Begin with the end in mind

Summary

The video emphasizes the importance of 'beginning with the end in mind' for successful weight loss. Instead of just focusing on losing weight, the speaker suggests visualizing life after reaching your goal weight. This mindset helps ensure long-term sustainability by aligning current habits with future goals. The speaker shares personal experiences, advising to follow a plan you can maintain for life, including enjoying the foods you love in moderation. This approach reduces stress and makes the weight loss journey more enjoyable and effective. Inspired by Stephen Covey's book, the method is practical for lasting success.

Takeaways

• 🔄 **Starting with the End in Mind**: It's crucial to envision your life at your goal weight to ensure weight loss success.
• 🚫 **Avoiding the 'Hope' Strategy**: Relying on hope to maintain weight loss is ineffective; a concrete plan is necessary.
• 🔄 **2014 Turning Point**: A pivotal moment in 2014 led to the realization that thinking about the end goal was essential.
• 🍽️ **Planning for Maintenance**: Consider what foods and exercises you'll maintain post-weight loss to inform your current plan.
• 👀 **Visualization Exercise**: Visualize your morning routine at goal weight to align your current actions with future goals.
• 📉 **Behavioral Consistency**: Ensure your weight loss behaviors mirror your maintenance behaviors to avoid future struggles.
• 🍲 **No Food Exclusion**: Weight loss doesn't require cutting out entire food groups; balance is key.
• 🏋️‍♀️ **Sustainable Practices**: Adopt a plan that you can see yourself following for life to ease the stress of maintenance.
• 💡 **Long-Term Viability**: A plan that is sustainable in the long term is easier to stick with and less likely to cause frustration.
• 📚 **Inspiration from 'Seven Habits'**: The concept of starting with the end in mind is inspired by Stephen Covey's work.
• 🔗 **Further Learning**: For more on weight loss strategies, consider the speaker's course on intermittent fasting.

Q & A

What does 'beginning with the end in mind' mean in the context of weight loss?

It means visualizing your goal weight and how you want your life to look after reaching it. This includes thinking about the foods you will eat and the exercises you will do, helping you create a sustainable plan.

Why is it a mistake to not think about the end goal during weight loss?

Not thinking about the end goal can lead to unsustainable habits. If your focus is only on losing weight quickly, you may struggle with maintenance later. Planning for the long-term helps ensure you can keep the weight off.

How did the speaker change their mindset about weight loss in 2014?

In 2014, the speaker realized they needed to think about what their life would be like after reaching their goal weight. This shift in focus from just losing weight to also maintaining it helped them succeed long-term.

Why is hope not a reliable strategy for weight maintenance?

Hope is not a strategy because it doesn't involve planning. To maintain weight loss, you need a clear plan that outlines how you will eat and exercise after reaching your goal weight, rather than just hoping it will work out.

What exercise does the speaker suggest to help with weight loss planning?

The speaker suggests visualizing the day you reach your goal weight. Imagine what you will eat and how you will exercise. If these behaviors are different from what you are currently doing, adjust your plan to align with your long-term goals.

What are the two main benefits of starting a sustainable weight loss plan from the beginning?

First, it removes the stress of maintenance because you will already be following a plan you can continue. Second, it makes the plan easier to stick with, as it won't feel like a temporary or difficult struggle.

How does following a long-term sustainable plan affect the ease of weight loss?

When your plan is something you can see yourself doing long-term, it becomes easier to stick with. You won’t feel constantly deprived or struggling, and it will feel like a natural part of your lifestyle.

Does beginning with the end in mind guarantee a smooth weight loss journey?

No, even with the end in mind, you will still face challenges and need to make adjustments. However, having a clear vision will prevent you from adopting unsustainable habits that could lead to failure.

How can someone incorporate foods like cake, bread, and pasta into their weight loss plan?

If you want to eat foods like cake, bread, and pasta at your goal weight, it’s important to include them in your current plan. Learn how to lose weight while eating these foods in moderation so that your habits are sustainable.

What book inspired the concept of 'beginning with the end in mind' mentioned by the speaker?

The concept comes from Stephen Covey's book 'The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.' While the book is not specifically about weight loss, its philosophy is highly applicable to weight loss planning.

Outlines

00:00

🧠 Start with the End in Mind for Weight Loss Success

The speaker emphasizes the importance of focusing on the long-term goal of weight loss, rather than just the process of losing weight. They suggest thinking about life after reaching the goal weight, including what foods to eat and exercises to maintain the weight. This shift in mindset, rather than relying on hope, was pivotal in their personal weight loss journey.

🎯 Visualizing Life at Your Goal Weight

To succeed in weight loss, the speaker advises visualizing the day you reach your goal weight. Consider what you'll eat and how you'll exercise, then align your current weight loss plan with these future behaviors. This strategy prevents drastic changes between weight loss and maintenance phases, ensuring a smoother, more sustainable journey.

🍽 Sustainable Weight Loss: No Need for Drastic Measures

Weight loss doesn’t require eliminating foods from your life. The speaker debunks the myth that you need to cut out specific foods to lose weight. Instead, they highlight that the key is eating the right amount of food. They advocate for making gradual changes that reflect your desired lifestyle at your goal weight.

💡 Benefits of a Long-Term Weight Loss Plan

Two key benefits emerge from adopting a long-term, sustainable weight loss plan: reduced stress in the maintenance phase and ease of sticking with the plan. If you enjoy the current plan, you won't have to worry about how to maintain your weight once you reach your goal. Consistency will keep you on track without feeling burdened by strict or unpleasant routines.

🔄 Adjusting Along the Way Is Normal

Even with a well-thought-out plan, weight loss won’t be free of challenges. The speaker advises that while you may have to make adjustments during your journey, having a clear vision of your desired outcome will keep you from making unsustainable choices. This mindset helps avoid unnecessary struggles and makes the process smoother.

🍰 Incorporate Foods You Love in Your Weight Loss Journey

If you envision eating certain foods like cake, bread, or pasta at your goal weight, include them in your diet now. The speaker encourages learning how to lose weight while eating foods you enjoy, making the process more enjoyable and realistic. They share that this approach worked for them and believe it can work for others too.

📚 The Inspiration Behind 'Begin with the End in Mind'

The concept of 'beginning with the end in mind' isn't original to the speaker. It comes from Stephen Covey’s book, *The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People*. Though the book isn't about weight loss, the speaker found it extremely helpful in shaping their weight loss mindset and highly recommends it for others on a similar journey.

📆 Answering Common Questions About Intermittent Fasting

The speaker teases an upcoming resource to answer common questions about intermittent fasting, such as what to eat, when to eat, and which fasting methods work best. They invite viewers to access their course, 'Intermittent Fasting for Weight Loss 101', for comprehensive guidance on the subject.

Keywords

💡Begin with the end in mind

This concept refers to starting a process by envisioning the final goal or outcome. In the context of the video, it encourages individuals pursuing weight loss to think about their life at their goal weight and align their current habits to fit that vision. The speaker emphasizes that weight loss success involves planning for long-term maintenance, not just the act of losing weight.

💡Weight maintenance

Weight maintenance refers to the period after a person has reached their goal weight and is focused on keeping it steady. In the video, the speaker argues that successful weight loss should not only focus on losing weight but also on maintaining it. By aligning current habits with long-term goals, individuals can reduce stress around maintaining their goal weight.

💡Visualization

Visualization is the practice of mentally imagining a future event or situation. In the video, the speaker suggests that visualizing the day a person steps on the scale and sees their goal weight can help them shape their weight loss plan. By picturing what they will eat and how they will exercise at that point, individuals can create a sustainable plan from the beginning.

💡Sustainability

Sustainability in this context refers to the ability to maintain certain behaviors or habits over a long period. The speaker stresses that weight loss plans should be sustainable, meaning that the habits a person adopts to lose weight should be the same ones they can maintain for life. This prevents burnout and makes maintaining the goal weight easier.

💡Hope is not a strategy

This phrase means that simply hoping for a good outcome is not enough; one must plan and take actionable steps to ensure success. In the video, the speaker reflects on their past failures with weight loss, attributing them to hoping they could keep the weight off without having a concrete maintenance plan. The point is to make deliberate plans for long-term success.

💡Unsustainable habits

Unsustainable habits are behaviors or practices that cannot be maintained long-term due to difficulty, restriction, or other factors. The video warns against adopting drastic diets or exercise routines that a person doesn’t enjoy or can't see themselves continuing indefinitely. Such habits may lead to temporary weight loss but are likely to fail in the long run.

💡Intermittent fasting

Intermittent fasting is an eating pattern where individuals cycle between periods of eating and fasting. Although the video briefly touches on conflicting information around intermittent fasting, it promotes a more balanced and individualized approach to weight loss. The speaker offers their course on intermittent fasting to help clarify the confusion.

💡Goal weight

Goal weight refers to the desired target weight that a person aims to reach in their weight loss journey. The video encourages individuals to think beyond just reaching their goal weight, urging them to consider how they will maintain that weight through sustainable eating and exercise habits.

💡Cutting out foods

This refers to the practice of eliminating certain foods from a diet in order to lose weight. The speaker challenges the common belief that weight loss requires cutting out favorite foods like cake, bread, and pasta, arguing that it's more important to learn how to manage portions and still enjoy the foods a person loves while losing weight.

💡The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

This is a reference to a book by Stephen Covey, from which the concept of 'beginning with the end in mind' is taken. The speaker recommends this book as a useful philosophical guide for those on a weight loss journey, even though it isn’t specifically about weight loss. The book’s principles, such as goal-setting and planning, are applicable to achieving long-term success in various areas, including weight loss.

Highlights

Emphasizing the importance of 'beginning with the end in mind' for weight loss success.

Acknowledging the common mistake of only focusing on immediate weight loss rather than long-term lifestyle changes.

'Hope is not a strategy'—planning for life after achieving your goal weight is critical for maintenance.

Visualization of goal weight: imagine stepping on the scale and reaching your target, then think about your behaviors after that.

If the behaviors you're visualizing after weight loss differ from your current plan, it's time to change your strategy.

Weight loss and weight maintenance are not about luck or magic, but rather about consistently eating the right amount of food.

Dispelling the myth that you need to cut out foods like bread and pasta to lose weight—sustainable changes are key.

Starting with a plan that you can sustain for life removes the stress of worrying about maintenance after reaching your goal.

A sustainable plan is easier to stick to long-term, making weight loss less of a struggle.

Beginning with the end in mind doesn't guarantee a trouble-free journey; adjustments will still be needed.

Having a clear vision of life after weight loss helps prevent engaging in unsustainable practices.

You can enjoy foods like cake and pasta while losing weight, as long as you learn to manage portions and balance.

The 'beginning with the end in mind' concept comes from Stephen Covey's 'Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.'

'Seven Habits of Highly Effective People' is recommended as a philosophical guide, even though it isn't weight loss-specific.

Mention of the creator's 'Intermittent Fasting for Weight Loss 101' course, addressing common questions around intermittent fasting.

Transcripts

let's talk about the importance of

beginning with the end of mind

for weight loss success

now i know this can seem kind of

counterintuitive uh

for anybody out there who maybe you've

got a significant amount of weight

to lose you may be sitting there

thinking i don't need to be thinking

about the end i just need to focus on

getting the weight off like this is a

problem i need to solve i don't need to

think about

what my life should be like at my goal

weight but if that's your mindset

you're making a big mistake and this is

a mistake i kept repeating throughout my

entire life

you know i always struggled with my

weight and inevitably what i would do is

go on some really hard plan

and just you know i would think well

once i get the weight off then i hope

i'll be able to keep it off but hope is

not a strategy

now in 2014 after i had my i've had

enough moment

i got it in my head that i really needed

to think about

the end so in other words what do i want

my life to look like after i hit my goal

weight like what are the foods that i

want to be eating and what are

the exercises that i want to be doing

and this has made a

major difference in both the weight loss

journey

and the actual maintenance part which

has been going on for years now

so right now if you have started a plan

already uh but you really didn't think

about

uh you know what you're gonna do once

you hit your goal weight or maybe you

don't have a plan at all

uh here's a helpful exercise visualize

the morning that you wake up you know

you go step on the scale

and you see your goal weight you finally

hit it

what are you going to be eating that day

what are you going to be exercising like

that week and if the behaviors you're

visualizing

in that moment are different than what

you're currently doing in order to lose

weight

then change your plan change your plan

to make it look

like exactly what you want your life to

look like

in maintenance mode and the thing is you

know weight loss

and weight maintenance is not magic it's

not about luck it's just about eating

the right amount of food and eating the

right amount of food will keep you at a

certain weight

it's just that simple so the idea that

you need to like cut out foods out of

your life and

and all that in order to lose weight

it's just simply false

there are two really big benefits of

going ahead

and starting with a plan that you

can foresee doing for the rest of your

life the first thing is is it takes that

stress out of maintenance like so many

people

are worried about like oh i don't know

what i'm going to do like once i hit my

goal weight how

how am i going to stay there and if you

already like the plan you're doing all

you have to do is just keep going with

that whatever got you there

will keep you there and the other really

big benefit is

when you're doing a plan that you can

foresee doing for the rest of your life

it's really easy to stick with you don't

feel like you're you know

clinched all the time like oh i hate

doing this plan but it's going to be

worth it

instead you're like hey this is pretty

easy i can foresee myself doing this

forever if i need to

now look even if you begin with the end

of mind that doesn't mean that it's

going to be

a trouble-free time or that you won't

have to make changes along the way

because

you certainly will but if you keep that

picture in your mind what you want your

life to look like

it will prevent you from doing things

that are unsustainable which will

prevent a lot of heartache

so right now like if you want to be

eating cake

and bread and pasta at your goal weight

then go ahead and start

giving yourself those foods now and just

learn how to lose weight

while you're eating those foods and you

know look that's how i did it

and so you can too if that's what you

want to do now the idea of beginning

with the end of mind is not my original

idea

this comes from the book seven habits of

highly effective people by stephen covey

and it is an excellent book if you are

currently trying to lose weight i would

highly recommend it

it's not about weight loss specifically

but

philosophically it's really helpful i

hope you found this video helpful and

i'll see you in the next one

there is so much conflicting information

out there about intermittent fasting

it's overwhelming what do i eat when do

i eat is a 16-8 better than nomad what's

so mad

should i do dirty fasting or clean

fasting all of these questions and more

are answered in my flagship course

intermittent fasting for weight loss

101.

click the link to get lifetime access

today your future is up to you