The 3 Things (That Aren’t Diet Or Exercise) I’m Doing Every Day To Help Me Lose Weight

No gym required.

Breaking news: Losing weight is a mental game.

I mean, of course it’s a physical game too. In order to drop those el-bees, of course we have to move our bodies and also put sensible food into them. We have to put in the reps. We have to eat more broccoli and less pizza (but some pizza, okay?)

But how do we summon the motivation to get our butts off the couch go to the gym? How do we summon the will to resist all that pizza?

That’s the mental game.

We can’t forget that along with our biceps and triceps and all those other ‘ceps, the mind is also a muscle, and in order for it to perform optimally, it has to be stretched and strengthened and disciplined.

So here are three things I’ve started doing daily to whip that most important muscle of all into shape:

Drinking A Glass Of — Blech! — Water Every Morning

I hate plain, cold water. It’s boring and it hurts my sensitive teeth and makes me feel a little sick to my stomach.

And yes, I know about all the health and potential weight loss benefits of drinking water, and you probably do too. Here are the CliffsNotes: Drinking lots of water keeps our intestines clean and joints lubricated and our neurons firing and make us look like Cindy Crawford (or so all the magazines told me when I was 14. And yes, I’m old).

Yeah, sure, I get it. Water’s good for me. Great.

I still hate it.

And this is exactly why I force myself to drink a large glass of it every morning while the coffee brews.

I do it for the sake of doing it. For the discipline. And to prove that I can keep a promise to myself.

To give credit where it’s due, I actually got this idea from holistic psychologist Dr. Nicole LePera’s book *How To Do The Work: Recognize Your Patterns, Heal From Your Past, and Create Your Future.

In the opening chapter, LePera tells the story of a client of hers who needed to make some major changes in her life, but began with just one small, simple promise to herself: to drink a glass of water every morning.

Consistently drinking this one glass of water — and keeping this promise to herself — gave her the confidence to add more healthy habits to her routine. Eventually, she was journalling, practicing yoga, and eating better.

In time, the big changes came.

One small promise, many big changes. It can’t hurt to try, right? (And no, I don’t look like Cindy Crawford — not yet, anyway. But I’ve only been doing it for three weeks. So stay tuned.)

Meditation And Visualization

I could wax on here about the mental health benefits of meditation — as with water, these benefits have been well-documented. Long story short, a regular meditation practice can improve focus, reduce anxiety, and help regulate our breathing.

There is also some evidence that it can help with weight loss.

It also takes discipline, and that’s why I’ve started doing it every morning — after that (blech) glass of water.

I pour myself a cup of coffee, settle in my reading chair, turn off the lights, and just sit and breathe for 20 minutes.

It’s hard sometimes. Sometimes my thoughts wander. Sometimes I squirm. Sometimes I spill coffee on myself. (And I know I’m probably not supposed to be drinking coffee while I do it, but I deserve a reward for drinking that water, right?)

Sometimes that 20 minutes feels interminable.

But I make myself do it every day.

And guess what? Lately, my mind has wandering less. In fact, it often closes in on a vision I have of my future self: strong, lean, and confident, looking and feeling my best.

Sometimes, that vision stays with me throughout my day, leading me to make better choices. Like the other day, for example, when my husband waved a bag of chocolate almonds under my nose and I actually shooed him away without even thinking about it.

Because to become my future lean, confident, strong self, I can’t eat chocolate. Or not too many of them, anyway.

Flossing My Teeth

We all know that we have to floss our teeth, especially if want to keep ’em in our heads.

Which isn’t to say that I’ve been a superstar flosser over the years. But now that’s changed.

Every night, after brushing, I whip out that old floss and pay attention to every tooth.

One, because I want to keep my teeth in my head. And two, because it’s hard.

I mean, it’s not hard. It’s actually pretty easy. The hard part is doing it when I’d rather just flop into bed.

It takes discipline (there’s that word again). It takes mental muscle.

I do it precisely because I don’t want to do it.

I also do it because I’d like a healthy smile to go with my new healthy body.

And I’d like a healthy body to go with my healthy smile.

You see how this adds up here.

Or at least, I hope it does! We’ll find out on Tuesday, October 3rd when I do my— duh-duh-duh — my first official weigh-in!

Please check in then.

And in the meantime, have a wonderful weekend, everybody.

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