by Dr. Matthew Anderson
If you want to lose significant weight and keep it off, you need to get out of your Comfort Zone and move into your Alive Zone.
Your Comfort Zone (CZ) is that small, fenced-in area that you spend most or all of your time in. It “tells” you what you can and cannot do. Its job is to keep you comfortable, safe and predictable. It holds no surprises, few risks and no challenges.
Most weight-challenged individuals use food to sustain the boundaries of their Comfort Zone. It’s what makes us grab the bag of chips or pint of ice cream without thinking. It often leaves us feeling bored, vaguely depressed and disconnected from the inspired, meaningful, self-expressed and creative existence that could be ours.
Your Alive Zone (AZ), on the other hand, is expansive, unpredictable and creative. It is that place where you face your fears, question your old limits, reject the stifling control of old habits and programs, take risks that your parents never imagined and explore possibilities that inspire and enthuse you.
If you have read this far, congratulations—you are probably already out of your Comfort Zone. So let’s make it worth your while.
How to Step into Your Alive Zone
Step 1. Imagine that it is the year 2017. You have lived in your Comfort Zone since 2007. Where are you with your weight? Are you happy, inspired and proud of yourself? Was this the best 10 years of your life so far? If you keep this up, what will the next 10 years be like?
Step 2. Again imagine that it is 2017, but now you have lived in your Alive Zone since 2007. Where are you now, weight-wise? Are you happy, inspired and proud of yourself? Was this the best 10 years of your life so far? Do you expect the next 10 will be even better?
Step 3. Make a list of 10 weight-related risks that you currently avoid taking. Maybe it’s making an appointment with a nutritionist or joining a gym or going cold-turkey on the ice cream. Then write down the price you have paid for avoiding them. Be brutally honest with yourself.
Step 4. Pick one risk from the list of 10 and write down how your life might change for the better if you took it. If you met with a nutrition expert, for example, you might learn how to choose foods more wisely and lose weight as a result.
Step 5. Create an action plan for doing something meaningful about the risk you chose. For example: “First, I will ask my doctor to refer me to a nutritionist. Second, I will call and make an appointment. Third, I will keep the appointment.”
Step 6. Go back to steps 1 and 2 and repeat each of them.
Now there’s only one thing left to do: Go for it!
This article appears courtesy of Early to Rise's Total Health Breakthroughs, offering alternative solutions for mind, body and soul. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.totalhealthbreakthroughs.com
[Ed. Note: Dr. Matthew Anderson is an author (The Prayer Diet), counselor (35 years) and national columnist/expert on weight loss, motivation, self-management and relationships. Find tough-minded, outside-the-box guidance for taking charge of your life and/or your weight, including Eating to Kill, Wake-Up 101 and Weight Loss as a Spiritual Journey. Click here to learn more.]