Lose Weight by Ditching these 4 Beliefs

When it comes to weight loss, more often than not the reason we aren’t seeing results isn’t that we aren’t working hard enough to reach our goals; in fact, someone who has decided to go after their goals actually puts in a lot of effort. But the one area we often neglect, and the one we should start with, is our mindset - getting in tune with our thoughts and beliefs; the ones that set us up for failure or success. These beliefs are those little voices we hear in our heads that can either help us reach our goals, or keep us from living the life we want.

I remember my first big-girl job working at a Children’s Aid Society group home. During my very first shift, I had to deal with an aggressive teenager. Us staff were on protection mode and I had to repeatedly restrain him, a very physically challenging thing to do. In no time, I was sweating and out of breath. To this day, I can hear this kid’s voice talking down to me, “Looks like you can’t hack it Cindy!” I was infuriated. Who was this young teen to judge me on my first day of work? He had even managed to learn my name in the middle of all the chaos! I remember going home and telling my roommates. I was angry at the kid, that’s for sure, but who was I fooling? He was (as much as I hate to admit it) almost right. I hadn’t worked out in a long time. How could I expect to put up with aggressive children who were bigger than me when I was so out of shape? At that time, I just hung out with friends and ate what I wanted, when I wanted. Wasn’t that what college students were supposed to do?

It didn’t take long for that moment to be a catalyst in a series of moments to come. I joined a gym, got a personal trainer and just got moving. It was time for me to not only be responsible with my adult life, but with how I treated my body.

Although the six words that young man spoke in the middle of his rage was my turning point, it wasn’t all downhill from there. When you are in it though, you keep saying “Just get your shit together” and struggle to figure out why you just can’t put the pieces of the health and fitness puzzle together. But upon reflecting, my shit was together for the most part, but my beliefs were holding me back.

These are the four beliefs I encountered back then, and the ones I run into with clients almost daily!

“It’s too hard!”

How was I going to fit gym time in between school full-time and a job, plus all my necessary social time on the weekends? I felt so out of shape and embarrassed to say the least, and lifting heavy or running on a treadmill just seemed impossible. Even your regular gym class was hard to keep up with. But I hired a trainer to help break things down for me and set me up for success, and I took it one day at a time. I rallied my support team (friends and family!) to join me too and of course those six words kept pushing me through.

"I will when I have more time.”

I can look back and say that I was putting off getting in shape for a long time. That kid was just affirming to me what I already knew. One party session on a Saturday and I would say, “I will start living healthy on Monday.” That is, until the party scene rolled into Fridays and then Thursday nights. I was just putting it off, waiting for “one day.” But one day was always pushed off to another day. We say we are too busy and need to wait for the perfect time to start something new, but all we are doing is postponing our own happiness and goals.

“I’m okay with how I look and feel”

No, I wasn’t! I was lying to myself and to everyone else. I wanted what my roommate had – to fit into size 2 jeans and a wardrobe to die for. I didn’t care what the chronic disease rate was in my family, or how many people had heart attacks. There were days when I felt good, and days when I would go into a downward spiral when I was in a new environment surrounded by new people. I would just lie to myself about feeling good and liking myself. In fact, that was how I wanted to feel, but it wasn’t reality.

“I’m successful in other areas of my life, so…”

I was paying my way through school, had a grown up job, had a car…what more could a girl ask for? Although those are all important, I let those titles and material possessions give me my sense of worth. It didn’t matter how much I bought or the grades I received, I was searching for something else…to feel me, a whole me. My addiction to self-improvement was a crutch for my feelings of inadequacy, and I used my milestones and accomplishments as substitutes for a sense of self-worth.

It didn’t take long for eating well and exercise to be routine and something I just did, like brushing my teeth. What I was afraid of was:

1. Fear of success

2. Fear of failure

3. Not having the know-how to do it

4. Fear of judgment from others (it took me 4 years to finally use something other than the women-only section of the gym)

But the fear eventually subsided and with that, other doors opened for me. And during my six years of work at CAS, no kid ever uttered those words to me again!

What beliefs hold you back from going after what you want?