Do You Believe You Can Lose Weight?
If you’re reading this, chances are you have some doubts about whether you can lose weight or not. The women I work with have a desire to lose weight, but when we look closer, we discover they don’t really believe they can do it.
And this belief is sabotaging them every step of the way.
But the damage doesn’t stop there. If you’re like many women I know, You’ve put a lot of weight (pun intended) on reaching a certain number on the scale.
For example, you might believe that nobody would want to be in a relationship with you unless you reach your “goal” weight. Or you can’t be successful in your career unless you drop 20 pounds. Or you can’t even like yourself unless the scale says you’re okay.
It’s a Lose-Lose Situation
So here you are. You’ve put your life on hold, waiting until you reach some magic number on the scale. And to make matters worse, you don’t really believe you can lose weight anyway.
This is about the worst lose-lose situation I can imagine for you!
The sad truth is that many women are in this situation, believing they have to lose weight and get to some magic number on the scale in order to be happy. Yet, they don’t even believe they can lose weight.
It’s a dilemma, to say the least!
Do YOU Believe You Can Lose Weight and Keep It Off?
Close your eyes, place your hands over your heart, and take some slow deep breaths in and out. Then say the following statements to yourself and notice how you feel when you say them.
- “I believe I can lose weight.”
- “I believe I can keep it off.”
Continue to slowly breathe in and out and listen and feel for the answers.
Say the two statements again. Was your voice strong and powerful? Or did you hear doubt in your voice?
Did your body feel strong and were you sitting up tall? Or was your posture slumped?
Did you feel good saying these statements? Or did you notice physical sensations in your body such as a queasy feeling in your gut or tightness in the neck and shoulders.
Did any negative emotions such an anger or frustration arise for you?
Are You Waiting to Enjoy Your Life Until You Hit Some Number on the Scale?
One of the saddest things I see in my practice is women believing they have to lose weight in order to be in a relationship, have a successful career, or like themselves.
Is this you?
To find out if you’re putting your life on hold until you lose weight, try saying the following statements.
- I’d really like to be in a relationship with someone, but I need to lose ________ pounds first.
- I know I would be successful in my career if I could just drop _____________ pounds.
- There’s no way I can even consider liking myself until I get to my goal weight of __________ pounds.
If you found yourself agreeing to any of these statements, it’s time to change your beliefs.
Changing Your Beliefs Changes Your Life – And Helps You Lose Weight Too!
I love helping women change their beliefs because it works.
Each week in my live coaching program I get to hear amazing success stories from women who have changed their beliefs.
And because they changed their beliefs, they are living the lives they desire AND they are losing weight AND they are keeping it off.
Like Janna, who finally has the belief that she CAN lose the weight… and she IS! And because of her new belief, she is eating the foods that work best for her and joyfully moving her body more. And she lost 2 more pounds this week. In the past she would try to modify her diet or exercise, but deep down she thought “why bother?”
And there’s Valerie, who finally believes she is good enough. She’s lost 14 pounds because she no longer has to use food to fill that “void” inside of her. And she shared that it wasn’t even hard. She just doesn’t feel the urge to eat the junk.
Marion is another woman who continues to release weight on a regular basis because she believes she can. So far, she’s lost over 100 pounds and she’s keeping it off. She also stopped beating herself up if she isn’t “perfect” when it comes to her food. And, by the way, her business is booming!
Are You Ready to Believe You Can Lose the Weight and Keep It Off?
If so, I warmly invite you to watch my free training, How to Stop Cravings and Emotional Eating So You Can Lose the Weight and Keep If Off. At the end of this free workshop, you’ll have the opportunity to schedule a complimentary session with me.
Don’t let your beliefs sabotage your success. Change your beliefs so you can lose the weight and keep it off!
Let’s Have a Conversation:
Do you think you need to lose weight before you consider plunging into life more fully? Currently, do you believe you can lose weight and keep it off? Have you tried and what were the results?
I just spent more than 30 minutes yesterday holed up in a fitting room with a professional fitter trying to find a bra that would accommodate my increasing girth. I just turned 80 and think I still look quite a bit younger in the face, but am having so much trouble keeping my weight under control since I’ve started finding it difficult to walk more than a few blocks before I start experiencing almost paralyzing pain as a result of spinal compression, which has also contributed to my losing almost three inches in height. The huge mirror in front of which I stood yesterday really made it clear to me that I, personally, wouldn’t want to engage in intimate relations with anyone who looked like I do now even if age wasn’t a factor. I am very visual and know what I, at least, think looks attractive. In our culture, being overweight does not lend to physical attractiveness and I think we all have to accept that. I am counting calories again, the only way I’ve found in the past to lose weight, and hope that image of myself in the mirror that I saw yesterday keeps me on track to lose at least 20 pounds, hopefully 30. I just went on statins at my doctor’s insistence and don’t know if this is a contributing factor, but I can’t afford Wegovy! I do attend a line dance class once a week and intend to sign up at the gym again to walk on the treadmill at least three days a week. The last time I did this, I found walking on the treadmill didn’t bother my back as much as walking outside on hard and uneven sidewalks. Wish me luck!
Best wishes to you Teddee! You are right that some people in our society are not attracted to “overweight” people, but I also want to let you know that is changing for some. I have many women who are “overweight” and still in intimate relationships and many who found a partner “despite” being overweight. So much has to do with our own internal beliefs about our bodies and what vibes we send out to the world.
You look amazing and have beauty within and outside because you sound so positive and motivated. I think you should give yourself a pat on the back for what you are achieving and 80 years of age too. Well done you.
No matter what your age lift weights; heavy weights; muscle burns more calories; add protein; stop any and all added sugars and processed foods; engage a trainer at your local gym or Y to build you a program; YouTube offers tons of videos on weight managment and heath in older age.
I also wonder if the ‘angst” about weight gain in these later stages of our lives could be due to media pressure. This pressure suggests we ‘ought’ to be slim, ‘young’, energetic, attractive and so on. Now that cosmetic companies and the fashion industry realise there’s big money to be made from the grey pound/dollar, they are relentless. I think this has a sibtle effect on mental well-being.
Yes, the focus needs to be primarily on how to stay fit and healthy rather than weight-loss gimmicks of any kind.
I agree Katherine! I definitely help women be fit and healthy, not just in their bodies but also in their minds and their hearts.
It’s been instructive to observe the shift in messaging from organizations like Weight Watchers as the new weight loss drugs roll out. Suddenly they’re admitting that counting calories and exercise are not effective at changing body size long-term. They’ve switched from messaging that sounds like this article, over to touting the weight loss drugs they now sell–despite the lack of data on long-term adverse effects and loss of efficacy for those drugs. These drugs are especially problematic for older women, by the way, because weight loss at our age is highly correlated with muscle loss (sarcopenia). You know what’s both safe and effective? Focusing on physical fitness, especially weight training, and kissing fat phobia goodbye.
Hi Stella. I find that shift very “interesting” as well, but that’s a whole new conversation! Please see my response below for more for more info about how our beliefs affect our bodies. And btw I do think weight training is awesome and needed to preserve muscle mass. Haha – and don’t even get me started on some of the “diet” recommendations! Best wishes to you. Karen
There is no one answer to weight loss, and very little real science has been applied to how weight loss works. A lot of pseudo science is out there, if you’ve got the money to pay for it. Older woman can lose weight (although I doubt the power of positive thinking will do it); the question is, is it worth it to spend that much time and energy on that goal, neglecting all other goals?
Hi there. I agree that there is not just one answer to weight loss but I do know that negative beliefs (what going on in our minds) and negative emotions (how our bodies feel) play a more significant role than many realize. And it’s not the just the power of positive thinking. The science of epigenetics tells us that in addition to external factors affecting the expression of our genes, internal factors such as our thoughts and emotions do as well. When we let go of our negative beliefs and our emotions from the past, and create new beliefs and live with more positive emotions, this affects our entire body and mind. As a result we able to be more successful with our goals (weight or otherwise) than we are when living under the influence of negative beliefs and emotions. This is what I help women do. I hope this helps!
Me again! I forgot to mention that when women change their beliefs and let go of their negative emotions, it positively affects other areas of their lives in addtion to weight loss. For example, their relationships and financial abundance tends to improve as a result of the work we do.
Your health should be your number 1 goal especially as we age; being fat and unable to move easily and lift heavy objects when needed is a big proplem as we age.