“Losing weight is easy. If you can get your head into 50 ... · 2 50 ways to weight-loss...

50 WAYS TO WEIGHT-LOSSMOTIVATIONLearn how to lose weight…and love the process

50 WAYS TO

WEIGHT-LO

SS MO

TIVATIONEveryone knows how to lose weight: eat better and exercise more. The problem

is knowing how to keep doing it, day in and day out. Consistency is the key to weight-loss success and the key to consistency is motivation.

Forget weight-loss reward theories, and discover new ways to motivate that actually work in real life.

This book shows you how you too can win your weight-loss war and become one of ‘those people’ who never have to worry about their weight again.

Sally Symonds is one of Australia’s leading weight-loss experts and author of 50 Steps to Lose 50kg … and Keep it Off and 50+ Recipes to Lose 50+kg … and Keep it Off. Sally’s tips are based on her own experience of losing over 50% of her original body weight – and keeping it off.

With this book, you’ll learn how to change your body and your life – for good – just like Sally did.

What are you waiting for?

110 + 7 +110 mm x 170 mm

www.sallysymonds.com.au

“Losing weight is easy. If you can get your head into

gear, your butt will soon follow!” Sally Symonds

5580 50Ways cover.indd 1 10/05/12 9:14 AM

50 WAYS TO WEIGHT-LOSS MOTIVATION

Published by Palmer Higgs Pty Ltd

First published 2012

Copyright © 2012 by Sally Symonds

The author has made every attempt to seek copyright and acknowledge all material provided in this work. All information contained within this book is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any health problem – nor is it intended to replace the advice of a qualified medical practitioner, dietician, or mental health worker. No action should be taken solely on the contents of this book. Always consult your physician or qualified health professional on any matters regarding your health or on any opinions expressed within this book. The information provided within this book is believed to be accurate based on the best judgment of the author but the reader is responsible for consulting with their own health professional on any matters raised within. Health information changes rapidly. Therefore, some information within this book may be out of date or even possibly inaccurate due to new studies and research that the author of this book is unaware of. The author does not assume any liability for the information contained within this book, be it direct, indirect, consequential, special, exemplary, or other damages. Please see your physician before changing your diet, starting an exercise program, or taking any supplements of any kind.

Edited by Peter WilliamsDesigned and typeset by Palmer Higgs Pty LtdCover “After” photo courtesy of Nicola Poole, www.nicolapooledoesphotography.com

ISBN 978 1 9219997 4 1

This book is dedicated to all the demotivated, disempowered, dispirited, demoralised and depressed people who have tried

to lose weight … and keep it off … but so far failed. It can be done.

I was you. You can be me too!

v

About the Author

Sally Symonds(MA, BA (Hons), LSDA, ASDA,

NLP P, Cert III & Cert IV)

Sally Symonds has been described as “one of

Australia’s leading health and fitness experts”

(Good Health magazine).

Though she freely admits to having been

an ‘exercise-loather’ for the first 29 years of her

life, Sally’s has since transformed herself into an

exercise lover – and she’s dedicated to helping

others achieve the same. As one of the few

healthy life educators with personal experience

of significant weight loss, Sally’s living proof that

you can lose weight fast and keep it off. In 2002–

03, Sally shed a staggering 45kg in 33 weeks, kept

it off for 5 years, and then lost an additional 8.5kg

– in total, over 50% of her original body weight.

She achieved all this while balancing a busy life

vi 50 ways to weight-loss motivation

and hectic career. Her philosophy focuses on

striking a balance between the physical, practical

and psychological aspects of healthy living. She

doesn’t believe in a ‘one size fits all’ approach to

weight-loss or fitness, and recognises that the only

expert in your life is you.

Sally burst onto the health and fitness scene

in July 2010 with the launch of her website and

weight-loss coaching services. In September of

that year, Sally released her first book, 50 Steps

to Lose 50kg…And Keep It Off, which was followed

by 50+ Recipes to Lose 50+kg…And Keep It Off in

2011. In 2012, she launched her do-it-yourself

online weight-loss coaching course, 50 Ways to

Weight-Loss That Actually Work.

Since establishing herself as a major player

in Australia’s fitness industry, Sally has become

a regular healthy life contributor to a variety of

national print and television media, including

Sunrise, Today, The Morning Show, Mornings with

Kerri-Anne, Australian Women’s Weekly, Health

vii

and Wellbeing, The Courier Mail, 4BC, Good Life,

In Good Health and The Townsville Bulletin.

A qualified personal trainer, wellness coach

and NLP practitioner, Sally now offers a variety

of wellness coaching packages for individuals and

corporations who want to change their lives – and

health – for the better. She is also one of Australia’s

most experienced and engaging motivational

and inspirational speakers. Her website is an

ever-expanding resource packed full of practical

weight-loss, fitness and healthy living solutions.

Originally from a cattle property, Sally’s

diverse background also includes degrees in

English Literature and Speech and Drama – all of

which have contributed to her unique and creative

approach to fitness and weight-loss. For further

information about Sally’s products and services,

visit www.sallysymonds.com.au.

Number 1

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orget what you think you know about how

to lose weight. If all the established weight-

loss rules were so successful then we wouldn’t

have an obesity epidemic. Remember that the only

expert in your life is YOU! Everyone knows the

usual weight-loss theories, but only you know how

to apply those theories to your own life in a way

that’s going to work for you physically, practically

and psychologically.

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2 50 ways to weight-loss motivation

Number 2

top telling yourself that weight loss is

difficult. The time has come for you to move

from ‘working on’ or ‘trying’ to lose weight to

actually doing it. No excuses; Only you have the

power to change your life – no one else does.

Only you have the power to take control over your

weight, your health and your fitness. And once

you’ve won your weight-loss war you will discover,

as I did, that there’s nothing you can’t do if you set

your mind to it.

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Number 3

orget plans and programs. They all work –

if you can stick to them. Unfortunately most

human beings aren’t designed to do this. If you’re

currently doing no exercise and eating crap then

anything is going to be an improvement.

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Number 4

e flexible in your approach to weight loss,

because life rarely follows a set script or

timetable. Forget what you should do, and think

about what you can do instead. Perfect diets aren’t

real and real diets are perfect – and the same

applies to exercise regimes. Forget trying to be

perfect, just try to be a little bit better than you

were yesterday, or last week, and build on that.

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Number 5

top calling your weight-loss journey a

lifestyle change. Sure, it is a lifestyle

change, but that term has just become so much of

a cliché that as soon as we hear it we neatly file

it away in our mental filing cabinet, never to be

looked at again. In labelling it, we’ve successfully

managed to dismiss a whole range of behaviours

without proper examination.

S


Number 6

emember some of the most embarrassing,

humiliating experiences you encountered

as an overweight person. Recall the horrible

comments, scathing looks, chairs that you broke

and times that you wheezed walking up stairs

while everyone else wasn’t even out of breath.

Replay these events over and over again in your

mind every time you want to quit or are tempted

by that block of chocolate or glass of beer or wine.

Kate Moss may have said that “nothing tastes

as good as thin feels”, but she’d obviously never

tasted revenge…

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Number 7

on’t set yourself a specific weight-loss goal.

Goals limit you to aiming only for what

you think or hope you can achieve, but everyone

is capable of so much more than they realise.

If you feel that you’ve lost your way with regards

to weight loss, you need to point yourself in the

right direction, but consider how much more you’ll

experience if you say to yourself “I want to see

Europe” as opposed to “I want to go to Paris”.

Why aim for one star when there’s a whole universe

out there?

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Number 8

on’t give yourself a specific timeframe – such

as twelve weeks – to lose weight. Setting a

timeframe tells your brain that once the time is up,

it’s over. You don’t have to keep enacting whatever

the change was that you began, and so you don’t.

This is why 96% of people who lose weight put it

all back on again, and more, within two years.

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Number 9

onsider what additional benefits weight loss

might bring to your life. Will it help you

find a partner or revive your sex life? Will it help

you have more energy? Will it help you feel less

stressed? Try focusing on these outcomes rather

than the weight loss alone. Use weight loss as a

tool to achieve these, but not as the achievement in

itself. Reframe it so that you’re actually mastering

something else (weight loss is just a by-product!).

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Number 10

orget about 12-week challenges, which are

currently one of the most popular weight-loss

strategies around. They’re just one aspect of the

lose-fat-fast mindset that pervades our society.

Don’t just focus on the next 12 weeks or shaping

up in time for summer. There’s nothing particularly

magical about 12 weeks (or eight weeks or

six weeks). Successful weight loss isn’t about

12 weeks; it’s about your whole lifetime! Who are

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you trying to kid here? Consider how long it took

to put that weight on – do you really think that

12 weeks is going to be the magic number that

makes it all come off? Successful weight loss is

about 12 x 12 x 12 x 2.5 weeks (or about 4320

weeks or 359 12-week challenges, i.e. a whole

lifetime!). It doesn’t matter how many calories you

burn in 12 weeks – it matters how many calories

you burn in your entire lifetime.


Number 11

ducate yourself! Following a healthy lifestyle

is like everything else in life, the more

knowledge you have on the subject, the more

likely you are to succeed. Knowledge is power!

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top thinking short-term. Consider one

behaviour that, while not ideal in the present,

might be a great stepping-stone to long-term habit

change for the future. It could be regularly eating

breakfast (even if it’s not all that healthy to start

with) or walking the dog very, very slowly for just

five minutes or simply smothering your vegetables

with tomato sauce so that you will actually eat

some vegetables (as opposed to the zero that you

may currently eat). You know what healthy living

should look like in the end, so plant the seed now,

water it and watch it grow.

S

Number 12


Number 13

top stressing. One of the most common traps

that I see people who are trying to lose weight

fall into is asking themselves whether or not they

think they can really do it. Don’t worry about it!

How many times have you thought you could lose

weight and failed? If you don’t think you can do it,

don’t focus on it. Just get on with the job. Weight

loss doesn’t just come to you – you have to go out

and get it.

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Number 14

reat your decision to lead a healthier life just

as you’d treat your wristwatch – there to

consult when you need it, but not a giant imposing

presence on your life that threatens to overwhelm

you. The more you obsess about losing weight, the

harder – and less enjoyable – it becomes.

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Number 15

ake action. Nothing happens if you stand

still, but everything can happen if you make

an effort. It doesn’t really matter what you do.

Everyone knows at least ten or twenty things they

could integrate into their life every day in order to

help them lose weight – eat breakfast, eat more

veggies, eat less sugar, eat less fat, drink more

water, do some exercise, do a bit more exercise,

incorporate some incidental exercise, etc. Focus on

one thing, master the art of making this a regular

part of your life, and then focus on something else.

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Number 16

ecognise the difference between trying and

doing and, as Nike says, ‘Just Do It!’ It’s

your life and it’s your weight-loss journey. What

you choose to tackle first, and then next, is entirely

up to you.

R


Number 17

ace the facts. The reality is that your mind,

as much as your body, is battling years of

numerous quick-fix solutions which have resulted

in you, and by no means just you, losing confidence

in your ability to change without some kind of

radical intervention. Being overweight and/or

obese is often a crisis of confidence as much as

anything else. But use this knowledge to turn

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your past failures into success: consider some of

the harsh realities of your previous weight-loss

attempts. What have you tried? Why didn’t those

methods work? What will you do to ensure that

this time is different? Approach your weight loss

from a different perspective and you’ll probably

see a very different picture in the end.


Number 18

e pragmatic. Most weight-loss programs tell

you to focus on little milestones – like getting

to less than 100 kg, or losing the first five kilos.

This can be useful. However, you also need to be

mindful of how much you have to do so that you

don’t become frustrated when it doesn’t magically

happen overnight. For example, you need to burn

roughly 7500 calories to burn off one kilogram of

fat. Thus, if you have 20 kilos to lose, that means

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you need get rid of 150 000 calories (either through

exercise or through not eating unhealthy food

in unhealthy quantities). That’s a lot of calories

to burn. Then again, that’s a lot of calories that

you’ve eaten over many months or years, and a

lot of calories that you haven’t burned off through

exercise. Remember, it won’t happen overnight,

but it will happen.


Number 19

ork out what successful weight loss means

to you. Successful weight loss is really just a

control issue: it’s about regaining control of your

body and your life. Learn how to control your

mind so you don’t succumb to emotional eating

or mindless consumption. Learn how to control

your body so you aren’t prompting physiological

reactions within yourself to crave unhealthy foods.

Learn how to control your environment so you don’t

fall victim to deceptive food marketing and other

traps that are so abundant in our obesogenic world.

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We make over 200 food-related choices every

day. Make it easier on yourself by limiting the

number of unhealthy food choices in your home

or office and increasing the number of healthy

options. Similarly, look for ways to make exercise

a ‘no-brainer’. If that means sleeping in your gym

clothes so you work-out first thing in the morning

then so be it! It doesn’t matter how crazy it is – if

it works for you then it works!


Number 20

xpect the unexpected. Healthy living isn’t

a start/stop, on/off situation. Life is full of

hiccups. Everyone has time constraints, negative

influences, emotional drains and physical

impairments, and a myriad of other factors that

can impinge upon their weight-loss journey.

Successful weight loss is all about expecting the

unexpected and being able to negotiate a healthy

way through the trials and tribulations that life

throws at you. Turning your trials into triumphs

is as much a part of your healthy life journey as

improving your eating and exercise habits.

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top counting calories. When human

beings are faced with any kind of aversive

mechanism designed to control their behaviour,

they can only put up with it for so long before

they rebel and try to reassert their own individual

freedom (e.g. by eating a whole chocolate cake

after weeks of restricting your calories). It’s called

counter-regulation. The best way to avoid counter-

regulation is not to over-regulate (or over-control)

in the first place. Consider how much the counter-

regulation factor has figured in your previous

failures when trying to lose weight. Think about

how successful you may have previously been

(or will be in the future) when you’re the one in

control of your own weight-loss journey.

S

Number 21


Number 22

gnore the reward system. If you’ve tried to

lose weight before, you’ll know that it’s the

most common method for inciting motivation.

Unfortunately the weight-loss industry hasn’t yet

caught up with what psychology now knows: the

reward system actually de-motivates you, so that

you feel even less likely to complete whatever it is

you set out to do. Remember that losing weight is

the best reward in itself! Nothing can compare to

this. Recognise, realise, actualise that you don’t

need phony, external rewards to lose weight and

become a fitter and healthier version of yourself.

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E at, eat, eat! Most people make the mistake of

thinking they have to stop eating or eat much

less to lose weight. Your body is programmed to

speed up your metabolism and burn calories when

you eat. In fact, stopping eating will drastically

slow down your metabolism. You have to eat fewer

calories to lose weight. This doesn’t necessarily

mean eating less. You don’t need to eat less; you

just need to eat better.

Number 23


Number 24

evelop your motivational toolkit. There are

many really great ways to help motivate

yourself and, more importantly, to help you learn

to self-motivate on a daily basis. Think about your

motivational toolkit as similar to a bank account

– the more you can deposit at the start, the more

you have to withdraw when you need it.

Consider what has motivated you to achieve

other things in your life. What strategies did

you use to tackle them? How could you apply

similar strategies to your weight loss? Everyone

has done something brilliant in their lives. What

are your previous spots of brilliance and how

can you use these to spark a brilliant weight-

loss effort as well?

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Remind yourself constantly of what motivates you.

It’s not enough just to know what motivates you –

you need to be constantly reminded of it, too. You

can’t just own a set of car keys – you need to know

where to find them!

Stock up your motivational toolkit by considering

how you best process information you receive

from the outside world. Are you primarily a visual

or auditory learner? If you’re more visual, then

the more visual cues you can create and add to

your toolkit, the better. Find photos of yourself

when you were slimmer, or photos of supermodels

in their swimsuits. Once you’ve worked out

the best strategy to remember why you began

your weight-loss journey in the first place, you

can surround yourself with appropriate cues to

remind yourself of your motivations. Whether

you need a vision board in front of your treadmill,

an iPod full of motivational music or you need to

carry around your bikini in your handbag – set up

your automatic reminders now, so you can draw

on them when you need them later.


Number 25

onsider the emotional reasons for your

weight loss as well as the rational ones –

they can often be much more powerful. We all

know the usual benefits of being fit and healthy:

you can reduce your risk of chronic diseases, have

more energy, and sleep better. But for most people,

those long-term benefits are just too intangible to

be motivating. For those who want to lose weight,

or even those who have already lost some, it’s the

everyday reasons that are the most effective.

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Number 26

ake a list of all those aspects of your life –

however small – that you know losing weight

will improve. It can be anything from losing the

urge to run and hide every time someone breaks

out a camera, to taking up new hobbies such as

sky-diving or pole-dancing – things that you just

don’t feel confident enough to try until you’re

smaller and fitter.

M


Number 27

hink about how surprised other people will

be when you lose so much weight. Consider

the reactions of both friends and enemies. Imagine

their words and see the looks on their faces. Revel

in how you’ll feel – both inside and outside – when

this happens.

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Number 28

on’t tell the world how much weight you

want to lose or how quickly you want to

lose it. Recent studies have shown that people

who verbalise their goals actually end up with an

inflated self-image that paradoxically makes them

less hard working, and thus less likely to achieve

what they set out to do. Setting a worthwhile goal

and then sharing it with everyone goes a long

way to making you a legend in your own mind –

but legends don’t have to get down and dirty, do

they? Yet that’s precisely what you need to do if

you want to lose weight… and keep it off. Talk is

cheap. Actions speak louder than words.

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Number 29

on’t be afraid to keep your true motivations to

yourself. People have all kinds of crazy tools

that they use to motivate them to lose weight, and

that’s great – you have to trust whatever works for

you. But if your motivations are a little unusual,

ask yourself if you really want everyone to know

what they are. It’s OK not to share them, just as

it’s OK not to announce your weight loss ambitions

to all your friends and family.

Here’s an example I can now share because I’ve

lost my weight and kept it off; a motivation tool

I used that I didn’t tell anyone about for seven

years. I used to be a mad, keen cricket fan – a real

cricket tragic. And when I was learning to run, in

order to keep myself running (and not slacken off

into a walk) I used to tell myself that if I could

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learn to run continuously for 45 minutes then

Channel Nine would think my story so remarkable,

they’d employ me to be the first female cricket

commentator in Australia – despite the fact that

I had never actually played proper team cricket at

all (not even at school). So as I was running along,

I would imagine I was actually commentating

and I would hear myself say, “Another fine sweep

shot there by Steve Waugh,” and Bill Lawry would

reply, “Yes, it’s all happening Sally,” and – while

I was running – I would believe that would actually

come true.

Although I did learn to run for 45 minutes

continuously, Channel Nine still hasn’t called. But

that’s OK – I still lost all the weight I wanted to…and

kept it off. So every delusional fantasy was worth it

– but I still don’t think I would have confessed them

all to everyone, especially at the time!

So don’t be afraid to use fantasy to fuel your

motivation – just remember to snap back into

reality when you need to.


Number 30

ecome the master of your own destiny.

A key element to attaining and maintaining

motivation is to develop a sense of mastery over

what you’re doing: a sense that you’re in control

and empowered. Consider some of the most boring,

mundane tasks that you have to complete in life.

Start doing them, and somewhere along the way,

you’ll be filled with a sense of purpose, with the

need to do it properly. Then, when it’s complete,

you experience the satisfaction of a job well done.

Everyone has things in life that they don’t like to

do, but when they do them, they become strangely

compelled to complete the task. Whether it’s

untangling a knotted fishing line or scrubbing

the shower, even the simplest or most mundane

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of tasks can provide us within infinite amounts of

pleasure, and a real sense of achievement, when

we master them ourselves.

So too will it be with your weight loss. In the

last ten years, I’ve mastered the art of hundreds

of exercises and healthy-eating options and

thousands of different ways to integrate healthy

living into my everyday life – no matter what it

throws at me. I developed mastery, and mastery

gives us satisfaction – and results – even if we

don’t think we’re going to enjoy the process when

we begin.


Number 31

im for flow when you exercise. Colloquially, we

often think of flow as being ‘in the zone’ but flow

was actually a term proposed by positive psychology

expert Mihály Csíkszentmihályi back in the 1960s.

It refers to someone being totally immersed in the

task that they are completing, unaware of time

or space. Flow gives people a sense of immense

satisfaction, even though at the time they may

experience an almost total absence of feeling or

awareness. Flow demands complete, single-minded

concentration on the task at hand and allows people

to lose all feelings of self-consciousness while

simultaneously experiencing a sense of personal

control and pleasure. Experiencing a sense of flow is

one of the highest forms of happiness there is.

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Number 32

ncorporate balance into your exercise

routine. I recall experiencing flow quite

early on in my exercise life when I was learning

various balance exercises. Not only do they help

your brain as well as your body, but require a

single-mindedness and concentration that lets you

forget about all your everyday worries and focus

entirely on the present moment.

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Number 33

t any one time, our life consists of just three

things – thinking, feeling or doing. Sometimes

it’s easier to change how we think in order to

change what we do. But sometimes the opposite is

true and it’s easier to change what we do in order

to change how we think. Work out whether you

need to change what you do to change how you

think, or change how you think to change what

you do.

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Number 34

onsider whether you need to instigate your

weight-loss action in your mind or in your

body. Moreover, ask yourself if you ‘over-think’

and ‘under-do’ your weight loss. If you have ten or

more weight-loss books on your shelf and are still

overweight, chances are you need to stop thinking

so much and start doing instead.

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Number 35

hink yourself thin. The connection between

the brain and the body is still a matter of

conjecture and experimentation in medical circles.

Nevertheless, there’s no doubt that getting your

head into gear can help you get your butt into gear,

and into shape. Focusing on the positive aspects

of your weight-loss journey, rather than what’s

difficult about it, is an important part of making

your journey a successful one.

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Number 36

hink about all the positive food and activity

decisions you make every day. Take the time

to stop and recognise them. Consider how many

calories you could be burning, or saving, with

each one. Also consider how many more of these

positive decisions you could integrate into your

life each and every day.

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Number 37

orget the ‘all or nothing’ approach to weight

loss. You can’t change your whole lifestyle

overnight. Push your willpower too hard and too

fast (as you might do if you join an ‘all or nothing’

plan or program) and you’ll soon confront the

equivalent of a pulled muscle – one that you won’t

be able to use until it heals.

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Number 38

onsider your previous weight-loss attempts.

Were they a case of ‘all or nothing’? As you

approach your weight loss this time consider how

you might employ a stepped-up approach instead.

Consider how you might always leave yourself

wanting more in terms of exercise and healthy

living, rather than overdoing it and making

yourself dread the next training session or healthy

meal. The fastest way to lose weight, after all, is

to do it once and for all – so you never have to do

it again!

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Number 39

nleash your inner Goldilocks. Goldilocks is

one of the best role models you can have if

you’re trying to lose weight and keep it off. Why?

Because she was a master of the ‘just right’

principle. Goldilocks knew that if something

was ‘too soft’ or ‘too hard’ or ‘too hot’ or ‘too

cold’ then she just had to keep looking until she

found something that was ‘just right’ for her at

the time. Another way to think of this, in terms

of weight loss, is for you to make changes that

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are ‘comfortably challenging’. Consider your

current healthy life levels. What would be too

easy for you to attempt at the moment? What

would be too difficult? What would be just right?

Try making a list of ‘comfortable’ changes that

you could make to your diet, activity levels, and

healthy living mindset.


Number 40

njoy your weight-loss journey. Make healthy

life choices that are easy on both your mind

and body, not unpleasant and unrealistic. When

most people reflect upon losing weight they think

of the actual process itself in really negative terms:

deprivation, discomfort, torture, hell, more pain

than simultaneously being in labour and passing a

kidney stone. But it wasn’t like that for me, and it

doesn’t have to be for you, either.

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Number 41

top forcing yourself to do things that you

hate just because you know that they’re

good for you. Look for alternatives that might

be more psychologically than physiologically

effective. You’ll be more likely to continue to do

these things for a long time, and probably build on

them to form even healthier habits down the track.

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Number 42

hoose the right type of exercise for you.

Balancing the psychological component

with the physical element is something that is

sorely missing in most approaches to weight

loss. In my first book, I talk about how you can

apply personality profiles to help select the best

exercise to suit your psychological makeup and

thus increase your willingness to stick to it.

Astoundingly, a massive 60% of people who begin

to exercise stop within six months, and 90% of

people drop out within two years!

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Number 43

onsider your previous attempts at exercise.

Do you think those attempts were well

matched with your personality type? Consider

which exercises you could try in the future which

might be better suited to your personality type.

Consider also which pieces of exercise equipment

you might enjoy using, such as Swiss balls,

bosu, or freeFORM. Don’t fall victim to buying

a giant, ugly, home gym or treadmill that only

allows a limited range of exercises, and ends up

an expensive ironing rack. A few pieces of key

equipment and a little imagination, and you’ll

have ample opportunities to experience mastery

and motivation.

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Number 44

ulti-task your way to weight loss with

functional training, which is like multi-

tasking for your body. It’s generally a lot more

mentally challenging than isolated weight training

because you have to concentrate on activating all

the muscles involved and performing the action

correctly. Similarly, because your brain is forced

in several different directions at once, it can be

a great way to distract yourself during exercise.

This is great if you find traditional weight training

quite boring.

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Number 45

onsider how you can apply multi-tasking

more broadly to your exercise attempts and,

if so, how. Could you read or watch TV while using

cardio equipment? Could you mouth the words to

the songs on your iPod as you train?

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Number 46

on’t beat yourself up if you succumb to

emotional eating. We all know that the best

way to deal with emotional eating is simply not to

do it and find some other method of stress relief.

But this is often easier said than done. If I’m really

stressed, depressed or desperate, then I may

occasionally turn to the cookie jar to help ease

the pain. However (and this is the most important

bit), I do it in a controlled way. I know emotional

eating isn’t going to bring back a loved one or

solve my website crisis, but I also know that it

will provide some temporary relief – provided I do

it in a controlled manner.

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Number 47

ake yourself an ‘emergency emotional-eating

first aid kit’. Consider what foods you usually

turn to when you emotionally eat and plan ahead

to have those foods available, but not in excessive

quantities. You want the food equivalent of just a

couple of painkillers, rather than the whole box.

Some examples from my clients include two Tim

Tams, one chocolate bar (rather than a whole

block), one single-serve ice cream, one small

packet of potato chips, or two slices of pizza (keep

frozen). Store your emergency emotional-eating

first aid kit somewhere out of sight so you aren’t

tempted on days when you don’t need it.

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Number 48

ocus on the how rather than the why. In terms

of emotional eating (or any other kind of self-

sabotaging behaviour you might regularly enact

when you’re trying to lose weight), this distinction

is particularly useful. The answer to why you

emotionally eat or self-sabotage is something

that may never fully be answered. Moreover, even

if the answer does become apparent, it doesn’t

necessarily mean that the reason why will offer

you a solution to the problem. Knowing that you

emotionally eat because of PMS, for example, isn’t

going to negate the cause.

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Number 49

onsider your biggest obstacle to weight loss

in the past. How can you overcome this?

What practical steps do you need to take to ensure

that this isn’t an issue in the future?

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Number 50

lan and prepare, particularly when it comes

to food. These are two of the key elements

to weight-loss success. New research actually

suggests that they’re more important in attaining

and maintaining significant weight loss than

willpower. Everyone has days when they come

home from work completely worn out. That’s when

it’s all too easy to make not-so-healthy choices (if

those options are in your pantry or freezer in the

first place – hint hint!) or choose pick up or delivery.

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Number 51

hen you’re cooking, make a few extra

portions and freeze them. This way, you’ll

have the right meals available at short notice.

So when you get home from work, completely

exhausted, just pop something into the microwave

and you’ll have a no-fuss healthy meal. Don’t allow

tired + hungry to sabotage your healthy lifestyle!

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Number 52

void temptation. When you’re making a meal

or snack for yourself at home, get into the

habit of putting all the ingredients away BEFORE

you sit down to eat. It’s harder to get it all out

again if you want seconds.

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Number 53

ist your current unhealthy habits. What

additional barriers can you create between

you and these behaviours to make them more

difficult for you to do? List some of the healthy

habits that you wish to adopt in the future. What

barriers can you work at eliminating to make it

easier to adopt these habits in the future?

L


Number 54

ake yourself accountable. It’s important to have

some form of accountability on your weight-

loss journey to help you track your progress. For

some people it can be an old pair of jeans, while

others may opt for more sophisticated measures

such as body-fat calipers, DEXA machines or

bioimpedence analysis.

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Number 55

on’t get obsessed with the number on your

bathroom scales. If you find that standing on

the scales sends your head into a spin, try doing

it more often – much more often. The increased

exposure to the activity will certainly help you

realise just how misleading the readings can be.

Moreover, forcing yourself to do it several times a

day (and again I would recommend doing this for a

week or so) also helps reduce the anxiety you feel

each time you weigh in.

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Number 56

isten to your body. Among the many side

effects of following a specific diet plan (or

many specific diet plans over the years) is that

people stop knowing how to listen. Instead, they

start eating according to the plan or the clock, not

according to whether they are really hungry or not.

Over time, this results in people no longer being

able to recognise the difference between hunger

and appetite. Hunger is a physical response. It’s

our body saying, “I need fuel to function”. Ask

yourself the following questions to determine

whether you’re really hungry or not:

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1. Am I really hungry?

2. Should I phone a friend, check my emails, give

myself a manicure or have a nice relaxing bath

instead?

3. If I open this packet or can, will I eat the whole

lot?

4. Is there a smaller alternative?

5. Is there a more nutritious alternative?

6. Is my body confusing hunger and thirst?

Should I have a glass of water instead?

7. Would exercise sufficiently suppress my

hunger? Should I go for a ten-minute walk

instead?

8. How long has it been since I last ate or am I

due to eat again?

9. If I eat, will it be a meal or a snack?

10. Am I still hungry?


Number 57

mploy the traffic light approach if you’re

keeping a food diary. It’s a really effective way

to stop and reflect on what you’ve eaten. At the

end of each week, go back over your food diary

and highlight all the good food choices in green,

the mediocre choices in amber, and the less-than-

desirable choices in red.

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Number 58

ollow the 80/20 rule. Essentially, this means

eating well for 80–90% of the time and

then eating not so well for the other 10–20% of

the time. Of course, this system only works if you

know what 10 or 20% is, and using the traffic light

system in your food diary can be a great way to

help you visualise this.

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Number 59

onsider what healthy meals you could eat on a

regular basis and how you could incorporate

variations of these in order to keep yourself

stimulated, but not over-stimulated. Devise a list

of three to five breakfast options, three to five

lunches, three to five snacks and three to five

dinners that would best suit.

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Number 60

ou can’t always eat what you like, but you

should like what you eat. Learn to prepare

healthy options that taste delicious. They’ll soon

become favourites!

Y


Number 61

on’t forget to eat according to taste as well as

nutritional benefit. Studies reveal that taste

is the number one priority for most people when

they’re selecting what to eat (although price is fast

becoming a major factor as well). Nevertheless,

it’s all about having a wide range of options to

choose from, and, even more importantly, a wide

range of options ready in your conscious memory

(so you don’t have to think too much when you’re

tired and hungry and not thinking as clearly as

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you otherwise might). Try my ‘Food Alternatives

Template’ and the ‘Healthy Eating Helper’ to

help you in your healthy life journey1. These

are both designed to assist you in making fast,

healthy, tasty choices without having to think too

much. Consider printing and completing both and

stocking your fridge and pantry with appropriate

choices for the future.

1 See: www.sallysymonds.com.au


Number 62

top making excuses. If you’re trying to make

a change within yourself (weight loss or

otherwise), don’t let yourself off the hook. Don’t

feed yourself excuses why you haven’t taken the

actions necessary to make the change you want to

make, because, deep down, you won’t really believe

yourself anyway – and there’s nothing worse than

lying to yourself. Reflect on all your previous

attempts at weight loss and all the excuses that

you told yourself each time you didn’t make a

healthy choice. How did it make you feel? What

effect did it have on your healthy life journey?

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Number 63

ake time for healthy living. One of the most

common excuses for people who avoid exercise

is that they don’t have time. We all know the old

adage, “If you want something done, ask a busy

person”. However, there is a perception that healthy

lifestyles take, rather than make time. But this is an

incorrect assumption that needs rectifying. Studies

show that fit and healthy people are 30% more

productive than their unfit, unhealthy counterparts.

Everyone has 168 hours in a week, but losing your

excess weight and becoming fit and healthy will

make it seem like you have 223 hours in a week

instead. Remember you need to expend energy to

create energy; you need to exercise to make time,

not make time to exercise.

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Number 64

chedule healthy time (exercise, food shopping,

food preparation, etc.) into your life and note

how your life improves as you gradually find you

have extra hours in your days!

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Number 65

top blaming your genes for your size or

shape. Of course genetics can play a part

– but they aren’t the only part. Genes are like a

loaded gun – you still need to pull the trigger in

order for them to be a factor. You might naturally

be an apple or pear shape, but you can reduce the

size of your fruit.

S


Number 66

ake time for yourself. One of the other really

common excuses that people use to avoid

losing weight is that they need to spend time

with significant others such as family, friends or

people they care for. I was a teacher when I was

overweight, and I was one of those really giving

teachers – the type who listened to all the teenage

problems, rescued kids from alcoholic parents,

helped get drug-addicted teenagers off drugs

and so on. If you’re someone in a similar ‘giving’

role – a nurse, a disability worker, or, of course, a

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parent – I want you to ask yourself, “How long

can I continue to fill the cups of others when

I myself am empty?” Consider how much ‘me

time’ you have in your life. Consider how much

more effective your ‘we time’ (and ‘me time for

that matter) will be when you are filled with more

energy and less stress.


Number 67

earn to develop the ‘healthy mindset gene’ – a

‘gene’ that gives you the ability to control your

weight with very little effort. Remember, you’re in

control of what you eat and how you exercise – so

if you want to change your body and your lifestyle,

you can.

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Number 68

ake responsibility. ‘You are responsible for

the energy that you bring into this space’ is

a popular sign I’ve seen a number of times over

the past few years. Basically, it means that if

you’re having a terrible day (or a terrible life) you

shouldn’t let it impact on others – don’t let your

attitude cause everyone else around you to have

a terrible day, too. Use my ‘Association Evaluator’

to help you determine your current and future

actions2. Which people, events, exercises or food

do you need to have more of in your life in order

to aid your weight loss, and which people, events,

exercises or food do you need to have less contact

(or even no contact) with in order to improve your

health and happiness?

2 See: www.sallysymonds.com.au

T


Number 69

onsider what factors might be affecting your

ability to lose weight. Are you under a lot of

stress that causes you to emotionally eat? Do you

get bored quickly and give up on your resolutions?

Think about what qualities you think would help

you overcome these obstacles.

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Number 70

hink of a person – real or imagined – who

embodies the qualities you came up with in

the previous step. The next time you face a conflict

or need to make a decision about healthy versus

unhealthy eating or actions, ask yourself what

this person would do. Would they order a cake and

coffee or just a coffee? Would they take the stairs

or the elevator? Would they cheer themselves up

with a whole block of chocolate, or phone a friend

for a chat instead?

T


Number 71

hallenge yourself. The most common exercise

mistake that people make is doing the same

thing (or very similar things) week in and week

out. The same twenty minutes on the treadmill

three times a week? You’re not completely wasting

your time – but you certainly could be making far

better use of it. The same sixty-minute body-pump

class five days a week? Same answer. Your body

knows what to expect. It doesn’t have to challenge

itself so much, it doesn’t have to work so hard,

and so you don’t get the superior results that

you deserve.

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Number 72

onsider how you might vary your exercise

routine in order to gain more effective value

for time. Substitute your exercises with alternatives.

If you really hate an exercise, there’s always an

alternative. No exercise is so good that another

one can’t take its place. For example, if you loathe

pushups try befriending bench presses instead.

Combine different exercises. Try squats and bicep

curls, lunges and twists or rows and push-ups.

Combining a few exercises at once gives you better

value for time. Adapt your exercise routine. I’ve

come up with over 50 variations of planks, squats

and lunges. How many more could there possibly be?

I don’t know…but there’s only one way to find out!

C


Number 73

odify your regulars. Make a list of some of

your favourite exercises. Now try to think of

three ways that you could vary each one in the

future to make it more physically – and mentally

– challenging. Try going backwards, changing

angles, or adding balance. Many exercises can be

varied slightly, which is great for your workouts if

you want to make them more mentally stimulating,

as well as being able to ‘shock’ the body physically.

Consider the humble bicep curl.

Consider just some of the variations in stance: seated,

standing, kneeling, seated without back/chest

support, kneeling on a bosu, standing on a bosu,

standing on two bosu, sitting on a Swiss ball with

feet on the ground, sitting on a Swiss ball with feet

off the ground, kneeling on a Swiss ball, standing

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on a Swiss ball, standing on two duraDiscs,

standing on a duraDisc with eyes closed, standing

on a single freeFORM, kneeling on a freeFORM,

standing on two freeFORM or standing on a

freeFORM balancing on one leg.

Now consider just a couple of potential apparatus

variations for the humble bicep curl: kettlebell in

each hand, kettlebell in one hand only, resistance

band under one foot, resistance band under both

feet, dumbbell in both hands, dumbbell in one

hand, dumbbell in both but one heavier than the

other, weight plate (a weighted disc you may use

on a barbell) or medicine ball.

Then consider potential grip variations for the

bicep curl: standard, thumb offset, little finger

offset, reverse, hammer or thick grips.

Remember the greater the neuromuscular

challenge (which you can achieve via even slight

variations) the more bang for your buck in terms of

physical results and the more interesting exercise

can be for you.


Number 74

evise a ‘Get Back Into It’ exercise for those

days when you really don’t feel like being

active (we all have them!). A ‘Get Back Into It’

exercise usually involves around a 30% effort level

– so not huge, but certainly not sitting on your

butt and doing nothing either! Some examples of

‘Get Back Into It’ exercises include going for a

walk, going for a swim, going to one of the more

relaxing gym classes (such as Pilates, yoga or

body balance), or going to a fun recreational

dance class. Or you might want to try something

completely different that you’ve always wanted to

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do, and this might be your chance. Something like

rock climbing or ice-skating – anything where you

get to exert yourself a little in a fun atmosphere

and get your blood pumping again. Consider what

methods you have used to get back into exercise

previously in your life. Which of these might be

appropriate for you to use now? What steps do you

need to take to ensure that getting back into it is

made even easier (e.g. locating the appropriate

shoes or clothing or finding out when and where

particular classes are on)?


Number 75

onsider the benefits of ‘Effortless Exercise’.

All exercise requires some physical effort,

but some exercises don’t require any mental

effort. That’s an important distinction. While you

might sooner walk over hot coals than attend an

aerobics class, taking your kids to the park and

pushing them on the swing might require virtually

no mental effort, yet it still burns vital calories.

Effortless exercise is all about increasing your

fitness level (and decreasing your waistline)

without even knowing it!

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Number 76

xercise in disguise! Find activities that are

actually exercise in disguise: going to the

zoo, walking around the shopping mall, having fun

at an amusement park, or even just sitting on a

duraDisc on your office chair each day.

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Number 77

lay. Sometimes when I go to the gym, or even

exercise at home, I’m really just playing. I’m

experimenting, exploring, mucking-around, seeing

what I can do. It’s fun, but it still burns calories.

Think back to when you were a child. For most of

us, playtime was really the best part of our day. We

never knew exactly what we were going to do from

minute to minute, and we didn’t really care – we

just did it. It was totally unstructured. We lived in

the moment and we had fun.

While totally devoting an exercise session to

play may be a little daunting at first, get Google-

inspired. Google has a 20% work policy, meaning

that their employees are allowed to devote 20% of

their work time to projects that aren’t necessarily

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part of their job description. They have a 20%

mandatory playtime! 80% of the time, they need

to be working on their allocated projects, but the

other 20% of the time, they’re free to explore,

experiment, innovate and play. Amazingly, this

20% of their total time has yielded over 50% of

Google’s end products, including Google Earth,

Google News and even Gmail.

Consider devoting 20% of your healthy life time just

to exploring, experimenting and playing. You never

know what fantastic new exercise you might create

or what fantastic new discovery you might make that

will help you lose weight…and keep it off.


Number 78

o crazy. The weight-loss industry is one of

the only industries whose success thrives on

failure. Don’t just think outside the box when it

comes to your weight loss – throw the box away.

Some of the craziest ways to lose weight (excepting

all the obvious cons – like ‘obesity soap’ that

promises to melt the fat away) are the ones that

actually work. Don’t be afraid to try new things.

On the other hand, don’t just try variations of the

same old things that you’ve done before that didn’t

work for long-term (sustainable) weight loss.

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Number 79

he ABC of weight loss = CDE

(Consistent Daily Effort)T


Number 80

ry something new. If you’ve tried all the

probable yet impossible weight-loss methods,

you need to start trying the improbable yet possible

ones. You need to challenge the very concepts that

have underpinned your previous approaches. Don’t

waste your failures. Learn from them. Following

the accepted (but largely unchallenged) approach

to weight-loss makes you just like everyone

else – and everyone else is fat too! Change can

be frightening, but sometimes the alternative is

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even worse. How many years of your life have you

wasted trying to lose weight, or re-losing weight

you’ve already lost and gained again? How much

smaller has your life become as your waistline has

continued to grow? How much are you missing out

on that you don’t even realise? How much better

could your life be?

gnore the experts. Experts are really fond

of saying that their way is the only way,

but don’t be fooled by this. If a system works so

well, it takes over the whole market. Take Coca

Cola – there are actually nearly 50 brands of cola

worldwide, but most people only know two: the

real thing and that other one. Heed expert advice,

but don’t heed it unquestioningly because there’s

only one expert on your life…and that’s you!

I

Number 81

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ontinue on your healthy life journey until you

have lost all the weight you want to…and

kept it off, until you have transformed yourself

into one of ‘those people’ who never have to worry

about their weight again. Remember I did it – and

you can too!

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Number 82


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but WAIt, there’S More!

99

HOW IT WOrkS:Subscribe to this service to receive one email per day for fifty days each with a radical new way to approach your weight-loss that actually works. Each email ends with a list of ‘To Do’ suggestions that show you how you can apply the advice given in the email to your own weight-loss journey.

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The new, improved you is only a click away!

Come on, what are you waiting for?


To find out more about Sally’s incredible weight loss journey be sure to order your copy of:

50 STEPS TO LOSE50 KG... AND KEEP IT OFFThe inspirational story of how one woman halved her weight...

and doubled her life

50 STEPS TO LO

SE 50 KG... AND KEEP IT OFF

In 2002, Sally Symonds was a professional success but

a personal failure. Weighing in at 106.5 kg and wearing

size 24, Sally devised her own easy but highly effective way

to lose weight that saw her drop a staggering 45 kg in

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This book follows the step-by-step approach she adopted to

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strategies show you fun and worry-free ways to effi cient

and effective weight loss.

This book is what everyone needs to follow in Sally’s footsteps.

153 + 12 +153 mm x 234 mm

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further reAdIng

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If you can eat yourself fat, you can eat your way thin. Discover how with:

With over 100 of Sally’s everyday fast, healthy filling recipes plus:• why diets don’t work for your mind or body• how to navigate your way through the supermarket

shelves and product labels• the most important hormones for weight loss and • the ten rules that Sally lives by for happy eating and

healthy living.

153 + 12 +153 mm x 234 mm

A guilt-free guide to eating more and weighing less50+

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FF

Sally Symonds is one of those rare creatures – more elusive

than Bigfoot, rarer than a rainbow’s end and harder to fi nd than

a dry mouth in a chocolate shop. She is a weight-loss wonder,

one of the few people who have managed to lose weight and

keep it off. Initially losing 45kg in 33 weeks in 2002–03, Sally

kept that weight off for over fi ve years, before going on to lose

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most importantly, she’s kept it off!

Knowing that you can’t out-train a bad diet, much of Sally’s

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out all the conventional approaches to weight loss, Sally didn’t

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rewarded herself – with food – along the way. She also learnt

how to successfully navigate her way through the minefi eld of

misinformation that many food manufacturers and retailers are

feeding us today.

This book features the foods that Sally eats everyday –

practical and proven recipes that are delicious, nutritious and

expeditious. It also explains her food philosophy – why she

succeeded where so many others have failed. With a wealth

of tips and snacks to try (as well as tricks and traps to avoid),

Sally shows you how she became one of “those people” who

never have to worry about their weight again … and how you

can do it too!

50+ RECIPESTO LOSE50+ KG... AND KEEP IT OFF


5234 SS_Recipes cover.indd 1 18/05/11 11:30 AM

A big thank you to all my family, friends and staff

for your assistance during the compilation of

this book.

Thanks also to all my wonderful clients for

allowing me the privilege of sharing their healthy

life journeys.

AcknoWledgeMentS

50 WAYS TO WEIGHT-LOSSMOTIVATIONLearn how to lose weight…and love the process

50 WAYS TO

WEIGHT-LO

SS MO

TIVATIONEveryone knows how to lose weight: eat better and exercise more. The problem

is knowing how to keep doing it, day in and day out. Consistency is the key to weight-loss success and the key to consistency is motivation.

Forget weight-loss reward theories, and discover new ways to motivate that actually work in real life.

This book shows you how you too can win your weight-loss war and become one of ‘those people’ who never have to worry about their weight again.

Sally Symonds is one of Australia’s leading weight-loss experts and author of 50 Steps to Lose 50kg … and Keep it Off and 50+ Recipes to Lose 50+kg … and Keep it Off. Sally’s tips are based on her own experience of losing over 50% of her original body weight – and keeping it off.

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What are you waiting for?

110 + 7 +110 mm x 170 mm


“Losing weight is easy. If you can get your head into

gear, your butt will soon follow!” Sally Symonds

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“Losing weight is easy. If you can get your head into 50 ... · 2 50 ways to weight-loss...

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