Have you noticed a fairly rapid weight gain after a certain age or struggled with weight loss for years without seeing any real results? If so, your personal body chemistry might be the culprit. While many people who struggle with excess weight have a history of making bad food choices and limiting their physical activity, a certain percentage of the population may actually suffer from hormonal imbalances that make gaining weight far too easy and losing it next to impossible.
Clinical studies have found that people who are more confident perform better, achieve more, and enjoy greater long-term success than less confident people.
While confidence is something that typically grows over time, when it comes to weight loss there are tools you can use to boost that confidence overnight.
If you have ever dieted or participated in a weight loss program you know that persistence pays off. It’s not just about the short-term gains but the long-term goals. After all, you’re not just dieting, you’re changing your life for the better. But it can be difficult to muster the mental fortitude needed to combat temptation and prevent backsliding. Thankfully a recent study provides some much needed motivation for us to get over those inevitable bumps in the road.
A number of interesting studies in recent years explore the power of self-talk.
Positive self-talk can empower you to stick with your diet and exercise program longer, resulting in improved self-esteem and physical health. It should be no surprise then that negative self-talk can have adverse effects, actually undermining our ability to conquer weight loss battles.
Why do most weight loss plans end in failure? Because people fail to shift mental gears and make meaningful changes in the way they see themselves. Adhering to a diet or exercise routine isn’t enough. Sure, this may result in temporary weight loss, but without that fundamental mental shift most people backslide into old habits and poor choices.
When it comes to successful, long-term weight loss you must practice “mind over matter.”
Leading a more active lifestyle is the easiest way to lose weight. While diet is important as well, exercise is simple biology: burn more calories, shed unwanted pounds.
The biggest obstacles people face when trying to integrate physical activity into their current lifestyle are time constraints and lack of personal motivation. But you can overcome those obstacles by creating routines and finding activities that are mentally and emotionally engaging for you . And the best part is you don’t ever have to step foot in a gym!
“The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.” —Oprah Winfrey
“There is nothing noble in being superior to someone else. The true nobility is in being superior to your previous self.” —Hindu proverb
“Become addicted to constant and never-ending self-improvement.” —Anthony J. D’Angelo
As doctors and researchers take a more holistic approach to wellness, they continue to uncover an ever-increasing amount of evidence showing direct (or sometimes indirect) links between happiness and healthiness. While people have suspected for years that mood can have either a positive or negative effect on a person’s physical health, there is actual scientific proof to back up those claims—some of it shocking.
Many of us spend years hunting for that magic tool that will automatically make us lose weight, live a healthier lifestyle, and feel good about ourselves inside and out.
We all age. It’s inevitable. But did you know living a healthy lifestyle can help you look and feel younger? Dr. Ray Innis, a wellness expert and consultant for the Montgomery Courier, says that living a healthy lifestyle—eating right, exercising, abstaining from tobacco—can stall the visible signs of aging at the biological level. This, he says, can make you look up to 30 years younger!
Healthier eating is the best way to lose weight, live a better life, and be happier with the way you look and feel. But anyone who has tried dieting in the past knows that cravings can kill progress and cause backsliding even after months of successful weight loss. Finding a way to turn those cravings away from the dark side and have them work for you would be amazing. But can you really trick your body into craving healthy food?
Did you know distracted dining could be contributing to your weight gain? Recent research shows that how we relate to food—even as we eat it—may have a much more dramatic effect on our waistlines that we’ve ever thought before. One study even suggests that distracted dining is as deadly as distracted driving!
Can rewarding yourself with small non-food items really make a difference in your waistline? That’s the question researchers from the University of Arizona asked themselves before embarking on a unique study of how positive reinforcement can change our diets. And, the results are simply shocking!
Why is weight so hard to lose? We struggle with dieting and exercise, enjoy short-term success, but then fall back into bad habits within weeks or months. Any of us who have attempted to lose weight in the past know that staying on this path to wellness is difficult.