Believe in yourself!!

shaunshaikh

While the majority of the people here are on this website are here to fix a physical problem (being overweight), it seems to me that the root cause for too many people is mental. While I don't agree with all of the production on the show the Biggest Loser, one thing that I do enjoy is that they try to figure out what made people gain the weight in the first place emotionally/mentally and they try to address that before they leave. Unless you fix the root of the problem, it seems to me like you're doomed to return to the same situation.

When people say things like, "I can't wake up that early in the morning to exercise" or "If I have a little bit of carbs I can't stop myself" or "I couldn't walk away from binging", what I hear is self-deprication and negativism. You CAN do all of those things if you believe in yourself. I mean that -- your mind is a powerful thing if you take control of it and don't allow it to rule you. If you just make a solid effort to remove doubt and negativity and replace it with reassurement and self-confidence, you'll be SHOCKED at the things you can accomplish.

When I was in high school, I was big into wrestling. We were pushed on a daily basis and some people quit or half-assed it and then some people didn't and excelled. People always commented how much discipline I had to stay on strict diets and workout 4-5 hours a day and to go running at night when I needed to lose weight even after such a long day of working out and dieting (BTW, the things I was doing to myself were terrible). The key for me was just my inner belief that I could out-work everybody and do whatever it took to become a champion.

Fast forward to college. I'm not wrestling anymore, I'm on my own, and depression began to take over my life. I didn't have that much to be depressed about, I was attending the best school in the country (Texas A&M ), I was making great grades, I had great friends, I had a really supportive family that loved me, but I just felt so much negativity in my life. When I was around people, I just imagined all the things they said about me. Whenever things didn't go well, I beat myself up mentally with put-downs and negativity. I began seeing a counselour and he told me that when I find myself going down those roads, I needed to catch myself and tell myself the exact opposite. For example, when I met someone new and started to think "I bet this person thinks I look like a retard", I would stop myself and just tell myself that this person has an open mind about me. It changed my whole life and my perspective.

And the funny thing is, I was doing this all along in my life in athletics and academics, but for some reason I never thought to apply it to my personal life. Now, I am doing it for my health. I CAN do workouts on my own. I CAN push myself hard. I CAN maintain a good balanced diet without resorting to binging or relying on fast food. I CAN go on business trips and make good decisions. So many people on this website are actually really talented people in so many areas in their life, and I would just encourage you to have the same kind of self-confidence and positivity with your health that you do with other aspects of your life that you are successful with.

Thanks,
Shaun

lutzsher

Sounds to me like you have had your "ah ha" moment! That is awsome . . . the day you realize that darn-it, I AM a wonderful person worthy of great things in life . . . and know that some work and effort on your part will get you there.

PS-that is my favorite part of the biggest loser as well, it is what keeps me tuning in.

sillysal1818

Thank you very much for this post.

Raynamama

Thanks for sharing this post :flowerforyou:
Things started to click for me as well once I started focusing on the inside instead of just the outside.

MB_Positif

Thanks! Very inspirational. I agree that I had to be in check in my mind before any of this started working!

EDesq

Good perspective ! POSITIVE SELF Talk is soo very important in accomplishing anything one sets out to do. I don't care how much support a person has outside of themselves, if their inner-self is not supportive they will fail. That's why sometimes I get tired of all of the "you can do it," "great job," blah, blah, blah because I know it is basically superficial. The BUY-IN has to come from the inside and in the end that takes character.

I want to add that most of what happens to us when we make changes are not mental, but are spiritual awakenings. Anything that we do that lasts and is so profound cuts the spirit in us. I had been trying to lose weight and change my lifestyle for over 20 years. I KNEW (Mental) about good eating and exercise, I tried and tried and tried...but not until NOW, where I have stopped following "Fads" and given up my arrogance about Life's outlook have I been able to move toward My Life's Challenge. I accept that it is Life Long, and most of all, no matter where I am in that Challenge, I Value, Love, Respect and ACCEPT Myself JUST as I Am - Right NOW!