Talk Yourself Slim

Talk Yourself Slim

Aren't sure what you're doing wrong in your effort to banish the flab.  Negative talk may have a little to do with it.

The words we use when talking about weight loss - whether to ourselves or other -  have a huge impact on how successfully we shed the kilos.  For example, the more difficult you tell yourself losing weight is, the harder its likely to be.  

We have 60-70 thousand thoughts per day, so imagine if most of those are negative.  What you think creates your mood and alot of your health.  Your self talk is the difference between success and failure.  Positive talk can boost your health!

Talking the talk
While we talk to ourselves almost constantly, we're only aware of a tiny portion of this internal chatter.  There's a vast amount we don't "hear", but it still influences our actions and reactions.

You have to learn to listen to what your saying to yourself.  If out of those 70,000 thought, you're only aware of 10%, the other 90% are just as powerful

Initially embarking on a weight loss regimen may prompt a chorus of encouraging self talk - but that inner critic is never far away.  When somebody decides to lose weight and starts working towards that, their self talk can be quite positive.

It can be saying "You're going to see results soon, just keep going" and that can spur you on.  It can also be saying "You've got a really long way to go" and that can defeat you.

So what's really behind the things we tell ourselves - and how do they stop us from shedding kilos?

What's the Point?
People who tell themselves there's no point in trying to lose weight are feeling overwhelmed by the challenge ahead.  It's no that they don't want to lose weight, but it just feels to hard.  What they've got is a severe case of disempowerment.
Fix It
Remind yourself of the opportunities your weight loss journey offers you.  Rather than saying I can't have this or that, say look at all the variety I can have.  Make it exciting.  You really need want to achieve the goal and see the positive benefits of the process of achieving that goal.

It's not fair
The key to dealing with negative self talk is to ask whether what we're saying is really true.  When I say it's not fair underneath that would be belief that life should be fair - that if I put in X - then I should receive X+ back.  If the reality doesn't match up with their belief system, people fell really disempowered.
Fix It
Go easy on yourself and don't look for drastic results immediately.  Your think you should be able to do that by yourself and have all the resources, but realistically you can't.  You set yourself up to fail.

I can't do it
Psychologists call making sweeping, non specific statements to mask what we're really feeling "global thinking".  It's likely to be fuelled by unrealistic expectations.  People get really enthuastic when they first start out, they don't see any or enough process and descend into that global thinking.  It's very much all or nothing. Fix It
Make it fun! Choose food and fitness activities you can fit into your daily life and that you enjoy.  Try team sports or something social.


It's not worth it
When we tell ourselves that the effort required to lose weight isn't worth the reward, we're really saying that we don't believe we deserve that reward.  At some point you have to ask yourself.  Why am I telling myself this?  If it's true that I just don't care about myself am I ok with that?
Fix It
Remind yourself it is worth it by celebrating your progress every step of the way.  Do nice things for yourself and say for example when I lose 5kg I'm going to have a massage because it's a great achievement. 

Change the record
1.  Write it down - Keeping a journal of your thoughts helps you purge your inner frustrations and provide valuable perspectives. You can bring it out a couple of days later when your in a different mood and think "Goodness, what am I saying to myself".

2.  Recruit a Cheer Squad - Surround yourself with people who are confident and you'll succeed in your weight loss efforts.  Consider joining a sports team or signing up for group classes.  If you've got the support of others and people are positively encouraging you, that will help you do anything.

3.  Faking it til you make it - Thinking is habitual, which is why simply forcing yourself to replace negative talk with positive talk is often effective.  "Everybody has that negative voice in their head that says "I can't do this".  You've just gotta try and turn the volume down and say Yes, I can. 

Be wary, however of bilithely reciting positive affirmations without working to understand why your self talk is negative in the first place.  People with low self - esteem who repeated positive statements reported feeling worse about themselves. 

Stick with your efforts to clean up yourself talk, and you'll shed emotional baggage as well as those unwanted kilos.  Weight loss is usually the hardest personal growth journey anyone can take because it does require you to really get to know yourself. 

Article Courtesy of Good Health