Empower Me Photo

Most kids love the roller coasters – I know I used to. Then you have your own children and a few years go by where they are simply too small and fragile to enjoy the monster rides. Before you know it, your own body and mind have lost the love of being thrown about unmercifully.

But what about the roller coasters we put ourselves through such as your weight loss journey or your move away from other bad habits? It’s a dangerous cycle anytime you make a break from a bad behavior (such as unhealthful eating or a drug habit) and some how find yourself back into your old ways. Is it just human nature? Are we so fickle that we simply cannot maintain our new standards?

After all, we are all human beings. Despite making great strides to a new way of life and daily routines, sometimes even for years of time, we are at risk of drifting back into our old habits. Reformed smokers have a saying: “just a puff away from a pack a day”…..meaning that if at any point they succumb to one single puff they will find themselves back at a pack a day smoking rate in no time at all. The saying is a way to help them stay in touch with their vulnerabilities and to avoid (at all costs) partaking in smoking cigarettes.

The old adage ‘two steps forward, one step back’ may cause you to lose momentum at various points on your weight loss journey. But do not despair! If you have a lapse in judgment or a moment of vulnerability (even if that ‘moment’ lasts for a week or a month), that does not mean that you have failed on your weight loss journey. Look at it as a simple detour or minor setback.

It is important to realize that we are all human beings and that means that we are not perfect. Just because we know exactly where we want to go and we arm ourselves with tools to avoid triggers; it does not mean that we are completely immune to their power. Your weight loss journey may include some ups and downs – some back and forths. That is OK. Sure, it would be ideal if that did not happen. And it behooves you to act with as much diligence and resolve as you can possibly muster; yet, don’t be emotionally derailed just because you feel off the wagon for a short period of time.

Any time that you catch yourself in your old ways, try to physically interrupt yourself; something dramatic so that your conscious and subconscious minds will recognize that this old pattern of thought and behavior is no longer in line with your vision and future. Sometimes just uttering the words ‘cancel, cancel’ is a legitimate statement to help you change thoughts and to stop that former thought from planting any seeds in your subconscious mind.

Human nature is such that we all condition ourselves toward certain behaviors. That is actually good news on your weight loss journey; because you have the power to change your conditioning. It may take a few weeks of work but once you develop new habits and beliefs and hold those true long enough to weed out the old garbage - your new habits and beliefs will be conditioned into you. And you will be strengthened by their presence.

You have the power and authority to sustain momentum on your weight loss journey .....whether that includes any setbacks along the way or not. Even at a rate of two steps forward and one step backwards, there continues to be momentum.

Let Momentum Empower You!