No, it’s not a surprise anymore.
1 in 3 Americans are overweight, and almost 60% of women are overweight (source). It seems every family has at least one person who wants to lose some of that jiggle on their bellies.
However, most of us have heard about a myriad of “tips and tricks” to do it… like the usual dietary tips, high intensity workouts, or even super-fast “2 minute workouts”.
But how many people know they can lose weight, and significant amounts, with some unusual daily habits that are totally NOT related to your diet, or your workout?
Well, that’s what we see in today’s post – the 5 unusual habits of people who successfully lose weight, AND keep it off!
So without further delay, we begin with a habit that will raise many people’s eyebrows…
Unusual Habit #1 – Sometimes, Be Selfish
Keep yourself motivated. This is certainly easier than it sounds, but by adopting the proper mind state, staying motivated can be very easy.
“I don’t have to prove anything to anyone, I only have to follow my heart and concentrate on what I want to say to the world. I run my world”
-Beyonce
Beyonce just might be the most motivated female on the planet.
Did you know while she was acting on a movie once that she was so determined to play her role perfectly, that she actually forgot to eat for two days?
This woman is a true inspiration and I don’t know many people, male or female, that have anything negative to say about her.
Keeping yourself motivated on a daily basis can be tiresome but you must always keep your goals at the front of your mind. By always reminding yourself of your daily goals, it allows you to persevere through whatever obstacles you may face.
This is also why it’s so important to physically write your goals down so that you could physically see them on the paper.
When it comes to completing your goals, especially when it comes to weight loss, being selfish is ok.
Make sure you get your own stuff done before you start spreading yourself thin in an attempt to please others. It’s like when you’re on a plane and the announcement comes on that says,
“If the cabin pressure changes drastically, an oxygen mask will deploy from above your head. Please safely secure your own mask before helping others with theirs.”
They say this because if you try to help others before you help yourself you may pass out, then two people are in trouble instead of just one. You are better able to help others once you help yourself first, never forget that and do not feel that being selfish is always a bad thing.
“I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took any excuse.”
-Florence Nightingale
Unusual Habit #2 – Start Doing Yoga For Fat Loss
As weird as it sounds, Yoga can help you lose weight. Though most people only know Yoga as an ancient Indian system of poses, it has tremendous use when it comes to losing the flab.
Yoga “asanas” or poses work out your entire body in a systematic way. This not only burns some much needed calories, but also improves your blood supply, flexibility, tendon and ligament strength, muscular strength, lung capacity and even your cardiovascular health! Yep, the ancient Indians were really awesome!
There are many Yoga programs for you to choose from these days, our favorites include the Yoga Burn (source), the Ultimate Yogi (source) by Travis Eliot, Yoga Works by Larch Mont, etc.
Unusual Habit #3 – Role Models
Surround yourself with motivated, inspirational and positive people. If you only have friends that put your dreams down, laugh at your obesity issues, over-criticize you, or flake out on plans on a regular basis, then maybe it’s time to get some new ones.
Many people will do virtual Facebook friend cleanses, whereby they remove people that they no longer have a need for, off of their friends list.
Why don’t more people do friend cleanses in real life?
I know tons of people that have that one friend from elementary school that constantly drags them down. Those friends who can just never seem to dig themselves out of a rut, and they constantly drag others into that rut with them. Just because you have been friends with someone for a long time, does not mean you have a forced life sentence of friendship to serve.
Removing stress from your life requires you to remove stressors.
If you have people in your life that are stressors, you need to minimize the time you spend with them, so as to minimize your own stress levels, which ultimately helps a lot when we’re on our weight loss journey.
This may seem like a daunting task and it’s true that cutting ties with people is much more difficult in the technologically advanced age that we live in. Learning to tell people no is an important skill to develop and by saying no to being friends with negative people, you will better develop this vital skill.
Unusual Habit #4 – Limiting Stress
Surprisingly, one of the biggest weight ‘movers’ is stress.
And guess what’s weird – people who need to gain weight start losing weight when they are under stress, and vice-versa!
If you’re finding that you cannot remove particular stressful people from your life i.e., your boss, co-workers, family members etc., then you must learn how to limit the amount of stress that they are putting upon you.
One way to do this is to keep them content.
If somebody is frustrating you, you must learn to control your emotions. Take some deep breathes and let’s go back to the S-T-O-P method. Ask yourself if you are being reasonable.
Take a minute to reflect on the particular person that is creating the problem for you. Think of one positive thing about the person. I know this sounds childish and silly but it allows you to calm your frustrations.
Even the most annoying people on earth have positive aspects to their personalities, whether it is tenacity, boldness, dedication, zeal, enthusiasm, punctuality, or a sense of humor.
Once you have identified something positive that they bring to the table you will be able view the situation with a more unbiased lens.
There will be times where people in your life act in totally evil and irrational ways. During these times, you will have to take a different course of action. If somebody starts yelling at me, or taking out his or her anger on me, I try to remain as calm as I can.
By remaining calm you force the other person to feel foolish and embarrassed.
These feelings will cause them to re-evaluate what they’re doing and potentially back down from the confrontation. Just think; fire (anger) is aggressive and sporadic, if you mix fire with fire you will only produce a larger flame. Water (passivity) is calm and soothing, if you mix water with fire you can put out a potential inferno.
Unusual Habit #5 – Nap Time
Sometime during the day, if possible, take a twenty-minute nap. I know this won’t suit everyone’s lifestyle, but if you can fit it in, then you definitely should. Twenty minutes has been proven to be the optimal napping time (source).
If you nap for too long, you will feel even more sluggish than you did before. This is because your body thinks that it is bedtime, so it begins to enter a deeper level of sleep. Twenty minutes is just long enough to give you a good shot of energy during your day- and trust me it works very well.
Concluding…
Remember, losing weight is much more about just what you eat, or which exercises you do. A lot of it has to do with your daily routine, habits and systems. Meaning, a lot of it depends on what we call – LIFE.
Get started sorting out the “non-diet” part of your life, and your health and body will thank you for many glorious years to come.
AUTHOR BIO: Bonny Jones is the founder of the blog Skinny Bonny. When she is not cooking delicious meals for her family, she likes to write practical health and fitness articles. You can read more about her and her article on her blog https://skinnybonny.com.
