3 Key Trends of Long Term Weight Loss Success 

By Michael Collins
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I've trained and consulted with thousands of people in the past 10 years on fitness and weight loss.

 

When you deal with this many people, over a length of time, you start to see trends emerging. This happens in any field you're focusing on. It could be business trends, it could be real estate. Everything will eventually show trends.

 

What I'm going to focus on today is 3 of the trends I've noticed of the people who have successfully lost the weight and kept it off.

 

The First Key Trend I've taken note of is the fact that the most successful clients measure and track their progress, and they keep a diary or journal.

 

There are many benefits of “keeping score”. When you're starting out, you're writing down you very beginning numbers. Whether it be your food journal or your exercise regimen. These numbers give you a baseline of where you started. They give you a foundation of which to work with and they give you a basis to measure your progress at any time.

 

It's very inspiring and motivation when you open up your journal and are able to look back and say-
 

“Hey, I've lost 28 pounds since last year!”

“I've gained 40 pounds on my bench since February...”

“Wow, remember in August I could only walk for 15 minutes before I got winded? Now I'm doing sprints with no problem!”

 

Whatever the challenge is for you, it's great to have your baseline numbers taken down along the way. Record how you feel and note things that have changed in your life since you started making progress.
 

Not only is it motivational, but it's one of the trends of the most successful!

 

I'll keep this key short because Eugene did a knockout- job breaking it down and giving explicit instructions on how to keep a journal here

 

The Second Key Trend I've taken note of is that the most successful people set goals and review them consistently.

 

Big deal you say? Well, you're right. Everybody sets goals.

 

The difference here is that the most successful people vividly visualize their goals daily. They visualize already having the body they want or the endurance they want. They play a mental movie of themselves having that body, and how they would move through the world with that body.

 

When you're setting your goals and visualizing, it's very important to see the ideal body as have already been attained, not sometime in the future.
 

The most successful people notice how they'd interact with their friends and family. How good it feels to get the compliments. 

 

They see themselves full of energy and confidence at work, and how much more effective they are at accomplishing tasks.

 

When you vividly visualize something- your goals, an event, anything- You get more comfortable and confident in that situation.  Public speakers often use vivid visualization to prepare for a big speech.

 

Vivid visualization is very powerful to use in goal setting because your nervous system doesn't know the difference between if you an event happened in reality, or you just thought of it.

 

For instance, if you were to vividly visualize eating a lemon- really get into it, your salivary glands will actually be activated. You can try it right now.  Grab a lemon in your mind. Take a close look at it. Cut it in half and see the juices flowing out. Smell the strong tangy scent. Now drip the juice on your tongue.  Notice any changes?  

 

What's this got to do with long term weight loss?

 

Well, short term motivation is pretty simple, right?  You get inspired to take action, or you get frustrated, which in turn makes you take action.

 

Longer term goals are different.  The payoff isn't right in front of you.  As time goes by, the juices aren't flowing like they were before.  Motivation wanes.  You focus on other things in life, and you just aren't doing the little things needed to hit that goal.

 

Vivid visualization is a method of systematically getting the juices flowing at will.  Consistently getting your juices flowing- like every day, will allow you to perform the tough and seemingly tedious tasks needed to be successful long- term.

 

When you're setting your goals, you don't want to just speed through the process and jot down a bunch of stuff you're not truly committed to  You want to fully connect with it. 

 

Lets say you want to lose 20 pounds for your wedding that is 4 months away. Imagine yourself at that ideal weight. What will it look like? What will it feel like?  Can you see yourself in the wedding dress? Can you see yourself dancing at your wedding, enjoying yourself? Then it's on to the honey moon where you're looking great in your bikini. You can feel how good it feels. 

 

You'll notice that as you're seeing the details in your "mind's eye", you actually start to feel differently. You breathe a bit differently, you feel great and you feel motivated. This is the motivational power of goals.

 

Vivid visualization of goals is a trend of the most successful!
 

The Third Key Trend of the most successful is having a long- term view and setting up small, manageable challenges along the way.

 

For most people, when they think of losing weight, they want to lose weight NOW. They think about what it takes to lose the weight as quick as possible, and that's it.

 

Losing the weight efficiently (read: as fast as possible, as healthy as possible) is great. It's what our MCNewsletters is all about.
 

We're also all about keeping the weight off- forever.

 

Listen, losing weight to get to your ideal body is a pit stop during the journey, not the end. The most successful people set their short terms goals and hit them.  Then they immediately set up new challenges for themselves.
 

The most successful people have short, and longer term goals in place.
 

The short term goals are the ones that get you immediately excited. They get you out of the couch and moving. This could be losing that 10 pounds by Thanksgiving, or losing a few inches to get into that bikini by vacation time.

 

The longer term goals are the ones that sustain your motivation and your ability to stick to it. The long term goals are more of a lifestyle choice.

 

How is your life going to be better 3 years down the road, 5 years, 10 years, etc...
 

The most successful people feed off the energy of knowing that as you shape up, everything else in life improves. It's like a set of dominos. Whatever you're striving for, let it fuel you.

 

             

So to wrap the key points up:

 

1) Measure and track your progress

 

2) Vividly visualize your goals in the movie theater of your mind

 

3) Set up a long view with small challenges to conquer

 

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