I’ll never forget the day when Brandon walked into my office and told me his Halloween Story. He wanted to lose weight to control his blood pressure. He’d started out well and had lost 12 pounds. Then his fixed mindset and sweet tooth both got the better of him. He believed he needed to control his eating through willpower. Halloween was just a couple of weeks away. He bought a big bag of Tootsie Rolls for the kids who would come by to Trick or Treat. He put the candy in a bowl right next to him while he watched TV to challenge his willpower. By Halloween, he had to buy more candy because he’d eaten his whole stash. Brandon concluded that he couldn’t succeed because he didn’t have enough willpower to lose weight,
What is getting in your way? As I talked about in my book, Happy Life at a Healthy Weight, what are you telling yourself about your ability to lose weight? This post explores how your mindset and beliefs from the past may interfere with weight loss and spook you this Halloween. Yet there’s a way to cultivate a mindset shift that will help you let go of old habits and master new ones so a sweet tooth doesn’t have to get the better of you. Mindset is fundamental for your weight loss success because you can put the brakes on your progress with an inner ROADBLOCK that you’re going to fail before you even start your weight loss journey. I believe you deserve to have a fulfilling life, one that includes a healthy mind and a healthy body at the weight you want to be, and the ability to look in the mirror and love who you see. To succeed, you’ll need to become aware of and remove beliefs that are inner ROADBLOCKs.
Mindset is important because if we have beliefs that interfere with what we really want, it’s easy to sabotage ourselves like Brandon did. So, let’s look at what mindset means. Mindset usually shows up as self-talk that represents an attitude and a set of beliefs about a particular skill. In terms of mindset, beliefs are everything. Beliefs are powerful and that’s why whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right. You get to choose. If your mindset seems fixed and you want a change, you can start migrating a specific belief towards a growth mindset. Here’s how: show some flexibility, try out new things, and see what works. Can you give yourself some grace and believe it’s possible to build new beliefs and habits?
Try this quick life hack instead of giving up on yourself as not being good enough to realize your aspirations with a consolation prize of Halloween candy. Identify one belief related to your health, self-care, or weight loss that is holding you back. What is the opposite of that belief? Which of these two beliefs makes more sense? Write down these two beliefs and put them side by side on an index card or somewhere else that is handy. Look at them each day and decide which is true for you.
Want to know what hidden habits are in your way? Take our free Top Inner Roadblocks to Weight Loss Success Quiz and see what might be standing in your way.
Need ideas so you can relax to reconnect with yourself as you pursue your dreams and aspirations with our last blog post.
Source:
Loughrey K. Happy Life at a Healthy Weight: Creating a Shame Free, Healthy Relationship with Food and Life.Authentic Wellness Publishing Company, LLC; 2024.
Kay Loughrey, MPH, RDN, LDN Transformational Speaker, Breakthrough Coach, Nutritionist-Dietitian
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Kay Loughrey, MPH, RDN, LDN is a licensed Nutritionist-Dietitian and a weight loss coach with 30+ years of experience in helping people lose weight and develop healthier relationships with food. She coaches her clients nationwide providing weight loss planning, video check-ins, and more. Schedule your free consultation.