Visualize Your Weight Loss For Better Results
A lot has been written, researched and documented about the power of visualization. I have used visualization successfully in a few different areas of my life, but none quite so successfully as in my most recent attempt at losing some unwanted weight.
Like many of us, I have gained extra weight over the years. And then I lost it. And then I gained some, if not all, of it back. Sometimes it was pretty easy to lose the weight and keep it off. But other times, it was not only much harder to lose, but it came back quickly and with a vengeance. I wanted to figure out what was the difference between those times. I wanted to identify what were the events in my life that were having such a big impact on the varying results I was seeing.
I figured out that I am the type of person who can be easily distracted from my health goals whenever some unexpected and stressful event disrupts my life. My priorities shift, my attention focuses elsewhere, and suddenly my health falls completely by the wayside.
Maybe you can relate to this. Not only do our poor choices undermine our efforts and reverse our successes, but the hormones we produce when we are worried and stressed help to compound the problem. We find ourselves trapped in a situation that is hard to escape.
Visualization has become an easy yet powerful technique to help me get out of that trap. I recently started on another weight loss journey, but this time I am using visualization to help me stay focused on my ultimate goal. Here is how I have been successfully using visualization; you can follow these same techniques and see for yourself how much easier it will be for you, too.
Remember to Use All Your Senses
Before I started practicing visualization, I thought that it consisted of closing your eyes and picturing something in your mind. But I have found out that there is actually more to it. It turns out that visualization is most effective when you employ all your senses during the exercise. Using all the senses helps to develop a more vivid and realistic picture. And I have found it to work extremely well for weight loss.
I first started my weight loss journey by making a list of daily changes that I wanted to make to help me reach my goal. One of the changes on my list was to drink more water everyday. Taking that as an example, I visualized all the steps associated with drinking more water. I first visualized myself pouring the glass of water, using all my senses to feel the weight of the pitcher, and the shape and smooth texture of the glass in my hand. I imagined the sound that the water made as I filled the glass. Then I felt how cool and refreshing the water tasted, and how my stomach felt fuller after I drank it. I then applied this same technique, of engaging all my senses as much as possible, with all the other items on my list.
Focus on the Positive, Ignore the Negative
When I perform my visualization exercises, I make sure to visualize and focus on the positive aspects of my journey, not the negative ones. For example, when I think about how I am going to change my eating habits, I don’t consider what foods I am going to avoid. If I did, I would be focusing on what I am denying myself, rather than what I am giving myself. Instead I imagine how my body will be nourished by all the crunchy, tasty and vibrant fruits and vegetables that I am planning to eat everyday. I visualize how that nourishment will make me healthier and help me to reach my desired weight.
Focusing on the positive outcomes of the journey helps me to stay motivated. Motivation has been the key to staying on track and making the process not only more successful, but also easier and more enjoyable.
Visualize the End Result
The third and most important technique that I use is I to visualize the end result. I do this the same way that I visualize the process, by engaging all my senses. I make sure to imagine not only how I am going to look once all the weight has come off, but also how I am going to feel. I visualize how my clothes will feel looser on my body, and how much more fluidly and easily I will be able to move. I try to actually feel the additional energy and stamina that I will have as a result of losing the weight.
By incorporating all these steps into my current weight loss journey, I have found it to be easier to stick to all the changes that I am making in my life. Visualization has helped me to stay more motivated than on previous occasions. I believe a big reason is because I have a very vivid picture of not only what I will look like when I reach my goal, but also what I will feel like. I am already one-third of the way to where I want to be and am confident that the remainder of the journey will be just as successful.
Give these visualization steps a try, and I am sure that you will see the how they will help you to reach your weight loss goal more easily this time around.
