Stop doing these 6 things to reach your weight loss goals

Excerpts from her book. 

Lack of Sleep

This could be making you fat. According to studies, partial sleep deprivation slows down your metabolism by 5-20% and alters your level of hunger hormones, making you hungrier all day and seriously binging the next. Here are 7 ways lack of sleep can affect you.

Eating on the Move

If you buy ‘easy-to-eat’ meals like a burger or samosas on your way, you may end up eating your daily calorie quota in one hit. If you do travel long distances, plan ahead and carry a healthy meal and a bottle of water with you.

Eating Mindlessly

You should savour every bite and relish the flavours and textures. The mind takes time to communicate that you are indeed satiated, so allow that to happen. I used to immediately look for what’s next when I finished a bowl, and it didn’t stop, but every time I waited before going for seconds, I ended up not wanting it at all. Read how to master mindful eating. 

Food Rut

Even if you think that you are eating healthy, you could be stuffing yourself with too much of the same thing on a daily basis, making it mundane and boring. This in turn will tempt you to have frequent ‘pig-out’ sessions with the foods you love.

Finishing Everything on Your Plate

Some will probably slay me for saying this, but wasted food is wasted food, putting it all in your belly is not going to save a starving child. Serve yourself as much as you want to eat. Don’t go for second helpings. Growing up as an obese kid, my mum never forced me to finish my food, as most mums do; in fact she hoped that I would leave some over. She too told me not to treat my stomach like a garbage bin. Also read – 5 weekend habits that ruin your health. 

Coffee Shopping

Similar to ‘meeting up for a drink’ or catching up over a few beers, many of us make it a habit to meet up with friends over coffee where the preferred flavour is hazelnut cream with a slice of a brownie. Need I say more? Find other ways to catch up with friends.

Question: Do you know how hard it is to lose weight Malti? I have low self-esteem. I don’t think this will work for me. I’ve been fat forever. Is this a diet? Is this some sort of weight-loss plan? Are you going to give me a step-by-step guide of what I should eat or are you just going to tell me to think positive and I’ll magically lose 10 kilos overnight. How can changing my attitude help me lose weight? I’ve been going to the gym, I’ve been exercising, I’ve been trying to get fit—so what magic solution do you have that I haven’t heard already? Please answer this for me because I don’t get it. I like all your positive talk. It sounds great, but it just doesn’t describe me. It’s inspirational, but I don’t think it can work for me. I’m busy, I’m fat, I’m lazy, I want to change—but I’m tired of people telling me how easy it is—because nothing has worked for me so far. How can you help me?

My answer: You are lazy, you are fat, you are busy, because you are lazy, you are fat, you are busy, you will never change until you change the way you see this and you change your body, emotion and language.

I am not going to teach you what to eat, or how much to exercise, you already know all that, as you have been overweight all your life and you have tried many times to lose weight and you have even lost a little several times, but because a part of you wants to remain comfortable, you resist the hard work and the changes you need to make. Thus, you remain fat and then you step into a mood of resignation and you justify being fat. You just stay there. If you want to stay comfortable, then this is not for you.

This is hard work, which you know how to do, and you will attract the right path forward. I was obese. I never learnt to swim because I didn’t want anyone, not even girls or my parents to see all my blubber. I fainted when trying to do the 2.4 km run in school. I tried various fat loss centres that promised effortless results where they plugged me up and sent electrodes through my body or wrapped me up in heat wraps and I tried diets and pills of all kinds, I starved myself only to surrender to binge eating later. I wanted instant gratification and my body went into homeostasis, it had to regain balance and equilibrium and so I gave up again and again.

There is no quick fix or magic pill, this system will teach you how to stick to it, commit to it, resist the back slide and keep going. There is no such thing as trying. Absolute commitment is what you need. If you don’t think you want this badly enough then this is not for you.

Weight Management Spa Therapy

Lie down and breathe into your tummy, just like you read in the centring process. Imagine a light bulb in your tummy and that as you inhale, it gets brighter. As you exercise and eat healthy, it grows stronger and heats up inside slowly melting away the fat cells. Meditate daily as you affirm and visualise yourself in the shape you desire. Remember, meditation alone does not replace the lifestyle changes and habits you need to commit to, it should be practised in conjunction with everything else. Also read – Do you need a life coach?

‘The Mind Spa’ is authored by Malti Bhojwani and published by Om Books International. Click here to buy the book. 

Disclaimer text TheHealthSite.com does not guarantee any weight loss through this method as the results may vary from person to person. We recommend you consult your nutritionist and physician before following any of the tips suggested here.

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