Could there actually be a good side to the predicament of being overweight? Do you think I am crazy for suggesting such a thing?

Although this is coming from someone who didn’t used to think of overweight as a “good thing”, this is something that I have been thinking about in the past few months, and I think it makes sense.

It goes back to how you feel at this moment as an overweight person. If you feel just horrible about yourself most of the time, berating yourself for overeating and gaining weight, you will very likely continue to overeat as a way to (try to) make yourself feel better.

On the other hand, if you can look at the good side of being overweight and can get in a “feel good” space more often than a “feel bad” space, then you will have a much more positive outlook and be better able to stay motivated to keep taking action to lose weight and get fit.

So what could possibly be some good points for being overweight? Here are 5 that I have come up with:

• You have the opportunity to learn how to set goals effectively.
• You have the opportunity to learn how to cook healthy meals with whole foods.
• You get to be different (who wants to be just like everyone else! 😉 ) and go against the norm of the fast food and processed food culture.
• You have the opportunity to use creative problem solving to rearrange your schedule to: include regular exercise, include time to cook your own healthy food, and schedule time to read and/or listen to positive, inspirational, motivational material every day.
• When you stumble on your weight loss journey and you tend towards perfectionism, you have the opportunity to overcome that by letting go of your mistake and moving forward.

These are just a few positives that I came up with for being overweight. As you can see, overweight presents you with many opportunities to learn new skills, or improve on current ones. Losing weight is, for many people, the hardest task that they undertake in life, however I think that maintaining that loss is the real victory. The first step though, is to get the weight off by making healthy lifestyle changes, and when you are feeling good, you can motivate yourself to do so.

The more that you can focus on the positives of being overweight, as well as the positives of your weight loss program, the easier it will be to stay motivated to lose that weight. I firmly believe in not only the power of your mind, but also your emotions, and if you can get and stay in that positive, feel good space, you will be well on your way to achieving your weight loss and fitness goals.

There Is A Good Side To Every Situation
©2006 by Max Steingart

You cannot have the success you seek
without experiencing some failures.
Any experience can be transformed into something of value.
Everything depends on the way you look at things.

What are stumbling blocks and defeat before you,
can be stepping stones to victory if you remain determined.

In all of your adversities lie the seeds of equivalent advantages.
In every defeat there is a lesson showing you how to win the next time.

View your problems as opportunities.
When it’s dark enough you can see the stars.