Last Updated on March 28, 2022 by Latrice
Instead of giving you weight loss tips on things like healthy eating and exercise, these hacks have got to do with your mindset. Our mindsets are usually, if not always, what is actually holding us back.
Your mindset determines what your boundaries and capabilities are. Struggling to lose weight is a boundary your mindset has set. That boundary can be in a bad habit and the cause of your self-sabotage. That boundary can show up as a line of thinking that typically leads to eating off plan for you.
These weight loss hacks are ways you can update your mindset, expand your capabilities, and begin thinking in a way that better aligns with your goals.
Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are ‘affiliate links.’ This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission at no additional cost to you. Full disclosure.
#1 Implement a daily mindset update routine to start your day
Work on getting your mindset in alignment with your goals early in the day. This not only helps you make healthier decisions throughout the day, but it also helps you have a better mood for challenges you might meet in your day.
You can do this with meditation, visualization, scripting, making a list of positive aspects, or listening to affirmations and binaural beats.
I personally visualize, script about my healthy day, and write a list of positive aspects all while listening to my playlist of binaural beats. None of this worked overnight. It’s still working on me, but I can definitely tell that it’s working.
Morning routine ideas: My early morning routine for transformation
#2 Visualize yourself once or twice a day living healthy and getting complimented on your weight loss
The mind is interesting like that where if you visualize yourself being healthy, it actually “believes” you are living healthy right then. The more you do this in your imagination, the more you’ll do this in real life.
I’ve read and heard this practice works best when fresh out of sleep in the morning and right before bed at night. Spend 10 to 30 minutes (I do 15 minutes) visualizing yourself living out a healthy day. Also, try feeling how you’d feel throughout your day of healthy living.
Try putting these steps to work for updating your mindset: How to change your mindset for weight loss
#3 Align your weight loss goal with your values and let your values motivate you
Why do you want to lose weight? To be healthier in the long run? To get pregnant? To feel better? To turn heads while you walk through WholeFoods in your Saturday-errand-running digs?
Whatever the reason, focusing on that reason instead of your goal to lose a certain amount of weight can help you be more consistent. It gives your weight loss goal a little more weight (no pun intended) when you find yourself in a tough decision.
Like trying to decide if you really need to drizzle that healthy veggie scramble with ketchup. Or if you’re really too tired for your workout. Your values can help you do the right thing.
A great book for identifying the values that align with your goals is Values-Based Goal Setting: How to Dream Big and Live the Life You Were Meant to Live by Stephanie Dee Smith. It can also help you determine if the goals you’ve set are really for you.
You can listen to this title (+1 more) for free on Audible when you sign up for a 30-Day Free Trial. You can also read this title for free when you sign up for a Kindle Unlimited 30-Day Free Trial. Kindle Unlimited has unlimited listening and unlimited reads. Many books I read for free with my membership.
Both great valuable memberships to have when you’re working on your mindset and personal development. Or you’re an avid reader with a ton of books to get through like me.
#4 Use a weight loss journal or planner too cute to put down
If you’re like me, you don’t like seeing a cute journal or notebook go neglected. Writing in it becomes a must and sometimes the only motivation you have on the days you really don’t feel like journaling and tracking your progress.
If this is you, get a journal, notebook, or workbook, designate it as your weight loss journal, and work in it regularly. Keep it cute. Use stickers. Anything to keep you coming back and tracking.
Just tracking regularly will keep your weight loss goals on your mind and help you make healthier choices throughout the day and in those challenging situations.
Here are a few cute suggestions from Etsy. Functional, stylish weight loss journey journals.
- 12 Week Fitness Planner – Colorful Floral Gratitude Journal, Nutrition Tracker, Weight Loss Journal
- Mindful Health All-in-One Fitness & Food Journal
- Fitness Diet Planner – 6 Month Diet Diary, Weight Loss Journal
- Weight Loss Sidekick Journal
- Digital Fitness Planner
- Happy Planner Fitness Journal and Weight Loss Planner
More ideas for keeping a health and wellness planner: Tips for keeping a health and wellness planner
#5 Create an ENCOURAGING vision board of women living healthy AF
I say “encouraging” because sometimes we can create vision boards that are discouraging to our weight loss and fitness goals. Like, if skinny women trigger you, don’t put skinny women on your vision board.
If seeing a woman with the perfect BBL and tummy tuck triggers you into thinking about why you can’t have your tiny waist and BBL already, don’t add it. If seeing someone eat a salad is annoying to you, don’t add it.
If they do encourage, motivate, and inspire you, add them to your vision board.
Also add quotes, encouraging memes, healthy stuff that motivates you, and so forth. I love using Pinterest and creating a digital vision board on GoodNote with my iPad by copying pictures and pasting them there. Creating a vision board right on Pinterest is another option.
#6 Create a fancy card to remind yourself to make your healthy decisions NOW instead of later
Write down an affirmation, mantra, or quote that motivates, encourages, or reminds you to make healthy decisions every time you get a chance to do so.
Carry this card around and look at it regularly. Keep it where you can see it and try getting in the habit of reading it every time you meet a challenge that might pull you away from your goals.
After a while, just touching the card will help trigger a good decision and keep you on plan.
#7 Actually, plan your healthy habits, put them in your routines, and practice getting better at that routine daily
Sit down and write out a plan on what you are doing, or plan to do, to achieve your weight loss goals. Do you need to meal plan weekly? Got a workout you do every other day? Need to make sure you have healthy snacks ready for Tuesday night? Plan this!
Once you’ve got a plan, create an “ideal schedule.” This is what you want your healthy day to look like. Also include things you’ll do just in case you meet a challenge or get off schedule. Have a contingency plan.
Do not stress over being perfect at this plan. Practice getting better at this plan until you are no longer practicing. I’ve found that practicing at being healthy takes off much of the pressure and cuts down the amount of time off-plan.
Need help creating a routine you’ll actually stick to?: How to create a self-care routine that’ll make healthy habits easy to stick to
#8 Prepare yourself weekly for healthy living
Meal plan, meal prep, grocery shop with a grocery list, and have your gym clothes cleaned and ready. Give yourself no reason to wiggle out of your healthy lifestyle by planning ahead as much as possible.
Having meals cooked and gym clothes clean helped me lose 45 lbs in 4 months, so I am truly a believer. More than a believer. I’m a knower.
This is also how you make a ton of healthy decisions before the week even begins, lower the amount of willpower you need to use, and strengthen your self-discipline.
More healthy habits to consider adding to your schedule: 15 healthy habits that make weight loss super simple
#9 Check-in daily, weekly, and monthly with yourself
Rate your day and journal your thoughts. Jot down if you were off-plan, how you felt, what triggered it, and the times you didn’t give in. Celebrate your wins. Evaluate what you can to better support yourself during a challenge.
Keeping an eye on your goals like this can help you not ignore that you’re off plan and plan appropriately for the next day. I’ve found in my own journey it’s really easy to start “ignoring” that I’m off plan if I’m not reviewing daily.
Reflect and review can be a powerful tool when you work it.
#10 Don’t beat yourself up over slip-ups but do set a goal to get back to it ASAP
Let these go, move on, do better with the next decision as soon as possible. Unless you really need to be off your plan, get back on plan as quickly as possible.
But don’t beat yourself up over the slips. When you beat yourself up, you’re creating more of that slipup in your life. You’re attracting more of that behavior.
Try one, a few, or all of these hacks on your weight loss goals. You don’t need to implement all of them so pick ones that you feel comfortable with working.
Many times, when we’re not able to achieve our weight loss goals despite our efforts, it is because we’re putting in a lot of effort without addressing our mindsets. This leads to self-sabotage and a cycle of weight loss, falling off, and weight gain.
Putting a few of these weight loss hacks to work can make a huge difference.
