This is the 5th and last post in this week’s series on doubt. Why so much time spent focusing on the doubts you might be having about your weight loss program? Because doubt erodes motivation. Any doubt you have can quickly turn into an excuse to go back to old eating habits and sedentary ways. When you work on erasing those doubts, turning them into confidence and belief, then you have a much smaller chance of getting caught up in self-sabotaging thoughts, which can lead to self-sabotaging behavior.
The previous posts in this series looked at doubts you could have about your physical body, your eating plan, and your exercise plan. Today’s post is all about you. Well, it’s all about the doubts you might have about you. 😉 If you aren’t confident in you and your ability to follow through with your plan of action to lose weight, shape up, and change your lifestyle, then you probably won’t get very far in your weight loss quest.
This brings us right back to the thoughts that you are thinking, specifically the thoughts you think about yourself. What are the thoughts that you are thinking about yourself, about your ability to follow through, your worth, and whether you believe that you deserve to lose weight?
So much of weight loss is in the mind. Of course, you must take the physical action of changing your eating and exercise habits, but if you don’t have your thoughts on the positive track, why would you even take action? If you are thinking that your body cannot change and is doomed to be overweight, or that your new way of eating might not be the healthiest way to go, and/or that the exercise that you are doing is a waste of time, then just how motivated can you be?
If your self-image is of a person who “just can’t get it together”, or someone who is overweight and sedentary, these are thoughts. These are not the types of thoughts that positive individuals think about themselves. If you do think like this right now, it’s not a big deal because thoughts can be changed. The point is that these types of thoughts must be changed if you want to get the outer you matching the inner you.
If you doubt your own ability to get fit and trim, you can push yourself until you start seeing results, and those results might help you to change your thoughts. I’d rather suggest that you start with your thoughts now, in case you don’t have the strength to force yourself to take positive action and wait until you see results (and then change your mind).
When I started this series, I thought that affirmations would help with each doubt, however I didn’t include any for overcoming doubts about your eating program or exercise program as I think those doubts are better overcome with research and knowledge. You could certainly use affirmations for success in these areas, and in today’s topic, affirmations are a key component for changing those negative, non-supportive thoughts you are carrying about yourself.
How can you overcome the doubts you have about yourself and keep your confidence and motivation high? Affirmations are an excellent way to turn those negative thoughts into positive thoughts. There could be many different negative thoughts that you constantly think about yourself, and for those you can turn them into your own positive affirmations.
Here are some general, positive affirmations that can work wonders in getting you turned around, creating confidence in yourself and your ability to lose weight:
- I can change.
- I am willing to change.
- I choose health.
- I can change my lifestyle and maintain my weight.
- I have confidence in my
- I can achieve my goals.
- I deserve to achieve my goals.
- I can live slim and trim.
- I can live a healthy lifestyle.
- I release all self-doubt.
To turn your specific, negative thoughts into positive affirmations, keep them in the present tense and positive. For instance, instead of, “I’m not overweight”, choose “I am slim, trim, and healthy”. Go with “I am” instead of “I’m not”, or “I will be”. Affirmations are powerful when written repeatedly (start with at least 10 times a day), or spoken repeatedly to yourself in the mirror. Basically, you are reprogramming your mind with positive strains of thought.
Can you lose weight by simply releasing your doubts, changing your mind and turning it into a hotbed of positivity? I believe you can. Those positive thoughts will naturally lead you to take the action of cleaning up your eating and exercise habits in order to get your outside matching your new inside. Your thoughts are a major component in why so many of us are “repeat offenders” when it comes to weight loss, regain, and loss again, the whole yo-yo syndrome.
How you think cannot be overlooked when it comes to weight loss, and doubts are just thoughts. Doubts can be changed, however. Change is just a thought away. 😉
