Ep. 013 - How to Make Weight Loss Easy

SHOW NOTES

Weight loss is frustrating and challenging and difficult but it doesn’t have to be that way all the time.  In today’s episode, I talk about how to make weight loss fun and easy.

 TRANSCRIPT

Weight loss is frustrating and challenging and difficult, but it doesn't have to be that way all the time. In today's episodes, I talk about how to make weight loss fun and easy.

Welcome to Man in the Arena, your go-to podcast for all things related to health and weight loss for men over 40. Here we discuss strategies that will get you off the sidelines and into the game so you can achieve your optimal health. It's time to lead a legacy of longevity. Hello and welcome to Man in the Arena.

My name is Craig Spear. I'm a former CFL football player, turned entrepreneur and certified health and weight loss coach. And today I want to give you some more hope when it comes to your weight loss. There's this common idea that weight loss is a struggle, and I think it's rooted in the belief that you're giving something up.

So for example, when we start to lose weight, we have to give up certain foods or alcohol, or we can't go out for dinner. And actually there's a guy named Dr. Alan Carr, and he wrote about this in two of his books called How To Stop Smoking and How to Stop Drinking. And Dr. Alan Carr, he's very careful to avoid using the term quitting because when we use the term quitting our brains interpret that as giving something up.

So he goes to great lengths in each of his books to really explain that what you're really giving up is a litany of health problems if you keep smoking and keep drinking. And in reality, what's actually happening is you're gaining so much more return. So that's mainly why we see weight loss as a struggle.

We think it's going to be difficult and not fun. In other words, it all starts with our thoughts. If you go back to episode five, I talked about something called the thought model. And the thought model outlines that there are neutral fact-based circumstances. But then we all have subjective thoughts about these circumstances, and it's our thoughts that make us have this feeling and emotion.

And of course, our feelings influence the action or the inactions that we take or don't take. And of course, based on the actions that we take or don't take, that leads to the results that we get in life. So we have a circumstance, we have thoughts, we have feelings, we have actions and results. So what I want you to do is get out a piece of paper and write down C T F A R down the side of the page, C T F A R.

Give some space between those letters. And at the sea line, I call it the sea line, the circumstance, I want you to put weight loss. So weight loss is neutral. Right, but that's where things change because we're all gonna have different thoughts in the tea line about weight loss. So that's where I want you to identify what thought you have about weight loss.

So just for context here, maybe you think that weight loss is just a matter of eating less calories than you burn every day. Or maybe you have a different thought, like, I've never been able to lose weight and keep it off. Or you might have a thought like, weight loss is hard. So that's a thought. It's subjective, right?

It's not a thought that everyone else would have. So just notice that these thoughts then create different emotions and these emotions. You know, if you think that weight loss is hard, you might have an emotion, like feeling overwhelmed by weight loss. And of course, based on that feeling, that's gonna lead to the action or the inaction that you take.

So if you're feeling overwhelmed, you're probably not gonna take positive action towards weight loss. Maybe you'll start up a diet or maybe you'll start to exercise. You're certainly not going to be enthusiastic about that and be hopeful and excited to do it. And of course, maybe that leads to the result of you being overwhelmed.

And then of course, because you're overwhelmed, you just lead to this result of. Not maintaining your weight loss efforts. So this is an unintentional model. We don't sit down and think these thoughts and have these feelings. They just kind of come up. They're deeply ingrained beliefs, and so what I want you to do once you uncover your limiting beliefs and you're limiting thoughts, is then move to what's called neutral thoughts or latter thoughts.

So a lot of people think, well, what if I have negative beliefs or negative thoughts? Then I should just start thinking positively. And that's not helpful. And certainly your body's not gonna elicit the emotion that you need to take positive action and you're gonna have a cognitive thought, but your body's not gonna buy into that with the emotion.

So you need to have an emotion that's real. And to do that, we need to create ladder thoughts or bridging thoughts that are more neutral. So for example, In my coaching, some guys will say, you know what, I just really don't like my body. I don't like the way my body looks. And so they kinda have this feeling of disgust or self-loathing of their body.

And of course, that leads to really negative habits and actions like overeating or over drinking, not exercising. So what I try to get them to do is I don't have them go to a positive thought like this, really positive thought, like, I love my body. I really like my body. I just have them go to a more neutral thought, which is I have a body.

Because when you have that thought, I have a body, now you can get to a more neutral emotion. Or maybe, you know, a lot of my guys actually just get to this place of gratitude. Oh, I have a body that allows me to move and go to work and play with my kids and experience life. And so when they have that thought, I have a body, and they get to this more neutral emotion, they take completely different action.

So with this being said, once you uncover your limiting beliefs, there are a number of ways that you can make weight loss more fun and easy, but you have to do the work first to uncover your limiting thoughts and emotions. But here's what I've seen from the guys that I've coached and worked with. So number one, set milestones and then create rewards for achieving those milestones.

One of the biggest mistakes that I see in a weight loss journey is, People might have 30, 40, 50 pounds to lose maybe even more. And it's a big number. And so they think like, man, that's so far off. And it can just be depressing. It can be overwhelming. So chunk that up, bring it down to a smaller number. I always say lose your first five pounds, lose your first 10 pounds, and then celebrate that.

Reward yourself for that. You know it. Maybe you go do something you really enjoy. That makes you feel connected to your achievement and then just keep setting new milestones. A really big milestone is losing the first 10% of your body weight. So I often say to guys like, that's kind of further out, but you know, if you're 250 pounds, 10% is 25 pounds.

Rather than saying, I gotta lose, you know, 60 pounds of this or 70 pounds of this, you say My first goal is 10%. So that's the first thing you can do. The second thing you can do is something really simple. Just go out and buy your target weight loss suit or outfit, jacket, whatever it is. Or maybe you have something in your closet that you want to get back to and just put that out in the open.

Put that in your bathroom or hang it on a closet door and just remind yourself daily that that's something you're looking forward to putting on one day. Number three is habit sack. So this is something I do quite a bit. What Habit Stack means is pair different activities together that allow you to accomplish multiple things at the same time.

So for example, during my workouts, I'll often listen to a podcast and so I'm learning and I'm growing in a particular subject and I'm getting in my workout. Doesn't have to be podcasts, could be music. So if music lights you up and you get really excited and energized from that while you work out, then do that.

Number four. Now, I've talked a lot about the importance of having people in your life that lift you up, and same thing applies here. Find a friend or a group of people who are doing the same work that you're doing. Share your experience with them. Share your wins, benefit from their wins, learn from them.

Gain that accountability. That's really powerful. Number five, find activities that you really enjoy doing. So if you really don't like going to the gym, then don't go find things that you enjoy doing. Maybe you enjoy going for walks or hikes. Maybe you enjoy playing golf. Maybe you enjoy, you know, doing a pickup game of basketball or playing tennis.

These are things that are gonna get you moving, make you feel better. They're gonna help you sleep better. So find activities that you actually enjoy doing. There's no sense in slugging out in the gym. Because that's just gonna make you feel depressed. You're not gonna feel empowered, and ultimately you're gonna fall off and then beat yourself up cuz you're not able to maintain that and that's no fun.

This number six is really important as well. So a lot of times when we wanna lose weight, we go all or nothing. We think we gotta really eat clean, we gotta go on this diet, we gotta exercise, we gotta do everything all at once. But what I wanna offer to you is the importance of allowing sometimes foods.

Plan your indulgences. Weight loss is an infinite game. It's not this finish line that you get to, and then you get to go back to your old life. This is something that you're creating ongoing. You're creating a new identity, so if there's foods that you find joy in, plan them and then allow yourself to have those.

Again, just like the exercise piece, there's no sense and abstaining from everything that is going to make you feel miserable. Just allow yourself, plan it, be intentional, and the energy behind that is so much different than just, you know, giving in and impulsively eating or compulsively eating that has a way different outcome than when you plan it.

And number seven, I talked about this kind of in the intro, and remind yourself that you're not giving something up, but you're actually gaining something. And remind yourself of what you're gaining. So for a lot of guys that I talk to and coach, they say, you know what? Like it's so much easier to bend over and tie my shoes, no longer have my gut.

That's in the way I can breathe when I tie my shoes. So remember that you're gaining that. You're gonna fit into smaller clothes that are in your closet. You gain half your wardrobe back. You know, some guys say I sweat way less in hotter weather. You know, I took my kids to the amusement park and I could go the whole day and walk, and I felt great.

I wasn't having to sit down and dry off every half an hour. Okay? So just remind yourself that you're gaining so much more rather than giving something up. And lastly, number eight is prioritize your sleep. I noticed personally, I have the most resistance to doing something that allows me to grow. Whether it's exercise or listening to a podcast, learning, you know, eating healthier is so much more difficult when I haven't had enough sleep.

So getting sleep gives you more tolerance and builds resiliency, gives you more capacity to do things that are difficult, like weight loss, like grow a business, like work on a relationship. So prioritize your sleep and just notice when you don't get enough sleep how that impacts. Your resiliency and your tolerance.

So with that, remember, weight loss doesn't have to be difficult. It can be fun, it can be easy, but you have to identify your underlying beliefs. You have to do the work. You have to get to more neutral thoughts before you get to even more positive thoughts and feelings. And once you do that, then you can look at doing things that really support this process being enjoyable.

Now, I know some of you listening need help exploring your limiting beliefs. So if that's you, head on over to the spear method.com and right on my website, you can schedule a free consultation. I want you to connect with me and we're gonna talk about where you're at now, what you're struggling with, and I'm gonna help you actually get there to where you want to be.

Thank you so much for listening. I look forward to episode number 14 next week, and in the meantime, keep leading a legacy of good health and longevity.

If you're ready to step inside the arena and change the trajectory of your health, head on over to the spear method.com and download by free guide to learn simple and effective strategies on how to optimize your health today.