What is your belief about weight loss?

Our unconscious belief system is integral to the success of our goals, as it forms the sturdy foundation upon which everything else is built. In terms of fitness goals, training and dieting are really just the icing on the cake. Here's the thing; "will power" can only take you so far, so without a strong positive healthy belief system, it's going to be really hard work, not that much fun and possibly not very successful. This I know, from years of trying it - I'm fairly certain I've earned my 10,000 hours in the mastery of struggle.

Beliefs are the foundation of the placebo effect

Beliefs are essentially the placebo effect or conversely the "nocebo" effect and this is getting an increasing amount of attention in all area's of science - because it works, even though we don't really understand how.  It can be separated into (1) individual beliefs and (2) common belief systems held by groups of people. The latter of which forms the basis of our conditioning from when we are young; the things our teachers, parents and peers taught us. The problem with how we are conditioned is these things are often subjective and not reality. At one point in time we thought the world was flat, so even textbook science taught at school and central dogma changes over time. I think this is illustrated beautifully by the Richard Feynman's (Nobel prize winner) quote "science is the belief in the ignorance of experts" i.e even specialist scientists just don't know!

My issue with common beliefs and conventional thinking are they can act like the opposite of the placebo setting up a self fulfilling prophecy; one of the great examples of which is weight loss. 

Unconscious belief is different to just telling oneself positive words

I have to adopt the role of a generalist here, because there are always exceptions to every rule but most people's belief about weight loss is it is about deprivation, forbidden foods and having an iron will. This indeed was my approach for many years, and low and behold it was always extremely difficult, punishing and miserable! My new approach to bodybuilding is based on making everything fun and enjoyable so I had to apply this to dieting as well. I needed to change my belief about dieting to something that was easy and enjoyable, as opposed to being about "lack" and restriction.  The critical thing here is that it's not enough just to tell yourself something with positive thought it has to be subconscious, otherwise you're just intellectualising it. There are a growing number of interesting habit changing techniques out there including hypnotherapy, emotional freedom technique (EFT) and cognitive behavioural therapy, well worth an investigation. I've used a combination of things including daily meditation to great effect. 

Ask some very honest questions and observe your current situation to assess your belief system

Changing behaviour all starts with awareness of how you see things and what you believe. I think it is a great and necessary place to start before initiating any ambitious goal and asking honest fundamental questions including understanding your level of self worth and therefore how much you feel you deserve good things and people are part of that. Often our current situation is quite a good indicator of our beliefs anyway because the evidence is all around you.  Although we like to believe our situation is not always a product of our input, I think it always is at a very subtle level. That is my belief; that we are responsible for EVERYTHING - that we create our situation.

How to apply to an extreme diet?

After realising that my historical method of dieting was not only torturous but didn't work very well, I knew I had to go back to basics and change my relationship to how I viewed weight loss. It always goes back to the same question: What is the path of least resistance?  How can I make this easy? 

There are two things which have created a quantum leap for me in terms of ease of weight loss and leaning out for competitions.

• 1. Monitoring hunger

Never allowing myself to get too hungry has been key as I have absolutely NO will power when it comes to a grumbling stomach and have even been known to raid a bin - undignified I know! It's makes me anxious, stressed and I don't sleep, initiating a whole cascade of detrimental psychological and metabolic effects. 

• 2. There is no naughty or forbidden food. 

I'm very mindful of not attaching "good" and "bad" meaning to food. There is in fact NO forbidden food for me during prep now, because I think it's an unhealthy approach. It even makes me wonder whether our attachment to the meaning of the food is just as important as the food itself i.e what would happen if I truly believe a McDonalds happy meal will contribute to weight loss? as opposed to "this meal is going to make me put on weight", which sets up a whole internal dialogue before you've even sat down to eat it. 

The consequence of an all inclusive approach is rarely do I crave anything that's not really in alignment with my weight loss goals and if I do..it gets savoured and enjoyed guilt free. I admit whole heartedly to eating literally a whole tub of ice cream on a PMS day during prep and actually it was great, I loved every minute of it!

I don't weigh my food and I don't weigh myself. I sometimes eat 7 small meals a day and sometimes 2 large meals, because I feel like it. I'm the first to admit I'm starting out on this bodybuilding journey so perhaps it will change over time but for now it works a treat. I'm seeing progress with ease; I'm much leaner going into my second show and emotionally and physiologically very healthy. My menstrual cycle is unproblematic and regular and I haven't been ill once, despite not taking a single supplement, not even protein shakes. 

My approach is very intuitive and this has to be trained through awareness and mindfulness. Conventional belief about strict dieting and bodybuilding being hard is just that...it's subjective and a belief, but it isn't mine. My journey has been hugely enjoyable and the inevitable challenges are met with a sense of peace and acceptance. Although on occasion - a stiff glass of whisky, a rant and a few tears solve a problem beautifully; because I'm human! So...I challenge you to rethink why you think certain things; is it fact or fiction? It could just change your mind and body...literally.