Welcome to the only easy weight loss tip you will ever need! Sounds like snake oil, right? Well it’s not. It’s simple, it’s has nothing to do with pills or surgery or starving yourself. It’s not about working out 2 hours a day, or eating one type of food for a month. This weight loss hack is a simple shift in the way you think about the things that cause you to gain weight. It can affect not only your weight loss goals, but also your general health. And, you can use this technique for any other bad vice you might want to break.
The Only Easy Weight Loss Tip You Need
My eyes opened to this way of dealing with weight loss after reading the book, ‘The Power of Habit’. This book was life changing for me in a lot of ways, because it explained the science of why our brains crave that ice cream sundae. And why will power isn’t enough to get past those cravings. Or why you know exercising is good for you , but you just can’t seem to get motivated. We have all heard about how weight loss needs to be a lifestyle change. But how do you do that? This book made it all click for me. It’s all about habit.
I know, you are saying, yea, right, do you know how hard habits are to break? Yep, and I know more about that after reading about the science behind habits. And I discovered this powerful tip that is the best easy weight loss tip I think you will ever need.
Replace Your Habits for Easy Weight Loss.
By that, I don’t just mean, break that habit of eating dessert every night, and you will lose weight. The mind is powerful thing, and once a habit has taken hold, it can be difficult, if not impossible, to break. But instead, replace the habit with something new and positive, so that the brain can form new attachments, while not feeling deprived of the old.
For instance, I love chocolate. Give me a pan of brownies and I could eat them instead of dinner. But, instead of telling my brain, sorry, no more chocolate pudding at night, I found something healthy that my brain would accept as a replacement. (Fat free hot cocoa mix with a dash of sugar free caramel syrup, if you’re asking…;)) Then you just stick with it until your brain forms a new habit. That is where the work comes in.
It is a whole lot easier to say “no thank you” to the donuts, if instead you can treat yourself with you favorite fruit topped with fat free whipped topping and a sprinkling of mini chocolate chips. Or instead of rewarding yourself with fast food after a long day at work, you draw your self a relaxing bath. In other words, keep feeding those reward centers of the brain. Don’t starve yourself of pleasure, or beat yourself up with guilt when you don’t have the “will power” to diet. Just feed those reward centers with something healthier.
If you can find healthy replacement habits for enough things, you don’t have to count calories. And you won’t have to obsess over every weight loss plan you come across. You just use new habits to fill up those spaces in your brain your old bad habits used to take up.
Weight Loss Planning
There is one caveat for replacing bad habits with good ones. You need to plan ahead. So if you find that frozen grapes are a good replacement for strawberry ice cream, well then, make sure you always have frozen grapes! If you are a snacker, its always easier to grab what’s fast. So instead of grabbing 4 granola bars, have low calorie popcorn bags in the pantry. Or have fruit and cut up veggies always ready to grab from the fridge. And if, like me, you replace boring exercises on machines with hiking and riding bikes in nature, then make sure you have a back up for days when the weather doesn’t cooperate. Getting the idea? Identify your bad habits ahead of time, and come up with a replacement habit. Then make it easy to turn to that habit so you can retrain your brain.
See, I told you this easy weight loss tip wasn’t ‘t snake oil! You might also want to check out our post on The Perfect Relaxing Bath in 5 Steps. If you are looking for a good habit!
