
29. Why Belief is ESSENTIAL to Weight Loss

Episode Transcript:
Hey Everyone,
Welcome to episode 29 of the Mindful Weight Loss podcast. I am your host and your coach, Emily Erekuff and if you were with me last week you know that we talked about how to believe in yourself and in your ability to lose weight. And today's podcast is kind of a continuation of that topic.
Today I going to talk about why that belief is so important. Truly it is an essential ingredient if you want to lose weight for good. And that's why belief is such a big focus of my program. I don't provide any recommendations about what to eat, and I don't talk much about exercise, because really there aren't any magical secrets there. We all know that we can lose weight if we don't overeat and if we eat more physically nourishing foods than not. And we all know that exercise is good for our physical and mental health.
The problem for most people isn't a lack of knowledge. The problem is how do you get yourself to do those things. Raise your hand if you've ever thought, I know what to do, I just don't know how to make myself do it.
Or raise your hand if you've ever felt like you're doing all the things, but you're not seeing the results. You think you are eating well, you're not overeating and you're moving your body and you feel frustrated because things aren't changing. It doesn't feel like your effort matches your results.
Belief is what transforms both of these issues. Belief in your ability to lose weight; namely belief in your ability to make decisions and take actions that lead to weight loss.
And the thing about this is those need to be decisions and actions that you choose, not ones that are prescribed to you by other people. I said a few episodes ago that we often decide to lose weight by going on a diet or starting an exercise program. And the problem with that is that our belief is in the diet or the program, not truly in ourselves.
And so then, when the diet doesn't work, weight loss doesn't work. Or when the supplement doesn't melt the pounds as promised, you're screwed. Because it was that thing outside of you that was supposed to create the change, not you.
When you look for the solution outside of yourself you make yourself out to be a victim of circumstance and you ignore and limit your own power. And it's your power that will create the change you want. Nothing else.
Supplements probably only work initially because of the placebo effect - because you believe in them. You are so excited about the possibility of weight loss and the life you want and you magically lose two pounds in a week.
But it doesn't take long for that excited belief to fade, and as such your actions don't change and you simply continue to be the you that you've always been, extra pounds and all.
But what if you could create belief in yourself that gets stronger and stronger over time. Wouldn't you rather be your own savior over some pill or some diet anyway? Wouldn't it feel good to know that you are powerful enough to lose weight and you don't need anything out there to help you out?
And wouldn't it be amazing to know that nothing can stand in your way? To know that there are no mistakes because you are walking this path no matter what and a mistake is either irrelevant or can actually help you along the way to learn what not to do, or what doesn't work.
When you believe in you, there is no failure, because there's always another action you can take. There's always something else to try.
Your belief is your guiding light; your northern star and even if you turn around and take 10 steps in the opposite direction, you haven't failed. There's no reason to stop and quit because you can always look up and reorient yourself and take a small step back in the right direction.
You are the agent of change, not some diet, not some pill and not even some exercise program.
And just as Henry Ford said "Whether you believe you can do a thing or not, you are right."
That's why you can be doing all the things and still not losing weight. Not believing in yourself and in the possibility of your goal - that's a form of sabotage.
And I have personally lived this numerous times and I've seen this happen with those I've coached. You think you're doing all the things, but you don't fully believe and so you check the scale or the mirror hoping to find validation. Really you're looking for permission to believe in yourself. But again, when you do that you're a victim of circumstance and you become powerless.
It's in those moments that we need to stay away from the scale or whatever tool of validation we use and turn away from anything external and focus on the internal instead. In those moments of doubt you need to up-level your belief instead.
And once you do, that's when all the things suddenly start working. That's when you realize that you maybe weren't eating as mindfully as you thought and suddenly you see a clear path towards losing that next pound. So much of the time the only thing we're missing is the belief. And everything clicks into place when we get it back.
Belief is also how you begin to build a new identity based on what you choose to value. And that new identity makes it so much easier to make decisions and take actions that you want with more ease.
When you choose to value strength and fitness, you don't skip the workout. In fact you look forward to the workout because you believe it's going to make you even stronger.
When you choose to believe in your body's wisdom, you are naturally more aware of when you're eating more than is comfortable.
When you choose to believe that you deserve to feel good, you catch yourself when you start to beat yourself up and you allow that critical voice to quiet down.
Author Karen Marie Moning said, "It's what you choose to believe that makes you the person you are."
If you want to be someone who has lost weight, you need to believe that you can. That belief is the fuel that will help you take each step forward.
And you don't need permission or validation to believe. Remember your belief is independent of reality. It is creating your future reality.
So make a choice right now to believe that believing is important, and use that fuel to do the work we talked about in the last podcast. Do those three steps every single day and you will see yourself becoming the person you want to be.
Thank you guys so much for listening. Take care and I will see you next week.

