Today we are going to talk about the number one mindset shift you need to make in order to lose your weight and keep it off.
Without it, keeping your weight off won’t be possible.
In order to actually lose weight you need to approach it from a place of self love.
Why Self Respect and Love is Necessary for Weight Loss
During my junior year of college, I was at the lowest weight I’d been since 10th grade. I weighed around 195 pounds, which is still considered overweight for my height.
I had been restricting my intake for months, beating myself up anytime I slipped. I was eating way too little, constantly hungry, and usually exercising twice a day. I was also working two part time jobs, in school to be a dietitian and on the cusp of burnout.
I believed I had to be thin or I wouldn’t be a good dietitian and no one would trust me. I disliked how my body looked, and could only see how much further I had to go.
Then one day something shifted. I started gaining weight, even though I was practically starving myself to lose it. When the scale kept creeping up, even with my efforts to prevent it, I got discouraged. Negative self talk set in about how I couldn’t lose weight , so why bother trying.
In hindsight I see this as my body’s cry for help. I didn’t yet know that once your body feels like it is starving your metabolism slows down. The body begins storing every available calorie as body fat.
I just thought I needed to push harder. When that didn’t work I threw in the towel and dove head first back into habits I had before losing any weight.
I was binge eating, going out for fast food even when I knew I was going to be eating dinner soon. I would eat half a tub of ice cream and then feel too awful to exercise.
I was on the other side of the diet pendulum, where many of us end up. Once we regain the weight and realize, society tells us to start dieting all over again.
My mindset was so negative, and I constantly felt like I was failing at following whatever diet rules I’d imposed on myself at the time.
What Will Actually Work
Eventually after years more of treating my body like the enemy. I realized why I couldn’t lose weight and keep it off.
I did not respect my body, and I definitely didn’t love it. I tried to punish it for gaining weight, which in that situation, is what the body is programmed to do.
Think about this: How well do you take care of things you don’t respect, like or love?
My guess… not very well.
I couldn’t lose weight and keep it off because I was not taking care of my body.
Learning this was not easy for me. I always had it in my mind that I’d love my body when I got to my goal weight.
Ladies. This will hold you back as long as you believe it.
Finding a way to love your body, or even just respect it enough to keep it nourished will help you more than beating yourself up ever will.
Action Steps:
Reflect on how you are feeling towards your body.
Is it going to help or hurt your weight loss journey?
What can you do today to improve your relationship with yourself so you can begin to respect your body if you don’t already?