Just like the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, here are seven habits that thin and fit people across the world do to stay that way. Remember, if any of these habits are not in your daily routine, they say it only takes 21 days to form a new habit. If you can just focus on each one for 21 days each you’ll eventually do it without even thinking about it, and that’s when the magic really starts to happen.
Stop Eating Before You Feel Full
Make it a habit to push the plate away before you get that full or stuffed feeling. By the time your stomach tells your brain that it’s full you’ve likely eaten more than it can hold. By stopping before you get that signal you’ll be able to coast right into that “just right” feeling where you’re not hungry anymore, and not so full that you think you’re going to burst.
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Overeating is one of the number one things that keeps overweight people overweight, and why naturally thin people stay that way. It causes a digestive troubles and reduces the likelihood that you’re going to feel like being active and moving around. Imagine not having to force yourself not to overeat. Make this a habit and you’ll automatically settle at your ideal weight.
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Do Something Active Every Day
It’s so hard to battle inertia, and if you’re not used to getting daily activity the hardest part is going to be establishing the habit. But the good news is that once you get that ball rolling it’s going to be hard to stop. After three weeks of getting active each day you’ll feel strange if you don’t do something active on a particular day, and will be twice as likely to seek something out the next day.
For many that’s 180 degrees from the way things are now, which is why so many struggle with weight issues and wonder why they’re not seeing the results they want from their on-again off-again efforts. Make it a habit so you can put your fitness on auto-pilot.
Don’t Be So Hard on Yourself
When trying to lose weight you run the risk of being too negative, and beating yourself up for the past actions that put you into this position. You have to first accept where you are, and then use that as motivation to get where you want to be. While some people might claim that being their own toughest critic helps motivate them, for most it’s counterproductive.
By accepting the condition your body is in you don’t have to be complacent about it and not effect change. It just means that you can’t do anything to change the past, so start from where you are and make it a habit to lighten up and enjoy the journey towards a lighter, healthier you.
Schedule Down Time for Yourself
You have to make a habit out of taking time off for yourself so that you don’t get burned out. You might think that naturally fit people are always go go go, but the truth is that your body functions best when it has proper amounts of physical and mental exertion as well as periods of rest and relaxation, aka chill time.
It’s easy to be overzealous when trying to lose weight, thinking that you have to make up for lost time, but you’ve got to establish a time when you can kick up your feet, put on some relaxing music, meditate, take a warm bath, play with your pet, or otherwise veg out. Stress leads to weight gain, so therefore beating that stress must lead to weight loss.
Buy Healthy Foods
Thin people have the habit of buying healthier food while they’re at the grocery store or supermarket. When most people think about eating right, they picture themselves eating healthier food. But it’s smarter to picture yourself buying healthier food. The decision of what you eat is made as you reach out and put the items in your cart. Few people have the money or the conviction to throw out perfectly good bad food once it’s purchased.
Today’s stores make it hard to find foods that won’t make you fat, and millions of dollars are spent on research and marketing to get you to buy junk food and fast food. One rule of thumb is to buy foods you haven’t seen ads from.
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Keep Records of Your Efforts
One successful habit of those that have lost weight and kept it off is to keep records of what they’ve done in order to lose weight. This includes a journal of the foods you’re eating, as well as listing the workouts that you’re doing. We like to call them “Success Crumbs” because it’s like breadcrumbs you can trace back to see how you accomplished your goal.
This serves several purposes, it holds you accountable for your actions and inaction’s, it gives you an idea of what’s working and what isn’t, and it shows you where you need help and where your weaknesses are, for example if you’re tempted to overeat on a specific day or time. It also shows objectively where you are at any given moment.
Have a Positive Mindset
A tendency of most dieters is to think of losing weight as a chore, but this puts you in the wrong frame of mind for fast and effective weight loss. If you immediately dread going on a diet and start thinking of all the foods you’re going to miss you’re on the WRONG diet. Choose a diet that makes you feel good about starting it, and ride those good feelings throughout the process.
Behind your desire to lose weight is a desire to feel better. But you don’t have to defer those good feelings until you reach your goal weight. You can start choosing things to think about that make you feel good <em>right now</em> and a funny thing will start to happen, you’ll get where you want to be much faster than thinking of everything you don’t like.
Unconscious Competence
Remember, your goal is to get these 7 habits from having to think about them, to not having to think of them. Right now you’re in the phase where you know what you have to do, but you still have to think about it in order for it to happen. Don’t tackle all 7 habits at once and think you’ll be fine in three weeks. Make this a long term process and start with the first habit that speaks to you. Spend 21 days on it until it’s sunk in before moving on to the next one.
You may also like our list of the 40 vitamins & natural supplements for weight loss.