Permanent Weight Loss: Dr. Barbara L Katz
Do you know the power of your eating mindset?
It’s June and bathing suit season in North America. If you want to permanently lose your excess weight this year, and you’re still the same weight (or more) you weighed in January, consider changing your mindset – how you think about food, eating, and weight. Mindset is a primary reason why some women permanently lose weight – and many others spend their lives yo-yo dieting.
Let’s Talk About Your Eating Mindset:
Mindset is how you think about something. When you have a thought, your thought creates a feeling about that thought. What action you take – what you do or don’t do – is based on how you feel about that thought. Some examples:
“Mindset is a primary reason why some women permanently lose weight – and many others spend their lives yo-yo dieting.”
- If you’re going to a party and are thinking about and excited about the food – and then when you are at the party, because you are so excited about the food, you eat everything that looks good to you until you become uncomfortable – your thoughts and feelings about the party food cause you to overeat.
- When you pass a bakery or fast-food restaurant and think, “I really would like some of that food,” you feel a craving, and you act on the craving. You buy and eat the food – even if you’re not hungry.
- When you think someone is acting mean to you, feel upset, and decide that eating a half-pint of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream will make you feel better – that’s your mindset leading you to overeat.
How To Change Your Eating Mindset:
How can you change your eating mindset to one that helps you reach your goals? It takes experimentation and a desire to change. You also need a strong “why”. Why do you want to change your thoughts about party food or the cupcakes at your favorite bakery? What is your goal, and is that goal more important than eating chips and dip, a cupcake, or cheesecake?
When you change your thoughts, your new thoughts must feel believable and genuine – or those thoughts won’t have a chance of replacing those keeping you stuck. You will probably need to experiment with different thoughts until you find those that resonate for you. Some helpful thoughts to consider are:
- “I go to parties to socialize and I will eat in a way so I feel good tomorrow.”
- “Eating that food now will make me feel bloated and uncomfortable later.”
- “I’ve eaten that food in the past, and it never tastes as good as it looks.”
- “Three bites is enough for me to enjoy that cake and still feel good later.”
- “While eating ice cream will make me feel good right now, it will make me feel worse tomorrow and will not change how I feel about what she said to me.”
- “These cookies will not make me feel less sad (or lonely). They will just make it harder for me to lose weight, and then I’ll feel even worse about myself.”
“When you change your thoughts, your new thoughts must feel believable and genuine”
Your Desired Goals:
Mindset is the key to changing your weight – and your life. When you successfully change what you think and feel, your new actions will lead to different results. How do you want to change your thinking when you think about your desired goals?
If you want to lose weight, what can you think about food so it is less important? Do you believe those new thoughts – and if not – what thoughts can you think that will help you achieve your goals?
An excellent place to start when working on your mindset about your weight is thinking about your health and how you want to eat to maintain or improve your health. How do you want to eat so you’ll be around for important family occasions in the future? What do you need to do to remind yourself why you choose to eat in a way that benefits your health when you are tempted to eat unhealthy foods?
Journaling often helps with mindset work. When you write down your thoughts and examine them, it is easier to see what you can change. Journaling also makes it easier to ask yourself questions about the thoughts that have kept you stuck.
Spend time working on your eating mindset to make reaching your goals easier.
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About the Author:
Dr. Barbara L Katz is a physician, an Advanced Certified Weight Loss Coach and a Life Coach for women over 50. She is CEO of Dr Barbara L Katz, Coaching and specializes in helping women over 50 to lose their excess weight for the last time without dieting or excessive exercise. She, herself, lost over 40 pounds in her 60s with the help of coaching. In her free time, she participates in dog obedience, agility, and therapy dog visits to the local children’s hospital with her 2 pugs.
As a coach, she helps women visualize themselves as their future selves, comfortable and controlled around all foods. You can sign up for her weekly posts on her website, https://drbarbaralkatzcoaching.com. Every week in your inbox, you will receive information about how to lose weight successfully and permanently without dieting.
