1. “I am fat”- And perhaps this is true… So how can it be preventing you from weight loss? Well, you will act, behave and do things exactly in accordance to your believes. Therefore, if you tell yourself that you’re fat every day, no matter what you will do your subconscious mind will need to follow and act on that. What you need to do is start adding a second part to this sentence to start re- programming yourself for success. From now on say:“I am fat… NOW, but I won’t be soon if I…. (now add few items of what you can do i.e. exercise, eat healthier, attend this class, go to the gym, etc.)
2. “I’ve tried everything, and nothing worked for me”- No you haven’t! If you tried many diets, pills, etc. you basically tried the same thing in different forms. If it didn’t work for you, that means you need to try something completely different. Everyone knows that good, healthy weight loss consists of 3 eating habits (eat less! eat healthy! eat regularly!) and EXCERSISE! If you still believe, someone will invent a pill or magic diet you have to stop kidding yourself! Besides even pills or diets that do work they will work only in durations that you’re going to be on it! If after you go back to your usual eating habits, you’ll soon be back where you started. You need to change your habits for life to change your body for life! Are you ready to do that?
3. “I’m destined to be fat”- You must have heard of fat genes or so called heavy bones… Although those may exist, I don’t believe this is a cause for being fat nor should it be used as an excuse for you to live your life in the fat body! We (humans) did have fat genes 100 years ago yet obesity problem was none existing back then or very slight. The problem of “family fatness” lies not in genes but in their habits, traditions and small routines repeated every day that makes them all fat. How do you spend time with your family?
4. “Eating makes me feel better” – Emotional eating is a very big point, and I’m only going to touch on it, but yes, eating should be a pleasant experience. You should taste different foods and have pleasure by doing so. Now let’s be honest… Do you eat many foods or do you eat the same food most of the time: sweets, pizzas, kebabs, take-outs… and do you actually feel better? Maybe whilst eating it… but then as soon as you stop you start feeling bad again, and now you feel guilty on top of it! And so you reach to food again… Do you see how this process works and how destructive it is? Before you sit down to a meal, ask yourself, why do you want to eat this? Are you actually hungry or are you trying to deal with your emotions? If the latter you know now that this will not help and only makes things even worse!…
5. “Exercising is hard!”- Yes, yes it is. But it’s even harder to carry all this excess weight on you all day every day! Besides whilst
you exercise your body releases endorphins and maybe whilst exercising you may feel slight discomfort but afterwards you will feel much better! Just remember, before you start doing anything consult with your doctor or a personal trainer who will advise you on exercise routine and level at which you should start. If you do too much too soon, you can overdo your body, and you will get discouraged very quickly.
6. “I don’t have time…”- This is one of the most-common excuses for people who lead fairly busy lives. I know many people, many working mums, who are in sales and travel a lot, yet they somehow find time to schedule gym classes or prepare food for themselves. Just think how much time you spend in front of TV or internet every day? It isn’t about how much time you have… We all have the same amount of time each day! It was never about not having enough time it’s about what you do with your time!
Joanna Daranowska