How to Plod Along Successfully and Reach Your Weight Loss Goal

I’m sure I didn’t look like a ballerina as I cycled down the decline, but I certainly felt like one!

I joined a mountain bike cycling club and I remember one occasion when the group cycled up a mountain and we all took turns to ride down this hill. The hill was a very steep decline that was full of mud from the rain the night before.

Now I am not a person who scares easily, but looking at that muddy decline conjured up all sorts of wild images – me flying off the bike, me landing in the mud, face down first and on and on. I must have circled that muddy decline about five times before someone told me to stop focusing on the mud and the actual steep decline and keep my eyes on where the decline ended and where the sand was dry and firm.

I took that advice and cycled down that muddy decline with all the grace of a ballerina (although I am certain I didn’t actually look like a ballerina to all the rest!) And landed without incident on the dry, firm sand at the end, feeling oh-so-chuffed with myself.

To get thin, keep focused on the goal, not the obstacles you face

I tell the story often because it had such a profound effect on me. It taught me not to look at all the obstacles on the way to my goal, but rather to keep focused on the goal and plough through the obstacles.

So in your journey towards weight loss, keep your eyes on the dry and firm sand and not on the muddy decline. Practically speaking, what does this mean?

• Keep looking at that image of what you desire to be, instead of what you consider to be your failures right now
• When you encounter obstacles in your path on the way to achieving your goal, don’t allow yourself to start focusing on them. In other words, if you are trying to develop self-discipline but slip and end up overeating, don’t focus on the fail. Get up, dust yourself off and go on. You ARE going to fail sometimes and that’s ok. Getting back up alone is a major accomplishment.

Keep looking towards the finish line. And focus on it. Use all your senses to make your goal real to you right now. Smell it. Taste it. Touch it. See it. Hear it. How?

1. Smell – does your goal have a smell? If it had a smell, what would it smell like?
2. Taste – if your goal had a taste, what would it taste like?
3. Touch – how does it feel when you touch it?
4. Sight – what does your end goal look like?
5. Sound – if your goal has a sound, what does it sound like?

If you apply this to weight loss, it could go something like this:

When I saw myself as thin, I was on the beach, twirling and dancing with joy.

When I saw myself as thin, I saw myself as unburdened, carefree, dancing in the sand on the beach. The smell for me was a sea smell and when I envisioned it, I could smell it. I would touch the sand, dip my toes into the sea water. I could touch my then-thin body and feel the curves where they should be, my flat stomach, etc. I saw myself wearing a dress and twirling in it, so happy. The sound I heard in the background was the waves crashing down and my joyful laughter. I would feel the sensation of twirling round and round in my pretty dress, my face upturned to thank God for setting me free. In essence, make it real to your brain so that it begins to work on getting you there.

Picture the end goal using all five senses to make it more real. This is focusing on the end goal and not getting stuck in the obstacles that arise.

If you need help, consider the Get Thin for Good online weight loss program for food addicts. It’s a 3 phase program and one of its kind. It encompasses the physical (what you eat and how much you move), as well as the emotional (why you overeat or depend too much on food), and the spiritual (forgiveness, spiritual principles and finding fulfilment). It really is an awesome program that has the potential to change your life completely.