Photo by: Omkar Jadhav

There are many ways you can begin a successful journey toward losing a significant amount of weight. But sometimes, you may feel like there isn’t even one!

Thinking back on how Heather and I have lost over 250 pounds together, there wasn’t one thing I could point to and say, “That’s it! This single factor is responsible for our success.”

But there were and continue to be monumental moments of awakening that have remarkably impacted our lives.

With that in mind, I thought it would be a good idea to list a few mental tips to help you out as you begin losing a significant amount of weight. Some may seem obvious, others not. 

Hopefully, a few points will resonate with you and help inspire you to get started or continue transforming your life into a happy, healthy, and peaceful existence.

1. Accept responsibility for where you are right now.

Let’s face some facts. 

• You weigh what you weigh right now. 
• You look how you look right now. 
• You feel how you feel right now.

It doesn’t matter if your life used to be different or how you want it to be in the future. Past and future can do nothing for you. 

The only time where change can take place is now. So accept who you are and all aspects of your life - at this moment - without judgment. Everything is as it is.

Any resistance you keep alive in your mind cannot solve your problems - it can only create pain. 

Accepting what already is will remove any burdens you might be carrying and allow for positive action.

As thoughts arise, be aware of them but do not react. You are more than a bundle of nerve impulses. Simply observe the thoughts that come in. Observe the emotions that arise within you. 

Take some deep breaths. Feel the air flowing into your lungs. Know that everything is fine. You are here. You are alive. 

2. Establish a sense of self-awareness.

No external factors in this world are ultimately responsible for how you feel and behave. 

Human minds are conditioned by the world around us. We believe that all the thoughts and emotions that go through our minds are true. 

Daily, we act out the self-image we create in our minds. Most of these actions occur automatically and in alignment with our conditioned personalities. 

In fact, most of the thoughts, emotions, and behaviors we manifest each day are on complete autopilot. 

To break free, you have to step out of constant, habitual thinking. The stream of endless thoughts and feelings in your mind is an illusion. 

You don’t need a relationship with your mind-made self to exist in this world. You don’t need to love yourself, hate yourself, be proud of yourself, or be disappointed in yourself. 

There is no self. There’s just you. One entity. You are one form of life that exists in harmony with every other form of life in the universe. 

Your capacity to think, solve problems, achieve goals, and express creativity is only one aspect of you. But you are much more profound, connected, and whole. You are life.

When you realize the truth - instead of being completely identified with your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors - you can begin to observe your mind without judgment. This observer is the real you - not the fictional self you observe.

3. Understand why you want to lose weight.

You can be completely at peace with who you are and still want to create specific changes in your life. There’s nothing wrong with that.

Health is an essential aspect of overall satisfaction with life. Many people would like to be more healthy. And most people would agree that losing some weight is a reasonable way to achieve this.

Setting goals and achieving them is a beautiful practice. However, many people can be disillusioned into believing that attainment will create fulfillment. 

For example, having a fit body, a better job, a bigger house, an attractive partner, etc., can create temporary happiness. But ultimately, these things will not fulfill you. 

True fulfillment can only come from within - not through external forms. 

The continuous realization of knowing that you exist - that you are a conscious presence - will ultimately free you from your own mind. 

With this freedom, you can continue creating and manifesting circumstances in your life that you find enjoyable. 

Life then feels like a game you play while knowing that you are already complete and whole in your essence.

4. Commit to a challenging journey. 

Without effort, things remain the same. You must be willing to try something different to create a different result. 

Whenever you try different things, success doesn’t come easy at first. 

For something to become “as easy as tying your shoe” - you first have to be a child gawking at two strings like, “what the hell am I supposed to do with these?”

Accept the undeniable fact that the journey toward a healthier lifestyle will not be easy. There is no miracle diet, exercise program, meditation practice, or anything else. 

There are only your goals, decisions, and results.

Thankfully there are truths to learn and science-based approaches to take that will allow you to achieve anything you want. 

You just have to start, accept challenges along with the wins, and enjoy the process.

5. Be ready and willing to change.

To become the type of person you want to be, you’ll have to let go of other parts of you that are not in alignment with your vision.

There are only 24 hours in a day. But everybody has the same 24 hours. So it’s really a matter of what you do with them that will determine your circumstances.

There isn’t a right or wrong way to spend your time. What’s important is that what you are doing makes sense to you according to your values.

You can do anything you want in this life, but you can’t do everything.

So ask yourself what is important to you. Then think about how you spend your time each day. Are your daily activities contributing to what you feel is most important in your life?

If not, start small by consciously replacing one unnecessary habit. Figure out something you do consistently that doesn’t contribute to the lifestyle you want. It may only take up a small block of time. That’s okay. 

It might be unproductive screen time during a break at work or after dinner. So what else could you fit into that small chunk of time that helps you take a step forward toward something new? A workout or calorie planning, perhaps?

Final Thoughts

Losing a lot of weight takes time. You must learn new skills, adopt new ways of thinking, and figure out what works best for you through trial and error. 

You can lose 100 pounds in one year or less if you commit. However, it took us about two years to reach that milestone. 

After multiple decades of struggling with our weight, we felt like we finally had everything mapped out. But we let old habits creep back in and fell off the wagon multiple times - even after we had made significant progress! 

The process is challenging. You won’t go straight from one victory to the next. That’s not how success works with anything in life. 

Instead, you have to try new things, fumble around, make mistakes, learn, and adapt as you go. That’s the nature of improvement. 

You have to be calm, aware, and persistent.

The trick is to accept challenges, learn from your mistakes, don’t beat yourself up, pay attention, stick to what works for you, and keep pressing forward toward new goals you want to achieve.