I want you to be aware that it is not another diet you need because if you have done all the diets, you know what to eat and how much to eat. Only your brain tells you that you need to find a better diet that this time will work for you.
I worked in the Bariatric clinic and watched my clients have the extreme surgery where they end up with a tiny pouch for a stomach, and you would think that if your stomach is so small that losing weight and keeping it off is a no brainer but that is not what happened.
I watched my clients at about the one year mark having their weight loss stalled or for a lot of them start gaining the weight back. Why? It is because it is not about the food; it is about the underlying reasons why they were overweight in the first place.
They started adding back in their comfort foods or frequently snacking through the day to deal because they never did the work to stop needing food for comfort to deal with the uncomfortable feelings they were having. All of that led to gaining the weight back.
Some clients turned to alcohol after surgery because if they can’t comfort themselves with food well, alcohol was the next best choice.
I share this with you because if you have struggled for a while now to lose weight, then it is not you needing a diet to tell you what and how much to eat it is you needing to do the inner work. Doing the inner work is how I lost 100 lbs over ten years ago.
Today I will give you four ways to set yourself up to be successful in losing weight and keeping it off.
1. Set aside every day, some dedicated thinking time.
I want you to sit down and do a thought download. Get all of your thoughts and sentences out of your head; whatever it is, write it down on paper. Those thoughts are what drive all your feelings and actions, so knowing what is going on in your head is so powerful.
A technique I want you to do next is writing down what your future self looks like. Envision yourself in 1 year from now, having lost all the weight you wanted to lose.
What do you look like?
What are you doing?
What are you thinking?
What are you feeling?
What does your life look like?
It is important to have a vision of your future self because you can then ask yourself, “What would my future self do?” when it feels challenging to stay on your food plan when you are out with a friend and all you want is to eat what they are having, or you have a difficult day at work and walk in the door and want to grab those cookies because you tell yourself you deserve them.
Remember that your future self has lost all the weight, so will make decisions differently than you are thinking of making at that moment.
2. Own your thoughts.
Whatever the thoughts you are having, the negative thoughts, and the blaming thoughts, knowing that you are responsible for filling your head with them. We have to own what we are thinking, especially the blaming thoughts we have because no one can make us think or feel anything it is our choice.
Yeah, this is hard to know and take in, but we can’t change anything until we become aware that we control our thoughts and feelings.
3. Choose what you do want more of
Focus in on the thought you are having then what also do I want to be thinking.
Do I want more of the thoughts like I presently have because remember, if you focus on the negative-they shouldn’t’ have said that, that’s not fair or how you failed or on your mistakes (yours and others) that is what you will bring more of that into your life.
We can stay with those thoughts but remaining with them will never move you forward; they will only cause you to give up and eat.
Often, we get stuck in those thoughts, they swirl around in our head, and that is what holds us back from having success with losing weight. We can’t see a different future if we are stuck in the negative thoughts, the beating ourselves up.
If you want to feel motivated and feel better, you have to focus on choosing thoughts that create or enhance those feelings. You need more of that instead of focusing on what you are thinking and feeling now.
4. Focus on positivity and gratitude
Start thinking about what you can think positive and be grateful for that will lift you up.
There is no harm in focusing on positive thoughts and what we can be grateful for. It is not about ignoring or denying what is going on or what you are feeling. It is about allowing yourself to be with what is and then also allowing positivity and gratefulness to be in your life. When you allow hope, joy or even happiness and focus on what is going well, it makes us feel better.
If you’d like to learn more about how to get started with losing weight in a way that goes beyond the food, that is the solution to long term weight loss, then click here to book a free call. On the call, we will find out what is holding you back, and we will then set up a plan so that you can get started in losing weight in a sustainable way.
You are worth it!
Karen
RN, Certified Weight, Emotional Eating and Confidence Coach
P. S. Join my Facebook group here, where I am there to support you and teach the tools to help you lose weight for the last time.
