Cultivating the Power of Positive Thinking to Aid Weight Loss
Hey Angels and Alphas,
It’s no secret to anyone that positive perceptions about your personal health, your abilities, and your healthy habits are undoubtedly necessary if you’re going to reach your goals – and it’s no different with weight loss.
Recent studies have concluded that both genders have similar perceptions about their ability to maintain a nutritious diet, however women are less confident than men in their ability to maintain regular physical activity levels over a large span of time (despite men actually reporting more health problems such as high cholesterol and hypertension.)
That being said, the study linked above shows you that, regardless of your gender, relying on positive thinking and self-perceptions may be the key to achieving the goal you’re after. Mindset is key.
Both our behaviors and our actions are strongly influenced by our way of thinking and what we believe to be true about ourselves and the world.
Meaning that if you mentally perceive yourself as an active person and you actually enjoy healthy eating, you are much more likely to invest more time into these activities and turn them into habits.
If you’re someone who isn’t used to thinking positively or you just don’t know how to adopt a new and more positive mindset, here are a few strategies you can use to do exactly that:
#1 VISUALIZATION
Most people get visualization all wrong. If you envision the way you want to see yourself, you’re actually doing yourself a favor. However, you have to be as specific as possible in visualizing how to achieve that goal, not just the end goal.
Imagine the positive feelings and opportunities that will arise from feeling more physically and mentally fit. Imagine how your body will feel and move like. Imagine all the benefits you’ll get by working on your health – will this allow you to focus more at work, have more energy for your children, etc.?
Not only that but visualizing the possible roadblocks to your diet and exercise goals will allow you to potentially find new ways of overcoming them. You’ll naturally start creating scenarios in which you endure and overcome these challenges. This will generate a greater likelihood of achieving the goal you’re visualizing.
#2 SELF-TRUST
Self-trust isn’t something that’s easy to develop. But believing that you can achieve your exercise or diet goals will go a long way toward success.
If your perception is that your goal is absolutely achievable in the timeframe you’ve given yourself, you’re going to experience less mental roadblocks. With perception being the basic truth of your reality, believing that you’re active and healthy will going to have you acting this way, feeling this way, and becoming this way.
#3 LONG-TERM THINKING
When you start making lifestyle changes in order to achieve your weight loss goals, you’re probably not going to see the instant results you want.
And if you expect too much from yourself in the short term, this will definitely backfire and make you question your ability to achieve those goals. If you bring yourself down because you’re not seeing the quick results you want, this could potentially stop you from achieving further progress.
Instead of doubting yourself, you have to remind yourself that the changes you’re making are going to lead you on the right path. A healthy lifestyle happens one day at a time and the only way you can sustain it is if you’re focused on the long-term results.
#4 BREAK AWAY FROM FLAWED OR NEGATIVE THOUGHT PATTERNS
If you think you’re doomed to fail just because you’ve failed before, chances are you are going to set yourself up for another disappointment. We all know what an effect self-fulfilling prophecies have on our lives. Self-fulfilling prophecies happen when someone unknowingly causes one of their beliefs or predictions to become true simply by the fact that they start acting in a manner in which the expected result becomes more and more certain.
If you want to achieve the goals you’ve set for yourself, it’s absolutely vital that you turn this type of thinking around. And you can do that by redefining your thought patterns – anytime you catch yourself thinking negative, unhealthy, or unproductive thoughts, replace them with positive ones.
Redefine your self-fulfilling prophecy by making it positive and helpful. If you honestly believe you’re an active person, you’ll be more likely to stick with a diet or exercise routine.
That’s why it’s so easy for people who have been athletes all their life to jump back on track once they’ve fallen off for a little bit – they already have the mindset that they’re active people who have had a period of being inactive instead of believing they’re inactive people who want to become active. That positive mental attitude has a tremendous and extremely powerful impact on our emotions and behavior – use it to your advantage.
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