26 Sep The Missing Component to Your Weight Loss Plan
I think at this point we can all agree that weight loss is a matter of calories… it comes down to simple math, calories consumed vs. calories used. To release weight from our bodies we have to reduce calories consumed and increase calories used. How to do that is where the 1042+ different weight loss / food choice programs come in. We can choose to reduce the fat in our diet… or reduce carbs. We can remove meat, or cheese, or wine, or sugar, or flour, or… food all together with a “Master Cleanse”… we can juice, we can eat nothing but cabbage soup… and the list goes on and on and on and… here’s the things… I think all of these will work for some of us. Because each is a reduction in calories. Finding the one that works for you is part of your weight loss journey.
And just as there are a plethora of choices to approaching food choices – there are just as many ways to increase calories used… at the end of the day we have to choose to move more… and just like food choice plans… all of them will work for some of us. Finding the one that works for you is part of your weight loss journey.
Food choice plans, I got’em
Adkins – check. Eat to Live – check. Weight Watchers – check. A Course of Miracle Weight Loss – check. Master Cleanse – check. Juicing – check… and once in high school yes, I did consume nothing but cabbage soup for a week – check and never again. I have tried and succeeded with some, failed miserably with others over the years. Here I am, still struggling internally with what the scale says and what I see in the mirror.
What I have come to understand as the the missing component in most of the weight loss programs out there is a focus on self acceptance, forgiveness and compassion.
That cruel voice of criticism and shame is the biggest saboteur of any goal we set for ourselves.
Loving Our Way Through Weight Loss
The thoughts we have about ourselves, the words we choose in our own minds, and the ones we voice in the world will all effect the choices we make. Believing we are unworthy of love makes it difficult to make loving choices for ourselves. Believing we don’t deserve to feel good inside our own bodies will block us from making choices to support our bodies.
I believe the words we choose in our own heads to describe our own bodies are just as important to achieving our body shape goals as the food we choose to eat and the way we choose to move.
As part of your weight loss journey I invite you to include a time of awareness. Take a week and really listen to the words you choose to describe yourself – both in your own mind and out loud to others. Writing them down can be a painful and powerful exercise.
I am fat. I need to lose weight. I am disgusting. I HAVE to work out more. I am SO lazy. I have NO will power. I’m unlovable. I don’t have time to exercise. I don’t have time to eat well. Fast food is the only thing I have time for. I have to eat at my desk. I am ugly. I am a horrible person. I am a slob.
I hate my body.
I hate myself.
How can any of us make healthy, loving choices when faced with a list like that?
Time to listen to the beliefs we have about ourselves brings the gift of clarity… and clarity can be the gateway to change.
I believe you are beautiful… no if, and, or but.
I believe you are worthy of achieving a body weight and shape that supports your ideal body functioning.
I believe you deserve to feel good inside your own body.
I believe you are worthy of making the most loving, nourishing, supportive food choices FOR YOU.
I believe you deserve time, space and support to move your body is ways that work FOR YOU.
I believe you are God’s Brilliance made manifest, deserving of all good things.
I believe you are worth discovering the most loving, accepting, compassionate words you can use to describe yourself to yourself and others and doing so is part of your weight loss journey.
As you discover the words that are supporting you in reaching your goals, I would love for you to share them in the comments below. The words you share may be the inspiration someone else is desperately searching for.
Today I am choosing the most simple and difficult words for me,
I love my body.
