I have decided to put a little series together about the weight loss mindset and how to overcome some of the difficulties that we face including sticking to decisions and being honest with ourselves. If anything I hope that you will find these posts useful in your own pursuits in regards to weight loss or craving control.

I will be adding activities within my posts to help you think more critically about what could be holding you back or where you can start in freeing yourself from a lifetime of habits and weight issues. These activities are things I have used to help myself overcome many of my food cravings that have held me back on my path to a healthier existance and without them I don’t think I would have progressed as far as I have so far.

So here goes for the first part…

Where is that moment, that defining moment, when we rise above those outside influences and develop our own individuality – the moment of decision? When is that moment when we choose to do what we know deep down is right and best for ourselves? Do we need to reach the brink of explosion? Do we need to push ourselves over the edge in order to get there? Sometimes. But that doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing, it can be the start of something wonderful.

There are powerful influences clamouring for that place inside of you that makes choices, whether they are your eating habits, shopping habits or even your faith. We can make decisions that are easy, that follow the norm and we can make decisions that are painful, that are downright difficult and even isolate us from the world around us, for a while (or so it can seem).

Eating is ingrained in our culture as a social thing. We celebrate birthdays, thanksgiving, Christmas with a delicious table full of different foods. We get together with friends over lunch or dinner. It is familiar to get stuck to what our society does and can be difficult to let go of when we want to change our ways and live a healthier lifestyle despite what the rest of the world wants to do and wants us to do.

Losing weight is a step towards a healthier lifestyle that can be met with pessimism from others who want you to remain in their world of obesity and cakes. It can be what breaks you and convinces you back into habits you are desperate to leave behind.

But at the end of the day, it is our decision to make.

We can either continue to follow the herd and fool ourselves into happiness or we can break free and make the changes we have always wanted to make.

Decision-making has creative power. Decisions have their own inaction that can build in momentum. Many people have dreamt of what they want to do and made it happen. The world is full of dreamers, but it is only those who act on their dreams who get to where they want.

ACTIVITY

Take a moment to look at your own life, your daily living.

How much of your daily living reflects thoughtfulness, decisiveness and how much is simply playing out habits and unconscious behavioral patterns that have nothing to do with decisions?

For an example let’s take smoking. You are simply acting out of habit and aren’t really making a decision every time you light up. So consider your options, how it affects your health and whether it is really a good choice to smoke. You may have made the decision to smoke many years ago, where you forced your body to accept the inhalation of toxic carbon. Once the body had conditioned its homeostasis into accepting the cigarettes you could do it unconsciously, like breathing.

Write down all your patterns and habits in relation to food and eating.

Do you eat mindfully?

Do you rush out and gulp down a drink before leaving?

Do you eat out of boredom (mindlessly)?

Do you listen to your hunger signals?

Do you know when you are hungry as opposed to craving?

Can you remember what you have eaten on anyone day?

Can you remember if you had any snacks?

When you have tried to diet before have you been aware of your eating habits or has some of it slipped under the radar?

NOTE: If you find this hard, spend the rest of the day and tomorrow with more self awareness and try to notice and note mentally the things you do in terms of eating/snacking and emotionally then come back to this activity

So much of daily life ends up like this – devoid of decisions. That isn’t such a bad thing if our history had been built on good choices, but if not we must stop and dismantle the destructive decisions and any patterns that dictate unconscious behavior and create new healthy decisions. This is crucial in our weight loss endeavors but in literally every aspect of life.

This can be extremely tough at first, because we are so used to being carried along in a culture that has made nearly every decision for us – have you ever stood back and questioned whether your society’s decision making really works in favor of you?

All of us at some point have moaned about the many decisions that have been made for us or moaned about our weight or our living conditions etc. But what have we done about it?

What have you done about it?

Instead of moaning and praying that things will work out it is time to believe in yourself and the decisions you want for yourself and act.

You have all you need in order to change.

Related Articles:

Weight Loss Mindset 1: Making The Decision To Change

Weight Loss Mindset 2: Being Honest With Yourself

Weight Loss Mindset 3: Figuring Out The Why

Weight Loss Mindset 4: Starting On The Right Foot

Weight Loss Mindset 5: Believe You Can, Stick To It & Refresh Daily

Filed under: Cognitive Psychology • Positive Thinking • Psychology

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