Standing between you and your weight loss goals is one thing–the story you tell yourself about why you cannot reach them. If you change the story, you change your out come.

The Stores We Tell Ourselves 

Back when I was struggling with my weight, I would tell myself things like, “You are never going to make it. You have tried so many times before and failed.” And, “I simply have a weakness for bad food. I cannot help myself.”

I have heard the same story from others along with things  such as, “I’m genetically deposed to be fat.” And, “I have a slow metabolism.”

As long as people have these kinds stories running though their minds, they will never lose weight.

Write a New Story

Overcoming the stories we tell ourselves is not difficult. In fact, it is as simple as writing a new story.

One of new stories that I tell myself is, “The past does not equal the future.” This helped me tremendously. I had failed to lose wight over and over again in my life. Two years ago, when I had finally had enough, when I finally decided to get rid of my excess fat, the nagging voice in my head was saying, “This is just going to be another failure. After all, you have always failed before.”

But I decided not to listen to that story and instead tell myself, “The past does not equal the future.” It did not matter how many times I had failed in the past, I did not have to fail in the future. Now that I have re-written my story, my future looks brighter than ever.

Another story I use to tell myself is,”I am too weak to say no to bad food.” For example, I would start a diet and in just a few days a friend would call me and want to take me to lunch. This would lead to failure as I would often chose to indulge in a high-carbohydrate item. Of course afterwards I would feel guilty and say to myself, “I am too weak to say no to bad food.”

Now I tell myself, “I am in charge of what I put in my mouth.” When I go out with friends these days, I always chose the low-carb option unless I have special plans.

Of course there are many other negative stories that I use to tell myself that have now been replaced with positive ones. But what about you? What negative stories are you telling yourself now? And what stories will you have to tell yourself to make a positive change? Let us know in the comment section.