When you have decided you are going to lose weight did you ever notice how “all of the sudden” the people you spend time with seem to be putting pressure on you? It could be your favorite Aunt who is always asking you to taste her food or the best is “I want you to try this and you tell me what you think?”…there is peer pressure while losing weight EVEN when you are over 40!
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If you are new here my name is Nicole Simonin and I help women over 40 lose weight for the last time. The clients that come to me aren’t just losing weight…my clients are gaining time.
They are using all that time they used to spend thinking about what they are going to eat or searching for what new diet they think is going to work …once they stopped all the food drama they found they have much more time for doing things they love and enjoy.
Think about how much time you spend thinking about food… Talking about food with your friends…worrying about what you ate…
What would you do with all that extra time if you weren’t worried about what to eat?
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On today’s Shape It Up Over 40, I am continuing on with daily tips. Today is about Peer Pressure While Losing Weight
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Peer Pressure While Losing Weight
You’ve decided you are going to lose weight.
Did you ever notice how “all of the sudden” the people you spend time with seem to be putting pressure on you? It could be your favorite Aunt who is always asking you to taste her food or the best is “I want you to try this and you tell me what you think?”
Holidays like Thanksgiving can bring out this need to please your family or act more like your childhood version of yourself… and magnify it.
Psychologists have stated when we go home we revert to how we behaved as a child and YES even now when we are a full grown adult.
Your family views you as the little girl you once were especially if you have been overweight for a long time ….and NOW you have made the decision to lose weight…it’s like your family is meeting a whole new person….who is NOT you.
You would think this is not a big deal. I mean you are just dropping some inches.
The person you are right now has created the current overweight you.
To lose weight, you need to become a new person. Become a different version of you.
Depending on how deep you are emotionally attached to family and friends and to your identity you have right now… will determine how much peer pressure you will feel from the people around you.
Biggest kicker is unless you are aware…you will think it’s everyone else’s fault why you are feeling peer pressure and why you are struggling to stay on track while being around family and friends.
Biggest Loser
Do you remember the show the Biggest Loser?
The reality show where overweight contestants would compete to lose weight and be the biggest loser.
They would seclude contestants and surround them with nutritious food, 24/7 access to a gym and celebrity trainers. The contestants would work so hard while on the ranch.
They had minimal distractions.
They were not working.
They didn’t have to take care of kids.
They didn’t have to clean the house or run errands.
What you may not know is these contestants were sometimes on the treadmill for 6 hours a day and barely eating any food.
They were isolated from reality.
Guess what happened when they got home and had to deal with all the everyday stuff??
Yup most of them gained all the weight back.
Only a handful of contestants have kept the weight off.
So why is this?
They got the workout plan.
They got the food plan.
Stop cramming for weight loss
It’s like cramming for finals.
You cannot retain what you have learned if you only learned it temporarily.
When I was dancing, the amount of rehearsal and practice that went into a performance is incredible.
I remember not just physically moving to learn the choreography.
I would write down the steps in a notebook.
I would visualize my choreography every night before I would go to bed.
Any movement that didn’t feel right or just couldn’t get right was critiqued and evaluated…and changed if necessary.
There was no cramming.
They learned the HOW and the What
The Biggest Loser contestants who regained the weight didn’t take the time to learn, apply and adapt to the new version of themselves.
When they went back home to all the peer pressure which had been removed while they were on the ranch, they couldn’t maintain what they had been doing. (Of course! Who has 6 hours to spend on a treadmill??)
They learned the HOW and WHAT, but they didn’t learn skills to shift their mindset and prepare for reality.
This is very similar to quick fix weight loss workouts or fad diets.
Tying this all into Thanksgiving…you are going to be around familiar people and familiar situations. To become the new version of the leaner you…you need to think and act differently around these people. It’s going to feel extremely uncomfortable and awkward.
It doesn’t have to be.
This is exactly what I work on with my 1:1 coaching clients.
Here’s one strategy I suggest…Notice when you are being asked to eat or do something and you think this is going to make you go off track with your weight loss goals. What do you typically do in that moment? What other choices do you have?
Let’s use Aunt Sally asking if you would taste her dessert she spent all day making for you and she want’s your opinion….what would you say or do?
Is your answer getting you closer to your weight loss goals or further away?