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Eliminate Your Overweight Payoffs
by Dr. Sharon House
A few weeks ago, Dr. Phil McGraw, the
author of "Life Strategies" sat down with four women on Oprah to talk about
why they haven't been able to take their excess weight off. It was music
to my ears... here, finally, was someone talking about what I have said for
years... manage your life, eliminate your payoffs and you'll manage your
weight.
So often I hear women (and men) talk about wanting to lose weight
but complaining that they can't get themselves to follow through. They feel
frustrated, overwhelmed, angry with themselves for their 'lack of willpower'
to stick to their weight loss plan. What they don't realize is that it has
nothing at all to do with willpower! It's not even weight loss or behavior
change that frightens them as much as the thought of what it might entail,
along the way, to get what they want!
We are not random creatures. Everything we do, we do for a reason.
Everything we do has a payoff of some sort that at some level serves us.
We may not consciously be aware of what the payoff is, but "it" is there
waiting to be discovered and uncovered. It will be discovered only if we
are willing to shine the light inwardly and admit the unvarnished truth -
"I am overweight and will remain overweight as long as there is a payoff
for me in doing so!"
The truth is most people work
much harder at hanging on to what they currently have than moving towards
taking the (often) courageous actions and risks that may be necessary to
start working hard at finding solutions and creating strategies to get what
they truly want.
Think of something you procrastinated about at some time in your life.
What finally happened to change your mind and propel you into action?
Did you suddenly feel the pain and pressure to "just do it" and get on with
your life? Did the thought of the consequences of not taking action become
more painful than the thought of continuing to put up with the negative energy
drain it was creating in your life?
Anything you want that holds value for you will require that you make
a choice between holding on to old negative payoffs or moving towards creating
positive new payoffs. Negative payoffs such as feeble excuses, unconvincing
rationalizations, flimsy reasons, past painful experiences, negatives attitudes
and "fully automated" eating behaviors must be traded for positive payoffs
in the form of solutions and strategies that pull you towards creating the
long term results you want most. The bottom line is: You gotta lose those
old payoffs to gain new, life enhancing ones to get to where you want to
be. As Emerson once said, "There is no loss without gain, and no gain without
loss."
One of the key ingredients to long term weight loss is learning to
live your life in the present, responding to things that are real and not
hanging on to your fears of what was (the past) or what might be (the future).
When it comes to weight loss and weight management, it is essential that
you live in the present and take it one day, even one meal, at a time.
Carpe diem! Seize the day, my friends! And remember, the only thing that
ever sits its way to ultimate success is a hen!
What's Related:
Your Recovery Kit for Holiday Eating
Holidays & Exercise - They Can Go Together!
Don't Make Time, Make Changes
Get Fit on a Shoestring Budget
About the Author:
Dr. Sharon House
(www.housecoach.com) is a Master
Certified Coach and holds a doctorate in Clinical Hypnotherapy. She is also
certified in Reality Therapy, Stress Management, and is a Weight Control
Specialist. She has a thriving personal and business coaching practice in
Raleigh, N.C. and was recently featured in an article in the Raleigh News
and Observer. Dr. House has an exciting 8 week core program designed for
today's busy woman who wants to take back control of her weight and her life.
The Weigh2Go program develops lifelong strategies for keeping weight off.
To find out more about this proven groupcoaching/teleclass program, contact
Dr. House
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