“Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.”
That’s the last line of my favorite quote. When I was younger, I framed it and hung it on my bedroom wall to remind myself if attitude matters. You never get control of life – your health, your diet, whatever – if you’re thinking about what’s happening to you. And that’s why I think One of the best thoughts that can help you lose weight is to have a positive attitude.
Let me explain why and how a positive attitude can make a drastic difference in your weight loss journey.
In my new audiobook, Lose weight like crazy even if you have a crazy life, I share many stories about my own struggle with doubt and negative thinking, and also how I changed my pessimistic attitude.
When I was growing up when something went wrong, my dad said, “I’m pissed. It’s the Calabrese curse.” For so long, I also thought that we Calabres were destined for bad luck. Lesson: Be careful with the people around you. If you are constantly around people with a negative attitude, chances are you will also develop one.
Once I went to college on my own, surrounded by like-minded people who had fun and embraced the ups and downs of life, I began to realize that the way I reacted to situations mattered. I could choose to see the bad or I could choose to see the good. I could get pissed or down on myself, or I could learn from my challenges and look at life through a more positive lens. Before I knew it, I did not feel that life was happening to me. Instead, I felt controlled. And I realized that attitude is the secret to making good things happen.
See, if you think you can or think you can not, you are right! For example, if you approach weight loss with a positive attitude and ask yourself, what can I learn? How can it work for me? Chances are that you will experience a better understanding of yourself and your nutrition, and you will get amazing results.
Here are some practical ways to reverse your attitude breaker:
- Start the day with an attitude check. Check it before you go into a challenging situation. If you go out to dinner with friends and forget to save a yellow serving (part of my sub-control plan in the book) for your glass of wine, you have two ways to look at it: This plan sucks; I do not do this, OR you can think ah, that’s what autumn means to plan ahead and be prepared. I’ll have water tonight and a cocktail next time we go out. It will still be fun to be with friends. Choosing the right attitude will keep you on the path to success. (Related: This simple morning workout melts fat all day, experts say.)
- Behave like a child. Success does not always happen on the first try, and that’s OK. Take, for example, a baby who is just learning to walk. If the child falls and takes the first shaky steps, she does not think, “Well, I’m done; this walk is not for me.” She gets up and tries again and again. We can all learn a lesson from the child within us who did not know the meaning of defeat, was not weighed down by society’s opinions and all self-doubt. Keep coming up again.
- Do not reach for perfection. Perfection is an unrealistic goal. It is super difficult to achieve and will more often make you feel unworthy if you do not nail it. So, do not even go there. I say “shoot for progress, not perfection.” Some people quit because of slow progress and never understand that slow progress is progress! Celebrate the small gains with these 25 ingenious ways to reward yourself for weight loss.
- Practice consistency. The secret to success in almost anything is consistency. Practice it. In everything you do, practice it every day. No one comes to the Olympics, NFL or NBA without practicing consistently to improve. The same goes for improving your health and fitness or building a bulletproof positive attitude. These 15 underestimated weight loss tips that actually work
- Have a reason. In my book, I call step number one too much weight loss “to identify your” why. “What’s your reason for wanting to lose weight and get in shape? It must make sense for you to push yourself through the hard days when you feel like packing it. You need to lean into your deeper ‘why’. to keep you on track To find it, ask yourself:
- What happens when I lose weight?
- How will I feel when I lose the weight I want to lose?
- What would happen if I did not lose weight?
- How will I feel if I do not lose weight?
- Go deep. Ask yourself, “What is stopping me from getting what I want?”
- Have a plan. The most practical tool for changing attitudes and behaviors is to have a well-defined plan. If you have a clear map to follow, it is almost impossible to get lost. This is the essential idea behind my Portions Fix Plan. In the book, you will learn how to determine the exact portion of vegetables, fruits, proteins, carbohydrates, healthy fats, seeds, salad dressings and peanut butter that you can eat for your specific calorie intake to reach your weight loss goals. And my color-coded container system makes it easy to cook according to plan.
All of these tips will help you change your attitude toward yourself and about food, and see food as the fuel it is meant to be.
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