“If you can dream it, you can do it!”
That’s a common catch phrase these day. Positive thinking is huge. Many people swear by Law of Attraction.
But does the “think and it will be” magic work on losing weight?
Skeptics will say our weight is determined by how many calories we eat, how much we exercise, and the speed of our metabolism.
So what if those things were affected by the power of our mind?
Our weight, and the issue of dieting, has everything to with food.
And nothing to do with food at the same time.
It’s more about our mindset and the choices we make. Because what we eat starts with how we feel and what we think.
Just consider how you feel about dieting. Is it a chore, and about depriving yourself? Is it all about hard work and punishment, and maybe reward?
Or is dieting a lifestyle, something that makes you feel good, both health wise and emotionally?
What if diet is a mindset about our relationship to food and self esteem? There are many ways to look at it.
Imagine if you can change your mindset so that making healthy choices feels right.
You have to change the way you think about weight loss.
Review your weight loss vocabulary to see if it includes words like rules, bad, cheating, failing, or falling short.
Do you have certain pictures of yourself in relation to your weight, your track record at staying at a healthy weight, and your ability to lose weight?
The mind is an incredibly powerful thing. You already know this. It creates our reality it actually dictates what our cells do.
When you can control your thoughts, you can avoid that high calories dinner or dessert, and even stimulate your body to go into fat burning mode.
That seems like a stretch, but if your mind can create other realities, why can’t it control what your cells do?
When people think they’ll get sick, they often do. When people truly believe they’re getting better, they heal themselves.
Some people meditate and send oxygen to a hurt part of the body for faster healing.
People train to see themselves a certain way, such as “I’m energetic and healthy” and affect their body.
Our beliefs of course affect our actions, so our thoughts affect our reality in many ways.
Your mind can control your cells. You have the ability to tell your body what you want it to do.
Today we’re looking at how to use the mind to lose weight, which is completely in your power.
You might be carrying a lot of baggage around weight loss: diets that failed. Weight that came back. Eating habits that didn’t get better.
You might beat yourself up for that.
In order to get your mind on board so you can lose weight and keep it off, you have to forgive yourself of anything in the past.
It’s time to move on and see your past differently.
Find a way to reframe your weight-loss story and create a new reality.
You might think, it doesn’t work to rewrite the past. But you’re letting the past create your present, so you can rewrite what you say to yourself.
Create a new “body story” and daily affirmations such as:
I’m ready to lose weight.
My body wants to lose weight.
I can stay healthy and active.
I can have more energy.
I practice good self control.
The power of the mind is an unbelievable thing. Your conscious and subconscious thoughts create your life.
If you are taking any positive health steps, then you are living a healthy life, and you can build on that.
Focus on the good that you do, and the better choices you want to make, and live as if that is your lifestyle right now.
That’s the way to make it come true.
If you see “dieting” as a bad experience and something you think you’ll fail at, you’re setting yourself up for a struggle.
The goal here is to make it about how you feel, or how you want to feel about weight loss.
It’s about feeling good.
It’s about feeling healthy, alert, and energetic.
Before focusing on losing weight, focus on changing how you feel about the idea.
Instead of linking bad thoughts to the words diet, lifestyle, and life change, think about how you’ll feel as you change.
Think about feeling healthier, more energetic, and more confident.
When you lose that first 10 pounds, think how proud you’ll feel.
Getting your mind in the right place is the key. It’s the first step, and a huge one.
It takes practice and repetition, but it’s worth it.
Your mind has the ability to change hormonal patterns, stimulate your body to release excess weight, and help you sleep better so you can build positive neuro-pathways.
Start today by telling yourself positive things about the new lifestyle you want to adopt:
I’m working together with my mind and body to be healthier.
I’m already feeling better because I’m eating healthy.
I’m excited about how great I’ll feel and look as I continue on this journey of healthy eating.
I don’t need all of this weight. It’s okay to burn more calories.
I want to burn more calories for more energy.
Every day is a new day of healthy living, and I’m going to feel awesome.
The positive affirmations in the last step are about aligning your thoughts so your emotions will follow.
You see, your body and mind do not communicate through language. They use images and feelings.
Let’s say you want to lose weight, get more tone, and look better.
To make that happen, you should visualize it in the morning, at midday, in the evening, and before you go to bed.
Picture what you want to look like, and let yourself feel excited about it.
Daydream about how it’ll feel and what you’ll do as you achieve results.
As you picture the new you more and more, you’ll become that healthy body and lose the weight that no longer serves you.
A big part of your new mindset is positive reinforcement.
When you “slip” just start again and keep going. Don’t get down on yourself.
And, more importantly, every time you are mindful with your food or keep a positive outlook, mentally reward yourself.
Studies have proven that people respond to positive reinforcement more than negative consequences.
The quickest way to change a bad habit is to compliment and reward yourself when do you the new habit.
If you often forget things, like where your keys are, you can mentally praise yourself when you pay attention to where you put them down.
This method works faster to help you improve your memory and habit of misplacing your keys.
The same idea applies to healthy eating choices.
Your inner thoughts like be:
“Great job on picking the smaller portion!”
“Good work on stopping when you were content and not overfull.”
“I’m so proud of you for drinking water before lunch and dinner today.”
“You’ve done great for three days now!”
You might even want to reward yourself with a money jar or other reward.
This is a small distinction that makes a huge difference.
If you focus on, “I want to get out of debt” then they are still focused on debt.
If instead, the same people focus on, “I want to make double my income and live a life of luxury,” then they’ll move in that direction.
To lose weight, think about being healthy, active, energetic, and happy.
Picture yourself living the life you could if you reach your goal.
If you set a goal of losing 5 pounds a week, and you lose 3, then celebrate how you got 3 pounds closer to your goal weight.
But instead of focusing on numbers, it’s even better to focus on how you feel as you eat better, get more active, and get healthier.
“This is great, I can’t wait to feel even more energetic!”
Make a huge deal out of every milestone and accomplishment.
Keep moving forward, picture you in your new healthy life, and let your mind change your body.
