Update your body image
You may have already donated your larger clothes to this year’s Slimming World Clothes
Throw, but do you still view yourself as your previous size? Even when we’re losing weight,
we can hang on to a body image that’s out of date. ‘Changing your mental image of yourself
can be harder than changing your size, especially if you’ve been overweight for years,’ says
Consultant Natalie Haynes-Brewer. ‘Some members say they do a double-take when they
see their slimmer selves reflected back at them from a shop window.’ By getting into the
habit of questioning the assumptions you make about your body, you’ll find it gets easier
and easier to spot when your thought patterns are stuck in the past. And that means you
can spend less time on outdated, negative self-talk and more time enjoying what your
slimmer, healthier body can do.
MAKE SPACE: For an instant body-image update, try this exercise. Take a blank piece
of paper and write down the negative thoughts you have about your body. Then rip the
paper up into small pieces and throw it away. In a study, women who wrote down their
negative feelings, then threw the paper away, were far less affected by these negative
thoughts afterwards than women who wrote down their thoughts and kept the piece
of paper. So, no matter how far into your journey you are, don’t skip this step – literally
bin your old body image and free yourself up to become the new slimmer you.Blow away the cobwebs
We’re all creatures of habit and a routine can be a lifesaver when you’re busy – you’re far more
likely to exercise regularly if you do it at the same time every week, and many members swear
by having a set day for batch cooking. However, research from the University of Hertfordshire
has found that when routines get overly rigid, they can act like webs, making it hard to change
a habit even if we know it’s not helpful. Making tiny tweaks to your daily routine – like taking
a different route to work, or sitting in a different chair at the dinner table – can be enough to
break the web, setting you free to make more conscious choices, including what you eat.
MAKE SPACE: If you have a weight gain, ask yourself how you could tidy up your routine
so that you get the loss you want next week, says Consultant Lisa Boucher. ‘Many members
say they find it hardest to stay on track in the evening,’ says Lisa. ‘Instead of deciding not to
snack, which will leave you feeling restricted, put a plan in place – like keeping strawberries
and a few low Syn sugar-free jelly pots in the fridge ready to turn to if you feel peckish.’
Make space in
your life for what
matters to you,
including your weight
loss goals
Clear out your
worries
It’s normal to worry from time to time.
However, going over and over the same
worries can clutter your mind, leaving little
space for anything else, says Dr Hibberd.
‘It also lowers your mood, and can put
you at risk of depression and anxiety.’ It’s
easy to fall into the trap of thinking you’re
‘working things out’ by devoting mental
energy to your worries, but it actually
has the opposite effect – putting you
into a negative frame of mind, which can
undermine your confidence about making
any changes, including losing weight.
MAKE SPACE: Regular mindfulness
exercises can help people tune out the
background noise of worries. Next time
you find yourself tempted to go into
ruminating mode, try finding a quiet
place to sit and do a breathing exercise
instead. Close your eyes and focus your
attention on your breathing for a minute.
Then breathe in to a count of eight and
out to a count of 10, for several minutes.Create a haven
Do you feel like you have too much stuff?
Feeling overwhelmed by a cluttered house
has been linked to decreased mental
wellbeing and raised stress levels – an
added slimming hurdle for those of us who
reach for high Syn snacks or alcohol when
we’re tense. ‘We’re all different,’ says Eve
Menezes Cunningham, self-care coach,
therapist, and author of 365 Ways to Feel
Better (White Owl, £14.99). ‘For some of us,
being surrounded by things helps us feel at
home. Others are more minimalist. And if
you share your space, navigating different
preferences can bring its own stresses.
Seeing clutter-clearing as something you
can do together helps, particularly if part
of the reason you’re overwhelmed is that it
feels like it’s all your responsibility. As well
as being a way to get to know your own and
your loved ones’ priorities, the physical act
of moving things and discerning what stays
and goes (or maybe stays, but stored
somewhere else) is wonderful for releasing
stagnation. Many people find that once
they start organising their homes, they’re
able to make bigger inroads into other
areas of their lives where they previously
felt stuck.’ And that applies just as much
to weight loss as it does to anything else!
MAKE SPACE: Wherever you are, take a
moment to picture your home, says Eve.
‘Notice what you feel instantly in your
body as you do this. Do you tense up?
Where do you feel it most? Do you focus,
even in your imagination, on your home’s
“flaws”? What shifts when you picture
something in your home that you love as
it is? When we accept things – our homes,
our bodies or anything else – exactly as
they are, we stop triggering our stress
response with endless thoughts of not
being enough.’ And, she adds, rather
than encouraging us to leave things as
they are, this state of acceptance can
give us the headspace and energy we
need to make lasting lifestyle changes.
Declutter your
calendar
Take a quick glance at your kitchen
calendar or diary. If you can’t see much
white space, there’s a good chance you’re
overloaded. While some of us thrive on
being busy, doing too much at once makes
us less productive, and more prone to
experiencing stress, frustration and
pressure. Being super-busy can also
mean you spend most of your days in
‘fire-fighting’ mode, which makes it easier
for healthy eating and keeping active to
slip way down your list of priorities.
MAKE SPACE: People who’ve
decluttered their homes have to learn to
say no to new clutter coming in, says life
coach and decluttering expert Juliet
Landau-Pope ( jlpcoach.com). ‘It’s the
same with being busy – you have to learn
to say no, both to things you don’t want
to do and things you’d like to do, but don’t
have time for.’ To put it into perspective,
do a diary audit. Take a look at your diary
from last year and ask yourself, what
would you have liked to have done more
of? What do you wish you’d spent less
time doing? Now, think about what action
you can take to make that vision a reality.16 SLIMMING WORLD MAGAZINE