Losing Now

I have been reading or skimming through the ‘Biggest Loser Weight Loss’ book and have found nothing really new or earth shattering.  It is nice to read about the contestants for motivation.  But there was one item that I think is insightful and bears repeating.

To succeed at major weight loss and body transformation it is imperative to be comfortable in your own skin.  Too many people in the western society hate themselves.  The poor body image is the term we use today.  I must admit that I fall into, or did fall into the self body loather.  I mean, why should I like anything about a body that needs to lose 151 pounds?

 I need to like my body for what it is for two reasons.  First, you can’t fix up something that you think of as worthless.  If it was a house you would rebuild.  If it was a car you would go out and buy a new one.  If it is your body you basically wait for death and hide the body from the world until the casket closes.   If you find things in your current body that you like you, will be motivated to improve it, to make it better.  A person inheriting an old family home on a plot overlooking the ocean will see value in an old dilapidated structure.  It just needs a coat of paint and some repairs.  Have you ever seen a man that loves cars purchase an old GTO?  The thing will be rusted out and not run.  The man’s wife will nag to get that thing out of the driveway, but the man hangs on and works on it.  Slowly the man knows that that GTO will be the envy of all around. Our bodies are like that GTO, or must be for us to succeed.  You must see the worth in yourself.  You must know that it is a loss to the world if you don’t get your body up and running.  Seeing your value and your body’s value is the only thing that will work. Second, you can not solely look at the end result of your weight loss as the prize.  Losing 151 pounds for me will take a couple of years, and building up muscle to look great will take a couple of years longer than that.  If I can not be happy with my body all through this journey I will fail because the journey is too long.   It will be impossible for us to see the joys of losing 5 pounds, much less 1 pound.   With this much weight to lose there will be far more 1 and 3 pound loss weeks than there will be 50 pounds, 100 pounds, and 151 pound loss weeks.  If you can’t accept yourself and find worth in yourself now I think you should just give up the effort and try another time.  Being comfortable in your own skin is this important to succeed.

Every time a person says something negative, or that you take as negative about your body you must tell yourself 2 things positive to combat that.  Every time that subconscious little voice in your head says that you aren’t worth the effort and that it is better to give up, you must consciously reply with 3 things that you like about yourself that makes you worth this great effort.

Remember that being prepared is a big key to succeeding also so make a list of things you like about yourself.  Try to find 5 things that you like about your physical body and 5 things you like about your self as a person.  Try to add to this list every day.  Then, use this list to combat the negative thoughts and comments you receive throughout the day, 2 positive for 1 external negative, and 3 positive for 1 internal negative.

I will start my list here as an example.  You will see that some things in the list will seem petty to others, but are a big deal to me.

Positive Body

1. I am tall
2. I have great eyes
3. I have gentle hands
4. I have a strong body frame
5. I have small ears

Positive Self

1. I am empathetic of others
2. I am smart
3. I work hard even through challenges
4. I am loved by my family
5. I am kind and giving to others
6. I am not bound to money one way or the other

So make your own list.  Write it down and put it in your wallet.  There will be times when you can’t think of one of those items because you feel so negative about yourself.  When those times come, take out the list and read it all to yourself.  Finally, add to this list.  Make a conscious effort to build the list, not from what others say, but from what you say. 

Good luck and God Bless

This entry was posted on Friday, July 13th, 2007 at 2:16 pm and is filed under Motivation, Philosophy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.