After almost 30 years of working with people to help them achieve their health and weight loss goals, I’m able to see a pattern among the people that will get results versus the ones that will keep spinning their wheels.
The ones that correct these mistakes see results, while those who are still committed to their own way, continue to struggle.
Check out this short list to see if you’re making any of these mistakes.
Mistake 1
Focused on changing behaviors instead of mindsets. When people start a weight-loss program they immediately try to stop themselves from eating all the foods they’re accustomed to eating even though they have not been successful in the past. They try to start exercising even though they despise exercise. Their focus is all on what they’re doing instead of who they’re being. If they could change their mindsets, then new behaviors would naturally follow.
Mistake 2
Focused on sweeping overall changes instead of making small gradual changes. Most people start a new weight-loss program with unrealistic expectations. They commit to exercising everyday, cutting out all junk food, and waking up early. Fast forward to one week later and they are overwhelmed and frustrated with themselves and find themselves right back where they started, except this time with more guilt and feelings of failure, which will eventually have them weigh even more. Change comes through making small consistent action steps.
Mistake 3
Focused on the problems instead of taking action towards a solution. Most people are always in fix-it mode. They spend countless hours analyzing, scrutinizing, praying, and meditating on what their problem is. They then meticulously count calories, join various groups, boot camps, and fitness clubs. The unfortunate thing is they are unable to stick to these initiatives because they have not addressed the root of what keeps them in the cycle they’re in. Once they begin to focus on the root, they will begin to solve their weight-loss problem.
Mistake 4
Focused on quick fixes instead of long term success. Which would make you feel better? Hearing that you will lose the weight in a month, or in a year or two. Of course the former, yet history tells us that it will not work. Our memories are short when it comes to our previous attempts at weight-loss. Garnicia Cambodia, Raspberry Ketones, and Metformin all make great claims of fast weight-loss but if you read the fine print you’ll learn the real truth. There is no short-cut to weight loss. It takes a commitment to get to the root of the problem, coupled with daily consistent action.
Mistake 5
Focused on relying on their own willpower instead of on God. This mistake encapsulates all the other mistakes and seems to be the main reason why they continue spinning their wheels. We have a strong need to be in control, and even when we say we’ve turned our situation over to God, we still try to control how God is in control. What funny creatures we are.
Have you made any of these mistakes in the past? Maybe you’re making some of them right now.
If so, don’t try to change them all at once. Choose the one that would have the biggest impact on your health and once you’ve fixed that mistake, then go on to the other one.
If you’re looking for a program that will help you avoid these mistakes while showing you a simple plan for permanent weight loss, check out the Weight Loss, God’s Way Program.
Number 3 speaks especially loud to me but I keep analyzing and praying and going to therapists trying to find out what my root is and I can’t figure it out!
What an eye opener. I have done all 5 of these. It’s revelation of my past and makes so much sense. I thank the Lord He is showing me where I have been in previous times of my life. How I still do some of these things at times. Learning to give the control totally over to God and not take back the reigns! Yep Ann slow down, stop and think asking the Holy Spirit questions. Am I trying to control this? Am I’m doing this in my own willpower? Is this pleasing to you God? Am I growing? Yes… Read more »
These 5 mistakes really make sense to me. I have made all 5 over and over. It hasn’t been until the last year that I understood this. I was in my own way.