Process visualization exercise - How did you lost weight?

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daneejela
daneejela Posts: 461 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Here is a bit crazy question, actually a visualization exercise.
For all of you who are working on loosing weight and still have some weight to loose in front of you - if you want to play with me a bit - let's pretend that we're already there at our goal weight.

How did you do it? How did you loose your weight? What was the most challenging part? How did you overcome your struggles? What was the most rewarding part? What changes you had to incorporate to your lifestyle? How did it felt, was it hard, was it easy? How do you feel now? What do you do to maintain that weight?

I've read that many professional athletes use techniques like this to mentally prepare for the race or match. So, I though it might be useful in the weight loss too. :)

Replies

  • snickerscharlie
    snickerscharlie Posts: 8,578 Member
    edited August 2017
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    daneejela wrote: »
    Here is a bit crazy question, actually a visualization exercise.
    For all of you who are working on loosing weight and still have some weight to loose in front of you - if you want to play with me a bit - let's pretend that we're already there at our goal weight.

    How did you do it? How did you loose your weight? What was the most challenging part? How did you overcome your struggles? What was the most rewarding part? What changes you had to incorporate to your lifestyle? How did it felt, was it hard, was it easy? How do you feel now? What do you do to maintain that weight?

    I've read that many professional athletes use techniques like this to mentally prepare for the race or match. So, I though it might be useful in the weight loss too. :)
    If someone isn't already at their goal weight, how could they answer all those questions?

    The only thing they could be certain of is that they ate less than they burned. :)
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    I'm actually glad to see I'm not the only one who lacks imagination :D

    But I do see your point, OP. I try to think about how I will feel tomorrow, whenever I consider eating or not eating outside of plan.
  • monica72g
    monica72g Posts: 1 Member
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    I use visualization but the end result I visualize is seeing myself wearing the clothes I want to wear, looking and FEELING great. I can see the tone in my arms and legs, I can see myself athletically fit and happy. Just like I used to be.
  • daneejela
    daneejela Posts: 461 Member
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    snickerscharlie wrote: »
    If someone isn't already at their goal weight, how could they answer all those questions?

    The only thing they could be certain of is that they ate less than they burned. :)

    Of course, nobody knows his/her future, so it's impossible to know for sure. The idea is not to predict future events, but to visualize those steps toward goal and to mentally prepare for potential challenges that may or may not come. Some of the challenges we can predict pretty accurately based on previous experiences.
    For example handling an upcoming family events with pushy relatives who like to guilt people into eating. Or cold weather that makes you wanna stay under blanket and forget about any commitment that nice-weather self has committed to.
    Researchers say that those kind of mental activities increase chances of actual realization. Apparently many athletes does those kind of "preparations".
  • daneejela
    daneejela Posts: 461 Member
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    Under risk that you'll all think I am crazy, here is my deeetailed answer :D

    After loosing 20lbs over spring and maintaining it over summer, I was ready to tackle the remaining pounds. I decided to take it slowly and to focus on process instead of final goal.
    At the end of August I decided to put a bit more discipline into my daily habits, specially regarding snacking.
    With new working season came new projects, so I was spending more time by my laptop.
    It was vital to me to eat at the mealtime, mindfully, and to focus on my work the rest of the day. I’ve struggled at first, but after a few days it has become so natural to focus on other things during the day.
    This habit showed to be crucial for keeping my calories in check, and surprisingly I was even less hungry during the day and I enjoyed food more, since my eating become much more mindful. I was also more productive in my work and my hobbies.

    As days become fresher I started to feel more energy and I started to do more work around the house and in the garden. That naturally created more deficit so my weight loss felt pretty effortless at this time.
    We were eating a lot of in season veggies like roasted winter squash, last tomatoes and cucumbers, potatoes, leek stews, swiss cards, dandelion greens with eggs, autumn lettuce, whole grains, polenta with salsa…

    I started doing daily walks again and really enjoyed smells and colors of autumn. I loved those moments of putting my shoes on and leaving the house for a half an hour - hour walk.
    I’ve become totally hooked on the feeling of fresh air and the nature so at the end of the fall I started to include a mix of walk-run outdoor time.
    One of the biggest challenges was - because of certain events, we had to live alternating between spending part time in the city and part time on the country side, so this was a major challenge to overcome regarding keeping my habits. But I managed to take the best out of it. I committed to only those activities I can carry around with me, like walking, running, yoga. Also, I tried to take the best of each. When we were at country I was doing a lot of work helping in the garden and in the yard, preparing things for winter, etc. When we were in the city I did a lot of walks around neighborhood with french lessons on headphones and also few running sessions in the local park.
    So, it was those autumn days when I was the most active and lost the most weight.

    At winter time things calmed down a bit, but I still kept my habits of daily walks and continue to run 3 times a week. Instead of usual weight gain this winter I actually lost a bit of weight and was surprised to see my lowest adult weight in the time of year when I usually make weight peek in the opposite direction! With cold days and spending more time indoor I put more effort into my yoga sequences and I even included a bit of strength exercises . This was first time in my life that I kept my commitment that long and the results both physical and mental are so rewarding.
    I’ve bought myself some cute and nice clothes and I enjoy it a lot, but even more I enjoy how I look without it : D I feel light, strong and free of all those extra pounds I’ve been caring around for years. And for the first time in a long period of time I feel like I can trust myself. I feel like I can count on myself that I will stay committed and that I do things that are in my best interest.
  • Running_and_Coffee
    Running_and_Coffee Posts: 811 Member
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    I am someone who has maintained a healthy weight as an adult, but I have to do a lot of work to stay there and am often going through a cycle of losing/maintaining/regaining a bit/losing. When my weight creeps back up, I envision the discomfort of wearing pants that are too tight and that motivates me to get back on track. Pants for the win!
  • radaanak
    radaanak Posts: 1 Member
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    Visualization can be a very powerful technique. I was reading about it and using it...and to this point I feel it has had a very powerful influence impact on my weight loss. I've lost 38 lbs. since the beginning of June. I read one should 'collect' images of what they want to look like. If you run across a picture in a magazine of what you want to look like, cut it out and save it. The book I read calls this collection of images 'the source'. You can go to the source when you are not feeling like exercising or following your meal plan.

    Daneejela is actually suggesting something that is a great thing. It reminds me of something in the book, 'The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People'. Stephen Cover suggests we write our own eulogy. What would we want people to say about us at our funeral. Then having done that, we look at the eulogy and ask 'now, what do I have to change in my ways to make people really say that about me?'. The same goes for what Daneejela is saying...picture ourselves at our ideal weight and physique...then think about the things we have to do between today and that day when we hit our weight. Then ask ourselves what do we have to change now...to make that happen. Daneejela has a brilliant idea.
  • KevHex
    KevHex Posts: 256 Member
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    I'm only doing it if I can log it as an activity and eat back half the calories....
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    edited August 2017
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    I used visualisation when I was racing motorbikes - the lights going from red to green, the first corner mayhem, rehearsing my braking points, apex and corner exits for example.
    It was a way of trying to "control my inner chimp" and switching some activities from conscious thought to automatic reaction. It frees some of your brain capacity so logical thought like race strategy has space to operate.

    But I must confess as soon as someone rubbed their tyre on my leg or went elbow to elbow the chimp was back in control. Or more accurately out of control. :(

    Maybe visualising walking past the peanut butter jar instead of diving right in might work.....
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
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    I used visualization with skydiving. On my way up to jump altitude I would visualize my jump, free fall, under canopy, and then the landing. Haven't tried it with weight loss.
  • MegaMooseEsq
    MegaMooseEsq Posts: 3,118 Member
    edited August 2017
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    Once I worked out how calorie tracking worked and had a good sense of my dietary foibles, I've found losing weight to be really straightforward - exciting at times to see those numbers creeping along (come on, 185, go away already!), but not especially challenging to anything other than my patience. There's no visualization necessary because it feels like a very mechanical, predictable process at this point. I know that's boring, but I'm thrilled with boring.

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