3 Ways To Practice Patience For Weight Loss
The other day Buddy and I were at the end of the driveway. He was sitting next to me with his harness ready to be told ‘cross’ so he can begin his morning walk. I was standing there with his lead (not connected to him), a poo bag and my phone in my hand making sure no cars were coming so we could cross the road safely.
I gave the command, ‘crossies’ and he shot out of the driveway and across the road onto the footpath and began to run down the sidewalk until the first tree, his first sniffing spot. I was following him across the street and smiling at him because he is such a good dog. Then I was thinking that I was really happy about how Mark and I raised him, ok, mainly me, but still the both of us.
Mark surprised me with Buddy when we moved to Rockhampton, and I couldn’t find work (I was still dabbling with the idea of my own business), so I was a stay at home Mom (yes, Mom from the States even though I live in Australia). Buddy and I did EVERYTHING together. I had my phone set for 2 or 3 hour intervals to take him outside, so he learned how to go ‘outsides’. He had barely any accidents in the house (zero when I was watching him, a few more when Mark watched him). When he would play bite me, no matter how comfortable I was on the couch, I would get up and grab a chew toy and stick it in his mouth. To this day he has never chewed on shoes or anything that wasn’t his (minus the BBQ cover, but someone forgot to empty the overflowing drip tray hahaha). Buddy learned how to walk directly next to me on a lead for our walkies, to sit at every crosswalk and wait until he is told to cross before he could cross. Slowly I started to unhook his lead to walk near me and have a bit of freedom, just to see. He was so amazing that I showed Mark on one of our walkies. Then we let him off at the beach, and it took him a long time to return so back on the lead he went for a little while. Then we tried again with a ball with us. He was amazing.
Dog Training and Weight Loss
So how the heck does this dog training apply to weight loss?
Well, I had the patience for Buddy. The upfront pain was so worth the long-term gain. I had patience to try something and stick to a routine until he knew what he was doing. I had patience so he could learn new habits. Now, I smile and bear hug him every day because he’s the best little man I could have ever asked for. The same applies to weight loss, it is a journey of finding and implementing new habits where sometimes you have to take a step back to take two steps forward.
3 Ways To Practice Patience For Weight Loss
Patience with Planning, Preparation and Implementation
Planning
Sometimes when you start your weight loss journey, you can change a lot of habits all at once, and the habits are not quite sustainable for the long-term. To be patient and realise this is happening, instead of giving up for the week or waiting until Monday to try again.
It is important to remind yourself to be patient to find the new habits that work for you. When you try something for the first time, and it takes longer than expected or doesn’t go to plan, be patient and try again before you make the call that whatever you tried won’t work for you in the long-term.
Preparation
Routine prep, food prep and workout prep are all things that need preparation. How will you get a good nights sleep to be motivated to stick with your weight loss plan? What will you eat, what recipes will you cook, what food do you need to cook those recipes? When will you make time to workout? What will you wear to workout? Will you take photos, measurements and weigh yourself daily, weekly or monthly?
There are so many questions, and they can be quite overwhelming. Be patient with yourself to sort it all out. Stick to one thing at a time and make sure it works and can work for the long-term before you adding something eels to the mix. Up front patience will lead to lifestyle changes which means you will reach your weight loss goals and well as keeping the weight off.
Implementation
The hardest part of the weight loss journey is starting. It is getting out of your comfort zone and trying something new. Social media shows us how it is all sunshine and rainbows, but weight loss is food prepping and being frustrated because it took so long the first time and not doing your first workout 100% because you are doing movements that your body isn’t used to.
Be patient with yourself and give it 100% of effort. If you meal prep and skip one meal because something came up, keep going with the rest of the week, don’t give up and wait for Monday to start again. If you workout and get through it all but miss a couple reps, you will look back in a couple weeks baffled that you can do it. Keep it in your mind that we are all individuals and none of us are perfect. Your weight loss journey and trying things for the first time will not be perfect either. Be patient when you are starting. Everyone has started, and at one time everyone was a beginner and where you are now. We all just begin our journeys at different times.
2. Patience with Self-talk
Be patient with your thoughts! I used positive reinforcement with Buddy the whole time I trained him, and he was developing into a great little man. I can tell you right now, when I start a new habit, and I want it to work, I do not practice patience with my self-talk all the time. Sometimes, if it is not going to plan, I have to pull myself up on what I am saying to myself. We are by far the harshest on ourselves. It is time to treat and talk to ourselves like we talk to our best friends.
Our thoughts are so important. They give us our feelings and mood when we all asleep at night, how we wake up in the morning and how we go about our day. Be kind to yourself. The weight loss journey is one where we have to check in with ourselves a lot, so please practice patience with keeping a positive attitude on how your journey is going.
3. Patience with the Journey
Yes, the journey… be patient. If the weight didn’t stack on overnight, it is not going to go away overnight either. You will have to work for it. The journey is made up of 3 phases, and in each phase, there are different stages. The phases of weight loss are The Gain Phase, The Loss Phase and The Maintain Phase. Be patient during these phases so you make the most out of them and can learn to live a healthy lifestyle sitting in the Maintain Phase.
The main thing to be patient with is starting. Walk before you run on this journey. Find your pace and go with it. Being patient with ourselves and all the stuff and things within the journey is so important in reaching your weight loss goals.
Weight loss is simple, not easy. Be patient with yourself throughout your journey. If you would like to have a chat about where you are at in your journey sign up below for a Free Weight Loss Breakthrough Sessions. My mentoring is a holistic approach at weight loss is helping you find life long lasting habits, so you don’t have to be on the diet roller coaster.
