It’s probably safe to say that we can’t trust our own logic most of the time when it comes to making decisions about the foods we eat and the real reasons we are struggling to lose or maintain weight, or we’d all be at our ideal weight. Often we make the decision to go on a diet or lose weight after some sort of positive or negative thought we’ve had and usually that thought has been amplified by our current emotions.
I’ll give you an example:
- First, we put on a pair of jeans that doesn’t fit like it used to.
- Next, we get frustrated with ourselves for allowing this to happen which stirs up the emotions pot.
- Then we start making decisions fueled by those emotions to get back in shape, eat better, and start exercising.
And somewhere in all those emotions we find our motivation to look and feel better and tell ourselves we won’t allow this to continue.
With our motivation awakened we decide to get started. With motivation moving us along, we think, plan and prepare for the start of the new healthier you. Starting anything new always has some level of excitement to it, doesn’t it? The tasks for shopping for food, doing some research on diets, or perhaps buying a new workout outfit keep our excitement levels running high in the beginning.
Then the day comes to start(usually Monday, lol) and it actually goes pretty good. The second day the same. It seems as if we have finally found our motivation this time to get healthier and shed those extra pounds! But as the days progresses our motivation starts to decline and so it’s time to call upon our WILL POWER to help us out. The trouble with will power is it rarely stays around for more than a couple of days at most. Then it leaves us feeling frustrated and telling ourselves we are just lazy and then the cycle of going back to those unhealthy habits of eating start again. Ask yourself how often motivation and will power has solely helped you reach your weight loss goals or helped you maintain the weight you may have once lost? For most people that answer or rarely.
So why does willpower so often fail us when we need it? Why is it so difficult to stick to something that could only improve us? You may say, “This is my last soda pop, candy bar or a bag of chips and nothing is going to stop me from losing weight or improving my health this time,” and then before you know it your back eating it a few days later amplifying feelings of guilt and shame that it’s another failed attempt at reaching your goals.
The thing you should know about willpower is, it’s only meant to last a short while and that’s why our old habits eventually kick back in. Will power is meant to resist short term and immediate temptations. It’s there to help aide us in our long terms goals over our desires for instant gratification.
According to American Psychological Association, researchers have defined willpower as:● The ability to delay gratification and resist short-term temptations● The ability to override an unwanted feeling or impulse● The conscious and effortful regulation of the self● A limited resource capable of being depletedRead that last definition again: A LIMITED RESOURCE CAPABLE OF BEING DEPLETED.
You see our conscious or everyday minds are there to make decisions and analyze how it can make our lives easier. Its job is also to protect us from things that are uncomfortable or that could hurt us. Yes it’s true that eating healthier foods and exercising would never hurt us, but the conscious mind knows it will be uncomfortable and therefore resorts to any old programming that has already been placed in our inner minds about how we eat and ways to make us feel better when we are struggling. Once it finds information to support why we shouldn’t be uncomfortable anymore or validates why we deserve to take a break, motivation and willpower go bye bye.
It doesn’t take very long for it to find that information it needs to tell us to quit. Likely you have been programming your mind to believe or think a certain way about yourself over time. Maybe you’ve said or thought a few of these things before:● Boy I’m fat and overweight● I’m not attractive● I’m lazy and unmotivated● I’ll never be able to lose this weight● I’ll start on Monday because that would be easier● I did a good job today so I deserve to eat this
Unfortunately it’s the conscious minds, job to hold up a STOP sign to any suggestions to positive change that doesn’t match with its programming or ways of thinking about ourselves.
All of this is pretty depressing right? But there’s good news! Once you change your programming and ways of thinking about yourself, your inner mind you will naturally follow. Thinking about food and exercise differently, and shedding unwanted weight will start to happen automatically as your mind now steers you to things that align with your new programming and ways of thinking about yourself. When you do this you are making a lasting change vs a temporary change.
There are two main ways of getting new programming into our inner minds that align with your weight loss goals. The first is repetition and the second is hypnosis.
We know by repeating or doing the same thing over and over, we develop a new habit. Research shows that it takes a lot longer than 21 days to develop a new habit, and shows that 66 days is the minimum amount of time to cement a new way of thinking. Unfortunately, only two repetitions or negative thoughts can be enough for us to repeat that behavior or form a bad habit. If you grab a coffee and donut on your way to work, or a bowl of ice cream before bed two times in a row, it’s likely that you will have no trouble repeating this new pattern over and over.
Our mind is the most important key to losing weight and keeping it off. By understanding how your own mind works and why it makes those automatic and often unhealthy choices the better you can form a new way of thinking that matches the new image of how you want to look and feel.
The fact is that habits are hard to change and alter, but creating them is very easy and most of the time our excitement and willpower give out before we reach our goals. That’s where hypnosis can be a very effective tool in helping people reach their weight loss goals. Hypnosis can be an effective way to get new programming and ways of thinking about ourselves into our inner minds and allowing that new image to take hold immediately in our inner subconscious minds. Not in 60 days, but often after just one session. We often make things harder than they have to be, so consider using hypnosis as a valuable resource to aide in your weight loss goals and improving your overall health.
