Why do you want to begin a fitness or weight loss program? Do you want to lower your blood pressure, fit into your clothes again, or just feel better about yourself? What if you’re trying to lose weight while under stress?
Trying to lose weight if you’re already under a lot of stress makes it more difficult to be successful at losing weight. Weight loss, by itself is stressful. Self-control is depleted by stress, and when you’re trying to change exercise behavior, you want to hold onto as much self-control as you can.
But never fear. You may not be ready to actively begin losing weight, but you can take steps in that direction.
Why Are You Stressed?
The first place to start if you’re under a lot of stress is to: remove the stress! What areas of your life are causing undue tension at this time?
Are you unhappy or stressed out about:
- you’re job/career
- relationship/ marriage
- personal growth/ self-hood
- parents aging/ sick
- children’s attitudes
- poor nutrition
- lack of movement
- lack of recreation/fun
All these things can lower motivation to make a commitment to exercise, make nutritious meals, or to make time for yourself.
Create Strategies to Remove Stress
Ask yourself the following:
- Identify the areas in your life you’re most stressed.
- Identity the area you’re most ready to reduce stress NOW.
- What is creating the most stress in this area of life?
- What need to change in that area to decrease the stress?
- What are you willing to take responsibility for? Most of the stress in our lives is self-created.
- What are you willing to do to reduce the amount of stress?
- Who’s support or help do you need in carrying out your plan?
- How are you going to carry out your plan?
- How are you going to make time for yourself?
- What do you need to know about exercise and healthy eating that will help motivate you to want to do both? In other words, what do you need from the exercise you do and the food you eat?
- How can you get these needs from exercise or healthy eating?
Write your plan down, practice, review, re-write. Rinse and repeat. Don’t be afraid of not having a perfect plan; life is all about learning and change. Learn to enjoy the journey to weight loss success and you’ll never be disappointed!
Summary
Try to resolve other stressors in your life before you begin to actively lose weight. In the beginning stages of weight loss (for most people), change begins with thinking, feeling, and discovery type goals. These goals help to build desire to change, which leads to discipline, which leads to self-control.
These are the skills you can get from the “Fitness Breakthrough” coaching program that I created just for you!
In fact, for a limited time, I am giving Introductory “Fitness Breakthrough” Coaching Sessions for FREE to 10 people who strongly desire change! This session is normally $250, but 10 people will get this session for free!
In this powerful 60 minute session, you will leave with:
- A clear, powerful, inspirational life vision of where you want to end up when you reach your goals
- A new awareness of what is causing many of your weight loss challenges right now (they may not be what you think!)
- A renewed sense of power and control in the type of body you want to create and maintain.
- A “next step” action plan for moving your fitness plans into the next phase of success, passion, and power!
Spaces are limited and time is running out so act now before it’s too late!
Dedicated to your success!
Pamela Brown