The Power Behind Holistic Weight-loss

“Anyone who has ever tried to lose weight knows that the journey isn’t just about the physical. It affects all of you, mind and body.”

As I have said before all diets work if you stick to them, but most diets are too difficult to stick to and that’s when we fail. Failure then leads to negative feelings that then may lead to emotional eating and emotional eating leads to over eating the wrong kind of foods that leads to more weight gain.

As you can see this is a vicious circle, a vicious circle that needs to be broken once and for all.

Excess weight is a symptom and to treat the symptom we need to figure out what is causing it, we need to get to the root of the problem so that we can break the vicious circle.

Why do you eat more than you should? How can you eat in a healthier way? Why do you not exercise enough? How can you improve your exercise routine? What factors—physical, psychological, social—are contributing to your diet and exercise decisions?

Following a strict diet or just focus on exercise alone will not solve the underlying problem but discovering the answers to these questions is the key to long-term weight loss, and this is the core of the holistic approach, it addresses both body and mind, it goes way beyond nutrition and exercise.

Holistic means that you treat the whole person, considering your emotional and mental health, in addition to your physical health and the beauty with a holistic weight loss approach is that it doesn’t only treat the symptom but it helps you to become healthier and happier overall because you are treating the root cause.

Are you ready to try a holistic approach?

Here are a few holistic strategies for weight loss that you can try; (you may know some of them already)

Here are a few holistic strategies for weight loss that you can try; (you may know some of them already)

1. Goal setting:

Get a journal and write down what your goals are but more importantly write down the “WHY” to these goals. – To every why you answer, ask another why until you get to the root of the goal.

2. Self-monitoring:

Record everything in your journal, hold yourself accountable by tracking everything: your weight, your meals, exercise, sleep, mood, stress, water, anything you can think of that can help you. The goal here is to draw connections between behavior and consequences so don’t get yourself hung up on the numbers you see on the scale and don’t put yourself down when your food diary is not as healthy as you want it to be. This is the whole point of the exercise, to really understand how the food that you eat affects you. Self-monitoring is one of the most effective tactics for reducing or managing weight.

3. Positive Mindset:

It is easy to turn your relationship to food into an enemy. Many of us punish ourselves for our food choices, or use food as a means of self-control. One way to break this pattern is to engage in positive messages and positive behavior. Phrases such as “I can control my eating” can help reinforce positive behavior. Similarly, positive thoughts such as “I love being healthy” or “I’m proud that I ate responsibly today” can help to reframe your relationship with food. Instead of thinking about restricting and eliminating food to lose weight, think about food as the fuel that will make you stronger and healthier. Instead of removing foods from your diet think about what you can add to make it more nutritious and keep you full longer.

4. Mindful Eating:

Research has shown that individuals with eating problems generally aren’t paying attention to whether they’re actually hungry or full. Mindful Eating can help heighten your awareness of such cues and keep your mind focused on the experience of eating.

5. Meditation:

Meditation is a very helpful holistic technique. It helps you acquire a greater mindfulness of your feelings and thoughts, becoming aware of emotions you never noticed before. Meditation can help binge eaters become aware of how they use food to deal with problematic emotions. It can also help them notice when they’re actually hungry and when they’re full.

6. Visualization:

Visualize what you will look like and how you will feel with less weight can help remind you why you are doing this in the first place. It can also help you imagine the behavior and lifestyle choices necessary for successful weight loss.

7. Practice mind-body exercises:

Try doing some yoga or tai chi, it will help you relax as well as connect your body and mind.

8. Incentives and rewards:

Give yourself weekly non-food incentives to keep you motivated and reward yourself when you have done well, reward yourself with something that you like that is not food related. Go to the SPA, buy yourself something nice or go get a head massage.

9. Connect and tailor to your uniqueness

Losing weight and getting strong and fit is a whole-life transformation. Take a step back and look at the big picture, and make sure that every aspect of your life supports your ultimate goal. No two people are alike, and no one method fits all. Try new things and see what suits you and your lifestyle. choose the techniques, principles, and approaches that resonates with you. Enjoy the process and be curious and open-minded.

To read more about mindful eating click on the link: https://www.mariamonem.com/post/mindful-eating

This Week’s Action step: Self-monitoring for 3-5 days

· Record everything in your journal your weight, your meals, exercise, sleep, mood, stress, water, anything you can think of that can help you.

· Try to draw connections between behavior and consequences.

· Connect to my free Facebook group for more support with your holistic weight loss.

Holistic Weight Loss Solutions For Women https://www.facebook.com/groups/239831730505141/