motivate you to work consistently.

The exam is in two days. Suddenly you kick into action. Before you couldn't hold a book for five minutes, now every spare moment is spent in frantic and utterly committed study.

What's up with that?

Something switches in us. We stop procrastinating and get to work.

What happens when an exam is two days away?

It becomes real, the consequences become real, and your action or inaction becomes really important.

People who succeed in their weight loss have made it real in the same way.

Weight loss is no longer something distant and in the future. They have changed it into something that is important right here and right now.

This makes them act. This makes them do all the things they always knew they should.

And their weight loss isn't a horrible battle. They don't have to fight with themselves to eat differently, they do it because every part of themselves wants to. Weight loss becomes smooth and actually happens.

This is the experience of weight loss I work with my clients to create.

So how do you create this kind of weight loss for yourself?

Start by creating a detailed picture of what success looks like for you.

You start by creating vibrant and detailed picture of your weight loss success. I want it to be vivid and crystal clear.

Exactly how do you look, how do you feel, what are you like in relationships, at work, at home, what is your health like, how fit are you, what can you do?

(Don't worry if it sounds complicated, I'll talk you through exactly how to do it).

The more detailed this picture is the easier your weight loss will be.

This process draws your goal out from the back of your mind and makes it explicit and clear. It changes it into something you can really get excited about. Something that really motivates action.

In creating this picture you make the benefits of your goal real. You see all that you could have, and you see what you'll miss out on if you don't make it happen.

That's what makes this effective.

Let's create this picture.

In part two of this post I'm going to walk you through the exact process my clients use to create this clear and vivid picture.

It takes 10 minutes and it makes a huge difference to how straightforward and successful their weight loss will be.

In the mean time I'd like you to know what your ideal weight is in numbers. It's an important part of making your goal real and meaningful.

Spend some time and think about your perfect weight. A weight you feel completely comfortable and confident in. If you need some guidance then the NHS Healthy Weight Calculator is a great resource.

Once you know your weight, write it down. If you already knew your perfect weight, write it down.

See you soon to create that picture.

Nathan

Want to know more about Nathan? You can learn more from his Website.

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