I hear a lot about Food, Exercise, Body...but what about the mind...

AhmadM502
AhmadM502 Posts: 8 Member
in Motivation and Support
With a lot of people, especially those without a particular goal in mind, when discussing my weight loss or someone else's weight gain (bulking etc). Sometimes you find you get the same response...

"Can't you just eat less than you burn"

Now in practice, this is mostly true. Lower Calories in versus calories out results in your body getting its necessary energy from your fat. (Or muscle)

But let's be honest, the real battle, for all of us, is in the mind.

This is the progress you can't see, the progress with no physical form, sure you see those clothes being looser, muscle definition becoming more clear, posture increasing, and you can see the confidence of a person getting better too, usually associated with the body.

But what some people don't see. is the first few weeks, where you just want to give up, weight's not going down, you feel like you're starving, everyone around you eating fries, burgers, Pizza. You have a war in your mind. (assuming you've expended your calories)

Come on...just one slice...
NO
How about a few fries
Don't do it

But when you start working hard, from the start, and fight past those initial weeks or so, that's when you've built strength, in your mind.

Pfft...pizza!?
Who needs it!
Don't do exercise today?
YEAH RIGHT!

I'm not there yet. But I know that state exists, the point at which your mindset has changed. Where nothing can stop you, and I'm getting fired up thinking of being there!

I'm gonna get there, a point where my Mind controls my body, my body DOES NOT control my mind.

WHO'S WITH ME!

Let's show your bodies' WHO'S BOSS!

I'll see you on the other side!

(P.S. yes haha my favourite food is pizza for those wondering why i keep mentioning it...I believe its my kryptonite at the moment, BUT NOT FOR LONG!)

Replies

  • yayamom3
    yayamom3 Posts: 939 Member
    I had all the tools. I knew exactly what to do to lose weight. But I was never able to break the continuous yo-yo cycle of losing and regaining. Until this year, when I changed my focus to fixing what was wrong in my mind. I did that using knowledge gained from listening to weight loss podcasts. I have completely changed my lifestyle and my way of thinking about food now, and I am so happy and content with my weight loss and my new way of thinking about food and my body.
  • gisem17
    gisem17 Posts: 50 Member
    Willpower is a muscle that needs to be exercised in order to get stronger. I'm not saying you should go looking for temptation, but as temptations find you and you willpower through them, the willpower muscle gets stronger and it becomes easier to do so.
  • Dogmom1978
    Dogmom1978 Posts: 1,580 Member
    So, I’m not a fan of giving up foods I enjoy. Pizza is literally my FAVORITE. Willpower is not about giving up what you enjoy, it’s about learning how to control the portions you consume. I WANT 3-4 slices of pizza. I EAT 1-2 slices and work it into my calorie deficit so that I still lose weight EVEN THOUGH I ate pizza.
  • AhmadM502
    AhmadM502 Posts: 8 Member
    @Dogmom1978
    Yeah I meant that in my post sorry. I meant, if you've run out of calories for the day, you can 'will' the desire to overindulge away. So you can definitely happily have pizza within your calories. Its just that me personally, id right now probably eat pizza even if my calories had run out
  • Diatonic12
    Diatonic12 Posts: 32,344 Member
    That's why they call it a battle. The mental battle of weight loss, our brains fighting against us and talking us into self-sabotage. Dieting by autopilot doesn't work. There's more, much more.

    If autopilot dieting worked there would be no such thing as rebound weight gain with friends. I'm back....I'm baaaack. I ate it all back. Keep your head engaged in every step of the process.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,876 Member
    Honestly, I think people make things harder and more "painful" than need be.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 31,972 Member
    For me, if it had to be a battle, I would've failed. That metaphor draws on things that are - to say the least - not my long suits.

    For me, there were two things that were the most help on the mental side:

    1. Thinking of weight loss as a fun science fair project for grown-ups.
    2. Recognizing that I was on a slippery slope from bad health to worse health, and that today's Ann needed to give up some relatively small bits of current enjoyment here and there, in order for future Ann to have a better shot at a long, happy, healthy life.

    Those are not what would work for different people with different personalities, but for a data geek/hedonist like me, those were big pieces of a useful framing.

    I'm in year 5 of maintenance at a healthy weight, after around 3 previous decades of class 1 obesity.

    I agree that emphasizing factors we can control (or at least influence), and focusing on those, is also very helpful. Personally, I don't think in terms of mind/body duality, so I wouldn't frame it as my mind ruling my body, but I think the idea of controlling what I can is an idea that reaches the same point. (The existence of cravings can be uncontrollable, but what I actually put in mouth, chew and swallow is absolutely in my control.)

    On the practical side (what techniques we use) but *especially* on the mental side, I think a key success factor is figuring out what exploits our strengths, benches our weaknesses, appeals to our desires, makes things feel easier, and maintains relative contentment during the process. That's going to be a little different for everyone.
  • 363days
    363days Posts: 548 Member
    yayamom3 wrote: »
    I had all the tools. I knew exactly what to do to lose weight. But I was never able to break the continuous yo-yo cycle of losing and regaining. Until this year, when I changed my focus to fixing what was wrong in my mind. I did that using knowledge gained from listening to weight loss podcasts. I have completely changed my lifestyle and my way of thinking about food now, and I am so happy and content with my weight loss and my new way of thinking about food and my body.
    I'd love to hear which podcasts you would recommend. I could really use it.


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