Why Right Now Is The Best Time To Start Your Weight Loss Journey
Summer has officially started and we want to let you into a secret… it’s actually not too late to start your weight loss journey. In just a few weeks, you could be strutting around 14lbs lighter thanks to The New You Plan. But there is one condition. You have to begin now. Today.
So hands up who had planned to lose weight for summer? Yes, we know that losing weight is amazing for our health; we immediately look and feel better and we know it should be a lifestyle move but there’s just something about summer that makes us want to be our healthiest for this season.
Maybe it’s the thought of summer holidays and strolling along a beach in a bikini or simply just not having to hide our bodies in layers of clothes while the temperatures soar. Perhaps it’s not having our thighs rub together when we walk (agony!) or having to keep checking our 48-hour deodorant is living up to its promise. Whatever it is…summer makes us want to look and feel our very best.
Perhaps you haven’t quite got into the headspace you needed to start your healthy transformation. We get this. At New You HQ we have all the tips and techniques for weight loss at our fingertips and we still talk about starting our diet on ‘Monday’. Before you know it though, loads of Mondays have come and gone and guess what? You still haven’t started.
In the end we kick ourselves. We regret the hours wasted as time runs out and opportunity slips through our fingers. Why do we do this to ourselves? Ladies and gentlemen, let us introduce you to the culprit…procrastination.
Procrastination literally translates as ‘to put off until tomorrow’. It’s amazing how urgent clearing out a cupboard becomes when you are faced with the task of something you’d rather not do. It becomes a kind of pay off as you rationalise that the cupboard really does need cleaned so you are doing something ‘good’ while ignoring the fact that you are avoiding what REALLY needs to be done.
It can be the same when we start our New You Plan journey. Suddenly ALL the invitations for drinks or dinner appear or you have a ‘stressful week’ or a busy day. Think back for a moment. What obstacles or urgent tasks have you suddenly prioritised to avoid starting to create a healthier you even though you knew they weren’t really that urgent?
That self-awareness is a key part of why procrastinating makes us feel so rotten. When we procrastinate, we’re not only aware that we’re avoiding the task in question, but also that doing so is probably a bad idea. And yet, we do it anyway. Unfortunately, we can’t just tell ourselves to stop procrastinating.
How do we get to the root cause of procrastination?
People engage in this irrational cycle of chronic procrastination because of an inability to manage negative moods around a task. You want to lose weight. You know that the New You Plan is a super effective way of doing it… but there’s something holding you back.
Procrastination isn’t a unique character flaw or a mysterious curse on your ability to manage time, but a way of coping with challenging emotions and negative moods induced by certain tasks — boredom, anxiety, insecurity, frustration, resentment, self-doubt and beyond.
The particular nature of our aversion depends on the given task or situation. It may be due to something inherently unpleasant about the task itself. But it might also result from deeper feelings related to starting on plan, such as self-doubt, low self-esteem, anxiety or insecurity.
At its core, procrastination is about emotions, not productivity. The solution doesn’t involve downloading a time management app or learning new strategies for self-control. It has to do with managing our emotions in a new way.
Our brains are always looking for relative rewards. If we have a habit loop around procrastination but we haven’t found a better reward, our brain is just going to keep doing it over and over until we give it something better to do. To rewire any habit, we have to give our brains a better offer. Here’s how.
Firstly, forgive yourself in the moments you procrastinate
In a 2010 study, researchers found that students who were able to forgive themselves for procrastinating when studying for a first exam ended up procrastinating less when studying for their next exam. They concluded that self-forgiveness supported productivity by allowing the individual to move past their maladaptive behavior and focus on the upcoming examination without the burden of past acts. So you’ve missed a few Mondays. It’s ok. Let’s move on.
Practice self compassion
Several studies show that self-compassion supports motivation and personal growth. Not only does it decrease psychological distress, which we now know is a primary culprit for procrastination, it also actively boosts motivation, enhances feelings of self-worth and fosters positive emotions like optimism, wisdom, curiosity and personal initiative. Best of all, self-compassion doesn’t require anything external — just a commitment to meeting your challenges with greater acceptance and kindness rather than rumination and regret.
Reframe losing weight
Rather than thinking of losing weight as a chore, consider a positive aspect of it. Think of how amazing you will feel. What might your friends or partner say when you are looking and feeing fabulous? How will you feel about yourself?
Consider the next action
This is different than the age-old advice to break up a task you’re tempted to avoid into bite-sized chunks. Focusing only on the ‘next action’ helps calm our nerves, and it allows for a layer of self-deception. At the start of a given task, you can consider the next action as a mere possibility, as if you were method acting: ‘What’s the next action I’d take on this if I were going to do it, even though I’m not?’ Maybe you would browse the delicious New You meals on our website? Or perhaps you would check out our special offers. Or check in with our private customer Facebook group, Secret Slimmers? Don’t wait to be in the mood to do a certain task. Motivation follows action. Get started, and you’ll find your motivation follows.
Consider the pay off
This is THE motivator. If you start now you could lose drop a dress size and lose over 14lbs! Yes, in just 3 weeks. We know the New You Plan produces amazing weight loss results but we wanted to check with our fabulous customers exactly how much weight they lost in 3 weeks. 65% of our customers lost in excess of 14lbs in just 3 weeks! The remainder lost between 8 and 14lbs. Wow. Imagine how you would be feeling in 3 weeks after losing weight. Are you up for it? Because you haven’t left it too late. You could still be strutting into summer a lighter, healthier version of you. Begin it now. Start TODAY.
Are you ready to get started on a really, really, really easy diet plan?
Getting started is the first step in your journey to a brand New You! To help you understand fully how our plan works, our Get Started page with designed specifically for people new to the plan.
Head over to our site where you’ll find tonnes of important information including how our plan works, the science behind it, loads of top tips, information on our meals, as well as real customer testimonials.
Click here to visit our Get Started page!
