— 1. Start with your value system, pay attention to your patterns and triggers. Write down your top values. Is health one of your top values? Healing from a traumatic event or experience? Prioritizing values and a desire to do and want things different are crucial steps that open the door to transformation, healing and lasting chang
“Pay attention to your patterns. The ways you learned to survive may not be the ways you want to continue to live. Heal and shift.” —Dr. Thema
— 2. Keep a journal to record your goals and intentions. Review them daily. The act of writing and journaling is very powerful in creating change and a positive outcome for long-term success. Create a vision board, which represent your dreams, your goals, and your ideal life.
Studies show an 80% success rate for those who follow through by writing down on paper their goals. Be intentional. The greater the outer change or physical change you wish to manifest or experience, the inner change or emotional change must be even greater. Serious intention and desire for personal growth, losing body fat, lifestyle changes, or achieving any other change or goal requires emotional motivation.
— 3. Start with two simple, healthy changes each week. Continue with those changes and add two more each week. This is the concept in my first book, The Power of 4. Ultimately, small changes over time are very profound and doable without creating overwhelm, and subtly change your old, sabotaging habits into new and healthier ones.
— 4. Be prepared. Have a plan. Use the 12-week check list found in Fat Loss Revolution as a tool. Set up your environment at home, your office and work environment to succeed, support your goals and minimize set backs. Remove unhealthy foods from your home and replace with healthier options.
— 5. Fat loss is contagious, and so is weight gain, negativity, spirituality, and success! Find your tribe! Surround yourself with like-minded people who support your healthy lifestyle. This may mean dissolving certain relationships and environments that sabotage your choices and are no longer in alignment with your vision and intention. Share your goals with family and friends. Hire a coach, find a mentor or attend a class.
— 6. Break out of the negative mindset. Be aware of your triggers. One of the keys to breaking this habit is to act in spite of. Each time that you have an emotional reaction regardless of your feelings, fears, worries or doubts, you are reinforcing the habit. This allows you to confront bigger challenges and obstacles no matter what area of your life.
“Avoiding your triggers isn’t healing. Healing happens when you’re triggered and you’re able to move through the pain, the pattern, and the story, and walk your way to a different ending.”
— 7. Avoid quick-fix, starvation diets that are not conducive to a healthy lifestyle. The end result of chronic dieting and endless grazing feasts cause a damaged metabolism, hormone disruption and result in extra weight once the dieting ends. Realize that you cannot exercise your way out of a bad diet.
End the pattern of saying yes to what you really do not want to do. End thought process of exercising more and eating less (a metabolic disaster), and alternatively adapt a lifestyle mindset. Focus on nourishing your body with real food so you’re able to think clearer and feel better. Follow the PVFC method found in Fat Loss Revolution – always include organic protein, plenty of fiber from leafy greens, colorful plants and non-starchy veggies, healthy fats, and filtered water as staples in your diet.
“If you don’t know how to say no, your body will say it for you through physical illness.” — Dr. Gabor Mate
— 8. Become conscious about the importance of the ‘Paula Principles‘ in addition healthy eating to experience a happy and healthy life. Functional factors in a healthy lifestyle equation include hormone balance, sleep, stress management, minimizing chemical exposure, eliminating foods your body is sensitive to, an intelligently designed exercise program (not too much and not too little), healthy gut function, correcting nutritional deficiencies, self-love and worth, and periodic detoxification.
“Your beliefs and thoughts are wired into your biology. They become your cells, tissues, and organs. There’s no supplement, no diet, no medicine, and no exercise regimen that can compare with the power of your thoughts and beliefs.” — Dr. Christiane Northrup
— 9. Let go of comparing yourself to others. This only leads to frustration and self-loathing. The perfect solution that worked for your sister, your friend or your trainer may not work for you. Your biochemistry can cause you to metabolize fat differently than your friend even though you both followed the exact same program. Determine what works for you.
— 10. Break out of old patterns and the cycle of repetitive behavior. When you’re feeling anxious, fatigued or stressed out, instead of turning to food or responding the same old way as your go-to remedy, walk your dog, practice yoga, meditate, talk with a friend, repeat a positive affirmation, light some candles and take an Epsom salt bath, listen to your favorite music or a personal growth CD, write in your journal or read something spiritual. Problems and old patterns aren’t solved with mindless eating or band-aids. We have to be willing to remove the scab so to speak, own our story and be ready to truly heal.
“Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve what is the will of God – what is good and well-pleasing and perfect.” Romans 12:2
— 11. Own your choices and your thought mindset. Stop the excuse and blame mentality. Be honest with yourself. Losing weight (and keeping it off), reversing a lifestyle disease such as diabetes, managing symptoms of an autoimmune disease, and creating the healthiest version of yourself is about consistently making healthier choices 90 percent of the time so it becomes your lifestyle. In my book, Fat Loss Revolution I refer to this as the 90/10 Revolution Solution.
— 12. Patience! Take it one day at a time. Be consistent. Value and focus on the positive progress you have already made along your journey toward health. Realize that setbacks may occur during the process. Resume your intention and focus on getting right back on track. Have a sense of gratitude. See your transformation as progressive – a journey versus perfection. Believe in yourself! Love yourself!