“How do I get over the thought that I’m just a fat blob on the couch”
Those were the exact words spoken by a new client on a coaching call this week.
“How do you feel and what do you do when you say that to yourself?” I asked.
“Hopeless. Unmotivated Like a failure”
You cannot bully your body into a better body. Self-depreciation won’t serve you- not in the long run anyway. And if you think you’ll magically speak nicer to yourself when you’re at your goal weight, think again.
It doesn’t work that way.
So what do you do?
It’s not enough to just ‘not think that’- you cannot will yourself not to think that way, especially after thinking that way for years. The thoughts will still come, and that’s OK.
Nor is it the goal to replace that thought with something like “I”m in the best shape of my life” or “I am fit and lean and strong” or “I love my body” when it’s not true. You cannot lie to yourself.
But you also don’t need to be mean to yourself.
Try out “Yeah, I haven’t taken the greatest care of myself for the past few years, and now I am” or “I’m becoming someone who takes good care of herself” or “I am becoming fitter, stronger and healthier each day”.
Whichever thought you come up with, practice it ahead of time.
The old thoughts will still come. You don’t need to listen to them.
Start talking to yourself as if you were talking to a friend– because you are.
-Tanja x