Is Procrastination Keeping You From Losing Weight?

September 28, 2015 | All Articles, post-tsb-team |

By: Laura DeAndrade, ANP-BC

The act of procrastinating has a strong impact on everything you do. We put off household chores, making phone calls, or setting appointments. Losing weight could also be one of the things that you have trouble starting or completing. We all want to be the best we can be, but if we keep putting things off, time will slip away and we may never get to do what we want. Finding a way to keep procrastination under control can help produce major changes in your life.

Procrastinating could be one of the main culprits in weight loss failure. It is human nature to hesitate to try something new. Fear of failure often gets in the way. We all have had things we procrastinated about at one time or another. Procrastination is not about being lazy or not really wanting something enough. Using excuses such as “I will start Monday” or “Today is not a good day to start” often perpetuate the mentality of procrastination. Even if you actually start a weight loss plan, you also need to thing about fitting in the exercise component. Often the thoughts become overwhelming and we chose avoidance and procrastination. It often seems much easier to procrastinate and put things off for “later”. Unfortunately, later often becomes never. It is often said that “someday is not a day of the week”.

Often when we procrastinate about one thing, there are other things in our life that we put off as well. Unfortunately, putting off needed weight loss can lead to other more serious health problems. So why is it so hard to face this… Emotionally, putting off weight loss can cause turmoil, stress, sense of guilty, loss of personal productivity and perceived societal disapproval.

So, what can we do to help stop this thought process. We have the tools to work on this and they come from two things: desire and motivation. Think about where you want to be and what you want your life to be. Thinks of all the positives that success will bring. When a negative or fearful thought enters your mind, try to put it on the back burner and switch it a positive thought. By changing your mindset from one of fear to one of hope, weight loss success can be achieved… today not tomorrow.