With the New Year approaching, millions of people will be making resolutions to hit the gym and lose weight. However, if you want to shed pounds, you better be careful how you word your resolution.
A study published in the Journal of Affective Disorders has found that people who believe themselves to be overweight (whether they were or not) were more likely to be obese in the coming years when the researchers checked back with them. They were also more likely to exhibit unhealthy eating behaviors such as crash dieting and less likely to engage in healthy behavior like exercise and eating clean.
Personally, I am not at all surprised by the findings of this study. In Quantum Love, I examine how our thoughts create our reality. When we think hateful thoughts about ourselves or the world around us, we become powerless to change our environment, and we also attract more negative situations to us.
However, changing your body image can be easier said than done. Here are 5 ways you can begin to change your negative self-talk into empowering vibrations:
- Accept that you currently do not like your body, but frame it in a temporary way. For example, say, ‘Right now I do not like my weight, but I believe that can change.’”
- Eat with awareness. I don’t just mean that you should be aware of what you eat, but that you should be aware of what is going on inside of you as you prepare your food. Try to connect with yourself before you eat anything, even if it is a snack. You might find out that you are snacking for all the wrong reasons.
- Eat for the body you want, not the one you have. In the future, what would the ‘fit’ you eat for meal? Probably not a Big Mac. You have to make choices for the body you want, so you need to able to visualize that future self and believe that you can really get there.
- Don’t spiral into self-hate when you make a mistake. Every mistake you make can serve you. Okay, so you ate a bag of candy over the kitchen sink and gained a pound. Well, what did you learn from that? That you can’t have candy in the house? That you shouldn’t stress-eat after a bad day? Find the lesson and then release the experience.
- Meditate. When you take time every day to connect to your inner self, you are able to shut out the noise from the world and the noise inside your head. You will be better equipped to make healthy choices for yourself and you will be able to pursue your goals with clarity.
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