Monday, March 31st, 2008...5:33 am

Does Winning at Weight Loss Seem as Likely as Winning the Lottery?

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Many people would like to lose weight and may even feel they NEED to lose weight but if you ask them if they believe it will happen they come back with a half-hearted, “I hope so.”Hoping and believing are too different things. Hope is more closely related to a wish than reality. If you hope to lose weight yet believe you have about as much chance of accomplishing it as you do winning the lottery then you need to put down your dieting book and put on your thinking cap because the solution to your weight loss problem will not be found in any diet plan or exercise program; your solution will come from inside when you learn how to shift the way you are thinking.

Your thoughts and beliefs about losing weight are an important part of something called your Weight Mindset. Your Weight Mindset is a major predictor of your weight loss success or failure because you are always acting in congruence with it.

Therefore, if you have a mindset that says losing weight is hard and managing the weight loss is even harder, that is what you will get-a life of struggling to control your weight. If, however, you have a mindset that losing weight is doable and that you can have a happy, healthy body, then you will allow yourself to lose weight and maintain that weight loss.

Diet and exercise are necessary elements of losing weight but when used alone they only boast a dismal 5% success rate. However, the success rate soars when these two components are combined with a proper Weight Mindset.

Fortunately creating a beneficial Weight Mindset is available to everyone and it is free, all it will cost you is a bit of your time. Start by becoming aware of the thoughts, feelings and beliefs that are holding you back. Begin to listen to your internal conversations. What are you telling yourself about weight loss, dieting and exercise? If you notice that your thoughts about these things are negative stop them and give them a positive spin. For example, if you find yourself saying, “I’m too old to exercise.” Turn this around by telling yourself, “Exercise reverses the aging process.”

Your current mindset has been in place for a long time and you have spend many years finding evidence to support it so be patient with yourself as you create a new one. This will take time but in the long run it will save you the frustration of yo-yo dieting and allow you to lose weight without losing your love affair with food.

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Filed under Lose Weight by Thinking Differently, Your Weight Mindset

1 Comment

  • Dinah Soar
    March 31st, 2008 at 9:19 am

    You said: if you have a mindset that says losing weight is hard and managing the weight loss is even harder, that is what you will get-a life of struggling to control your weight”.

    I found this to be true. Having lost 50 pounds twice and regaining it both times, I was thoroughly discouraged and figured there was no point in ever trying again.

    But once I realized there was a way to “diet” that was easy and that I could live with forever, I became a believer and that belief produced action.

    And the times I feel like I might be wavering , I check my thinking…reminding myself to stick with the plan, that the plan will work. And because I believe that, I continue instead of giving up.

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