Talking Healthy to Yourself

By CNY Healing Arts Published on

5, 4, 3, 2, 1….Happy New Year!  This is the time of year when most of us begin thinking of our goals for the year ahead.  The one right at the top of the list—weight loss.  We prepare by buying special foods, exercise equipment, vitamins and supplements which are helpful for our bodies, but perhaps one of the most important and loving things we can do for ourselves is to prepare our minds.

Negative self-talk influences our behavior.  First we indulge a little at that holiday party with a dessert.  We get home, feel guilty, and eat a little more thinking, “Well, I’ve already blown it today, I may as well indulge a little more.”  Or, we look in the mirror and change out of that shirt and put on a baggier one because we feel it covers up what we perceive to be our flaws.

Step One:  Love the body you’re in now and give thanks for it!  Our bodies were miraculously created and allow us to be with the ones we love and do the activities we desire!  The law of attraction can be applied to our bodies:  if we think negative thoughts about our bodies, our bodies will respond accordingly.  Louise L. Hay said in her book, You Can Heal Your Life, that “The excess weight is only an outer effect of a deep inner problem.  When we feel frightened or insecure or ‘not good enough’, many of us will put on extra weight for protection.”

The best weight loss tool we may purchase this year is an empty journal.  Let all your feelings spill out on paper.  Write down your fears, write down your insecurities.  Take it one step further and ask yourself why you feel like that and what you’re trying to protect yourself from.