Changing your exercise and nutrition habits require you to overhaul your mindset.  It is our brain, behavior, mood, emotions, beliefs, and values that drive our behavior.  If you do not address your thoughts, feelings, and lack of motivation, you will continue to loose and gain until you finally get to the root of what is bothering you.

Are you overwhelmed?  I am only asking you to go deep into your own inner workings and unveil what is at the root of your confidence issues and self sabotage?  Now, what if we can take small steps to a new you without changing your negative parts that cause sabotage, how does that sound?  What if we just let these aspects that have stopped you to just be?  What if you create a new image of who you are?

So this is your first task:  create a new image of you who is strong, healthy, and takes positive steps towards their health every day.  Make a drawing, visualize what this new person would be, how does this person sound like, smell like, what does it feel like, what is different?  You could write a description of what this new person is like.  Create some sort of catch phrase that reminds you that you are this new person, that you are becoming this new person.  So, every time you are trying to be a healthier and better version of you and the negative voices start to creep in, take a deep breath, relax, let the negativity come and go and then remind yourself of the new person you are becoming.

Everyday, the first thing in the morning, you could spend one minute visualizing the new person you are becoming!  Even if a large portion of your day is a struggle for various reasons, practice makes perfect.  You will get better over time.  Do not beat yourself up for not being perfect.  I am not perfect, and neither are you.  Just make a little progress!  Just a little!

Set a reminder to reflect half way through your day.  Maybe you were triggered and your morning sucked!  It happens!  When you eat lunch, when you are on break, or whatever you do half way through your day, reflect on your morning, take deep breathes in through your nose with long exhales, and remind when shit hits the fan, it’s for the best; it’s fucking awesome.  That is a phrase that helps me to quickly let go of stuff, so give it a try.  Maybe it does not fit you.  Ok.  So change it so it does fit you!

Take a moment at the end of the day.  What was something positive that happened, what was something that you learned (a negative experience is a lesson, learn from it), and what is a small goal or focus for your mindset the next day?  This is meant as a moment of reflection.  Write down the questions somewhere and just take a moment.  You do not have actually write the answer down, just think about it.  Put the questions in your calendar and just take a couple of minutes to think about it.

Another practice that I find helps is practicing gratitude, and wishing for others to be happy.  This simple practice takes your focus away from yourself.  Take some moments throughout your day, and wish for a person to be happy.  Keep it simple.  Someone close by who is going through something, has a frown, sounds angry and frustrated, or someone you might know, and quietly wish for them to be happy.  Also take a moment to think about one thing to be grateful for.  Take the focus away from you and onto others and gratitude.  It helps a lot.  When should you do this?  Reflect on your schedule and day and make time when you know you need to take the focus away from yourself.

I hope these steps can help you to make improvements to your mindset a little at a time.  Progress over perfection.  Just try to be a little better.  You cannot change the past, but you can step into your future self.  Step by step, the past will be a distant memory that does not impact your most excellent self!