“Watch that attitude, Missy”
Did you hear this from your parents? Did you ever say it to your kids? Yes and yes for me.
Why is our attitude so important?
Our attitude and beliefs are really what drive our actions. We create our belief system with the thoughts we think. We determine what we create in our lives.
I heard this sort of thing many times over the years and I tuned it out or dismissed it for a long time. But, I wasn’t able to make big changes in my life until I really got this concept.
For example, if you believe that you will always be overweight, it will be very difficult to lose weight permanently. When your actions or results start to contradict a belief, we feel stressed because of this internal disagreement. We are often not aware of this going on within us, we just know that we feel uncomfortable. When we encounter this internal disagreement, we can either change the belief system or change the actions. Because most of us don’t even realize that we have the belief, we unconsciously sabotage our results and gain our weight back in order to be back in line with our belief.
This is known as cognitive dissonance and I see it often with myself and my clients. It’s not until we discover the belief that is holding us back and change it, that we can have permanent weight loss.
I had a client who believed that she was different than everyone else. Because of all the times she had tried to lose weight in the past, she thought that it was just not possible for her.
It really didn’t matter what techniques and meal protocols we tried for her, until we got rid of her belief that it was impossible, it really was.
What’s really interesting is that many of the beliefs that drive us are completely illogical.
Do any of these seem familiar? If so, “Watch that attitude Missy!”
I am just not able to lose weight.
Eating and drinking is how I have fun.
My genetics prevent me from being any other weight.
Cooking and eating with my family is love.
All foods should be enjoyed in moderation.
Life would be terrible without delicious food.
Food should never be boring.
Eating right is just too hard.
Cutting back is painful.
Restriction is not normal.
I shouldn’t have to feel deprived.
Let’s start making sure that what we are thinking and believing is true. Maybe start with a thought like, “It is possible for me to lose weight and be healthy”. I believe that is absolutely true for everyone.
TRUTH:
Matthew 19:26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
