8 Beliefs that Keep us Overweight

If you are unhappy with your weight, you probably have negative beliefs that are keeping you stuck there.

Your beliefs determine how you see situations and how you respond to them.

Did you know that up to 95% of your daily responses are automatic?

In other words, you act without thinking consciously.

You just repeat what you've always done!

Your automatic response is like a train track running through your brain.

Imagine - up to 95% of your life runs on this track! By the end of each day, that track has led you to a specific place.

A good question to ask yourself at the end of the day is, “Am I closer to being the size I want to be or am I further away?”

If your automatic actions are taking you further away, then you need to change that track!

So your first step to change is to examine your track,  those beliefs that are keeping you overweight.

How do you do that?

I'll give you my own weight loss journey as an example.

The Beliefs that Kept Me Overweight

When I was 240 pounds, I discovered that my belief systems about my identity, eating, and exercising were helping to keep me at that size.

Here were my beliefs:

1. "I'll always be a big girl."
2. "Big portions make me feel special."
3. "Eating healthy means being deprived of food I really want."
4. "Fast food is good."
5. "Sweets are a treat."
6. "Eating what they eat makes me belong."
7. "Exercise is a pain."
8. "Fat protects me from hurt."

I had to stay alert for lies like these and replace them with the truth. Only through diligent effort did I create new tracks in my mind for my life to run on! Whenever I spotted the lie, I replaced it then and there and acted according to the truth.

Think about how you view the habits you will need to reach your ideal weight. Are you thinking about these habits positively or negatively?

If negative, write them down. Then write down a new, positive story to tell yourself about them, one that will create a new track in your brain that leads to the destination you want to go.

Replacing Lies with the Truth

Here are some examples:

1. Lie: "I will always be a big girl."

Truth: "The truth is that I am not a big girl. I am curvy and petite. Lying to myself that I am naturally big tricks me into eating more than I need to live."

2. Lie: "Big portions make me feel special."

Truth: "The truth is that my worth does not come from food. Eating portion sizes appropriate to my size makes me feel special because I am taking time to take care of myself every day."

3. Lie: "Eating healthy means being deprived of the food I really want."

 Truth: The truth is that eating healthy means healing, energizing, and nourishing my body with the food God made.

I can still have not-so-healthy food on occasion for the taste, but I don't want to fill up on them because I know that will hurt my body in the long run.

My goal is to finish my life well on Earth so that I can do my part to expand my Savior's kingdom.

4. Lie: "Fast food is good."

Truth: Eating fast food regularly led me to gain almost 100 pounds after high school. That was not good!

I want to eat to benefit my whole body, not just my tongue. I will find my "sweet spot" - foods that taste good to me while being good for me. 

5. Lie: "Sweets are my treat."

Truth: The truth is that overindulging in sweets made me obese. That was not a treat!

It is okay for me to have a sweet once in a while for the taste, but I won't try to live off of them.

6. Lie: "Eating what they eat makes me belong."

Truth: The truth is that what makes me connect with people is my love for them, not eating what they eat.

I am free to make choices that are good for me, even if they are different from what others choose to eat. I choose to take care of myself and if others are uncomfortable with that, so be it.

God has given me the responsibility to manage this body that I have, just as He has given others responsibility to manage the body they have.

I choose to take that responsibility seriously and eat to keep my body strong and healthy for kingdom work.

7. Lie: "Exercise is a pain."

Truth: I choose to find exercises that I like. I can walk, dance, do Zumba, weight training, kickboxing, jog on a trampoline, hula hoop, and jump rope.

All of those ways of moving are enjoyable for me and help keep my body strong, healthy, fit, and flexible. This is especially important to help me age well. So I will keep on doing it because I want those results.

The results won't happen by wishing; they will happen by working!

Every little extra movement counts.

8. Lie: "Fat protects me from hurt."

Truth: The truth is that God is my Protector, not fat! I am no longer that 17-year-old girl fearful of sexual assault. I don't have to use fat as emotional insulation to protect myself from hurt.

I believe God's word that says:

For You have been a shelter for me, A strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in Your tabernacle forever; I will trust in the shelter of Your wings (Psalm 61:3-4)."

I choose to dwell under the shelter of God's wings even at my ideal weight.

Take some time today to examine your own belief systems.

The Bible tells you in Proverbs 23:7:

...For as he thinks in his heart, so is he."

Are your belief systems serving you on your weight loss journey?

If not, then your track may be leading you to a destination you don't want to go!