STOP THE NEGATIVE SELF-TALK

One of the worst patterns a dieter can fall into is negative self-talk – the inner voice that tells you you’ll never reach your goal, you deserve a chocolate bar because you’ve had a hard day, you’ve already blown your diet so you might as well order the cheesecake, and so on.

If you’re a victim of negative thinking, a little cognitive reordering may be just the ticket for you. This type of intervention involves identifying your sabotaging thoughts, questioning their validity, and then taking positive action to change things.

Maybe you can identify with someone who constantly thinks, “I’ve always been heavy, I’ll always be heavy. I’ve tried a million diets, and they just don’t work for me.” Rather than writing off any possibility of success, you are far better off questioning why past diets have not worked for you and thinking about alternative approaches to weight loss.

First off, you might want to review all the diets you’ve tried to see if they failed because they were unreasonable to begin with. If it turns out that they were extreme (no carbs, no fat, no sugar) or bizarre (cabbage soup morning, noon, and night), you can respond to your inner antagonist by saying, “Maybe if I use a healthy, realistic, and sustainable approach, I will reach my goals.” If you feel you’re already making informed food choices, you might consider focusing on exercise as your primary weight-loss tool, along with sound eating. Or, if emotional eating is standing in your way, perhaps you should redirect your efforts towards working through the issues that lead you to self-medicate with food, so you’re in a better mindset to address your weight issues.

Whatever your situation may be, the important thing is to take those negative thoughts and turn them into positive action. The single most important ingredient for successful weight loss is to believe in yourself and set forth with a can-do attitude. Are you ready to try this new approach?