In the world of weight loss, you'll hear things like, "it’s not a diet, it’s a lifestyle change.” Maybe you've heard that said about a weight loss plan, or maybe you've said that you want to experience a lifestyle change yourself. You'll keep hearing this term more and more as our culture continues to break away from that “diet” word and the negative parts of dieting culture. When it comes to weight loss, aiming for a lifestyle change over restriction will certainly lead you through a healthier process. Let's talk about what a lifestyle change is in the context of your health and what kind of perspectives can help you to achieve one!
What's a Lifestyle Change all About?
A diet sometimes sounds like a quick fix, or a temporary solution because of how the dieting world has used it throughout the years. However, a 'lifestyle change' refers to something more enduring that involves a collection of changes in the areas of nutrition, physical activity, and other health habits. Pursuing a lifestyle change is ultimately about creating a new life, especially in the area of health. If someone says they want a lifestyle change they're usually implying they don't want a temporary result; they want to pursue changes they can maintain as a natural part of their life.
Whether you use the term 'lifestyle change' or not, it's healthy to stop and think about what you really want out of your weight loss efforts. When you discover what you really want, it will set the stage for how you will approach your weight loss process.
If you decide you want to pursue a lifestyle change, here's what will help you get there!
Dissatisfaction and a Dream
In order to make any change in life, we have to lose our attachment to the way things are right now! Why would we ever pursue change if we're content with things just the way they are? We usually need a lack of satisfaction with the present and a dream for the future in order to do the work change requires.
It's no different in the area of health. Dissatisfaction (or lack of satisfaction) is a necessary part of the process to get you to a lifestyle change! This does not mean you need to experience despair, depression, or any other heavy thing, but you do need to have an awareness that you want to find a new path. Knowing that you want to find a new way, a new path, or a new pattern in your life will help you to get going in a new direction!
Maybe you know you want to make a change in your weight because you're tired of dealing with knee pain, you're tired of not having energy, or you're tired of not being able to keep up with the kids/grandkids in your life.
Even a dissatisfaction can lead you to discovering what you actually dream your life could look like. So don't stop when you realize what you don't like or don't want to put up with anymore, think about what you would like to experience in your health!
Maybe you dream of days where you wouldn't even notice your knees; you dream of days where you'd feel enough energy to get things done without taking breaks; you dream of being hands on and more active with the kids in your life.
Maybe you haven't thought about what your hopes and dreams are for your health before, but it's an important thing to discover! Your health impacts your whole life, so take some time to dream about it. The dreams you find will help you know what kind of lifestyle change you're seeking in your nutrition, weight, and overall health.
An Eye for the Future
If you've been on a handful of diets before and you're looking at the future thinking, "I want this to be the last diet I ever go on," you're ready for a lifestyle change. If you look ahead and think, "I'm ready for my life to look differently," you're ready for a lifestyle change.
When you have an eye for the future, you're going to approach the present in a way that will help you get there! It may take a little time to settle into this long-range perspective, but once you do, you'll find it easier to think in terms of a marathon mentality instead of a sprint mentality because you're in it for a long-term result!
You'll be able to focus on endurance rather than speed.
You'll be ready to make changes that will benefit you both now and later.
You'll be motivated to discover the food choices, patterns, and habits that will be sustainable for you in the years to come.
A Solid 'Why'
Knowing why you want to experience weight loss is vital for so many reasons. But when it comes to actually creating a lifestyle change for yourself, you'll need a why that runs deeply. Short-range motivators such as wanting to lose weight for someone's wedding or a cruise for example, aren't a good match for a long-term goal like a lifestyle change. On your way to a lifestyle change you can use short-term goals to help you get there, but you'll need at least one long-range motivator!
You may find yourself feeling more ready for a lifestyle change when you want to lose weight for your health, your quality of life, or to be around for family for years to come. Everyone's motivators are different, but it's key to find out what deeply matters to you! Knowing what really matters to you will support you on the way to creating your new lifestyle.
You need a long-range motivator for a long-range goal. To find that long-range motivator, ask yourself layers of questions like these....
What change do I want to experience?
Why do I want to experience that change?
Why is that important to me?
An Openness to the Process
When you decide a changed lifestyle is your intentional goal, you've already begun the process that will get you there! Along the way you'll experience some old habits becoming undone and some new habits getting established. Even when you're focused on creating healthy habits within your weight loss phase, your changed lifestyle won't fully form until you're in the weight maintenance phase of your journey.
When you are pursuing a lifestyle change you may feel an unspoken pressure to both lose weight and learn a new normal all at the same time, but I want to remove that pressure from you! Losing weight and learning a new normal aren't exactly the same process.
You will take some aspects of your weight loss journey with you into your maintenance phase, but you won't take everything. So don't worry if you can't see yourself adopting your weight loss phase, exactly as it is, as your new lifestyle. Weight loss is not meant to be a lifestyle, but weight maintenance is! Be flexible and know that it will take a little learning, a little unlearning, and some experimentation to find your new sustainable lifestyle.
A Tolerance for Time
Your process will take time! We live in an impatient world, a “microwave” society, where we’d like immediate answers, no delays, and no inconvenience to us. We can create faster and faster internet speeds but there are many things in our lives that don‘t work like the world of technology does!
Expecting our minds and bodies to function alongside the pace of technology just leaves us anxious, tired, and frustrated without progress to show for it. How do you react when you run into ambiguity, or you experience delay and have to wait? These things challenge all of us! If you can embrace the fact that creating meaningful change takes time, that will serve you well.
Creating a lifestyle change won't take forever, but time is a necessary ingredient! Experiencing changes in your habits over time is what really helps to get them established. When you know this up front, you can relax into the journey instead of feeling like you're behind from the start.
You Can Experience a Lifestyle Change!
Now that you know a bit more about what a lifestyle change is, you know it's mainly about you and how you want to approach your health going forward! If you know you want to lose weight and you also want to create a new lifestyle that will help you keep it off, you can do it! I hope these tips will help you feel more prepared to go after your goals.
There are lots of personalized details about food and nutrition that go into creating your lifestyle change, but these basic concepts can help you no matter what your unique nutrition and weight related goals are! If you'd like personalized nutrition support to help you reach your weight loss goals and achieve a healthy lifestyle change, that's exactly what Get RD Nutrition is here for! If you'd like to connect and learn a bit more, send me a chat or sign up for the Free Discovery Call!
Get RD Nutrition is a virtual nutrition practice for residents of North Carolina- offering weight management support, right where you are!
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