Your Mind and Your Weight
There’s a phrase that some counsellors use when treating patients: “act as if.” Others have called it the “power of positive thinking.” There are probably many other ways of referring to it, but in essence the core of the concept is this: you will perform better if you believe that you can, and the way to nurture that belief is to keep going back to it again and again. I can do this. I can do this.
Obviously positive thought alone isn’t going to be enough. Thinking positively about an upcoming exam without bothering to study for it is a recipe for disaster; you should never confuse positive thinking with magical thinking. But if you’re doing everything else correctly, the power of your mind can provide that extra boost you need.
And positive thinking can be a tremendous asset to you in your weight-loss programme, both before and after your weight-loss surgery or other bariatric procedure.
Every morning when you awaken, take a few moments-while still in bed-to work on your own personal creative visualisation. Picture yourself at a healthy weight. What does that look like? What clothes will you be wearing? What activities can you imagine doing? Where will you be? What will you do with all the great new energy you’ll be experiencing?
That’s your image for the day.
As you get up and go about your tasks and responsibilities of the day, take a few brief moments every hour or so to ground yourself back in the image you created that morning. See yourself doing something you never thought you’d be able to do-skiing, or travelling, or maybe just feeling good about yourself, wearing something nice to a party.
That thought alone isn’t going to make you lose weight, of course; but it’s going to contribute to the success of whatever weight loss procedure you and your medical team have selected. Start doing this creative visualisation before your bariatric surgery, and you’ll be ready and excited when it’s time. Keep doing it after your bariatric surgery, as you watch the pounds disappear and you move ever closer to the “you” that you’ve been visualising. Keep the image there on days when you may feel blue.
There really is power in positive thinking. Why not harness it for yourself today?
