Train your brain to eat less and lose weight

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Fitness & Health

Published on Tuesday, 07 January 2014 10:35

Last Updated on 07 January 2014

Sandra Roycroft-Davis

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HERE’S two amazing things about the way we live:

One: Most women who go on a diet give up after five weeks and two days.

Two: Over half a million people who join a gym in January stop going within months.

Why do we behave this way?

Because it’s a habit. We think dieting or going to the gym will solve the problem of a bulging waistline – so every year we do it. Year after year after year.

If we thought about it logically we’d realise that if dieting was really the answer we’d only have to do it once, not repeat it time and again.

So what is the answer? Experts now widely recognise that behavioural change is the key. Losing weight is about mindset.

Are you over-eating for emotional reasons – because you’re bored, sad, lonely, angry? Does it make you feel good? Is food a reward?

Do you eat biscuits or cakes because it’s a habit – biscuits with morning coffee, cream cakes with afternoon tea – and you’re doing what you’ve always done?

It’s easier than many people might think to break habits and create new ones. If you answered yes to the questions I’ve just asked, then you’ve already taken the first step because you’ve recognised that so much of what you do from day to day is governed by your mind.

The mind that has made someone put on weight is the same mind that can help them lose weight.

We’ve all seen how sports stars use the power of the mind to achieve success – Jonny Wilkinson, Jessica Ennis, Andy Murray, Tiger Woods, Serena Williams all channel their minds to do what it takes to win.

What surprises many people is how easily the mind can similarly be retrained to automatically choose to eat less, feel full quicker and be more active.

Of course you can always go on doing what you’ve always done. But then you’ll get what you’ve always got.