When you set out to lose weight, it is easy to get disheartened by how difficult it seems to break old habits. Old habits die hard because they are serving a purpose; they protect you from the unknown world of change. But when extra weight starts to interfere with your health or happiness it becomes necessary to change the habits that no longer serve you. Below you will find two ways to break free from your old way of doing things.
1. Become Curious Not Crazed.
The first step to successfully changing a habit is to allow it time to happen. If you are like most people you want change to happen overnight, and when it doesn't, it can make you feel crazed and you can end up accusing yourself of lacking willpower and being lazy. But this self-abuse actually delays your ability to change.
The alternative to getting crazed is to get curious. Becoming curious as to why you are hanging on to old habits speeds the change process because it feeds the brain what it wants - a question to answer. The brain is a problem-solving organ, by asking yourself, in a purely non-judgmental way why you are continuing an old habit you allow the brain to search for and find the answer. In contrast, when you get mad at yourself for continuing an old habit your brain shuts down and doesn't search for an answer because you have already provided one -- you lack willpower and you're lazy.
Learning how to pose honest and caring questions to yourself opens the door to changing old habits. Take a look at this example:
Curious: "I wonder why I feel a need to eat sugar in the afternoon?"
Crazed: "I can't believe I ate all that junk, I will never lose this weight.
Can you see how the curious sentence opens you up to finding a solution while the crazed sentence closes you down?
2. Stop Telling Yourself "Rational Lies"
John Assaraf who you might know from the popular movie The Secret has a saying, "Rationalizing is telling yourself 'rational lies'". Rationalizing is a form of story-telling that you practice on yourself to avoid change.
If you struggle with weight loss you are probably guilty of doing some rationalizing. Even if you know that a habit is leading to results you don't want, your fear of living without the habit causes you to make up stories as to why it is unwise to change.
For instance if you recognize that eating sugar in the afternoon is contributing to your weight problem, yet it is something you look forward to, you might rationalize your sugar habit by telling yourself, "I need it for a quick energy boost." This rationalization might allow you to feel okay about your decision but if your goal is to lose weight then you need to get real with yourself.
This approach to changing old habits is more involved than just wishing a habit would change but unlike wishing, this approach holds the promise of success. Old habits can change and you can stick to a healthy eating and living plan, so take the time to go through this process of change, the positive results and peace-of-mind that come from it will be well worth the effort.
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