Think and Lose

For years I have been a fan of  rational emotive therapy which is basically a way of changing negative thinking patterns into motivating empowering statements that can change unwanted behavior. Recently I came across the following quote which gave me some food for thought along these lines:

“If you don’t change your (negative) thoughts your life will be like this forever. Is that good news?” – Dan Miller. Wow, who wants to stay stuck with excess weight forever?  By constantly stating these irrational negative thoughts this is  exactly what you are programming yourself for.

The idea here is that what we constantly think  about becomes our basic reality. Negative thoughts literally turn into negative behavior predicting potential unwanted behavior. Many dieters fall into negative thought patterns especially when  feeling discouraged, so here are some alternative ways of thinking:

• “I’ll never lose my weight, this is taking so long.” Instead say:  “It may take awhile but I’ll get to my goal, I just need to be patient. It took me awhile to gain it so it will take some time and effort to lose it."

• "I've already blown it today so I might as well eat whatever I want." Instead say: “I can still get back on track right now and balance my food out the rest of the day. Maybe I can even get some extra activity in too to compensate a little. And, I won't do any more damage for the day."

• “Dieting is so hard.” Instead say:  “Dieting is challenging but it doesn’t mean it’s impossible especially if I go on a healthy weight loss plan and get support when I need it.”

So release any belief that seems to have power over your thinking. You have the power to choose positive thoughts over negative ones!  Think (positive) and lose.