Your BIGGEST Weight Loss Mistakes

What is the biggest mistakes people make who are trying to lose weight?

 

 1. "All or None" Mindset

Many people in life (not just weight loss endeavors) adopt and hold true to the mindset of PERFECTIONISM or "All or None". This mindset shows itself in numerous ways, but most often, it rears its ugly head during conflict.

Many clients I have had are OK as long as everything is going well. Their choices are sound, their thinking is pure and their mood is good. However, as soon as one area of life causes stress this creates a spiral of negative thinking and their mindset goes from "I am in control" to "This isn't working, I quit!". The stress could be a work conflict or poor food choice or a missed exercise session.

This "All or None" mindset makes it increasingly difficult to attain and maintain success because the thought process relies on Perfection. 

A better plan is to understand that negative situations happen to everyone and will happen to you on occasion. Learn to handle stress with proper perspective and gain the ability to understand that every choice counts towards achieving your goal or delaying it.

Get informed here.

2. Failing to Plan 

A second pitfall I often see is that many people do not plan their meals and workouts. Many people wait for motivation to strike before they act. This is the exact opposite of what needs to be done to gain success.
 

You must schedule your workouts as a "non-negotiable priority" and attend these important appointments with yourself.
 

You must plan and schedule your meals in advance.  If you wait until you get hungry to think about what you are going to eat you increase your risk of making poor food choices and eating items that are not in your plan. This may lead to a loss of control (see "All or None").

3. Lacking Consistency. 

Often, individuals begin a plan when they become distressed about their health, appearance and/or fitness levels. They make multiple drastic changes at once in an all-out effort to achieve as much as possible as quickly as possible. Generally, repeating mistakes from their recent past.
 

When you attempt to accomplish too much at once in addition to the busy schedule you may already have you can become overwhelmed and may cease a few of the more important acts of attaining your goal.

Consistency is accomplished by placing priority on the actions that are most vital for your desired outcome and continuing these actions. You cannot get to your goals with a "tomorrow" attitude. 

-Robert

How can I get my daughter to understand the damaging effects of dieting?

I think it is important to note that not all "dieting" is bad or harmful. This truly depends on the methods utilized, the length of time the "diet" lasts and the focus of said "diet".

It may be truly beneficial to have a discussion with your daughter about the benefits of Eating Healthy, such as:

• improved energy
• increased vitality
• feeling proud of yourself
• doing good things for your body

Many people use the term "dieting" generically.  If your daughter is following a sensible eating plan that incorporates whole grains, fruits and vegetables with plenty of variety and minimal restrictions then I would say to congratulate her.

If, on the other hand, she is focused on dieting as a means for weight loss it would be important to steer her in the direction of the benefits to changing habits for the long-term.

Depending on your daughter's age; she may understand the consequences of her actions, but battling marketing and hype that surrounds so many restrictive diets cna be difficult.  I believe that by being supportive and by getting involved in a healthier eating plan together you could lead by example.  Here a a few more tips for a successful outcome:

• schedule family dinner time 2-3 times per week
• cook healthy, great tasting meals together
• speak about a few of the unhealthy habits you are focused on changing and why.
• have plenty of healthy foods and fruits and vegetables available for the entire family
• purchase less "junk food"
• create healthier dessert recipes together

Speaking to your daughter about the long-term effects of these beneficial habits and how they are better strategies than a restrictive diet plan will go far in aiding her in making better choices for the rest of her life.

Learn to create better habits here! 

To your health,
Robert DeVito 

Do I REALLY need to log my food intake?

Food Journal = Success

* Researchers from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle studied the eating behaviors of 123 overweight, previously inactive women for a year. Women who kept food journals and consistently wrote down the foods they ate lost about six pounds more than women who didn’t.

*Women who reported skipping meals lost almost eight fewer pounds than women who did not, and those who ate out for lunch at least weekly lost on average five fewer pounds than those who brought in their lunch.

The study appears in an issue of the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

More insights available here!

Food journalling is extremely important. Consider this: can you accurately recall every single thing that you ate and drank exactly one month ago? We didn’t think so.

• The more frequently you track how much you move and how much you eat, the better decisions can be made regarding your solution. Ask yourself this: Is my goal short term or long term? If you answered long-term then guesswork has no place in your solution.
• Journalling is necessary if you do not have a complete understanding of food amounts and need counseling on making better choices.
• There are multiple levels of compliance with food journalling. Some clients track everything from foods eaten, calories, protein, carbohydrates, fats, and meal timing, while others just jot down the foods eaten.
• Innovation Fitness Solutions recommends journalling of some sort for the first phase to gain insight into your habits (good and bad).

Being aware of your habits and choices and having actual data can help you immensely in attaining your goals.

Tips for creating your food journal:

• Write down what you’re eating throughout the day, rather than saving it up to log at the end of the day. Also, jot down how you are feeling when you eat, and how what you eat makes you feel.

• Record your level of hunger along with the foods you eat.

• Be honest. Measure portions, read food labels, and write down both your slip-ups as well as your better meals.

"If you ink it you'll think it. If you don't, you won't."

How to do it -

Phase I - An effective method that I have employed with numerous clients is to have the client journal everything that is eaten and drank for 14 days straight. This gives the client and the coach valuable insights into their habits and choices. From there, the client can choose 2-4 days per week to journal for the next 4 weeks (this helps to maintain the consistency and aids in taking ownership over the new habits being created).
Phase II - The next phase would be to journal on Fridays and Mondays (book-ending the weekend) every week and an additional day of the week to insure that old habits are not creeping back into our day.
Phase III - Finally, the last phase would see the client journaling at least 1 weekday and 1 weekend day for at least 2 weeks of each month. This maintenance journaling plan insures that food portions are not increasing over time.

Get more info here! 90 Days to a New You

To your health,
Robert J DeVito

Reality Check - Convenience or Results?

Your results are determined by your choices.
Your choices are a result of your habits.
Create a MINDFUL environment.
Avoid impulsive or mindless actions.

To your health,
Robert

A Reality Check. Action Precedes Motivation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                     Do the work and get the results. 

A quick post today.  This is a slide from one of our Weight Loss/ Accountability seminars.
Let it act as a reminder.

Make this a great day,
Robert J DeVito

A Daily Formula for Motivation and Inspiration

 

The IFS ACHIEVERS use this with great success.

I hope that it helps you too.

Create Better Habits  

To your health,

Robert DeVito

Creating an Honesty Covenant (Drop the B.S.)

 Honesty Covenant

Creating an Honesty Covenant with yourself and others will be essential to your success and mental well-being.  In reality, the scale/checkbook/relationships/happiness does not lie. 

Misleading yourself or others as to how well you are behaving but just not seeing the results is detrimental to success.  Beyond being in a Physiological Plateau, here are the reasons I see that people do not succeed:

·         You were not ready to commit to a new/different lifestyle.

·         You did not know how to get started, and stay on the right track.     

·         You lacked the proper information/education.

·         You wanted a quick fix.

Be honest with yourself and others. Misleading yourself with statements like "I am ok." or "I am eating pretty good" or "I can't seem to save money no matter what!" or "I cannot get along with my spouse no matter what!" or "I am too busy to exercise." are lies.  Look internally and decide if you are emotionally protecting yourself by not facing up to your actions and then list out the half-truths and absolute illusions that you feed your brain on a daily basis.

Ask for help when you need to and stay the course.

Figure out what issues/challenges you face and find long-term solutions.  If you are not changing, then there is an issue with one of the following: 

Food - Fitness – Focus

Have you been honest?

If not, how have you been deceiving yourself?

How can you course correct?

If you decide to live your life in this way, if you drop the stories and the B.S. from your life, you will move ahead and achieve at speeds that you never thought possible.  You will find a new level of self-respect and pride. We all deceive ourselves from time to time. You can break the habit if you choose to.

Was this helpful? Get more help HERE! 

Drop the B.S. and get real.

To your health,

Robert

IDENTIFYING YOUR OBSTACLES

Identify your Obstacles

This is a follow-up to our goal setting article from a few weeks back -

Setting Your Goals

This article will focus on aiding you in creating your Realistic, Progressive and Maintainable (c) Action Plan.
Identify your obstacles then modify your actions.

Identify your Problem Areas – 

What are your biggest Challenges?  Some eat too much at meals or at their desks, while others pack in extra calories while driving, snacking, or socializing.  Some want to help family members eat better – without them knowing it!  Others leave choosing foods and meals to the very last second when hunger has already taken control of your thoughts. Different problems require different solutions.  If you try to change everything at once, nothing will change.

Select Solutions – 

Select up to three – five small changes you think will most easily and effectively enable you to address only your most troubling challenge.  Be certain that these changes are R.P.M. (c)  changes.  Always choose something you know you can repeat.

Develop a Simple Plan – 

You need to be more focused than just thinking “I’m going to try to do better” and having a few vague changes in mind.  You need to select up to three specific daily changes you intend to make, and you need to commit to making these changes a part of your daily routine for the next 30 days.  It is only a month, and you chose the changes in part because you thought they would be easy for you.  Promise yourself you will try hard to adopt those changes for a least a month.

Execute Your Plan – 

It is important to make these changes each day.  There is power in consistency.  One way to do this is to keep a calendar or keep a record to mark your daily progress.  Tell your friends and family about the commitment you have made.  Do other things you believe will help keep you on track, like wearing a wristband or other reminder, posting signs for yourself, writing a food diary, or joining a group that is committed to making the same kind of changes you are.

Do this and you will be on your way to freedom from all of the frustration and confusion and on the path to being healthy and fit.

For those of you in need of more information, guidance and tips then here is a link to a free e-book download from My Dynamic Life.  Enjoy it and send us some feedback!

 

To your health,

Robert

Fast track your personal weight loss success.

Overcoming Obstacles

Published on February 13, 2012 by Robert DeVito in Focus

 

Overcoming Obstacles

Don’t Look Back
Everyone has failures or mistakes from the past. To have success, you need to learn from your past and value those difficult lessons but do not every dwell on the past. Simply move forward and make better, more educated decisions from the lessons learned.
To succeed, you need to have dreams and aspirations. Be honest with yourself as to what you want out of life and what you want to give of your life. Allow your mind to dream and think big. Aiming low and hitting the target is not a good goal.

Create a plan of Action 
Create a Business Plan as your very first step if you are planning to build a business. Whether you will be searching for investors or not, this plan will be the blueprint to your success. The Business Plan will consist of market trends, financial planning, competitive analysis, exit strategies, marketing and promotional options, everything about your goal. When going before an investor, you will be required to have a Business Plan. This is by far the most important document of all. If your success were something personal, you would not need to create a Business Plan although a project plan would be a good option to allow you to keep track of everything involving your goal. I am not personally a fan of a complex business plan.  Keep it simple and be able to modify as needed.

Persevere
To reach success, you have to persevere. Even Thomas Edison had to learn this. When he was creating the incandescent light bulb, it took him more than 10,000 times to get it right. Keep striving even when it becomes challenging.

You need to have determination. With good intentions, there may be a close friend or family member that feels it would be better if you focused your attention in another direction. Uphold your unstoppable attitude, determined to succeed.

Consistent Application of Proven Principles will bring SUCCESS.

To your health,

Robert

Crush Your Cravings.

"Giving in" to food cravings is frustrating for anyone. It represents a loss of control. I have found great success in controlling your mind and your environment to aid you to better outcomes.

Look past your immediate desire and play out in your mind how you will feel while eating this  "much needed" food and then play out the after effects. How do you feel once your are finished?
A few "rules" I have my clients to focus on is:

There is nothing in the cake that will improve your health or improve your results.  However, occasional indulgences are part of life. 

 Restrict Restriction and Include Inclusion - Robert

Make the act of including indulgences part of our food plan.

   
Control your kitchen
Keep temptation out of sight. That means clean the counters and kitchen of "junk" and actually create a scenario where you have to go purchase the items you want so badly. This will act to slow   down your reaction. 

Know WHY you are eating what you are eating

Are you hungry or bored or is it just a habit?  Or have you convinced yourself that you deserve it? Play the scenario out to the end again.
Managing food cravings is a simple but difficult process. In my experience, I have seen that most often when an individual makes a emotional judgment and gives into eating when they are not hungry it is often do to temporarily losing sight of their goal(s) and/or continuation of habits.
Try these tips for controlling food cravings:

1. Develop a mantra. Something like: "I feed my body and my needs, not my taste buds."  
2. Ask yourself questions like:  "Why am i going to eat this?  Is it because I actually want it and need it or am I re-actively responding to an immediate desire?"
3. Keep focused on your goal. Post it in sight at work and at home and refer to it often.
4. Drink a glass of water to slow the decision making process down. Water can make you feel a little fuller AND it will give you something to do while deciding if you are actually going to give in to your cravings.

Yours in health,
Robert DeVito

Complete Fitness, Fat Loss and Wellness Program