Weight Loss Mindset Means Being Kind To Yourself
We all criticize ourselves way too much.
We judge ourselves, blame ourselves, and get stuck with the resulting shame and regret.
Do you really want to get off the continuous dieting? Be kinder to yourself, celebrate all your successes and cut yourself some slack for any setbacks. No one wants to be around a cruel leader, right? So don’t be one!
One of the most harmful things we can do to our bodies is “go on a diet.” You’re already on a diet. Your diet is the collection of all your eating habits.
It includes how you make food choices, which choices you make, how much you eat, and whether or not you address your emotions attached to food.
So basically, you’re already on a diet. But, the absolute worst thing we do to ourselves, is to go on some kind of restrictive fad diet for the purposes of losing weight.
What happens is you lose weight only to gain most of it back again in a short time. Usually, more than you lost. So be careful the next time you hear about some diet being the “best ever” for you. It’s mostly just hype.
Eating is so much more complicated than “calories in vs calories out.” If you believe the calorie “hypesters” you probably think 1 calorie of candy is equal to 1 calorie of broccoli. Nonsense!
Why do we crave the so-called “unhealthy foods”
We didn’t evolve as humans with a desire for eating healthy foods. We evolved as a species by eating nutrient-dense foods to survive.
Our ancestors didn’t survive harsh winters before modern civilization by pushing aside high-calorie choices for the less fattening spring salad mixes. They ate what they had to, to survive. Right now, the evolution of our nutritional needs hasn’t caught up with our technological advances.
Healthy eating patterns aren’t created by the restriction of specific food items or macronutrients. Healthy eating patterns involve eating a wide variety of different foods and learning to understand what our bodies are telling us. Okay, that makes good sense, right?
Hey come on, please be kinder to yourself, okay?
One of the most harmful aspects of modern dieting is the toll it takes on your self-esteem. Your body is biologically driven to survive. But, psychologically, we’re programmed to eat food for cultural, and emotional reasons. The fact is, food is necessary for survival.
What’s most important is that lasting weight loss depends heavily on your brain’s preset idea of your body’s ideal weight. There’s this thing called a “set point.” It’s the baseline your brain uses to decide what YOUR ideal weight is despite what your doctor tells you.
The desire to lose weight comes with anxiety, fear, and preoccupation with what you’re eating. Dieting is harmful to your self-esteem because we go beyond taking responsibility and right into taking the blame. To lose weight and keep it off, we’re basically fighting against our biological evolution.
Just relax and take a step back for a moment
If you find yourself having one of those internal monologues or conversations with yourself, and what you’re hearing is hurtful and cruel, it’s time to take a minute and step back.
Okay, first thing is, just stop it!
Change it immediately to a positive, less soul-destroying vibe. Be happy with yourself, right here right now. Be grateful you HAVE a body so you can experience this joyful life we have.
Okay, if you think life isn’t fun OR joyful, that’s another topic for another time!
A healthy body isn’t necessarily a super lean body. We think it is because of all of the images we’re blasted with each and every day. But, simply put, a healthy body is linked to a healthy self-esteem and a healthy mind. It must be, right?
Beating yourself up will only raise your stress levels, which in turn affects other hormones in your body. And we all know what stress does. Stress triggers food cravings.
Healthy behaviors like exercising in a way that’s enjoyable rather than stressful, eating foods that make you feel good, and cultivating relationships with your community are more closely linked to better overall health than having a super lean figure.
Obsessive weight-loss-focused dieting can lead to dysfunctional behaviors like mistrust of foods. That’s not good because it kicks in starvation, binging, and creating those negative self-feeding inner dialogues that are harmful to your self-esteem.
The basic truth is that most of us could do with some adjustment to our bodies- or at least we think we need it. What we need more of though, are healthier relationships, a healthier mental attitude, more personal kindness, and acceptance of who we are right now.
Be kind to yourself, starting right now!