Mental Readiness Techniques For Fitness and Weight Loss Success

Many overweight people have been cautioned by their doctors that they need to exercise and lose weight. However, that is NOT the number one driving factor that makes most people change. Everyone has his or her own motivating drivers. As a professional fitness motivator, it is MY job to figure out the client's driver and use it to guide them to success.

Anthony Robbins uses his anchoring technique for this. My version of it goes like this: replay the videotape of your life and rewind back to the most memorable accomplishment of your lifetime. Find that moment of magic where the stars lined up in your favor, you were in the "zone" and could do no wrong...everything was going your way-you could call this your 15 minutes of fame. Then, immerse yourself in all the emotions of that positive experience as though you were living it again. Complete the scene in detail right down to what you were wearing, who else was present and how they felt toward you, how you felt about yourself, etc, etc. The more detail you can recall the more REAL this emotional state becomes.

Then you are able to "anchor" the positive experience to the new goal and regard them as being the same. This is when you "claim" the glory in advance by believing your accomplishment to be forthcoming.

Okay... so that is MY personal spin on how the mental readiness can be practiced. I used this many times to "rehearse" for a performance without opening my eyes. After all, the most perfect rehearsal that has no mistakes is the one you visualize. Then, the body carries through with the same.

Your belief in your own ability to fulfill personal goals is self-efficacy. When you start doing what you say you will do and by doing them frequently, then you are starting to build self-efficacy. This can transfer over to others areas empowering you to achieve different types of goals, too.

Take back control by first recognizing the need to change. The first step is DECIDING that you are ready to do something about it. That is when you can start to do things differently. Let's talk more about the first step of deciding you are ready.

Quite often, I get calls from people who are calling for a friend or family member inquiring about signing up for a fitness or weight loss service. There is something seriously wrong with this picture and that tells me that the person cannot possibly be ready to make a change if they, themselves, are not capable of picking up the phone and making this call.

Mental readiness has to happen first and that is when the "pain" of making the change is perceived to be less than the "pleasure" of staying in the same "comfortable" place.

To sum it up, you need to believe in your fitness goals being attainable. I would know, because my livelihood has always hinged on my physique being in top condition. In fact I can honestly say, "My physique is my calling card!"

Debra Stefan is the founder and director of "Live-In-Fitness" residential services in the Las Vegas area of Henderson, Nevada for weight-loss guests with 30-90 day programs enabling behavioral change for a fit lifestyle. She is the first to offer a residential fitness and weight loss "Biggest Loser" style program outside of the institutional format. Debra is a fitness speaker/educator, certified in Personal Fitness Training, Youth Fitness, Senior Fitness, and Golf Fitness. Today she has 37 years of professional involvement in the fitness industry and continues education to stay current with the ever-evolving industry. She is a true veteran fitness professional.
Debra Stefan, CFT

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