How many times has this happened to you? You're doing well on your diet - losing weight, staying motivated - and all of a sudden something happens in life that sends you running straight for the chocolate chip cookies.
After you've eaten the cookies, you tell yourself that you couldn't avoid it because you were so stressed / sad / tired / depressed / anxious / worried / (insert favorite excuse here).
Hmmm.... did those cookies jump into your mouth? Or did you put them there? Who was in control in this situation? Was it you, a thinking, breathing human being, or the cookies, a lifeless, non-thinking food?
My point is that when we fall off the wagon, it is because we CHOOSE to fall off the wagon. We make the decision, right then and there, that we would rather give up our goal of losing weight for the momentary comfort that eating off-plan provides.
The next time you are faced with a stressful situation, look at it this way: Will the food really solve your problems? Will your bills get paid, will your husband apologize, and will your children become more mannerly simply by diving head first into a carton of ice cream? Of course not! You will still have the same problems, but now you will also have the guilt of breaking your diet as well as the disappointment from seeing the resulting gain on the scale. Now you have two more problems to deal with!
Food isn't medicine. It is food. Stop using life's challenges as an excuse to keep you from achieving your goal.
"If you will call your troubles experiences, and remember that every experience develops some latent force within you, you will grow vigorous and happy, however adverse your circumstances may seem to be." - John Heywood
Monday, March 31, 2008
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Change the Background Noise
What is your first thought when you get up in the morning?
For me, my first thought upon awaking used to be about my weight. And then, my second, third, fourth, and eight-hundred-fifty-seventh thoughts reinforced my belief that I was hopelessly fat, and would be for the rest of my life.
The thoughts that we have tend to run like tapes in the background of our lives. We tend to think and therefore reaffirm the same thoughts over and over again until we come to believe them. The only way to break out of this pattern is to change the background noise and create a new message in your mind.
Try this: every time a negative thought pops into your mind, replace it with a positive one. For example, if you find yourself saying, "I can never lose weight," replace that with "I lose weight easily." If you always say, "I am so fat" when you see your reflection in the mirror, try saying, "I am getting thinner every day."
It takes some practice to get in the habit of noticing your negative mental talk, but if you can become aware of it, you are on your way to overcoming one of the greatest obstacles to weight loss success.
"Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right." -Henry Ford
For me, my first thought upon awaking used to be about my weight. And then, my second, third, fourth, and eight-hundred-fifty-seventh thoughts reinforced my belief that I was hopelessly fat, and would be for the rest of my life.
The thoughts that we have tend to run like tapes in the background of our lives. We tend to think and therefore reaffirm the same thoughts over and over again until we come to believe them. The only way to break out of this pattern is to change the background noise and create a new message in your mind.
Try this: every time a negative thought pops into your mind, replace it with a positive one. For example, if you find yourself saying, "I can never lose weight," replace that with "I lose weight easily." If you always say, "I am so fat" when you see your reflection in the mirror, try saying, "I am getting thinner every day."
It takes some practice to get in the habit of noticing your negative mental talk, but if you can become aware of it, you are on your way to overcoming one of the greatest obstacles to weight loss success.
"Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right." -Henry Ford
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