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Do you sabotage your own success through your negative thoughts and emotions? 

In previous blogs I have explained why following diets, trying to lose weight and using weight as a measurement can be counter-productive in achieving your goal of losing weight. Today I am going to focus on self-sabotage and how and why you might be preventing yourself from achieving your weight loss goals.

There are 2 parts to the human mind and we don’t pay enough attention or perhaps fully understand how each part works and how they interact with each other. What I mean by the 2 parts is the conscious part and the subconscious (sometimes referred to as the unconscious)

Your conscious mind is the thinking rational part that is good at analysing and logical reasoning. The conscious mind is limited in that it can only process a limited amount of information at any one time. Whereas the subconscious part of the mind is responsible for data storage in the form of memory (storing possibly thousands or even millions of bits of information) It also manages the functioning of the body’s systems which means that you can breathe and walk and carry out a multitude of tasks without having to think about what you are doing.

Another responsibility of your subconscious mind is your emotional state. You don’t consciously decide to be angry, sad or frightened, it just happens as a reaction to something that you see, hear or feel. For example, you might be feeling sad and have the urge/craving for sugar that leads you to seek out the bar of chocolate in your cupboard even though your conscious mind is telling you that you are not hungry or that chocolate has very little nutritional value.

When there is a dispute between the rational part of the mind and the emotional part the emotional part usually gets its way. If you are trying to lose weight you might then feel guilty about eating the chocolate and then feel even worse and so eat some more and so it goes on.

Your subconscious mind is heavily influenced by your internal ‘self talk’ and your imagination. However, it doesn’t respond to a negative instruction, so if you tell yourself “I must not eat chocolate” your mind will focus on the word chocolate and if you enjoy chocolate the emotional brain will crave it even more as it seeks out the opportunity for pleasure.

With certain foods your imagination has an important role to play too. Whether or not chocolate tastes nice and makes you feel good momentarily; it is very likely that the message portrayed by the advertising industry repeatedly over many years that chocolate equals pleasure, by linking it to sex, means that you start to salivate before you start eating it.

So what can you do to resolve the link between emotions and eating and programme your subconscious mind to create the successful outcomes that you desire?

Firstly you need to find ways to change your emotional state before you eat anything so that you can sever the link between your emotions and food. For example you could use your imagination in a positive way by visualising how you will look and feel when you have achieved your desired size and shape.

Secondly you need to remember to eat consciously, mindfully and slowly and not allow yourself to be distracted by watching TV or browsing the internet whilst you are eating.

To find out how Neil succeeded in his goal of becoming slimmer after his weight ballooned to almost 30 stone read here!