Summer’s almost over and soon you’ll be back to wearing your favorite jeans, and as with every change of season comes the fear of whether your clothes from last season will fit or not, and what to do about it.
I know I’ve certainly felt this way before. It never fails to cross my mind if my jeans from last season will be too snug or if my favorite corduroy skirt will still fit, or if I’ll be reduced to buying a whole new wardrobe so I don’t have to endure the unsightly muffin top edging out over the top of my pants.
When I was a kid, I remember picking out dresses and school shoes and not thinking twice about whether they’d fit or not. Back then, that would have seemed absolutely absurd to me. The bright florals and plaids got me so excited about going back to school that I wasn’t even focused on if my clothes would fit. What 7- or 8-year-old kid thinks that way anyway?
So why do we when we get older? What is it that brings on the onslaught of worry over whether or not you’ll be able to slide back into your favorite pants or if they’ll get relegated to the Goodwill pile?
One of the sneakiest ways fear creeps into your subconscious and freaks you out is with your body. And if you’re like me, [bctt tweet=”one of the best ways your body gets your attention is with your weight.”]
We’re constantly bombarded with images of what women should look like and when we don’t fit the image, we think there’s something wrong with us. On the flip side, would your body bother you – no matter what size you were – if you lived on a deserted island without tv, ads or billboards of gorgeous, slender models that only serve to make you feel fat?
When we’re kids, we’re oblivious to all of it, because we’re too busy being kids. We run and frolic and our biggest worry isn’t how much we’re eating or what we’re eating as much as who our best friend is and what game we’ll play next.
And if we do eat cookies, candies, or snacks, we just eat them. Plain and simple.
Your fear over what you’re eating is your biggest foe when it comes to your weight, even more so than how many calories are in what you're eating or how much you eat, and although this logic might seem contrary to what you’ve been taught your whole life about losing weight, it’s based on fact.
When you attach beliefs to food, or anything else, how you feel about it becomes real. So when you fear the possibility of your clothes being too tight, and consequently weight gain, it continues to drive your experience of what your reality is and you either gain more, maintain it or gain it period.
When I was little and never thought about my weight, I never gained any more weight than the requisite amount of weight any kid gains as they grow, and my diet was a disaster. I was never denied anything I wanted to eat so my eating was out of control and mostly consisted of high sugary foods including pizza, candy bars and frozen delicacies.
It’s no wonder that it was that way for me well into adulthood too, but I had since developed a belief set that led me to think what I was eating was fattening, and low and behold, I was fat. But how you see food and what you believe about it doesn’t matter whether you’re young or old because it works the same way.
What you feel, you make real, as the saying goes.
So how do you fix it? First, it requires thinking outside the box a bit. Obviously what you've been doing hasn't worked, so it's time for a new approach, yes? Most people resort to the typical eat-less-exercise-more mentality when the freak out over sudden weight gain, but have you ever spent time examining your belief system and how it relates to your weight?
Most people's beliefs are operating just below the surface when it comes to what they think of food and their bodies, yet they're completely unaware of how thoughts like "I feel fat" or "this food is fattening" impact what they eat and how it effects their weight. Moreover, the lack of understanding regarding beliefs and the results that show up in your life creates a disconnect over what the real issues are, and yet, at the same time, it's the biggest opportunity you have to reprogram a negative belief system and break dysfunctional food phobias so that you can more easily forge a healthier relationship with food and your body.
Bear in mind, you didn't develop your beliefs overnight and you won’t change them overnight either, however the more you work to take back control of your thoughts about food (or anything else for that matter), the faster the "wrong" thoughts go away, thereby allowing you to think more clearly about the best way to feed and care for yourself until it becomes part of your newly updated subconscious belief system that works for you instead of against you.
My top tips for overcoming negative beliefs about stubborn weight and your body are to start by asking yourself 3 things:
1) What beliefs pop up when you’re eating and where and when did they originate? You might want to take notes with this one because it tends to be a Pandora's Box that dates back to early childhood.
2) How do you think the food you’re eating will affect your weight?
3) How much pleasure do you get from eating it, if any?
Note: When you deprive your body of pleasure, it knows it, and it will keep causing cravings until it finds satisfaction, so if you really want to stoke your metabolism, eat more foods you love and less of those you don't. 🙂
Knowing where your beliefs come from will help you sort them out so that it’s easier to connect the dots about your eating behaviors and how and when they developed. Once you have a solid understanding of them however, it's easier to let go of ones that dictate the very results you don't want.
We're still very much a fear-based society, and our fears pertain to just about everything we do, including what we eat and how we look, which all factor into our own self-perception and the thoughts that swirl about our heads from moment to moment. Altering your belief system around food and self-image is paramount to seeing permanent changes with your body, for once your subconscious beliefs change, so do your eating patterns and behavior, and you consequently change what you eat automatically, which has a major impact on your weight!
Let me know what you think in the comments below, plus pick up a copy of my free 7-video eCourse on how to stop emotional eating!
Angela
Angela Minelli is an author, speaker and founder of Angela Minelli International, a heart-based global business serving purpose-driven everyday women and entrepreneurs whose self-image and weight issues are inhibiting their confidence and blocking them from pursuing their life’s passion.
Angela's joy is in taking a stand for women who are living less than ideal lives, stopped by fear and doubt, which prevents them from stepping into their innate power and delivering their God-given genius to the world. Her coaching programs and products are designed for women with busy lifestyles yet allow for powerful transformation to take place within a small segment of time.
As a natural health practitioner and digestive health specialist, Angela specializes in helping people overcome weight and energy issues through holistic, non-invasive protocols that address the root cause of their conditions, including adrenal fatigue, candida, thyroid disorders, and more.
Explore the ideals that are the cornerstone of her work at angelaminelli.com.