Welcome to week one of Losing Weight For The Holidays! I’m so excited to be on this journey with you – it’s going to be fun!
Last week we started building a vision for how we could be different through this holiday season to create weight loss instead of what feels like the inevitable weight gain into the New Year. Not this time! We get to create a completely different experience of this time of year. And you’re ready for it! This week I want to help you use your brain to your advantage when you’re faced with all the holiday treats that appear around you through the end of the year. Let’s go!
Have you ever had the experience of walking into the break room at work around the holidays, only to encounter a big tray of Christmas cookies? You know – the ones cut into shapes like snowmen and Christmas trees with colorful icing and crunchy sugar decorations from the supermarket? The next thing you know, you’ve got a cookie in your mouth and another in your hand, loaded and ready to be eaten. Then you think, “I don’t even like this kind of cookies – why am I eating these?”
It’s because you listened to your brain.
Here’s what happened. You saw the cookies, your brain said “Cookies – yummy!”, and you agreed with your brain. Now here’s the key – you don’t have to agree with every thought your brain offers you. You think that your brain is in charge, but it’s not: You are. Your brain is just offering you suggestions. You can choose to agree or disagree. In this cookie situation, when your brain said, “Cookies – yummy!”, you could have questioned it. “Will they really be yummy?”
Now, you might think that store-bought Christmas cookies are delicious. But I’m betting that if you really think about it, you know they’re marginal at best. They’re crumbly and kinda dry, and the icing is too sweet and they don’t taste like much other than sugar. So why are you eating them? If what you really want is to lose weight, then why are you bothering with cookies that aren’t even that good?
You have to question your mind.
Your brain is simple. It is on autopilot most of the time. So if you see the cookies, your brain remembers the sugar and suggests that you eat more. You can challenge that suggestion! You don’t have to accept every thought your mind offers up. If you question the suggestion that you eat cookies when you hadn’t planned on it, your brain will pause to think up reasons. That’s when you have a moment to get off of autopilot and think. If what you really want is to watch the scale go down, are the cookies going to be worth giving up what you really want? Will they taste as good as feeling more room in your jeans? Will they taste as good as starting the New Year weighing less than you do now?
Nope. No cookie tastes that good.
‘Tis the season of giving! You’re shopping for gifts for friends and family and while you’re scrolling or walking the aisles, you pick up a little something for you too. I know I do! You’re trying hard to get your special people the gift that they’ll be really happy with, right? Wouldn’t it be the best gift to give yourself what you really want? You can give yourself the gift of losing weight over this season and starting the New Year already on your way toward your weight loss goal.
You can do it! But if you want to work toward your goal with accountability and help, I’m here. Email me at drandreachristianparks@gmail.com and let’s set up your one-hour free consultation. Let me help you get started!
Here’s your video help for the week!