Starting a Diet and Giving Up? Here's Why
He tries to lose weight and fails, tries and gives up. After several attempts, he concludes he has enough "proof" that he cannot persist, forgetting that he has an incredible ability to convince himself.
(Photo: shutterstock)Are you familiar with starting a diet and then giving up, starting but not persisting? The reason lies in your beliefs.
In the previous article, we understood that subconscious beliefs hinder us from making changes in our lives and how beliefs affect, among other things, our weight loss process.
In this article, we will learn how to change limiting beliefs and instill new ones.
Our beliefs are mostly formed in the first decade of our lives. The brain is not yet fully developed and operates in slow brain waves like delta, theta, and alpha, which are hypnotic state brain waves. At these frequencies, the brain works like a recording device - capturing events, phrases, and experiences, and forming beliefs about the world and ourselves. When we absorb information through our senses (sight, hearing, feeling, smell, taste), we distort information, generalize, and omit what we find convenient to omit to fit the information to the subconscious belief created in our subconscious.
Every belief consists of the thinking part and the proving part.
The thinking part - thinks a thought, makes an assumption. The proving part - proves it is true.
For example: A person who believes they cannot persist, that they start a diet and give up, what do they do? They attempt to lose weight and fail, attempt and give up. After several trials, they decide they have enough "proof" that they cannot persist, only forgetting they have an incredible persistence in convincing themselves and others that they lack persistence.
What actually happens is that this subconscious belief, or limiting belief, hinders them from persisting with the weight loss plan they started. They remain defeated, and a state of learned helplessness arises: I cannot, I am unable, and I have enough proof of that.
In the NLP method, there are tools that allow us to dismantle and undermine limiting beliefs and replace them with new beliefs.
NLP uproots the limiting belief and replaces it with another belief, much like reprogramming. This process is very important and significant for creating renewed trust in one's abilities.
Initially, choose one limiting belief and start working on it.
So how do you do it practically?
There are several steps to instill a new and progressive belief.
1. The first step is identifying our beliefs - "I believe it is very hard for women at age 50 to lose weight".
2. Start questioning the limiting belief - Is this the absolute truth? Are there women at age 50 who were once overweight and managed to lose weight? Has it happened to me that even though I am 50, I lost weight (for example, last month I lost 4 pounds)?
This question aims to uproot the limiting belief and plant a new belief in its place.
3. Use the proving part for the new belief. Look for people in our lives or environments with similar data who have succeeded in losing weight or achieving the goal we aspire to. "My friend Gila is 50, and she managed to lose weight and looks amazing". The more evidence we have for a belief - the more we will succeed in planting a new and empowering belief in our subconscious.
4. Start using our language to change the belief to an empowering and progressive belief. For example: "Women at age 50 can easily lose weight".
If I have inner resistance to the sentence, I will look for more evidence and stories online, proving that this belief is true and possible.
It is advisable to make the change using imagination and language.
If we do this when we enter a state of relaxation, combined with meditation with calm music and deep, slow breaths, the ability to make a change will be much faster.
What the mind is able to picture - the body can produce.
I imagine my slim self and say: "I am on my way to being thin, fit, and healthy. Every week I lose weight in an inspiring way. I am happy and excited to see that at age 50 my body cooperates and releases excess pounds".
What is your belief? And how are you working on changing it?
Want to know more about my method and learn how to really lose weight? Sign up for the workshop "The Smart Diet" at the Jewish Campus.
Dr. Rina Murdo, Ph.D, is a nutrition coach integrating the subconscious and NLP.
