Do i need to lose weight? Maybe you do, maybe you don't.
Before you pull out the weight loss calculator and ask how to lose weight fast, consider:
1. Do you think weight loss will solve all your problems?
2. Do you eat a lot of food before you start diets and don't stick to diets very long?
3. Are you not in a great emotional state?
4. Are you happy with your food relationship?
If you answer 'yes' to any of the above questions, please consider the paradigm or idea that you may not NEED to lose weight.
While you may WANT to lose weight, you may not NEED to lose weight.
If you have diabetes, prediabetic, heart condition, etc ... you do NEED to lose weight. I won't argue with that. But here's my point.
When you say (or think) you NEED to lose weight, you become stressed out.
This stress makes it LESS LIKELY that you will lose weight.
Sure, you can decrease your stress by controlling your food intake ...
But only for a short period of time. Then you lose motivation and the weight comes back.
When you think you NEED to lose weight ...
You become NOT GOOD enough just the way you are.
When you think you're not good enough ...
It becomes very hard to do what you NEED to do ... which is MEET your NEEDS.
When you don't think you're worthy of love, self-care, respect, boundaries, etc ...
Then you neglect these aspects of your life.
Now hold on ... do you think I am saying to NOT lose weight?
Because I'm not. I'm not saying 'don't lose weight and stay the same as you are.' I'm not saying that.
In fact, I made a whole blog post about this topic because it's so important!
(The blog post is called '“Do I Need To Lose Weight?” Asks Woman. No! Stop Your Stressful Thinking!' and you can view it here: https://weightlossenlightenment.com/do-i-need-to-lose-weight)
I can't stress this enough.
You need to shift away from purely focusing on weight loss and focus on self-care, self-study, habits, nutrition, etc
Because when you focus on weight loss ...
You become narrow minded, rigidly focused on calorie cutting. You become desperate to lose weight.
And in Weight Loss Enlightenment, we realize the truth: that your inner energy will manifest outwardly.
So if you are in a desperate stressed out place because you NEED to lose weight ...
Can you guess what happens next?
You don't lose weight.
Sure, maybe you lose a few pounds but then because you are miserably starving yourself, causing your food cravings to skyrocket through the roof, you can't STICK with your diet.
So the weight comes back and you're back to where you started, desperately trying to lose weight.
Now when you start to shift your mentality, I do want to warn you that you might feel ANXIOUS.
Doesn't dieting give you a nice sense of control? It's safe, straightforward, predictable, etc...
Heck, there are even weight loss calculators!!!
And then when you start to shift you mentality ... something I call weight loss enlightenment ...
All of a sudden ... your certainty is gone.
Now you have to face tough questions like:
1. how do I take care of myself?
2. What foods are healthy for me personally?
2a. How do I know which foods are healthy for me personally?
3. What if I don't lose weight, how will I love myself?
And these questions are tough. There's no easy answers.
But easy answers don't work.
Easy answers are ...well...you guess it. Easy.
But unless you change deep down in your soul ... your body won't make lasting change.
So watch out for these 4 signs!
1. Do you think weight loss will solve all your problems?
2. Do you eat a lot of food before you start diets and don't stick to diets very long?
3. Are you not in a great emotional state?
4. Are you happy with your food relationship?
(if you want more signs to look out for, try out this buzzfeed article titled '15 Signs You Should Definitely Stop Trying To Lose Weight' which you can read here: https://www.buzzfeed.com/sallytamarkin/weight-aint-nothing-but-a-number)
Because personal growth is nonlinear.
Now again...
When you take better care of yourself, have better boundaries in relationships, get your life organized, sleep better, focus on nutrition and how food tastes and feels and how food makes you happy ... and focus on taking small steps that feel good and building your confidence over time ...
You'll lose weight.
But give up predictability. Give up NEEDING weight loss.
Give yourself what you really need. Which is taking care of YOU. LOVING YOU.
I made another video titled 'Why Asking "How Many Calories Are You Supposed To Have A Day?" Is A Trap!' which you can view here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVOmFpIYIbI
Does this make sense?
Let me know.
This video's practical exercise is:
1. Notice in your gut if you feel like you NEED weight loss.
2. Then ask yourself if you really want or NEED weight loss? Need would be where you are going to die soon if you don't lose weight.
3. Notice any anxiety that comes up.
4. Question - why is that anxiety there
