Wednesday, March 26th, 2008...6:20 am
Have You Stopped Believing You Can Lose Weight?
For some people weight loss has been a challenge for so long that they stop believing they can lose weight at all. They have started and stopped so many diets that they begin to think there is something wrong with their body, or worse yet something wrong with them, and start believing that maybe they are better off going through life as an overweight person.
But there is a solution for even the weariest dieter and the solution is simple. In order to lose weight and keep it off you must support your diet and exercise efforts with the proper mindset. The reason people fail to lose weight is because they eat differently; they move differently; but they never think differently. They try to use willpower to make the change, but willpower never lasts a lifetime.
For effective weight loss, change must take place in your mind before it takes place in your body. This is key! By accepting change first in your mind, you lessen the need for willpower and, instead, begin to expect results.
A great way to train your mind for weight loss success is through the use of visualization. You must be able to not only see yourself at your goal weight, but also feel how good it feels. Take a few minutes each day to create a clear picture in your mind of yourself at your goal, stay focused on this vision until you can feel the joy and emotion building up inside then go on with your day taking the necessary steps to bring that vision into reality.
By doing this on a consistent basis you will find that you stop worrying about weight loss and start expecting it! You will understand that challenges will arise but you will be confident that you can handle those difficult situations.
Weight loss is not a casual event that just happens to you one day; it takes effort and commitment. It takes dedication, determination and patience. Fortunately, these are qualities that you already possess and if you are willing you can call on them at any time to help you accomplish your goal.
Here is a good way to pull out those beneficial characteristics. Sit quietly for a few moments and think back over your life. Remember a time that you accomplished or achieved something great. What made that event a success? What strengths did you demonstrate that made that event a reality? Did you show conviction, decisiveness, a never-give-up attitude? These qualities and characteristics are in you right now, and when you fully accept that you have these traits you will find the motivation and determination to continue your healthy habits and you will reach your weight loss goal.
1 Comment
March 26th, 2008 at 10:39 am
So true….the mental work is key in long term success….something I failed to realize in previous weight loss efforts…I’d lose, and maintain the loss, for as long as 2-5 years…but….I’d get tired of it all and “slip” back into my old ways…the head work was missing….I was just following the formula of the diet plan, neglecting the human variables and dealing with them.
The thing that caused me to give it a third go—when I was at a point where I basically threw up my hands in disgust, said I quit, I’m getting too old for this (I was 57)—was this:
I examined my past history, realized that what I’d done to lose the weight, which was also the key to keeping it off, was not something I could live with forever…short term, it was fine…long term it was not.
When I came up with my personal approach, one that I know, without a doubt, I can do forever, I remember waking up the next morning and my first thought was this: I am not on a diet!!! yay!!! and I will be able to lose this weight. I believed it was finally going to happen, and once for all.
It was like a huge burden had been lifted.
But I did not arrive at this point in my life overnight…it began many months prior, in Jan. 2007, as part of my New Year’s self examination/resolution….I knew I had some issues with food that were mental…and decided I must kick those out of my head…they hadn’t benefited me, so why keep them in my life…I gave myself permission to eat whatever I wanted…without guilt…without recrimination…if I wanted a hot dog I would eat it and would not allow myself to dwell on the fact that it is a high fat, low quality (from a health standpoint)food…nope…it is food…period.
I found that to be freeing and discovered that, in fact, I really didn’t enjoy hot dogs as much as I thought, or should I say remembered— back when food and weight was not an issue. Hot dogs were on the forbidden fruit list, which only made me want them more. Destroying that list freed me to eat foods with pleasure, or the intent of pleasure, that I hadn’t eaten in years….and once guilt was not the issue, I was able to realize I didn’t like some of those foods all that much.
Characterizing foods that we enjoy as bad and feeling guilty (a mental issue) when we eat them does nothing to help us eliminate those foods…and perhaps we don’t need to eliminate them…just not eat them every day or often.
I’ve found we can fit almost anything we really enjoy into our lives and still lose weight…it is possible…we just have to figure out how to make it work…and that takes some thinking.
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