Hope and Weight Loss

For many years, I would “hope” that I would lose my weight and keep it off that year.  Losing weight was my #1 New Year's resolution.  When I "hoped" to lose weight, I thought I was being positive.    However, “hope” did not help me to lose weight.  Hoping did not teach me to regard food in the way that was necessary for me to make permanent changes.  Hope is not an action.  Hope is a feeling – but to get results, we need actions that enable us to reach the results we desire.

When we hope, we are in passive mode.  We just tend to think something will happen without our needing to do much other than to desire it.  To make something happen, we have to act!  Many times,  we will need to try many different actions – before we find the ones that actually help us to obtain our goals.

Like most of you, I tried many diets – Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, the Ice Cream Diet, a low sugar -  but high carb diet, etc.  It wasn’t until I found thoughtwork – the skill of changing my thoughts about certain foods and eating – that I was finally able lose my excess weight for good.  It wasn't just learning to think different thoughts about food and eating, but it was also then feeling differently because of those new thoughts, and then acting differently that I was able to get the results I desired.

Every day, I journal about my thoughts.  I look at those thoughts and think about whether those thoughts will generate the kinds of feelings that will help me to act in ways to get the results I desire.  I look at my thoughts and feelings as a scientist – I try on different thoughts and feelings and then see what actions they encourage me to do.  I then pay attention to the results I obtain from those actions.  If something doesn’t work, I experiment with different thoughts, which enable me to feel different feelings, which then cause me to try different actions.

It's "nice" to hope – but it's actions that get results.  It is easier to act if you are acting from feelings that motivate you.  And to generate useful feelings, we need to think thoughts that will encourage us to act.  

You may not believe that you can lose 50 pounds this year.  You may not be ready to cut out sugar from your diet or to decrease your bread intake.  But maybe, you can eat intentionally 3 meals a week.  Maybe you can try not eating when you watch TV, or try only having dessert twice this week.  Those small changes add up.  And instead of hoping, you will be doing actions that will help you to achieve your natural weight.

Using thoughtwork can not only help you to reach a healthy weight, but it can also change your entire approach to your life, your self-concept and your relationships.  For the cost of a vacation, you can make permanent changes in your life, and to live a bigger and more intentional life no matter what your age.

Through coaching I can help you to live the life that you envision.  Schedule a no obligation, no pressure, consultation through my website at: https://drbarbaralkatzcoaching.mykajabi.com or email me at [email protected].

If you are not receiving my weekly blogs and think you have subscribed, please check your spam folder.  And share this with an interested friend.