Negative thought patterns are all too common among dieters and one of the main reasons why so many are unable to lose weight permanently. According to Dr. John H. Sklare, Ed.H and director of the Emotional Support Center at eDiets.com, “you, like the farmer, are a planter of seeds. Your seeds, however, are of a psychological nature. In your case, these are the seeds of thought and behavior. While the farmer plants his seeds in the ground, you plant yours in your mind. And just as the type of seed the farmer plants in the earth determines what he produces in his field, the kinds of thoughts that you plant in your mind determine what you produce in life.” Changing your mind is crucial to losing weight and the following are sure-fire ways to do just that.
Think Yourself Thin
How you view yourself, weightloss, and living a healthy lifestyle, has a lot to do with how much you weigh. If you see yourself as always being fat, your efforts as useless, eating healthy as torture, and exercise as a boring waste of time, then your actions will continue to support those thoughts. In order to change your weight and bad habits you must first change the way you think. Identify all the negative and self-defeating thought patterns that keep you from doing what you need to do to lose weight and live a healthier lifestyle. Write them down. Then brainstorm new positive thoughts to replace them. Here are some examples to get you started:
Negative I absolutely hate exercise and I don’t have time for it anyway.
Positive I will try different types of activities until I find one I like and I will make time for at least 2 exercise sessions per week.
Negative Eating healthy means depriving myself and it’s useless anyway, because I won’t lose the weight.
Positive I will look for healthy but delicious foods and recipes so that I have a better chance of loosing weight.
Ban All or Nothing Mentality
Have you ever given up on working out just because you skipped one too many of the workouts you had scheduled. Have you ever blown your diet several times in a day and gone on a junk food binge because you felt like a failure? This type of behavior is a product of all or nothing thinking; where everything is either perfect or you give up. Unfortunately it’s never the perfect time to lose weight. Illness, injuries, work hours, family, parties, and stress are obstacles that constantly come between you and your weightloss goals. The trick is to think of your setbacks as opportunities to do better. Forgive and forget what happened and focus on why it happened. Then devise a plan to deal with that type of situation and continue with you diet and fitness plans. Once you learn to handle these situations instead of giving up you will be closer to your goal and even feel a sense of accomplishment that can be huge motivation for the next time you’re in a similar situation.
People who are trying to change their behavior often experience depression, anger, sadness, boredom, and other uncomfortable thoughts or feelings. Unfortunately most people choose to tune out these thoughts/feelings with music, extra curricular activities, television, food, alcohol, shopping, video games, or the internet. It’s a much easier and less painful alternative than tuning in to what’s really going on. But tuning in can provide insight about your eating and exercise patterns like you wouldn’t believe. Journaling, meditating, or simply sitting outside for 10 minutes in silence, and allowing your thoughts to just flow uninterrupted may help you discover that you’re subconsciously sabotaging your diet because you’re afraid of what people will expect from you when you’re thin, or maybe you’re skipping your workouts because losing weight means you might lose your friends. These types of issues are usually hidden behind other thoughts and emotions and tuning in can help you come to terms and deal with what’s really going on.
Learn more mind body weightloss tricks with: The Ten Habits of Naturally Slim People
