“The more fear one has of anything, the more a vibrational match to the thing that they fear they are.”

~Abraham-Hicks

I’ve been focused more on the fear.

Recently a sales clerk saved me from buying a pair of pants in a larger size because I was “afraid” the smaller size wouldn’t fit me. I hadn’t even bothered to try them on.

After pulling my summer clothes out of the closet, I almost didn’t try on a pair of carpis because I was “afraid” they would be too tight. They fit just fine.

My focus is more on what I don’t want than what I do.

Is it any wonder my exercise and eating have been off and weight is creeping back on?

You may have done this too . . . and not even been aware of it.

Have you ever lost weight, but after you met your goal you still felt fat?

When you looked in the mirror, did you still catalog all your physical flaws?

Did you notice new problems, like loose skin or a softer belly?

How quickly did you gain back the weight?

Our thoughts and feelings are much more powerful than most people understand.

If you feel fat, or focus primarily on what’s wrong with your body rather than what’s right, it’s almost impossible to lose the weight—and keep it off.

To truly be the slim, strong, and fit person you want to be, you have to feel slim, strong, and fit . . . at least most of the time.

Feeling slim is critical to being slim long-term.

And no amount of diet and exercise is going to alter your self-perception. That is a change that has to come from the inside out.

Most people see themselves through filters of self-criticism, limiting beliefs, assumptions about past experiences, and self-created interpretations or judgments about themselves, other people, or situations.

A lot of life disruptions in the past six months have left me feeling slightly out of balance and I’ve noticed that I’ve been falling into some of these old thought patterns. (Those old patterns never completely go away, by the way, but hopefully you make stronger grooves running in the direction you DO want to go.)

Your thought patterns make it easier—or much, much harder—to follow through with the actions necessary to create the body you want.

Just think about how much easier is it to resist those chocolate chip cookies if you are feeling confident and excited about being slim, strong, and fit versus seeing yourself as fat and telling yourself that you’re never going to have a beautiful body no matter how hard you try?

What’s the point of resisting if you are never going to achieve your goal anyway?

So you eat the cookies. Maybe a lot of them.

But how can you go from seeing yourself as flawed and fat to feeling slim, strong, and fit?

It just feels like a big fat lie, right?

What is a new thought you can believe, that makes you feel a little better about yourself?

How about:

• “I’m learning what I need to get slim, strong, and fit.”
• “I’m consistently taking the action to get slimmer, stronger, and fitter.”
• “Every day I am getting slimmer, stronger, and fitter.”

Find the new thought that you actually believe that helps make you feel closer to how you think being slim, strong, and fit will feel.

And then practice that.

Use it as a mantra before you work out, before each meal, before you go to bed, when you wake up in the morning, in the shower, on the way to work, on the way home, while doing the dishes, etc., etc.

And if, like me, you find yourself falling into old patterns, look for the new thought that feels better from where you are right now.

What feels better? Beating yourself up for not being where you want to be, or practicing a new thought that is moving you towards your weight and wellness goals?

Isn’t that enough to make it worth trying? I think so.

Together we can do it!