We’ve all seen the advertisements for how to lose weight quickly. Whether it’s a 6-week plan, a 12-week plan, a strict diet or simply slogging it out in a gym every day until you reach a weight that you’re comfortable with.
However, have you ever considered that meditation could help you change your mindset and therefore help you lose weight? To some, this may seem too easy but, the proof is in the pudding, as they say.
Today, we’ll explore how meditation and practising can help you to lose weight proactively. You’ll also be able to enjoy the other benefits, such as a calmer state of mind and reduced stress levels.
How Does It Work?
So, you may be thinking, how does sitting there with my legs crossed help me lose weight? Valid question, I’ll explain.
Imagine you’ve started your diet on a Monday morning. A new week, a new start. By Tuesday, you’re already back into the biscuits, and by Wednesday the diet has completely gone.
At its core, this is a basic example where your mind wants something, but your body is telling you otherwise. Your mind and body are in a state of conflict. This is because, in this case, food, the temptation is right in front of you and, whether out of habit or out of impulse, you don’t think before eating it.
Although you may have a brief thought of ‘oh, I shouldn’t be eating this’, or a guilty thought afterwards, you’ve still gone against what you set out to do. For many of us, this leaves us feeling depressed, sad and lowers our self-esteem as well as our confidence in ourselves.
However, with meditation, you’re training your mind to develop a larger length of time between your thought process of eating the food and the action of taking it. This is what mindfulness meditation is. It’s all about becoming aware of your thoughts in a non-judgemental way that gives you time to think before you act.
This means when you see triggers, such as a piece of cake or pizza, or any food that you would normally consume, you dismiss it as you’re thinking about what you truly want and what will make you happy.
In part two of the article, we’ll go through several steps so you can get started with meditation at home. And so beings your journey to a happier, healthier, more confident you!
