that little voice.

I still hear it but it's not as bad as it used to be. Here's what worked for me. I told myself that listening to that negativity was the quickest way to backtrack. It's self sabotaging. Once I told myself that I would no longer allow myself to be my own worst enemy, I started working on ways to turn it off. Every time I start doubting myself, I internally repeat all the things I have accomplished. I then start repeating the goals I have. It helps to focus on where I'm going rather than where I am at or where I have been. So, if that nasty little voice pops up, I acknowledge that I'm playing games with myself and I force myself to focus on the positive. You aren't powerless over it. You just have to figure that out and remind yourself of that.

when i hear that voice i just focus on a goal on of the things that is my motivation something like i want to fit back in my old jiu jitsu gi

then just somehow i power through

This is on one of the fb groups I'm in and I'm writing up my own version to remind me why I'm doing this/What my goals are/How far I've come....


Dear Weak [enter your name],

I get it. You're dying for a piece of candy. Maybe it's not the candy (or the pastries, or whatever), maybe you're bored, you're hungry, you're tired of thinking about the candy all day and you're just saying screw it. One bite, one piece, one serving/helping, and then i'm done, I'll go to the gym, I'll go home for the night, I'm still on track.

You're bored.

This is absolutely the stupidest reason imaginable to throw yourself off track, feel disappointed in yourself and your lack of self-control, give yourself a belly you'll have to work off for four days, screw up the carb deficit that I work hard every single day to create, feel cranky, avoid plans with friends or your boyfriend, dread the weekend, add stress to your already stressful life, etc. Remember, you never get bored of accidentally discovering how slim you are, whether it's in the fitting room, when lining up progress pictures, in the locker room at the gym, when you catch a glimpse of yourself in a window as you walk down the street, when someone calls you "slim" or "toned" or "fit". THOSE THINGS never get boring. Focus on how fun and exciting that part of the process is and ignore the rest. For my sake.

You're hungry.

Go drink four glasses of water right now. Back? OK. Are you still hungry? If so, email someone you can confide in. Or eat a protein bar, or go microwave some broccoli. You know that will fill you up and do good things for your body and your goals. You don't want the broccoli? Then you're not hungry.

You're saying "Screw it."

If you want to quit this journey, decide to quit and then you can eat pizza and drink beer every night. You an go out with your friends and eat hors d'oeuvres all night long. you won't feel good, but at least you will be free.
So...is it the freedom that you really want? No. You're having a momentary lapse. Well, think about me. The one who preps all her food for the week on Sunday night, the one with abs, the one who's going to stand up on stage in front of 10,000 people and turn her back and stick out her butt. I'm the one who feels awesome in her clothes, the one who prances around the gym like she owns the place, the one who drags herself out of bed to do early morning cardio, the one who inspires her family, and friends. Think about what you're doing to ME, Strong [enter your own name], when you let a momentary "oh screw it" overtake and overcome all of the hard work I put in every single day, every time I go to a bar and wave off the waiter when he asks what I want to drink, every time I skillfully assemble a healthy, trap-free meal at a restaurant while everyone else orders fries and a third (or fourth...) beer or regular Coke.

And you know very well there's no such things as "Just One Bite."
Every single time you tell yourself you can handle having one taste of something, you're wrong. Is it because you're literally powerless in the face of sugar, is your insulin really swinging that hard that you can not resist? You know that you have a ton of self control. EVEN YOU (I obviously do). This isn't about saying no; by the time you've had the first bite of sugar, you've given UP on saying no. You're saying "yes," and you will continue to do so until it's time to go home or there is no more freakin' candy left in the bowl (did you REALLY want a Mounds yesterday? They're VILE!) So don't ever let yourself cross over into saying "yes" to junk. Say "NO" for HEAVEN SAKE!!

A message from me to you.

I love you (even though you are the weak version of me) because we are the same person. You have a ton to be proud of and you should love the process and love how far you have come. You can go even farther, and you will be around less and less as time passes, you won't have to read this letter as often. You are strong inside, this is only temporary, and it will pass. Now go get a cup of water and get back to kicking *kitten*.

Love,
Strong [enter your name]

Feel the same way sometimes, I can empathize!

The nice doctors in the pretty white coats gave me magic pills to stop the voices in my head...... Now it's lonely in here. :frown:

when i'm having slow weeks or weeks where my weight fluctuates up, i can't help but hear a little voice in my head saying "you'll never reach your goal"

it's so frustrating. discouraging.
i try to remind myself how far i've come and how it'll take time but it just almost seems impossible to me sometimes. i refuse to give up though.

any tips on how to silence that stupid voice? do any of you experience it as well?

In all seriousness though... I do the same thing. It's kind of self sabotage I got going on. But I have been working on things, and now the weight is starting to go down, and I feel better about myself and my goals. I had been at a plateau for about 1.5 years, and I broke out of it recently. I'm on cloud 9, and no stupid voice in my head is going to take that away from me. :bigsmile:

Yes, that little voice has days that it is positively screaming. This little voice is actually the result of evolution and our mind trying to keep us safe. You won't ever be able to shut it off but you can turn its volume down. If there is a trigger event, I immediately look at what actually happened versus my interpretation. For example, a boss once wrote me a bad review so I must be a bad person. Okay, what actually happened: my boss wrote me a bad review. I interpreted it as me being a bad person and that's wrong ... All that happened is I got a piece of news. Take the emotion out of it and suddenly it has far less meaning. Instead, I decided to commit to improving my job performance for my own satisfaction.