Sunday, February 14, 2010

Why it is best not to be down on yourself about your weight (hint: not just because it's not nice)

Hello, here is something true:

Feeling bad about your weight does not help you lose weight.

Letting go of my anger with my weight has been a massive self-fight on several occasions because it felt like doing so would mean giving up any chance at losing weight. (I'm assuming right now that this theoretical "you" is above her set weight, as I was. Thank you, freshman twenty.)

Actually, it is much, much harder to to lose weight if you feel guilty or angry with yourself about your current weight.

It is much, much harder to make positive change of any kind in your life if you are harsh with yourself.

You have to achieve a modicum of self-acceptance before you can successfully change what makes you unhappy.

Does it sound counterintuitive? Well, it's true.

Confidence and positive motivation are prequisites for making changes in your life. Escaping being beaten up by yourself is not positive motivation.

If you don't have good energy in your system, and belief in your ability to effect change, you will not be able to achieve what you want. You will probably self-sabotage, go through cycles of extremes, and ultimately be too low on energy from beating yourself up.

Before you attempt to make a change in your life, see if you are able to say this to yourself first:
I am okay with how I am. I am not perfect, but I am acceptable to myself. I am doing the best I know, and I am learning how to do better. Just as I am in part responsible for the presence of things I don't like in my life, I have the ability to get rid of them and replace them with better things.
Am I making sense?

11 comments:

  1. That's so true. I find the best success in change my life comes when I am confident about it, not when I'm despair about it. Thanks for the reminder. I think I needed it this week. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow, I really needed to hear that...

    ReplyDelete
  3. well said, my friend. especially the last part.

    ReplyDelete
  4. As always, you make perfect sense. Thank you for this.

    ReplyDelete
  5. true true, sigh. I'm still working on that though. I'm getting better.

    ReplyDelete
  6. That is such a powerful mantra ^^) Very well put! Thank you for sharing that worth while piece of sound advice ^^) Very nice blog

    ReplyDelete
  7. Debbie, Stephanie, Anna - I needed it too. I only write self-help posts when I need to help myself, hah.

    odessa - thank you, lovely.

    Beth - ? hehe.

    Summermoon - Good. You are very welcome.

    pinkapplecore - Yes, I have no doubt that you are.

    Smileyfreak - Thank you! It is kind of a mantra, isn't it...

    ReplyDelete
  8. Ive been really hard on myself lately about change. Right now im able to say those words to myself and positivity has been a great help. Thanks for the reminder so i dont go crazy :)

    *"Vanished" by CC

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous - good job, you. and good song. :)

    ReplyDelete