Lose Weight Authentically
Hey dieter —are you ready to try a different weigh?
When I am asked to describe No Weigh in a single sentence I simply say it’s the complete opposite of a diet. If you took dieting and did the exact opposite, that’s No Weigh. Dieters focus on what they want to stop doing, No Weigh users focus on what they want to do more. Diets are demanding and ask you to do extra things you wouldn’t normally do, No Weigh is an integrated approach that feels natural. With diets, its the numbers game— zooming in on problems and making them larger, placing your confidence on some rules and a line graph. No Weigh zooms out and takes an honest look, which requires enhanced self-confidence.
It’s the authentic approach.
An Integrated Approach to Weight Loss
Effective solutions are those that fit naturally where the problem lives. They work with what already exists to make small adjustments that create a big and lasting difference. An integrated approach is a sustainable approach.
Taking an integrated approach to weight loss requires fitting a solution into the daily life of the person in a way that is comfortable and minimally invasive. In behavior analysis we call this the least restrictive approach. It’s your daily life, adjusted slightly to enable change. Not a different version of you, just the next step forward.
The Paradox of Control
Diets ask users to control their daily lives using force. Willpower is what they call it. As experienced dieters know, this attempt to control pushes us further away from where we want to go because it disengages us from our experiences. This is the paradox of control —the more we attempt to overpower, the deeper entrenched we become.
Because it is not about forcing a solution,
it’s about understanding the problem.
The opposite of this is to attain control by letting go. It is like a trust fall, where you are simultaneously falling and also there to catch yourself. This requires trusting your own gut and resisting the temptation to allow a restrictive program to do the decision-making. This level of confidence begins with acceptance. When we can see a pattern and accept a situation as it is, we are able to use the point of view of an objective observer to understand how our habit responses are interconnected with all the other aspects of our day. From here, new solutions and opportunities present themselves.
You don’t snack because you’re lazy, you snack because your body is tired and trying to stay awake. You don’t eat when you are upset because you are weak, it is an effective way to distract yourself from what is upsetting you and gives you space to decide on a solution.
The work vending machine doesn’t control you, rather it is a tool you use to regain focus and get the job done when you hit an afternoon slump.
Because it is not about forcing a solution, it’s about understanding the problem.
Four Components of Authentic Weight Loss
Below are four components of this authentic weight loss approach:
Do something differently.
Keep it integrated with daily life, just a slight adjustment to make the mundane feel fresh and point you in the direction you are wanting to go.
Act with confidence.
You already have all the information you need to direct your life. No one knows about your experiences like you do.
Pursue a feeling.
Line graphs are deceiving. They take two variables and display a relationship, but they don’t tell the entire story. What has value to you in your life? Of these, which can be described using numbers? Likely not many. Use your confidence and pursue a feeling, not a number. (Read more on this)
Be unencumbered.
The only barometer for change is how you feel in your body and as a person. Expect to feel an enhanced sense of dignity. A peaceful joy. The first thing you lose with No Weigh is the wanting to escape. There is no avoidance, no inadequacy, no mistakes. Just information and opportunities.
Q: But, how?
A: Exactly.
Pursuing an authentic approach to weight loss begins with asking “How?” (Read more on this)
How is this situation a problem for me?
How have I responded in the past?
How has that worked for me? How are these patterns I don’t like helpful in some way?
How can they be adjusted to be more consistent with who I am as a person?
Are you ready for something different?
