Oh, if only a great big stop sign showed up BEFORE we committed some of the actions that destroy our progress towards permanent weight loss!

In my last post, we explored ten things to STOP in order to achieve permanent weight loss.  Now, here are 10 more very important steps to further your progress towards permanent weight loss.  These are challenges that commonly show up for my weight loss clients and I hope revealing these challenges will make your weight loss easier and more direct.  It’s a virtual blueprint to permanent weight loss!

This is Part 2 of a 5-Part Series – So, check back for subsequent posts!  Or subscribe!  You can now sign up at the right of this post to receive new posts via email notification too!

11.  Stop ignoring energy – The need for food is a need for energy.  Food is fuel which creates energy.  Notice, I did not say “the desire for food” – I said “need” – that is different!  We need food for energy and hunger is the cue.  So, in order to be in touch with the actual need for food, and fuel our bodies well, we’ve got to be in the business of noticing energy needs.  Learning your body’s unique cues and messages is key to long-term success at managing weight.

12. Stop jealousy – Jealousy flows from comparison.  Remember, your life is unique.  Not only is comparison unloving, typical comparisons aren’t between apples and apples.  You know every single moment of your life, but we only see a snapshot of what other people have decided to show of their lives.

13. Stop resenting – Go back through the past and ferret out the resentments that have built up over time.  Resentments begin in negativity, but, over time, they take a lot of energy to maintain and continually reinforce.  By addressing past resentments and releasing them, you’ll feel lighter immediately.

14. Stop using time to make decisions (procrastinating) – Procrastination has a hidden reward.  By procrastinating, we convince ourselves we have no power.  First, we avoid taking responsibility at decision time, then, when the decision moves out of our control, we think we have created a perfect excuse.  But, no matter how a decision gets made, by actively making it, or by avoiding it until someone else makes it, it’s still OURS.  We are ultimately responsible.  Just like we are ultimately responsible for every pound.

15. Stop letting others define you – You’re the ultimate authority.  You know yourself better than anyone, or you are in the best position to get to know the REAL you.  Let go of expectations of family, society, culture.  Let go.

16.  Stop pleasing – Be positive and proactive about what kind of life you are creating.  Live close to your values.  Your life doesn’t have to match, or even resemble, any other life.  You do not have to defend your choices or justify your actions.  Your life is yours alone and, when you please others, it says their opinion is more important than your own.  No way that is true!

17.  Stop pretending you are “fine” – We often answer “fine” when others ask how we are doing.  We may even tell ourselves we are “fine.”  But “fine” is so generic and often boils down to “freaked out, insecure, neurotic and emotional” – not exactly a state of mind that breeds permanent weight loss.   So, stop pretending, stop denying.

18.  Stop worrying – Worrying is praying for what we don’t want.  It takes enormous amounts of energy and grinds negative pathways into our brain’s neural pathways.  Furthermore, it takes time, time we could be passionately driving towards our goals.

19. Stop blaming and shaming – Blaming is when we attempt to make another person, event or circumstance the excuse for not taking the right actions needed to achieve permanent weight loss.  Shaming is when we internalize that blame, turning the blame inwards against ourselves and actually making ourselves wrong or bad.  So, it’s no longer a poor decision or action, of which we can take ownership, WE actually become bad, wrong, ineffectual, defective, stupid, etc.

20.  Stop waiting for happiness – Elizabeth Gilbert, in “Eat Pray Love” wrote, “Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it. You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of your own blessings.”  Being thin will not make you happy, or solve all life’s problems.  That’s a myth.  Many people put off happiness, following their dreams, pursuing relationships, etc. until they lose weight.  Because permanent weight loss is not fast or simple, it is not predictable.  Waiting wastes time.  Besides, learning what makes you happy, and pursuing it, just might inform and aid your permanent weight loss journey.  It will most certainly lend it meaning.

No matter which step you pursue first, it’s time for movement.  Participate relentlessly in your growth and happiness, and release weight along the way.