How many times have you wanted to do something but held off because it just wasn’t the right time?
We see this all the time with people who want to lose weight.
“I’ll wait until after Christmas.”
“I’ll wait until the kids go back to school.”
“I’ll wait until things settle down.”
“I’ll wait until I’m in a good place financially.”
and more recently….
“I’ll wait until after Covid or lockdown.”
The truth is people who think like this never get started on anything and spend their whole life waiting for the right time. In fact, it’s this very habit that is holding many people back from losing weight for good, and getting the body, confidence and lifestyle they desire.
Waiting for the right time to start your weight loss journey only means you’re going to be miserable for longer. In fact, there’s every chance that waiting will mean that another 10 or 20 years may go by during which time you’ll gain more weight, and become more frustrated and resentful.
To get a clear idea of what life may be like if you keep waiting, be sure to read our blog Choose your own adventure.
Why do people wait for the ‘right time’?
People wait for the ‘right time’ to start lots of things, including their weight loss journey. The biggest factor that holds people back and prevents them from taking action is fear.
Fear
Fear is a normal human reaction and a survival mechanism. It alerts us to danger, and on an evolutionary perspective, it was vital in keeping the human race alive. Unfortunately, fear can keep us stuck, even in circumstances and situations that are uncomfortable or difficult. When it comes to weigh loss, fear can show up in a number of ways.
Fear of failure
This is a big factor that keeps people stuck. Many people don’t believe they can lose weight successfully or that they even deserve weight loss, plus they worry that they will be judged by other people in case they don’t succeed at losing weight. A lot of people rely on willpower and are afraid of losing motivation and falling off the wagon and what this ‘failure’ means about them — e.g. they’re worthless, stupid, hopeless, a failure etc. Some people may also be afraid of dealing with the emotions of regaining weight after sacrificing so much, going on extreme diets and working so hard to lose the weight in vain. The shame and embarrassment about failing at weight loss can be enough to stop people from taking any action at all so we avoid taking action as a way of protecting ourselves from feeling that pain.
Fear of hard work
Losing weight isn’t easy. Losing weight and keeping it off for good is even harder because this requires you to address the key reasons why you became overweight in the first place — your habits. Addressing habits means confronting fears and uncomfortable truths about yourself which many people find daunting. But unless you change your habits, you’ll never be able to lose weight for good.
Diet mindset
As you may guess, the diet mindset is based on diet culture. The diet mindset is strongly linked to immediate results, lack of flexibility and an ‘all-or-nothing approach. People with a diet mindset want results ‘now’ and believe that to get them, they need to give 100% and nothing less. When it comes to weight loss, people believe that to be successful they need to wait until they can focus on eating clean or follow a meal plan perfectly. They believe that if they are trying to lose weight, they will miss out on enjoying special occasions such as Christmas, birthdays and holidays. You can read more about the diet mindset in our blog What is the diet mindset and how does it affect your life?
This fear of missing out is why people say they’ll wait until after Christmas. In truth, they’re waiting for a convenient time when motivation and willpower is at their highest, usually after they’ve made a New Year’s Resolution, or towards the end of winter, when they know summer is on its way, because they believe they will be able to stick to the plan and lose weight in 6-12 weeks.
However, the truth is, you don’t have to eat perfectly to lose weight. At Imani Tribe, we show our clients how to eat out, eat the food they love, enjoy all the special milestones in their life and develop a good relationship with food, and still lose weight and keep it off. You can read more about this in our blog Why our online weight loss program will work for you.
Perfectionism
The perfectionist is someone who believes that they have to get everything right all the time, and if they don’t, then they’ve failed. The perfectionist will tend to wait until all their ducks are in a row before taking action on something. But of course, our ducks are never all in a row. There is always something going on in life that is less than ideal and therefore the ‘perfect’ time never comes. However, the perfectionist will wait until everything is, well perfect, before getting started. You can read more bout perfectionism in our blogs Why you’re not losing weight despite being perfect and Why 52 imperfect weeks is better than 6 perfect ones when it comes to weight loss.
Procrastination
A lot of people put things off because they are procrastinators. This is not a sign of laziness, but rather a sign of low self-worth. Unfortunately, many people define their self-worth or value by their productivity, achievements, accomplishments and capabilities. Procrastination is simply a product of fear of failure or not being good at something because our self-worth or value depends on it. These people may also be afraid of the work involved in losing weight and worried about how they will cope if they ‘fail’. You can read more about this habit in our blog Why you procrastinate and how you can stop.
Complacency
People also wait to take action because they are in a place called ‘no man’s land’. They’re not really happy with themselves or their weight, but they’re not in enough pain to take action and do something about it. But this is a slippery slope and is like putting a frog in a pot of water. Put the frog into boiling water and it will jump out right away because the pain is too great. However, if you put the frog in a pot of cold water and slowly bring it to the boil, by the time the frog realises it’s getting too hot, it’s too late. People who are complacent often try to justify their complacency by telling themselves that they’re happy or not as bad as other people. You can read about this in our blog “But I’m happy!” Why being complacent will ruin your whole life, not just your weight loss.
Low self-worth
Some people put off doing something about their weight because they simply don’t believe they are worth investing in. Not believing we’re worth the investment of time, energy and money to lose weight means that we’ll continue to do what we’ve always done. Any attempt to lose weight will involve cheap fad diets and quick-fix solutions because that’s all we feel we deserve. However, these don’t work and only lead to more weight gain. This lack of self-worth is what keeps people stuck their whole lives. You can read more about this in our blog How low self-worth affects your weight.
Weight loss is never about food or exercise
Too many people think they have plenty of time to address their weight because they believe that weight loss is just a matter of using willpower and motivation to focus on their food and exercise and that they can get results in 6-12 weeks. The simple truth is weight loss is never about food or exercise but time and again people focus on nutrition and fitness to solve their weight problems and put off doing the real work that will help them lose weight.
You see, people don’t have weight problems. They have personal problems (habits, mindsets, beliefs, fears and traumas) that show up in their weight, which means that to lose weight, they need to address their personal problems. We explain this in detail in our blog Surprising signs you need transformation even if you’re skinny.
Unfortunately, you can’t address your personal problems in 6-12 weeks, or by following a diet or attending a boot camp. And you certainly can’t do it if you only work on it ‘when the time is right’. Only doing things when the time is right is one of the reasons why people stop and start with their weight loss and have trouble staying consistent.
Ditch the start-stop cycle
If you want to lose weight for good you need to ditch the start-stop cycle. Starting and stopping takes a lot more time and energy than continuing, and as we know, consistency, rather than perfection is what gets the best results.
The Imani Tribe DATSTM Program means that our clients don’t have to stop and start while they look for the next diet, or wait for the next burst of willpower. Our system and personalised programming means that they always know what they need to be working on so they make consistent progress no matter what’s going on. Even throughout a global pandemic and 262 days of lockdowns in Melbourne, our face-to-face clients continued to consistently train at home and kept progressing towards their goals, while those who trained in a commercial gym had to put their training and goals on hold. You can read more about how our clients can achieve consistency in our blog Why a weight loss goal is bullshit without a weight loss system.
Why you need to start today
The truth is, the habits that are causing you to wait for the right time are the same habits that are causing you to be overweight. That means the longer you wait to take action, the longer you’re going to feel unhappy.
The only way to lose weight for good is to consistently work on and address the habits that led you to become overweight in the first place. Working on and addressing your habits is a process that takes time, requires consistency and one that will require you to work closely with a coach who has the relevant experience to help you uncover the habits that are preventing you from losing weight.
Because once you address these habits, weight loss will take care of itself.
The longer you wait to address your habits the longer it’s going to take to lose weight, which is why there is no better time to start than now. The quicker you get started, the quicker you’ll begin to see results and the sooner you’ll achieve happiness, confidence and the body and lifestyle you desire.
The time is now
Unfortunately, too many people tell themselves that they’ll address their weight issues ‘one day’. But if you take this approach, 10, 20 or even 30 years may go by and you’ll still be in the same place — overweight and desperately unhappy. If you haven’t read it already, read our blog Choose your own adventure to get a glimpse of the future that awaits you if you don’t take action, and the future you can have if you do start today.
If you want results you’ve never had, you’re going to have to do things you’ve never done – and that means taking action instead of waiting for the right time. Because if nothing changes, nothing changes. To see the value of taking action and investing in yourself, read our blog Stop waiting for stability to invest in yourself.
Quite simply, you can either keep waiting for the right time to get started, and continue to be unhappy with your weight.
Or you can take a leap of faith and invest in yourself today.
The choice is yours.
How DATSTM Program helps
The DATSTM Personal Coaching Program (habit, mindset, and weight loss) will take the guesswork out of your weight loss journey and help you identify the habits, beliefs, and mindsets that have led you to become overweight.
We work with you to develop a personalised action plan to help you overcome these and provide you with all the accountability and support you need to succeed. DATSTM will give you the knowledge, systems, tools, and skills to keep you progressing — even on your worst days.
In summary…
- People often wait for ‘the right time’ to get started on their weight loss journey
- People wait because they have a diet mindset, want to control, want to get things perfect, procrastinate, or don’t believe they’re worth it.
- Weight loss is not about food and exercise. It’s about changing your habits and mindset.
- Changing habits and mindsets take time.
- The sooner you get started, the sooner you’ll be addressing your habits and the sooner you’ll see results.
- You can keep waiting and be in the same place 10, 20 or 30 years from now, or get started today and create a brand new life.
- Our DATSTM Personal Coaching Program will help you identify the habits that are have led you to become overweight.
- It will give you the precise action steps you need to take to address these habits so you can lose weight and gain the confidence and lifestyle you desire.
- Our DATSTM Program gives you the knowledge, systems, tools and skills to help you lose weight and keep it off, even on your worst days.
