Essential Oils: Essential Oils (The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Uncovering the Healing Benefits of Aromatherapy) (22 page)
Authors: Abigail Cruise
Chapter 11: Reward yourself to enjoy your morning ritual
If you enjoy doing something, then you will continue doing it. If on the other hand, you are forced to do something that you don’t like or something that you do not really believe in, then the chances of you giving it up is more likely.
This is why most people who want to lose weight, put off exercising because they are generally too tired to do it at the end of the day. But there’s no excuse to feel tired in the morning, is there?
We have listed out a series of healthy morning habits that you can string together to form a morning ritual. A habit or a ritual is something that you repeatedly do till it becomes second nature.
Consider what you do when you get into your car. You check your rear-view mirrors and the visibility of your windshield. This is a safety check which you initially learnt so that you could pass your driving test and get your driving license. This was your reward. Over the years, it has become a pre-driving ritual that you perform without thinking even when you already have the reward which is the driving license.
Connect a reward to the ritual.
For most of us, when we start a ritual or a habit, a reward is a great way to reinforce the importance of it. In his book, ‘The Power of Habit,’ Charles Duhigg emphasizes the need to link rewards to habits or rituals especially if it is a new or unfamiliar one. Why?
Your brain looks at anything new or out of the ordinary as a chore or something that requires enormous effort, Consider exercising, for instance. However, when you link the habit with something that you enjoy such as a massage or a cold shower as a reward, then the pleasure of the reward gets transferred onto the ritual.
Basically, it’s a trick you play on your own mind or consciousness. So, as we mentioned before, if drinking a liter of water when you wake up seems like a chore then you can round it off by having a cup of tea or coffee after it.
Over time, you stop associating drinking water as something that requires an effort and it becomes something that you automatically do, like checking the rear-view mirrors before you drive your car.
Indulge in your desires.
When you want to wake up early every day, you think you need enormous will power. So the thought of waking up becomes formidable.
Now think of going to work every day. Even if you say that you enjoy what you do, it still requires some amount of will power to get up and go to work every day. What is the motivation to do so? Is it payday or is it something else in the future like an annual performance bonus?
So, how about creating a reward like a bonus at the end of a month for following your morning rituals? What will be your reward? You decide what you desire. It could be a meal at a restaurant of your choice or it could be a rare vintage bottle of Shiraz or simply a lazy day on the beach.
You’ve earned it only if you followed your morning ritual for the last 30 days. Well, you can cheat but remember you are cheating yourself.
ACTION PLAN
- Announce your 30-day challenge and the reward you intend to give yourself.
Post it on your social networking page or let your friends and family know. This way you will be held accountable by people who care for you. An unexpected pleasant outcome could be that someone who cares about you might sponsor your reward! - Keep an activity log or diary.
Writing down your daily rituals and ticking them off makes it easy especially in the beginning. When you do so, you are less likely to skip or forget a habit or ritual. - Keep a reminder of the reward in plain sight.
Whatever your reward, keep reminding yourself by looking at it regularly on a poster or as a desktop image on your computer or as the screen saver on your phone. It will serve as a constant reminder to keep you motivated.
- Sick of not being able to lose weight?
- Unhappy with your body image?
- Do you want to have more energy and vibrancy?
- Do you value your health and wellbeing?
- Are you unsure about how to work out or eat for natural weight loss?
If you answered any of the above questions in an affirmative, this book is for you.
This book will provide you the
secret key to lose up to 10 pounds in seven days
. It will help you take control of your life and feel energetic, happy and healthy throughout the day. And the best part is that in the process, you will lose a lot of weight. Yes, a lot!
Even if you are a beginner or somebody who already eats healthy and exercises every day, this book will show you the path that you should take in order to achieve your weight loss and general fitness goals. Through this book, I shall share my personal tips for success along with some proven strategies for weight loss.
The only thing that is required of you is
commitment and dedication
. You must be committed to follow the plan mentioned in the book. If you truly
follow the plan
, you will notice some substantial improvement in your health and fitness levels. Not to mention, the jealous and inquisitive eyes of your friends and relatives prying on you, trying to get the secret to your immense weight loss!
Ready to get started?
Let’s begin this amazing journey…
The 7 steps all integrate together to create a complete and balanced plan. While using just one or two may yield some positive results, the real magic, the secret to losing up to 10 pounds in 7 days, comes from combining all 7 steps together in the right order.
Follow the steps in order and you will achieve exceptional weight loss, improve your health and have more energy.
Each chapter contains the essential information that you need to know, and the exact way to implement it in to your life. This book is not just theory, but jam packed full of actionable steps you can take away and begin today. At the end of every chapter is a list of actionable to-do steps. Follow these steps to achieve weight loss naturally.
Weight loss can be a confusing subject, with so much contradictory information out there; it is hard to know what is true and what is not. What will work and what will not. Should you lose weight naturally, or go on a diet to drop the weight quickly and then go back to healthy eating?
To make this confusing subject as simple and easy for you to follow as possible, I have distilled it down in to 7 steps, which when followed, guarantee you will lose significant weight, build your health, feel lively and energetic, and be able to maintain these changes - because it is not an extreme crash diet, starvation or excessive exercise regime.
The 7 step plan is well rounded and easy to follow, even for people who are busy, might have tried and failed to lose weight before, or don’t yet know what will lead to successful weight loss.
You can lose weight quickly; up to 10 pounds in 7 days; but more importantly, you are making a lifestyle change, which means you will not regain all of the weight again as soon as you finish the 7 step plan.
The 7 Steps are as follows:
- Set your goals
- Commitment to the plan and what you will need to do to be successful
-
Principles of natural weight loss -
How to eat -
How to exercise -
Lifestyle habits and how to make this process as unobtrusive and enjoyable as possible so you maintain your results forever -
Improve health, have more energy and lose weight naturally – additional tips and tricks
First things first…
What do you want?
Before embarking on a plan to lose weight naturally, you need to know what you are aiming for. Rather than walking around in the dark, hoping to stumble upon your dream body, we want to get a clear vision of where we are going.
Detail and specificity are important here. I have listed some questions below for you to think about, they may not all be relevant to you, so just use the ones that are.
What is your dream dress size?
What is your ideal weight?
Do you have an article of clothing you want to get back in to?
Do you want to feel a certain way?
Is it about how you look, how you feel, compliments from other people? What is important to you?
Why do you want it?
When you know what you want, you next need to get really clear on why you want this. What will this mean for your life and why is it important?
A clear sense of why you are doing this keeps you motivated and always on top of the plan. You have a bigger picture and know the reasons for making the tough changes in your life that you need to make to lose weight naturally.
Often, weight loss is just the first step to some deeper changes in your life. Spend a little bit of time introspecting and think about your reasons for wanting to lose weight. Here are a few questions to think about, and some examples.
What situation or feeling motivated you to want to lose weight naturally?
If you failed to lose weight, how would you feel?
When you succeed, what would be different in your life?
When you succeed, what is the first thing you will do?
How will you feel about yourself when you succeed?
Example:
Perhaps you want to lose 2 dress sizes, to fit back in a favourite dress that you haven’t worn for 3 years. When you fit in this dress you will be extremely proud of what you have achieved and will regain the confidence and positive body image that you used to have. Allowing you to feel comfortable wearing a bikini when you visit the beach on holiday.
Whatever the reasons for you, it is worth having a think about them and making some notes. It only takes a few minutes, but it helps motivate you hugely.
Specific Goals
Now you know what you want, and why you want it, you need to set specific SMART goals.
You may have heard the SMART acronym before. It means Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Realistic & Time-bound.
Example:
- Lose 2 dress sizes, in 8 weeks
Dress size is a specific number (10, 14, etc.). It is easily measurable (what size am I now). Attainable (It is possible to lose 2 dress sizes in 8 weeks). Realistic assuming you have 2 sizes to lose. 8 weeks makes it time-bound.
Write your goals down to cement them, and keep them visible to act as motivation when you experience a dip.
Answer the questions to determine WHAT you want. I suggest using a pen and paper and writing the questions down for maximum effect
Do the same with the questions to determine WHY you want this. Writing your answers down.
Use the answers to the questions above to write specific goals that you want to achieve using the SMART template. Again write them down with pen and paper.
Step 2: Commitment to the Plan and What You Need to Do to Be Successful
Any plan is only as good as its implementation. Meaning you must follow the plan to achieve the desired results. In this section I will lay out the key principles of success, explain exactly what the plan requires of you, what you will get in return, and set your expectations accurately.
Key Success Principles
Following is a list of success principles that, when applied, guarantee you will see excellent progress on your health and weight loss goals.
Follow the plan:
The plan will only work if you follow it as prescribed. A deviation here and a deviation there can soon add up to make what you are doing look completely different to the plan as it is written. Of course sometimes life gets in the way, which is understandable. What I ask is that you follow as closely as possible, as often as possible. This will ensure you get the best results possible.
Put in the work:
There is no magic pill unfortunately. You have to do the work to achieve the reward. This will make it all the more satisfying in the end when you do achieve your goals, but don’t waste your time looking for shortcuts, this plan is everything that you will need.
Give it time:
People tend to be very impatient with their weight loss goals. I often hear from people complaining that they want to lose 10 pounds, but have only lost 5! Everything that is a step forwards is positive and progress is progress. Stick with it and you
will
achieve your goals.
What the plan requires of you and what you will get out of it in return
The plan requires a small commitment of time initially to set your goals and understand why you are doing this. From there 45 minutes to workout 3-4 times per week and a commitment to daily preparation of healthy meals is all that is required.
The plan is built in a way that it will become habitual. You will embed what you are doing as a habit in your normal routine and it will not require much effort to maintain, once it has become habit.
Expectations and measuring results
It is important to know what you are trying to change, and then to measure changes, to ensure progress. This will be tied in with the goals that you have set.
If your primary goal is to lose 2 dress sizes, you need to measure your dress size periodically. You might also find it useful to track weight on a weekly or even daily basis, body fat % weekly and girth measurements, with a tape measure, weekly, around key areas such as the stomach and hips.
Seeing positive progress is extremely motivating and will help to keep you feeling good and working toward your goals.
On the opposite side, it is good to know if you are not making the progress that you desire. This allows you to assess and potentially change something. Perhaps you have not been as compliant with the plan as you could have been, or maybe you just had a bad week and will knuckle down and put in the hard work next week.
Commit and follow the plan as written for optimum results
Put in the hard work and push yourself to achieve
Set realistic expectations and make sure you are regularly measuring what you want to change