This article is taken from our newly released Issue 6 of our magazine. Issues 1 to 5 are also available through the App store and Google Play store. Please subscribe to the Great Health Guide magazine – (subscription FREE for limited time only).

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Four Steps To Losing Weight & Keeping It Off written by Magic Barclay

We live in a world of convenience foods, packaged meals, diet shakes and reality weight loss shows on our screens. And yet, obesity statistics are the highest they have ever been. We are in the grips of a pandemic, a juggernaut in our media, in our health system and in our lives. This beast is jovially referred to as ‘the battle of the bulge’. Perhaps, we should see it for what it truly is: a modern condition that is merely a by-product of our never ending quest for ease and time management.

Every story has its villain, in this case it’s the kilograms that tend to join us in our lives without invitation. For every villain, there is a hero and it is YOU. By following four simple steps, you can control your weight with a healthy approach.

Who are you?

The most vital step in losing weight and keeping it off, is to identify who you are. How many times have you heard someone say ‘I’m fat’? Everyone does it. The issue is that you are identifying yourself as fat. What you should be saying is, ‘My name is Magic and I’m carrying some extra weight for now’. This not only makes the weight gain a temporary matter in your conscious mind but separates the weight from you as an individual in your subconscious mind.

Once you’ve identified yourself as an individual who is separate from the issue of weight, you can go about dealing with the situation with minimal trauma to your self-esteem. One of the most common triggers to weight gain is a lowered self-esteem. It is imperative to stop this cycle of psychological trauma and weight gain before other health issues arise or deepen.

The 4P challenge: Plan, Pre-empt , Perform, Prevail.

When you hear about weight loss, you are overloaded with advice, research and fads. Many of them are about diets and exercise. The most achievable approach to permanent weight loss is to take the 4P challenge. The 4P challenge encompasses two segments. The first segment of the challenge is to Plan and Pre-empt. The second is to Perform and Prevail.

1. Plan: Make a plan of your day. Allow sufficient time in your day to rest, work, sleep, eat and exercise. Include exercise opportunities (regardless of their scale). When deciding what to eat to support your weight loss, include preparation time for healthier foods. Do your best to avoid convenience foods and other fads. As tempting as they are, there is little or no nutritional value in them. As Hippocrates famously said, ‘Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food’. Foods deficient in nutrients cannot and will not sustain weight loss, optimum health or recovery from illness.

2. Pre-empt: When planning your day, pre-empt any obstacles that may arise. Feeding a family, attending functions and running out of time in your day are all common obstacles that you may face on a daily basis. Envisage your most difficult day, try to allow for every eventuality to ensure success in your weight loss.

3. Perform: When setting out to lose weight, lofty ideals can be par for the course. At no point should you cut corners. Perform to the best of your ability. Allow yourself to make mistakes, allow yourself to overcome them and allow yourself to learn from them.

4. Prevail: Celebrate each win that you have, no matter how small. Reward yourself along your journey, keep a gratitude journal to reflect on during tough times. Success breeds success. When you create a reward system for yourself that is not food based, you will strive to succeed rather than revert to old patterns.

Hydrate and refresh

The one piece of the weight loss puzzle that is paramount is to hydrate yourself adequately. Weight loss can release toxins within the body. Hydration will aid cleansing in your body and allow you to feel well, not resentful of your new path. For sufficient hydration, try to drink a litre of water per day for every 22 kilograms of your bodyweight. Making hydration a part of each day will help your body refresh by eliminating all toxins and regulating your hormones.

Our preoccupation with what greets us on the scales each morning has become alarming. The good news is that following these four simple steps, will give you back the control of the situation. You have the ability to halt the kilograms from piling on, you have the ability to regain your life and your health.

Author of this article:

Magic Barclay is an Emotional Eating Specialist and the bestselling author of ‘Stop being FAT: Love yourself Skinny’ and a contributing author in Scott Kruzlwyz ‘The Complete Health Series Vol II’. Magic works with people from all walks of life in helping them to lose weight naturally by addressing the root cause of their weight gain. Magic has lost over 76 kilograms to date and supports her clients with understanding that stems from her own experience with weight loss. For more information visit her website or contact her at magic@magicbarclay.com.

This article is taken from our newly released Issue 6 of our magazine. Issues 1 to 5 are also available through the App store and Google Play store. Please subscribe to the Great Health Guide magazine – (subscription FREE for limited time only).

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