Weight Loss Tip: Learn to Forgive Yourself!
It’s another sunny but cold day here on Long Island, but hey — At least the temperature is ABOVE freezing! It seems like the last time that happened was the last time I had hair…
Anyhow, today I wanted to talk about a very important MENTAL tactic to insure that you stay on track during your weight loss journey. Yesterday, I talked about overcoming a cheat day, a cheat week or even a cheat month by using a simple two-step process: 1) Figuring out WHY you cheated, and 2) LEARNING from your mistakes so that history doesn’t repeat itself!
Let’s take that conversation a step further, shall we?
I’ll admit that I’m a perfectionist. Straight up. I hate losing, whether it be losing a client, not playing up to my standards in a softball game (my recreational sport of choice), or even losing while playing a video game. My girlfriend will tell you — If I lose in Madden or NBA 2K-whatever, you can bet that there are more four-letter words coming out of my mouth than you’ll find at your local dive bar! My softball teammates will concur if I’m having an off-game.
Luckily, these outbursts have dwindled over time with my ever-advancing age… :-)
That being said, I’ve recently learned (this is over the past few years) to accept that I’m NOT going to be perfect. To use a baseball/softball analogy, life throws you lots of curveballs. There are days you’re on your game and hit every ball out of the park, and there are days you go 0-for-4 with four strikeouts.
When we ‘cheat’ on our nutrition, it’s obviously an act of self-sabotage. There’s no two if’s, and’s or but’s about it! While not everyone may know about every negative food stuff they put into their body, we tend to know that beer, pizza and wings are not good food choices. And I think we can all agree that most situations (good, bad and indifferent) in our lives are at least PARTIALLY our responsibility.
That being said, we’re human. We’re not machines designed to function in perfect conditions in a perfect world. Life would be pretty fucking boring if that were the case!
As human beings who WILL make mistakes in every area of our life, forgiving ourselves is the key to making healthy, permanent and sustainable change, whether it’s on a cheat day, or even facing yourself just before beginning your weight loss journey.
Let’s admit it, and I can say this because I was once 100 lbs heavier than I am now: Letting ourselves get to the point that we need help and feel bad about our health and our appearance is all due to personal neglect. We’ve neglected our health in exchange for focusing on something else, whether it be our careers, our families, school, etc.
Whatever the reason may be, it’s best to ATTACK the issue rather than putting our tails between our legs and sulking about how we allowed this to happen. Feeling bad about ourselves, not taking action and staying in the same position is only going to make matters worse!
One thing I did with myself when I was at my heaviest was have a conversation, with myself, in the bathroom mirror.
Sounds kind of weird, but bare with me on this…
After weighing in at 285 lbs, I got off the scale and looked at myself in the mirror. I was in just boxers, so I could see practically my entire body. I was NOT happy with what I saw!
After a few minutes of negative self-talk, I quickly changed the subject to digging my way out. ‘OK, you’ve neglected yourself long enough! It’s time to lose this weight once and for all, and to NEVER let this be an issue again! You didn’t know what you were doing, and you’re sure as shit going to figure out how to both FIX and AVOID this problem from every plaguing you again!’
It took over five years, lots of plateauing, research and trial-and-error, but I finally found the winning strategy, and now I teach it to my Permanent Weight Loss Clients so they can avoid the same starts-and-stops that I did.
FYI, I talk to myself all the time. Have done so since I was a teenager. I’ll pretend I’m in whatever uncomfortable situations are on the horizon in my life, my business, etc., and I’ll practice what I’ll say. Sometimes, in just running through this drill in my own private space, I gain a clarity and may be more forgiving of my liability in the situation, so I’ve continued to do this since this became a regular thing.
I talk to myself everyday in my home office when my girlfriend’s not home. And it’s OK if you do, too. I can 80% guarantee that you’re not crazy (unless of course I don’t know you, which I can’t then confirm or deny) ;-)
Moral of the Story: It’s OK to mess up! You’re human! In order to making a healthy, sustainable and permanent change, you MUST forgive yourself first, and then take action(s) to resolve the issue(s).
Until tomorrow!
Sincerely,
Pete Weintraub
pete@weightlossbypete.com
P.S. If you need help getting started on your weight loss journey, then let’s chat! I’ve helped people all over the world release their excess weight, make healthy lifestyle changes and NEVER look back.
To set up your call, please go to www.weightlossbypete.com/strategy, and set up a date and time that works for you.
I look forward to speaking with you soon :-)
