Got Splurge? Don’t get down.

Weight loss tip 165 – Stay Positive

Got Splurge

Did you overdo it a little last night?  Did you have too much cake at a party?  Too many buffalo wings while out with friends?  Stay positive and don’t let a little lapse get you down.  If you overly focus on a misstep, you will have regrets and be more likely to overeat at additional meals before you restart your diet.  Don’t allow yourself time to become discouraged over a single lapse.  When you begin to feel uninspired, focus on your original goal and re-inspire yourself.

The best thing any of us can do when we become discouraged or slip off the road to our goals is to get back on the path and push forward.  The worst thing you can do is to become too hard for yourself.  You are human and not perfect so instead of dwelling on the fact that you had a momentary lapse, forgive yourself immediately and focus on what you can change: now and the future. Think about your goals and focus on your successes and the fact that you are not going to allow this lapse to grow further. 

Positive thinking plays a huge role in your weight loss efforts.  Negative thoughts sustained over time can lead to self-defeating behaviors such as going on and off your diet, overeating, grazing candy bowls, and skipping your daily exercise time.  Negative thoughts trigger your need to seek comfort foods,  Instead of focusing on the negative thoughts, be more like that 1980’s song, “Don’t worry be happy.”  Well, constantly there is more power to that sentiment than you may have ever realized.  Positive thoughts increase your motivation and will up your chance of success.  

A negative attitude and thoughts reduce motivation.  They make losing weight difficult and nearly impossible.  So you have a little misstep?  Focus on the positive.  You will do better the rest of the day or tomorrow.  Berating yourself every time you eat the wrong foods or miss and exercise time, continually focusing on what you cannot eat, and approaching your exercise regimen with dread are all ways that negative thoughts.  These thoughts will sabotage your weight loss efforts.  Instead, focus on the positive, because you can not change the past.

Positive thoughts are empowering and motivating.  The more positive your thoughts, the more likely you are to think you can do it.  If you think you can do it, you will do it.  Think of the movie “Caddy Shack” in which Chevy Chase tells you caddy to “be the ball”.  He is really telling him to have the right frame of mind and avoid thinking about distractions that making you think of anything other making the putt.  Think about what you can have for lunch and the exercise you can do the rest of the day.  

The bottom line: Setbacks are a fact of life.  Transform your thoughts and stay positive.  You can easily overcome a little splurge.   Food cravings or missing exercise is not the end of the world.  Giving more attention to the positive things will help to create higher self-esteem and motivation to continue your weight loss efforts.