Change your thought patterns and change your eating
When we are in a rut, it's often due to limited thinking patterns. Recently, whether it's because it's the middle of winter, the lack of holidays or the bus strike, I've seen many people stray from their usual good eating habits and have difficulty getting back to choosing smaller portions or staying away from those unnecessary snacks. I will hear things like ‘I've just lost my motivation', ‘I've hit a plateau and don't know how to get off it' or ‘I am just too tired to make a proper meal'.
Do you remember when you started and simply knew you were going to lose weight? You felt good mentally and physically and were excited week by week as the pounds came off. What happened? It's really a mental-emotional thing. We have to learn not only is this normal, but also how to get our minds confident and excited again for the next stage in our weight loss journey.
Two limited thinking patterns are Overgeneralization and Polarized Thinking.
With overgeneralization you reach a general conclusion based on a single incident or piece of evidence. You exaggerate the frequency of problems and use negative global labels. You make sweeping statements based on scanty evidence. An example might be, "You see, I'm a huge failure. Every time I try a diet I fail, so what's the use of even attempting to continue”. You must fight these thoughts by quantifying instead of using words like "huge”,” awful”, and "massive”. Make a more gentle statement "I'm on a plateau. Everyone hits a plateau I'm sure, but this time I'm not going to give up till I figure out what I am able to change”. Another way to learn how to stop overgeneralization is to examine how much evidence you really have for your conclusion. Failing only occurs when we quit trying. If you gave up on previous diets, maybe some life issues (marriage, babies, job, university, illness) got in the way and you lost concentration. You are not a ‘huge failure'. You are in fact a courageous person for attempting to change eating and exercise behaviours in a society that is full of fast foods, easy treats, big screen T.V's and cars versus bikes.
Polarized thinking: Here you think only in black or white, or right or wrong. You have to be perfect or you are a failure. This must stop. We all are on a continuum. People are not happy or sad, loving or rejecting, brave or cowardly, smart or stupid; all of us drift on a line between these extremes. We are too complex (human beings) to be categorically one or the other. So, cut yourself some slack! So what if you had a piece of cheesecake?! You are not a ‘diet failure'. In fact if you chose a small piece over a large piece, you made a conscious decision to enjoy but not ‘overstuff'. This is a success story.
Usually, we are in a rut because our minds and our thoughts are keeping us there. Stop negative thoughts. Try to be aware of how you talk to yourself. Learn new patterns of self-talk that are positive and uplifting, not disparaging. This is how you get out of a rut and ‘motivate' yourself once more.
Hang in there. It's never easy, but I know you can do it. Don't ever give up trying.
Dr Doug