Why is this important? Human beings all share a need to be right in order to make sense of the world and to feel in control of our lives. As we gather our beliefs, we also gather evidence to support them. But in reality there is very little in life that is absolutely black or white. Mostly we just adopt a belief and stick with it. When we aren’t aware of our beliefs, we have no control over them and very often we set ourselves up for failure by having unrealistic beliefs. Did you ask yourself the questions in last month’s newsletter? Here’s a reminder.

“My top five most negative thoughts about my ability to lose weight or my looks are”

“Something I learned from my mother / father about my ability to lose weight or my looks is…”

“The main message I project to others about my ability to lose weight or my looks is…”

These are designed to root out any negative beliefs about your weight / appearance. But remember, these thoughts are merely emotional habits, even if it feels as though you’ve had them forever. They may be so familiar that they feel as though they’re part of you. They’re not and they need to be unglued from you if you are convinced that they are true. But they’ll only be true if you continue to feed them and choose to keep believing in them.

The next step is to CHALLENGE these beliefs - Ask yourself:

Is this belief / negative thought true? Can you prove it? For example what evidence do you have that you’re a failure? I’m sure you can come up with some successes you’ve achieved. Or is the thought just the result of some comment you received as a child that you’ve latched on to?

Does it serve your best interests? If not, why hang on to it?!

Does it advance and protect your health? Do negative thoughts about exercise and diet make you avoid it and put your health on the line? It is now the time to understand that holding such beliefs is not helping you, that in fact they are hurting you.

Is it helping you achieve you weight loss goals? If your goal is to achieve permanent weight loss and experience physical and emotional health that stems from it, then you must test your internal dialogue against that goal. Given your goals, how does your current thinking help you get there? If you want to look better, feel better, how does repeating “this won’t work” or “It’s too hard” help you achieve this? Are your thoughts, beliefs and attitudes moving you closer to what you want? Or are they leading you further away?

When your beliefs and internal dialogue isn’t true, when it doesn’t serve your best interests, when it’s hurting your health, when it’s standing between you and your weight loss goals, then it’s time for you to turn your thinking around and do something different.