Fit Lifestyle Jumpstart Day 2: Your Mindset Matters

Remember how we started this series with simply being thankful for all the ways our bodies serve us on a daily basis and all the years of life they’ve allowed us? If you missed that post, you can find it here. Today, it’s all about mindset…and joy. 

Start with Your Mindset

Mindset is a crucial starting point when it comes to breaking out of a diet cycle and stepping into a balanced lifestyle. In order to experience success, we have to turn blinders to all the noise we’ve been listening to surrounding diet culture. We have to stop reading the articles, stop believing the false promises, and stop looking for quick fixes and shortcuts. It’s time to face the inner battles we’ve been fighting and learn a better way to live.

Proactively changing the way we’ve been thinking about food and debunking the misinformation we’ve camped in isn’t easy, but it is necessary. It’s going to be so much harder to start something new when your mind is working against you because your behavior will want to follow. Let’s win with our minds so that we can win with our bodies.

Learn to Love It 

I believe that people who have the greatest success with healthy living are those who have developed a love for it. Life is to be celebrated and food is such a wonderful part of being alive. You should enjoy what you put into your mouth and it shouldn’t feel like a drudgery or you won’t stick with it.

My friends who practice a fit lifestyle don’t do it because they have to, they do it because they want to. Their lifestyle makes them feel amazing and they’ve found healthy meals, snacks, and desserts they love and enjoy so they are committed to sticking with it for the long haul. The positive effects of eating nutrient-dense foods have outweighed their desire for less nutritious foods so they are motivated to build these superfoods into their days. It’s a joy to fuel their body with good foods, to create healthy recipes that are delicious, and to embrace the identity of someone who takes care of themselves and has the energy to live life well!

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Change Your Thoughts

So when healthy eating and exercise come to mind, what are your thoughts? This may sound silly, but your mind will defeat you before you begin if you allow it to, so if you can identify Negative Thought Patterns you can flip the script by replacing them with Positive Thoughts to create a new narrative that supports your weight loss goals instead of being a barrier to them.

Here are some examples: 

Negative Thought	Positive Thought
Healthy food doesn’t taste good.	I am learning how to make healthy food taste amazing! There are so many incredible recipes and resources out there to make the foods and flavors I love healthy and delicious!
Eating healthy is depriving me from what I really want to be eating.	I can still have my favorite foods and lose weight and I actually look forward to them. They taste better when I treat myself guilt-free!
Healthy eating is too expensive or time consuming.	I can make a healthy lunch in 5 minutes! Whole produce is actually cheaper than a lot of packaged convenience foods!
If I want to lose weight I have to give up my favorite foods (carbs, chocolate, pizza).	I can still enjoy my favorite foods!!
I hate salad and vegetables.	I’ve been trying new ways to roast and season vegetables and realized that I actually love salads with a tasty homemade dressing and butter leaf lettuce!
Exercising is the worst!	I love getting outside in nature and listening to my favorite podcast.    I love talking and walking with a friend.   I would love to get back into playing tennis regularly.   Working out first thing in the morning gives me so much energy for my day.
I have always struggled with my weight and I always will.	I have never been willing to face my feelings head on and learn how to cope without food until now, but I am going to learn to do that this year.
I’m not disciplined enough to make a change.	Studies show that I actually only need enough discipline to start a new habit, once it’s a habit, it doesn’t require the same kind of effort and I’m going to learn some discipline hacks this month!
I get fat when I look at brownies.	Ummm. Just no. No you don’t.

So today, lets identify any negative thought patterns surrounding healthy living and replace each one with a productive and proactive thought. You may not have positive thoughts for every area yet, but hopefully by the end of this month, you will! The main goal today is to loosen your grip on a mindset that is not serving you, to disarm thoughts that are keeping you stuck, and to open your mind to what is possible for you this year!

(Looking for more healthy living posts? Read here!)