Using Psychology to Lose Weight
Subscribe in a reader
Are mirrors, especially full-length mirrors, the bane of your life? Do you avoid them at all costs? Do you restrict your mirror looking to mirrors that show you only from the neck up?
Dissatisfaction with your body rather than being a motivator for weight loss can have just the opposite effect. It can take away your weight loss motivation.
If you find yourself in this situation, why not try to break the spell of the mirror by taking a look at your entire body in a full-length mirror.
See if this helps: While looking at your body in the mirror, you could stay in the present and be nonjudgmental. Just look. Don’t judge. See what thoughts and feelings occur to you as you look. Don’t try to change your thoughts and feelings. If you have reactions to these thoughts and feelings, see what your reactions are and don’t try to change your reactions either.
As you look at your body in the mirror, also try describing all the different parts of your body. Don’t skip over or dwell on any part, and give equal attention to everything you see. Please do not be critical or unkind. Describe the different parts of your body using the descriptive language of color, proportion, shape, etc.
Once you’ve looked, accepted, not judged, and kindly described your body, plan to do this again the next day and the next. See if it gets easier and easier to see yourself in not such dissatisfied and judgmental terms.
Remember, when it comes to losing your unwanted weight, you need to have lots of good confidence and a high level of motivation at your disposal. Feeling better about your body despite the fact you have weight to lose will be an important source of this self-confidence and motivation.
