Weight Loss It's in Your Head

When you consider the weight loss process, the battle waged is mostly in your head. 

Should I eat the crumpet  with butter or would it be better for me to have margarine or better yet  have jam.

What am I doing eating this crumpet anyway?

It's so caloric and filled with saturated fat. I have absolutely zero willpower. I'm such a pig. It's no wonder you will eat that crumpet with the butter and jam on top to quiet that negative self talk in your head.

What you need more than a diet is a way to shift all those negative self defeating thoughts to more adaptive, positive self statements. As with most things worth doing, this requires a bit of practice. First, become aware when you're using a negative statement, then determine what about that thought is faulty and finally, replace it with a self defence response or positive.

Many people find it hard to change their eating habits until they change their thoughts about food, eating and drinking. By shedding all those distorted  thoughts and replacing them with productive ones your eating habits can be changed. It is possible to rid yourself from many self critical thoughts, but like any habit, it takes time and patience to change. Here are some other thinking distortions to challenge:

Should statements are more about other people's values, not ones chosen by the person who wants to lose weight. Additionally, should statements reflect an attempt by the dieter to motivate oneself without really believing in the value. Better to determine what works for you.

All or Nothing this kind of reasoning is the foundation for perfectionism. An all or nothing individual views the world as black or white. Since there is no allowance for grey areas, the behaviour is either perfect or a failure. "I've ruined my diet by eating all that pizza". Maybe the problem does not arise from the behaviour. Maybe the problem is with the diet that does not allow for pizza. I don't want to give pizza up for the rest of my life, so what you need is a way to include pizza in your diet without feeling like a failure. Let's try by having a healthy salad before the pizza to take the edge off  your hunger or use the pizza as a treat to reward yourself for all the hard work in achieving your weight loss goals.

Bad Foods/Good Foods, foods don't misbehave. Foods are't bad or good. It is true that some foods have more nutrients or are more fibre dense than others, all foods can be enjoyed. How we look and think about food clouds what we eat and how much we eat. If a food is labelled as bad such as hamburgers and french fries, then for many of us that food is bad. When one eventually succumbs to eating the bad foods, hamburger and french fries,it may result in  binge eating. Rather than continue with thinking of good food-bad food, shift to allow space for all foods you like without judgement. Instead of , "I ate those french fries which are really bad for me" to "I enjoyed that small portion of fries, they really satisfied me."

Body Distortions, rather than dwelling on how thin or fat you think your body is, it is extremely helpful to view your body in terms of what it can do for you. For example, when you look in the mirror, instead of focusing in on your stomach which looks like your pregnant, although your last baby was a few years ago. Find the positive tell yourself  my body has given life and allows me to have fun.

The conversations that are going on inside your head cannot be stopped. However, what you can do is to be aware of negative self talk and understand that it has little to do with actual reality. When you believe this, you can respond to the critical voice with a more objective, coping thought. Although negative thoughts may not be stopped entirely, they can be quieted by listening to your compassionate, caring voice. In much the same way you would sympathize and listen to a close friend, listen to yourself. Be your own best friend and chances are you will  have greater weight loss success.