At the beginning of a New Year you have to figure out the difference between being motivated by feeling a sense of urgency triggered by an event or health condition.  Weight loss motivation to solve a problem is only there as long as the problem seems urgent.

We all have had times when diet and exercise feels tedious, repetitive and just plain boring. We start to lose our resolve to stay on target after the New Year passes. That is because we are shooting at the wrong target.

Lets talk about problem solving versus a desired outcome. Problem solving fails as a motivator because when the problem lessens the motivation goes down with it. So in this case when your weight loss begins, the desire to work at it begins to diminish. A determined  outcome (in this case long term weight control) however is a destination. It is not over till it is over kind of thing.  This can easily be assisted by hypnosis.

Let’s look closer at New Year’s resolution “I am going to lose weight!”,  for example. You have a couple of  ways to think about losing weight.  The first one is you are going to fix your bad habits. You are going to do better. Hmm, that would be eat less, maybe even attempt to create a food log, watch the actual calories you take in each day,  and so forth.   So you do it for a few days, weeks, perhaps even months, and you feel better about your current weight. Perhaps you even move to another section on the BMI chart. You slack off and give yourself a break. Maybe you even pat yourself on the back a bit.

The second way to look at it would be to create a healthy body, making it a lifestyle change. Now what are you looking at? Ok, lets start with reaching an ideal weight for your age, height and sex. Noticed I said ideal weight not just dropping a few pounds. But we aren’t done yet if we are talking about health. On with ideal weight lets add physical fitness, and overall healthy body. No more high blood pressure or high cholesterol. Let throw in some endurance and muscle growth, perhaps even a body model you feel would fit for you. Oh and to get there we can?t forget maintaining healthy eating and proper diet. In order to achieve this you have to move on past the New Year?s resolution and add it to your regular healthy habits.

See the difference? One says I will give this a shot until it I stop thinking about the New Year starting up. The other says it isn’t over till I reach the finish line. I am going to get it done this year. I am going to live this way and live longer. It is orientated to the outcome not releasing the pressure of an short term emergency. When the outcome becomes the focus, it will help create the structure to get there. The behavior changes and the steps in between start to develop and there is some internal desire/tension pulling you towards the outcome.

Adapting this form of goal setting will take your weight loss past the first few moments of the New Year and on to a destination of optimal health.

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Filed under: Goal Setting • Hypnosis And Lifestyle • Weight Loss

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