Is it diet that powers weight loss, or is it something else first…?

Whats the first thing you think of when it comes to losing weight? Counting calories, tracking macronutrients, following strict workout regimens? While these are tools in your armoury, they often don’t work in isolation for so many people. Why? Because how you LIVE and THINK lays the foundation for EVERYTHING else.

I work with clients to find out WHY they want to lose weight or focus on a healthier lifestyle and the answer invariably in some form or other, is ALWAYS to reduce overwhelm and improve confidence. But interestingly, these aren’t direct consequences of losing weight or “shaping up”. These are MINDSET changes. And that’s why, as a nutrition and performance coach, I take a different approach that doesn’t look at your food and your exercise in isolation. If you want to see how that might look for you, get yourself booked in for a FREE no obligation 30 minute consultation with me here.

The Power of Lifestyle Changes

“Lifestyle” encompasses various elements, from your eating and exercise habits to sleep quality, stress management, and beyond. Before diving into detailed dietary or workout plans, it’s crucial to examine and adjust these lifestyle factors:

1. Consistent Eating Patterns: Instead of getting swept up in the latest diet trend, try to establish consistent, balanced eating habits. Embrace intuitive eating – listen to your body, eat when you’re hungry, and stop when you’re satisfied. Eat mindfully, be present and acknowledge the privilege of having all this food at your fingertips whenever you want it!
2. Regular Physical Activity: Rather than focusing on rigid exercise programs, incorporate regular physical activity into your routine in a way that you enjoy and can maintain long-term. It could be gardening, dancing, walking, gym classes, running, but whatever it is, make it a habit. You won’t always feel like starting, but you know you’ll feel better after. So the more engrained you can make it as a routine, the easier it will be to avoid wimping out when you’d rather, in the short term, be lying on the sofa watching Netflix…
3. Quality Sleep: Adequate sleep is essential for recovery, appetite regulation, and overall health. Everyone is different in terms of how much sleep they need, but aim for a minimum of 6 hours and observe how it affects you to get more than this and whether you might benefit from heading to bed earlier…
4. Stress Management: Chronic stress can wreak havoc on your health and hinder your weight loss or performance goals. Find stress-reducing activities that work for you – it could be yoga, meditation, walking, reading, or simply quiet time alone. Whatever it is, finding some quality downtime away from a screen and the rest of life’s stressors, is vital in the busy world we inhabit.

The Role of Mindset

Our mindset really means our beliefs and attitudes towards ourselves and our abilities, and it plays a crucial role in achieving our health and performance goals.

1. Self-Compassion: Instead of berating yourself for missed workouts or dietary slip-ups, practice self-compassion. Understand that you’re human and that progress, not perfection, is the goal. Remember that some days will be easier than others as long as you make every effort to control the controllable, sometimes you have to be flexibly to circumstances you CAN’T control.
2. Positive Self-Talk: It’s not realistic to feel upbeat all of the time, but the way you talk to yourSELF matters. When negative thoughts creep in, that’s okay, you can wallow in self pity for a little moment…but then try and be more objective and move away from that negative emotion and replace with positive affirmations. Instead of saying, “I can’t do this,” try “I’m doing my best, and that’s enough.” Sometimes we need to focus on the process more than the outcome.
3. Growth Mindset: Adopt a growth mindset – the belief that your abilities can develop with effort and practice. View challenges as opportunities for growth, not as insurmountable obstacles. Accept that you will make mistakes and those are learning opportunities, not signs of weakness. As the mantra at the top of my own office whiteboard says “Failure is research, not rejection.”
4. Value-Based Goals: Align your health and performance goals with your personal values. This helps transform your journey from a chore into a meaningful endeavor that’s tied to what you truly care about. When working with me as a coach, this is a fundamental first step in getting to know how we prioritise health, diet and exercise for you as an individual.

The Impact on Weight Loss and Performance

When you prioritise lifestyle and mindset changes, suddenly the rest of the nutrition and exercise stuff seems easier. It’s not a walk in the park but when you stumble, you don’t fall nearly as far as if you don’t have that robust mindset and approach to fall back on. Rather than relying on short bursts of motivation, black and white thinking, pass or fail mindset, you’re suddenly on a long-term positive pathway to achieving the stuff that really matters to you, whatever that looks like.

Improving your health, your energy levels, your body confidence, all of it, is all based on your habits and your mindset. The physical stuff? Well we all know WHAT to do. Which means the key is HOW do we do it? Go back and read this article again and maybe it’ll start to become clear.

And as always, if you need a little extra help, feel free to get in touch! You can book a free 30min consultation with me to work out what the barriers are to your health and your lifestyle right now and how we can start improving your relationship with your food, today.