The Language Of Successful Weight Loss 2
The Language Of Successful Weight Loss (2)
In
last week's feature article we talked about the power of language in our lives and how the language we use can quite literally determine whether we will succeed or fail at losing weight.
To some people this might have seemed like a bit of an over-claim how can just the language we use have such an impact on our lives? How can it possibly determine whether we lose weight or not!?
What Role Does Language Play In Your Life?
Just stop and think for a moment about the role language, or words, play in your life. Think of the lyrics in your favourite song how do they make you feel? Think of the words in a play or a poem that you particularly love and how they stir you up. Think of a speech at a wedding or a funeral you've been to how did they move you? Think also of times when someone said something really hurtful to you or conversely really buoyed you up with the language they used.
The fact is that words are emotive. They cause us to think in a certain way which stirs up emotions and feelings and, at the end of the day, our thoughts and consequent feelings drive our behaviour.
Language can make you feel tall or small, happy or sad, positive or negative, inspired or demotivated, capable or incapable. Thus, using the wrong language or words can undoubtedly lead to us failing to lose weight.
Are You Failing Yourself?
I've used the word failing' here quite deliberately. How does that word make you feel? How do you feel if you think you've failed at something or you feel like you're a failure? Pretty bad, I would guess. And yet this is a word I hear all the time from my clients:-
"I'm a complete failure when it comes to weight loss"
"I've tried and failed so many times before"
"I lose weight OK at the start but then I always fail to keep it off"
Do any of these sound familiar?
The word fail' is a bit like the word diet' it should be banished from our vocabulary! Would you tell your child he/she had failed at something? Would you tell your partner or best friend they'd failed? No, of course not, because you know it would make them feel bad. So why tell yourself?
There Is No Such Thing As Failure
The fact is that there is no such thing as failure. You haven't failed at anything, you simply haven't succeeded yet. How does that old adage go?
If at first you don't succeed, try, try again
Personally I passed my driving test on my third attempt. I can't deny that in my early twenties I felt like a failure the first and second time, but passing on my third attempt made the success so much sweeter and probably ensured I was a better driver too! In other situations where I haven't passed something eg a piano exam, I knew I simply hadn't practiced enough so there was no surprise when I didn't pass.
A better adage might be:-
If at first you don't succeed, take the learnings and try again.
With weight loss, if you have a bad week or the scales don't tell you what you want them to tell you, take that as feedback from your body (not failure!). Whatever you did that week didn't get you the result you wanted, so you'll need to try something different. If you don't do something different, then don't expect a different result - and that's not failure either, it's simply not applying the learnings!
So, as from today if you ever hear yourself using the word fail or failure in relation to your weight loss challenge it. How are you defining success/failure? What successes, however small, have you had? Is it really failure or is it feedback? Have you failed or have you simply not applied any learnings?
Failure is an F word we can all do without!
The Language Of Successful Weight Loss 2
By: theresa coligan
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