Changing your thoughts is a critical step in the slow sustainable weight loss journey. We cannot lose weight when we focus on how fat and unhappy we are. It just won’t work. We will end up beating ourselves up and binging before any real change is accomplished.
It really is true that what we focus on grows in significance and what we resist persists. Did you ever notice that as soon as you stop wanting something so desperately, it usually appears? For example, have you ever sat at home wanting to be in a relationship, and then as soon as you say “forget about it, I am getting on with my life” and you enroll in a class, take a new job or decide to buy that condo, voila, Mr. Right appears?
Our actions follow thoughts so first we must change our thoughts. For me, changing my focus from being thin to being healthy was the magic key that unlocked those pounds that seemed to be permanently stuck on my hips and thighs. Once I stopped worrying about my excess weight and decided to focus on getting as healthy as I could, the pounds gradually melted away.
I got very clear in my desire to live a long life and be a healthy vital sexy senior busy strong and flexible traveling the world and having adventures well into my 80s. I turned to role models in my yoga class, women in there 60s and 70s who are the vision of vibrant lovers of life for inspiration. Your picture may be different. Maybe you want to be an active parent or grandparent able to roll around on the floor with the little ones?
Invoke the power of visualization to assist you with your new focus. Studies have demonstrated again and again the power of detailed vivid visualization in affecting positive results. Peak athletes often use visualization to enhance their competitive performance. The same strategy can work for us with our weight loss goals.
So take time each day to see yourself as healthy and slender, living your ideal life. Choose a healthy person you admire and see yourself in her body. I began to see myself in the body of a healthy, strong, flexible, vital 40+ yoga teacher I admire. In time my body began taking on those characteristics as I continued to visualize, eat well and practice yoga consistently.
Affirmations can be another powerful tool for change. Some of my favorite affirmations include:
- I am happily and easily maintaining my ideal body weight
- I am enjoying optimal physical, spiritual, mental and emotional health
- I eat and drink like a naturally thin person
- I am enjoying life as a naturally thin person
- Nothing tastes as good as being fit feels
I encourage you to begin changing your life by changing your thinking!
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