Mind Games

I can't believe how many people still stop me to ask how I got skinny.

The easy answer?

Eat healthy and exercise.

Do people really want to hear that?

Um, no. They don't.

You can actually see the disappointment on their faces.

Yet, that is what I did. I went from this -

To sorta kinda like this -

In less than a year.

By eating healthy and exercising.

Because I was focused. Very, very focused.

It's mind over matter in this weight loss struggle that you're in.

Half the battle is in your head.

Here are a few of the mind games I played with myself to keep my head in the weight loss war.

First I made myself a Motivation Poster. I cut out pictures of skinny chicks in bikinis, pictures of hotties in super cute jeans, pictures of myself skinny, and pictures of myself as a fattie. I pinned it to the wall right next to my elliptical. So that whenever I felt like giving up halfway through my workout I would look up at those super cute jeans on my poster and force myself to finish exercising.

I also posted a few extra bikini pics in the kitchen. One on the fridge, on the snack cupboard.... that way whenever I went into the kitchen I was reminded what my goal was. Sure, a few of my husbands friends thought it was odd that there were pictures of bikini clad girls all over the house.... but it worked for me! (And I'm sure it didn't bother them all that much.)

Then I bought myself some Motivational Jeans. I would wait until there were some cute ones on sale and then I would buy them 2 sizes smaller than what I was currently wearing. I would hang them at the very front of my closet where I would see them everyday. When the day came that those jeans actually fit......euphoric. And then when those jeans would actually get to where they were to big, A-mazing. There's no better motivation for me than buying new jeans.

When I overhauled my life I didn't have a blog. I didn't have a Twitter account either. All I had was my Facebook page and my MySpace page. Every morning I would update my status with "I'm going to workout today!", or "I'm going to make this super yummy healthy breakfast today!", or some other crap about being healthy and exercising. Just the simple fact of telling everyone I knew that I was going to workout, that I was going to eat healthy, that I had a goal of losing weight, kept me on the straight and narrow. If I told all my friends and family that I was going to workout, well then I better go workout! I didn't want to be a liar. I created my own Peer Pressure, and it worked!

Another tactic that I used against my ever struggling willpower - Keep in mind just how long you will have to workout to work off that piece of cake, or slice of pizza, or candy bar. Is the pizza really worth an extra 20 to 30 minutes on the elliptical? If it is - go for it! If not, maybe Lean Cuisine will have a better option for you. I know a lot of people don't like this 'game' of working out longer because you ate something full of fat and calories. You know who they are? People who are already skinny that's who. I like keeping track, that way I know exactly how long I need to workout and there are no surprises.

I hope some of these tips will work for you! It sure won't hurt to try!

Here's a link to a post I wrote awhile back with some other helpful tips.

Do you have any mind games that have been working for you? Please let me know in the comments! I look forward to learning what you guys have been doing.

~Stephanie at The Blue Zoo~