I recently spoke to a group of women business owners and after the meeting I connected with a woman who, like me, has a passion for health. It was like finding my long-lost sister when she said “when women focus on their weight, it’s a distraction from the bigger things they’re here to accomplish.” Amen!
Now please don’t misunderstand me. Many of the behaviors people undertake in order to lose weight are essential, healthy behaviors. Reports estimate that in America alone more than $60 billion is spent annually on weight loss. But that includes things like gym memberships and meal replacement bars, which are not specific to weight loss.
But millions of us are spending time, money and – perhaps most significantly – head space focusing on losing weight. And it’s not working all that well. Not in the long-term anyway.
I trademarked Weight Breakthough® last year (yay!). And I had to fight for it. Here’s a small piece of my argument:
“Weight breakthrough is a state of mind, shattering what one believes to be true about her body and weight. The breakthrough is in realizing that how someone behaves in all areas of her life, affects her weight and how she perceives herself…her weight doesn’t define her, yet it’s often a reflection of how she treats herself.”
Simply, weight loss (gain) is a side effect of how we treat our bodies.
The essence of what I work with my clients to do is captured in the tag line: enjoy food. love life. be you again. When healthy habits are boring, feel hard and deprive you of true enjoyment, it ends in feelings of failure. And those feelings, combined with weight cycling and the absence of genuine self-care, distract you. And too many women let this happen.
Instead, start with this three-step process to get clear on what’s keeping you stuck:
- First, imagine life when you are healthy, strong and living out your personal mission (in business, with family and in your community). What does that look and feel like?
- Next, consider what behaviors you need to consistently engage in to live life at that level. Really see yourself incorporating those behaviors seamlessly into daily life.
- Lastly, identify what keeps you from carrying out those healthy behaviors right now. (Hint, if you know what you need to be doing, but you’re just not doing it, then it isn’t a lack of information.)
It’s that last piece that if you delve into provides the truest answer for the way forward. If you could use some support in breaking through what’s keeping you stuck so that you can create a lifestyle that has you living at the level you want, schedule a strategy session. Let’s see if we’re a good fit together.
My friends, we have more important things to do than weigh ourselves daily, pick apart our bodes or compare ourselves to others. And we don’t need to eat foods we don’t like or do exercises we dread. We can enjoy food, love life and be who we are here to be.
