There are hundreds of diets telling you how easy it will be to lose weight with their method/product. I am going to tell you the truth. On paper, weight loss is easy. You follow the prescribed steps and you lose weight. However, we are humans and life does not occur “on paper”. The reality is, weight loss is hard. It takes a lot out of you emotionally and physically. There are a few things you need to know about this process that will make the journey a little easier. Notice that I said EASIER, not EASY!
Dedication- Are you committed to the process? What are your reasons for wanting to lose weight? If it has anything to do with another person, you may want to rethink this process. The dedication must be to yourself. If you are doing this for anyone else, the likelihood that you will get frustrated, defiant, and/or resentful is high. A dedication to something other than the way you think you should look also needs to be part of the equation for long-term success.
Flexibility- Attempting to make changes with rigidity will not be successful. You must let go of your perfectionism. If you think that you will be able to stick to a plan perfectly, life will have other things in mind for you. If you are rigid in this process and expect perfection, you will give up because you will feel like a failure as soon as you step out of the plan.
Courage- Face your feelings. We are so scared of feeling our own emotions, so we avoid them with food. What is the worst thing that would happen by feeling your feelings? The chemical reaction that takes place in our brain when we experience an emotion only lasts about 90 seconds when we acknowledge it. Depression and anxiety are a different story, but if we can hang with loneliness, stress, and shame, etc. by acknowledging the feelings for a couple of minutes without using something like food to numb them, the intensity will decrease and we won’t need to engage in emotional eating.
Patience- It took more than one day to gain weight and it will definitely take longer to lose weight. Stop putting so much pressure on yourself to lose 50 pounds yesterday. This will just serve to keep you stuck in the same pattern that isn’t working. Instead, focus on small lasting changes. It may not seem like much, but they will all add up over time.
Michelle Lewis
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Michelle Lewis has been working in the mental health field since 2001. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Weber State University and a Master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Utah. She is passionate about helping others achieve their goals.
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