Secrets to Weight Loss & Fitness Success: Visualizing Your Fat Loss or Fitness Goals
by Mary Renaud
Filed under Fitness Plans & Programs, Motivation
When it comes to weight loss or fitness in general, creating new habits requires motivation, and motivation requires a clear vision of what you’re trying to achieve. If you can’t see the desired end-goal clearly, how will you sustain the efforts it will take to get you to that end? Sure it’s possible through sheer will-power or self-discipline alone, but it’s easier and much more pleasant if you can create some mental momentum to inspire you and help carry you along.
Make Time For Visualizing Your Goals
First, try to take some time, everyday if you can, to picture what your body will look and feel like once you’ve reached your ultimate goal. It’s great to do this first thing in the morning while your mind is still fresh and before the day begins so that you can set the tone of the day early. Visualize this in as vivid detail as you can. Picture the strong, light feel of your body; really experience the pride and sense of accomplishment.
If You Can't Picture Yourself at Your Final Goal, Don’t Force It. Instead, Picture What It Will Feel Like To Put On Pants And Realize They’re Too Loose
If You Can't Picture Yourself at Your Final Goal, Don’t Force It. Instead, Picture What It Will Feel Like To Put On Pants And Realize They’re Too Loose
If you have trouble picturing yourself at your final end goal and in ideal shape, don’t try to force it, it will come with time. Instead, just picture what it will feel like to put on pants and realize they’re too loose. Maybe you can picture that you’re getting ready for work in the morning and pull your pants on without unzipping them without even realizing it.
Or picture an important significant other in your life telling you how great you look. Whatever about that “Wow! Look at the difference!” moment that is most important to you and feels the most real. As you practice this, you will be able to take it farther and farther.
Motivation aside, this kind of visualization is especially useful if you have felt out of shape for a long time, it may have become a part of your self-image, part of your self-concept. Visualizing your fitness or weight loss goals should be as much a part of your fitness plan as cardio or weights.
It might be more difficult to face challenges every day if, somewhere inside, you feel that this is just who you are and in the end you’ll just end up back here anyway.The only way to defeat old beliefs like that is to chip away at them slowly by replacing them with new images. Also, by altering this image, you will be less likely to have trouble maintaining your ideal shape when you get there.
Confront Negative Self-Talk
You may also find that there is a lot of negativity that springs up while you are trying to picture this. “You’ll never look like that!” “Who am I kidding?” “This will take forever!” “It’s too hard!” And that is just scratching the surface of the nasty things the mind can come up with. I’ve heard people recommend that you talk back to these negative comments and, if that works for you, then by all means use that. For me however, that only gave more substance to those thoughts.
The only way to silence my negative inner-dialogue was to outright ignore it. Treat this negative “you can’t succeed at this” voice like a well-meaning but uninformed stranger distributing advice. Nod politely and then go about your own business, completely dismissing the comments, as though it hadn’t even happened. Whether you confront the negative talk or ignore it depends a lot on your personality and usual tendencies though so go with what you feel will work. You know yourself best.
It’s too easy to let the image you have of yourself stand in the way of change and keep you fitting that same old mold you have been. By changing that mental image, you can keep your incentive on those days when you might prefer to throw in the towel, and you can change that self-created mold to something that better matches the future you’re trying to head toward. And, when you do get there, this new image will help keep you there, living inside the ideal image you had the tenacity to envision for yourself.
For more help, check out our other posts & articles about motivation on the Get Fit Fast site.
