If like many, you started a diet in the last month or so, chances are you might be finding it a little tough going. In fact many have abandoned their diet plans altogether by now and have possibly decided that the diet is no good or worse still that they themselves are just worthless and no good when it comes to dieting. If that’s you read on because it may be that you just need to change your point of view slightly and look one of the ‘secrets’ professional sports men and women use.
Going on a diet is a big change for any person who has, over the years gained weight. That weight gain is the result of many years of habits. What many people who then decide to go on a diet tend to underestimate is the size of the task in front of them. It’s a big change so it’s important to understand some of the fundamentals of success. Food is only one part of it.
The thing any one looking for permanent weight loss needs to understand is the thing that all people who are successful in any walk of life understand.
You’re not constantly successful.
Success is a journey marked with both ups and downs. It’s only when you look at it from the outside that it appears to be an endless success. What professional sports people do is they don’t let the down parts overwhelm them. They keep on getting up no matter how many times they seem to slip up or get knocked down.
Think of it like a game of golf. 18 holes, all riddled with traps and challenges along the way. Sometimes golfers bypass the traps but sometimes they fall into them. Even when they are in them, they have to play their way out of it. Eventually golfers get round the course. Golf is easy when you’re missing the traps. What seperates the good from the great is what golfers do when they hit a set back. How do they recover from it. Players like Tiger Woods simply get back into the game of golf.
It’s not just golf though. Every successful professional sports career is defined by how well they handle and recover from the inevitable setbacks that will occur. Long term diet success is no different.
And here’s the ‘secret’.
How you deal with the setback is not about your game or your diet. It’s about your mind and how you deal with it and you need to learn this if you want to keep the weight off over a long period. It’s vital that you bring your mind to the present to focus on getting away from the problem as opposed to falling into the kind of negative self talk that calls you a loser all because of a hiccup.
Does a golfer stand in a sand trap holding their head in their hands talking about how awful a golfer they are? No they don’t. They look at the problem and work out how they can get out of the problem. Then they pick the club and work their way out of the problem.
Take this approach with your diet. If you fall off the diet wagon and either by eating wrong or by gaining weight first stop beating yourself up – you won’t change anything for the good. Second start telling yourself you can do this and get yourself back into your diet.
It sounds simplistic but the more times you take this approach the more success you will enjoy over the long haul. Eventually you will start to break the hold your habits have over you and you will strengthen your resolve to be a long term success
