Weight Loss Motivation

Emotional Roadblock 3:   Commitment

"I guess maybe I'll give this a try..." I know I should lose weight...it would be better for my health.:" These are typical half-hearted reasons for weight loss. And then come the reasons for failure like "Oh, this is too hard..." or "I'm too busy or stressed to do this now..."

If not now, then when?

Commitment looks like this: "Do I see this as a lifelong change in my relationship to myself and my relationship with food?" or "Is this just another diet: Let me drink the SlimFast, get this weight off, and then I cna go back to McDonald's and my ol' buddies Ben & Jerry."

Unfortunately, many weight loss clients are uncommitted to making any real changes in their eating and exercise habits. It seems that most are looking to weight loss programs as a magic pill to lose weight while maintaining their unhealthy eating habits and lack of exercise.

It's hard to be committed to something you can't even imagine. Sometimes folks last recollection of being slender was when they were in grade school...or maybe never. In this case, it would be best for you to find a picture of someone you would like to look like that is about your height, frame, and your sex. Put that on your bathroom or bedroom mirror so that you could focus on it every time you groom.

The big commitment issues are NEED and MOTIVATION. "Need" is defined as something that is essential or vital.  The answer to "Why do you want to lose weight?" cannot just be: "For my health."  Generally speaking, I would encourage you to dream up all the things you will do once you get to your ideal weight. If you are struggling with this, you probably realize that your past attempts have failed, in part, because you didn't identify this to get to or keep the weight off. Smokers will tell you every day that they know that smoking can kill them...but it doesn't get them to quit. Start thinking about how your life will improve when you are successful at this weight loss. Start pre-living in your mind what your life will be like right here in good old Seattle Wa.

You internally know that it's all about your emotions. Stop trying to kid yourself about temporary weight loss fixes, pills, drinks, etc. and begin to search deep down and decide what motivates you.

Do you have kids or grandkids you want to play with well into your old age?  What are you not doing today that you would like to? Hiking, biking? What will it take for you to make a lifelong commitment to yourself so that you will make a change that makes you happy and healthy? 

I help my clients identify and stick with this image throughout the process that we go through together. It's like the fuel in the rocket ship that Maxwell Maltz wrote about in "Pscyhocybernetics."  We are all on a course for something. If you don't program in a destination, you will end up at a "default" destination. Maybe you are already there...

**Slender for Life™ Hypnosis and Slender for Life™ Program are trademarks of Abundant Living Resources LLC.