Do you know that the way you think can determine if you will be able to achieve your weight loss goals or not?
If you are new to weight loss, it may be difficult for you to see any correlation between your thoughts and the fitness goals.
But if you do a little digging, you will find out that what you think about can affect not just your goals but every facet of your life.
An extensive study that followed about 70,000 women for 7 years found out that people who are optimistic have better odds of success in life (1). Even more, they have a lower risk of developing health conditions like cancer, stroke, respiratory disease, heart disease, and infection.
Other studies have shown that positive people may enjoy the following benefits (2) (3) (4):
- Higher energy levels
- Longer lifespan
- Better physical health
- Quick recovery from illness
- Better stress management
- Better life quality
In this article, we are going to be looking at some practical ways to change the way you think and become more positive.
Before we dive right into that, we are first going to be looking at how our thinking affects our success.
How our thinking affects us
Our mind is powerful and can determine how successful we will be (5).
Most times, what we think about ourselves becomes a reality.
So if you have a habit of looking down on yourself because you have tried and failed to lose weight in the past, your potential and your chances of success will reduce drastically.
The connection between our thoughts and behavior
Do you know that what you think about can affect how you feel and behave?
People who think about failure all the time will eventually start to feel like a failure. Ultimately, they are going to act like a failure and reinforce their negative beliefs.
For example, if you dwell on the fact that you don’t like exercising, chances are, you are going to hate it even more. In the end, you are likely to stop going to the gym and go back to your old ways.
How our beliefs get reinforced
Whether you draw a negative or a positive conclusion about yourself, two things are likely going to happen.
You start looking for evidence to reinforce your belief
If you have the belief that you are a failure and will never be able to achieve your weight loss goals, your mind will start seeing each mistake you made in the past as proof to back that belief or thought. Even if you actually do succeed, your mind may chalk it up to luck.
The bottom line here is that your talent or skill may not be what is holding you back from losing weight. Rather, it may be your beliefs that are anchoring your weight loss efforts.
While embracing positivity won’t magically bring your goals to fruition overnight, it will help increase your productivity to make you more optimistic and focused. Even more, it will increase your chances of success.
Challenging your beliefs
Take a close look at the negative beliefs you have and the limiting labels you have put on yourself. Write them down if you can.
Next, remind yourself that you are the one allowing these beliefs to anchor your progress and that you can shatter them at any time (6).
Always remember that you have complete control over your life and that you can change how you think.
Changing your belief
Below are two effective ways to change your beliefs.
Find evidence that your belief is baseless and untrue
Take note of the time when your negative beliefs about yourself were not reinforced.
For example, if you have labeled yourself as a failure or have a strong belief that you will never be able to achieve anything, you should think about when you succeeded at something, regardless of how small and insignificant it is.
Doing this, will make you see that your belief isn’t true.
Scrutinize your belief
Challenge each of the negative beliefs that will prevent you from achieving your weight loss goals. For example, if you have a belief that you are not good at anything, try out new things. You may actually find a few things that you are good at.
Embracing positive self-talk
There are different strategies and techniques like positive imagery and positive self-talk that can help you think positively.
Below are some tips that can help you get started.
Focus on good things
As you work towards your fitness goals, you are inevitably going to face challenges along the way.
Resist the urge to give up on your goals. Instead, focus on the silver lining, regardless of how insignificant it is.
For example, instead of labeling yourself as a failure when you miss a workout or eat out of your diet several times, see everything that has happened as an opportunity to learn about the challenges that can prevent you from exercising or eating right.
Do well to evaluate your schedule and weight loss plan so that you don’t make the same mistake again.
Practice gratitude
Practicing gratitude can help reduce your stress level, increase your productivity, and make you more resilient, especially in difficult times.
Make time to think about the positive steps you have taken to achieve your goals, the people that you love, and things that make you happy and bring you comfort a couple of times a day. Try to express gratitude for all these things at least once daily.
It is also a great idea to write down the things that you are grateful for each day.
One study found that people who write down things they are grateful for are likely to become more optimistic and live better (7).
You can do this by jotting down the things you are grateful for on the days when things are difficult, and you feel like quitting.
Embrace humor
See, you don’t have to be overly serious or super disciplined all the time to achieve your weight loss goals.
Sometimes, you have to loosen up to scale through difficult situations.
One study found that laughter can reduce anxiety, stress, and even depression (8). Even more, it can improve your mood and boost your self-esteem.
There are tons of things you can do to bring laughter into your life. Below are some of them.
- Make new friends
- Watch a funny TV show or movie
- Read books that you love
- Hang out with friends and loved ones
Positive self-talk
What does the voice in your head usually tell you when you are working out or eating right? If it tells you positive and encouraging things, you are going to soar and achieve your goals.
On the other hand, if it tells you negative things, your motivation is going to deplete quickly. Even worse, you may give up on your fitness goals.
The next time the voice in your head tells you something negative, respond with something positive. This is known as positive self-talk.
For example, if your inner voice tells you that you are a failure because you didn’t work out today, respond by saying that you will do better the next day.
One study shows that positive self–talk can help regulate our feelings and behavior when we are under stress (9).
Hang out with positive people
You are likely going to become more positive if you spend time with positive people. The same will happen if you hang out with negative people.
Take time to scrutinize the people you spend time with. Try to discern if they are pessimistic all the time. If they are, you should spend less time with them.
Hanging out with positive people can boost your self-esteem and increase the odds of you achieving your goals (10).
The best time to hang out with positive people is when you are down or unmotivated to keep working on your goals. They will be more than happy to encourage you to keep pushing and stay positive.
The bottom line on positive self-talk to achieve weight loss quicker
As mentioned above, the way you think can determine if you will be able to achieve your weight loss goals or not.
People who embrace positive self-talk have a better chance of achieving their weight loss goals, as they are always confident, and their self-esteem is usually high.
If you have a habit of saying hurtful things to yourself, perhaps when you make a mistake, you are never going to make much progress.
The negative things you say won’t only make you change your belief and self-esteem but also damage your health.
Studies have shown that people who are pessimistic and negative have higher odds of developing severe health conditions (11) ( 12).
If you feel like you are consumed by negative thoughts or you can’t control your emotions, you should consider consulting a doctor or therapist.
Keep in mind that the reason why you may have negative thoughts all the time may be because of a possible underlying mental health issue.
