Change Your Thinking, Lose Weight

I believe we can change the way we think and as a result of that we can change the way we eat. We can learn to eat better.

This can be seen as a chicken and egg situation. You know, which comes first, the chicken or the egg.

I look at it this way. Whether or not it's the chicken or the egg, I want to get started now. I know I can lose weight initially. The problem comes when I start to run out of steam and lose the "high" that an initial weight loss can bring.

Believe it or not, this technique actually works to your advantage in that regard. You can change your behavior now (more on that in a minute) and you can start to work on changing the way you think.

It takes practice and time to make the changes in your thinking, but you can get started on the behavior right away.

The goal is to eventually switch over to the changed thinking so that you are not on a diet (you do know that diets don't work, right?) but you are actively involved in developing healthy eating habits.

In other words, you are doing something good for yourself.

Ok. On to the changing the behavior part. Pick something related to eating that you enjoy, that is good for you and that will most likely result in a positive weight loss outcome.

Be sure to frame this in a positive way. In other words, it's not about what you won't do (eat dessert, eat second helpings, drink soda, etc.) it's about what you will do. I will have fruit for dessert, I will drink water during the day, I will fill my plate once with at least 50-60% vegetables at each meal.

Be sure you choose a positive action and be sure you only eat foods that you truly enjoy. That's important.

Ok. Here's where the changing your thinking part comes in. Let's say you choose the vegetables option, that is, eating mostly vegetables at each meal.

You are likely to have thoughts about this when you shop for the veggies, when you prep the veggies, when you cook the veggies and when you eat the veggies.

Each time your mind says anything contrary to your goal of establishing better eating habits you mentally picture a stop sign, a great big red one, and you say the word STOP! To yourself. Say it strongly and with conviction. Then you replace the negative thought with a positive one.

For my positive thought, I like to tell myself, "This is something good I am doing for myself."

To review, each time a negative though about food, eating, or your body appears in your mind, you quickly SEE the STOP SIGN, SAY STOP! To yourself and REPLACE with a positive statement.

So the routine is SEE, STOP, REPLACE.

Are you thinking that this is really corny? Well, corny or not, it definitely works.

Pretty soon, because of the repetition, you are believing that you are doing good things for yourself and soon after that you WANT to do more good things for yourself.

The result is that instead of "blowing it" the next time you dine out with friends, you can order a better choice from the menu and marvel at how wonderful it feels to treat your body well.