Does this describe you at all…

• • I’ve read tons of books, articles, blog posts, and magazines about eating healthy and losing weight.

• • I have a Pinterest board full of recipe ideas.

• • I have a cabinet full of vitamins, supplements, and protein powders.

• • I KNOW what I need to do in order to be healthy and to lose weight…

• BUT I just don’t do it.

If you can relate to this, I imagine that you probably feel pretty frustrated…and maybe even a little angry. You might wonder WHY you just don’t do what it takes to lose weight. Let me reassure you that I’ve talked with enough women about this issue to honestly say that you are definitely not alone if you’ve ever felt this way!

But it also got me thinking…we have so much information available to us about dieting, weight loss, and eating healthy, and so many women tell me that they really do want to change their habits. So why isn’t it working?

Well, over the past few months, I’ve had a few ah-ha’s that helped me answer this question. And here’s the truth: most diets lead us to believe that losing weight is just about what you eat and how often you work out. Unfortunately, diet and exercise alone are simply not enough.

So many more factors determine whether or not you will lose weight, but one of the biggest pieces we often overlook is…your mindset. Losing weight and improving your health has to begin with your thoughts, beliefs, and feelings. What I have discovered is that until you address this area, you will find it extremely difficult to lose weight AND to keep it off, which is what most people really want.

Now, time for a little honesty…I really think this idea is pretty profound. But, when I share it with other people, it often takes them awhile to realize how it actually applies in their own life. (Does that ever happen to you?? You’re so excited about a revelation but then other people just don’t understand how great it is??)

Because I know the impact that your mindset has on your health and weight loss efforts, I wanted to find a way to help you figure out if this just might be part of the missing piece for you personally. So I put together a list of four questions. All you have to do is to read through them below and answer them honestly. 

If you really want to dig into this, I would encourage you to spend some time journaling as you reflect on these questions. You just might be surprised with what comes up for you!

A word of caution: As you reflect on these questions, please don’t judge or criticize yourself. The purpose is to simply bring awareness about what is really going on for you. So, please, just get curious and have some compassion with yourself!

1) Do you really want to lose weight?

I know you might be thinking, “Yes! Of course I want to lose weight!” BUT, before you fly by this question and move on to the next, take a moment to really think about it.

I am finding that for most people who struggle with losing weight there is often some benefit to carrying around the extra weight. Perhaps it allows them to hide who they really are. Maybe it serves as a mask or a barrier that prevents them from getting too close to other people. Being overweight might protect them from something…like getting into one more bad relationship. 

For other people, at a deep level, they really don’t want to lose weight because food serves such a huge role in their life, and they don’t want to lose that.

Simply ask yourself, what benefit does staying overweight give me? Or, how does sticking with my current habits benefit me? Do I really want to lose weight?

2) Do you turn to food to deal with emotions?

Dealing with difficult emotions can be really tough, so instead of facing them head on, many people turn to food as a way to distract themselves, to comfort or soothe themselves, or to just avoid the issue altogether.

Additionally, some people turn to food when they are bored, stressed, or lonely, while others use food to make them feel good and to bring them joy.

Now, I’m not saying that we can’t ever enjoy our food. BUT, it becomes really difficult to lose weight if food is one of your primary coping mechanisms.

3) Do you think this will just be one more diet that you are going to fail at?

Women who have been on several diets in the past are used to losing weight and then gaining it back. And let me tell you from experience…this can be really discouraging! It’s easy to begin to believe that nothing will ever work for you.

You might still continue to try new diets with hopes that you will find something that works, even though deep down you’re thinking this is going to fail like everything else you have tried.

Unfortunately, if you don’t truly believe that something will work for you, then you will end up self-sabotaging. You won’t be fully invested in whatever program or diet you are doing, and most likely you will end up proving yourself right…it won’t work.

4) What do you believe about diets?

Have you ever had one of these thoughts:

• • Diets are too hard or too complicated to follow.

• • I have to be perfect in order for the diet to work.

• • I’m always hungry when I’m trying to eat healthy.

• I don’t want to miss out on good food!

To be fair, these statements are true of most diets, so no wonder you might think this way! If these are your beliefs, though, then how committed do you think you will really be to following the diet? If you believe you have to be perfect and that you won’t enjoy your food, who would want to follow that?

Once again, if you believe the diet will be too difficult to follow long-term, then you will end up proving yourself right and sabotaging your weight-loss efforts.

A Missing Piece to Permanent Weight Loss

If you can relate to any of the questions above, then most likely your thinking has sabotaged your efforts to lose weight and to improve your health in the past. These deeply held beliefs will influence the actions you take and the choices you make with any future attempt to eat healthy.

But here’s the good news…improving your health and losing weight doesn’t have to be a negative experience! It is possible to change your habits and to enjoy the process. It simply takes a new approach. It takes setting aside everything you currently believe about dieting and being open to new ideas. It takes a willingness to look at some of the thoughts and emotions that are getting in your way. In all honesty, what do you have to lose…besides a little weight?

So what do you do now? If you are ready to get honest with yourself about the questions I posed here and to learn more about this different approach, I invite you to sign up for my FREE 5 Day Weight Loss Challenge. This challenge will help you jumpstart your weight loss by starting to figure out what’s really going on with your body and why you might have sabotaged your weight loss efforts in the past.

Join the Challenge >>

Also, I’d love to hear from you! Please share in the comments if your thoughts, beliefs, and emotions have ever impacted your efforts to improve your health or to lose weight.