Your Emotional Health, Self-Talk and Weight Loss

I have many clients that come to me with the frustration of not meeting their weight loss goals.  They come to me wondering what they can do to reach their “goals”.  I usually sit down with them and go over what they are eating and if they are exercising; the typical conversation I have when a client comes to me for weight loss.

But their eating pattern isn’t the only thing we discuss.

My clients and I may also discuss how they feel about themselves after not reaching their “goals”.  Where is their mindset at?  How are they feeling on their journey to a healthier lifestyle?

Often they might see not reaching their weight loss goal as a failure and a reflection of who they are as a person.  They may then develop a negative internal monologue with themselves that tends to only perpetuate weight gain or the inability to lose weight.

Does this resonate with you?

Bullying yourself is not the way to long lasting weight loss, nor is it part of a healthy lifestyle.

Many times the roadblocks in the journey to weight loss are not a lack of nutrition education or even support, but rather they are barriers you put up in your own psyche that prevents you from moving forward.

Your emotional health is key to your physical health, and talking yourself down will not lead to success.

How many times have you eaten what you consider “poorly” or not in keeping with your “diet plan” throughout the first half of the day, and your inner voice starts bullying you saying, “You can’t even make it a few hours without eating unhealthy” or “Can’t you stick to anything?  You’re such a failure!  You’ll never lose weight!”  The disappoint that accompanies these thoughts almost always leads to more unhealthy choices throughout the rest of the day.

Instead of criticizing yourself, be your own cheerleader.

The day is not ruined if you chose to eat a bagel for breakfast instead of oatmeal.  Tell yourself it is OK and move on.

There are so many more things to the day than what you eat.

Food should only be a part of your life, not what controls it.

The more you can shift your mind from the negative to focusing on all the great things about what you do in a day, the more success you will have with living a healthy lifestyle.

Support from others is great and is a key piece in a healthy mindset (and intuitive eating), but the support you give yourself is equally if not more important.  After all, you are on this journey for you and nobody else, and while weight loss is great, achieving happiness and a sense of peace with the way you maintain a healthy lifestyle is even better.

Intuitive eating can help you change your mindset and help you overcome body bashing.  You will develop a better relationship with food and no longer have feelings of remorse or anger if you go off your “diet plan”.

If you would like to learn more about intuitive eating and how it can help you, contact me here.