The thoughts we have about our body and food dictates how we act and feel. If you think that you'll never lose the weight then you'll probably always be somewhat disappointed in your shape because you likely won't shift your actions to make a change. But really it doesn't have to be that way. You can loose the 5 or whatever amount you want to.
THOUGHTS CAN SABOTAGE
One of my clients, LM, told me that she was working so hard at the gym but the last 5 pounds she wanted to lose was too hard to drop. She also believed that she was always prone to overeating in the kitchen at night. She also said that chocolate had some form of control over her. These and a handful of other negative thoughts invaded her head and kept her from cracking the habit (and loosing the 5 pounds). All of her pessimistic ideas and limiting beliefs about herself and body are root of her discontent.
TURN AROUND THE NEGATIVITY
So, we changed things. We edited her bad ideas about food and her body. We turned them into ideas that aligned with what she wanted -- to lose the more 5 pounds; be in the kitchen at night and not (have to) eat; and enjoy moderation with chocolate.
ACT ACCORDINGLY
Then LM nailed it. She got into a great pattern of stopping her food intake at 7:30pm. Her snacks consisted of foods that weren't her trigger foods. She tracked her food each day and she cut back on starchy carbohydrates. She kept her gym routine and the 5 pounds came off in time. She was so proud and even admitted that it wasn't really that hard once she believed she could do it.
THE PRACTICE
To get yourself out of a hole of body funkiness and lose those pounds you are dying to lose, follow these simple steps.
1. List 3 emotions you really, deeply wish you felt in regards to your body. Then for each emotion, describe what that feels like. For example, one emotion could be, 'strong' and the description may be, for example, 'I gracefully move through my day with vitality and ease.' This exercise is meant to get you excited about what you want.
2. Now check out what is leading you astray! List out 8 or more negative thoughts you have about your body, food, exercise or eating. For example, "I don't like doing weight training at the gym."
3. Revise it and believe the revision. For each negative thought, rewrite it so the idea aligns with what you really want for yourself. For example, a revision of the above negative sentence could be: To get strong, I can do some weight training (and even possibly enjoy it!).
4. Pick 3 of your favorite revised ideas and create a practice from them. Riffing off the revised sentence above, a practice could be: Weight training (15 minutes to start) at the gym, two times a week.
Then do it. Just do it. Try it! You might really start to see, feel and think the change you want to for yourself and body. Let me know how it goes; I'll love to hear.
If you would like more coaching on losing 5 pounds or any amount of weight, please schedule a free consultation!
It hit me like a thud when someone said it to me. I was blindsided by it and it radically changed my perspective...for the better. I'm referring to the realization that the thoughts I had in my head were deeply affecting my life.