There is a lot of really bad advice out in the world regarding getting healthy. Eating odd things, drinking questionable weight loss drinks, exercises that could probably kill you or at least break your back, and a variety of other very mixed messages. There is good and sensible advice out there if you look for it but rarely do I read or hear advice about the very important emotional aspect of health and wellness.
Recently I met a couple that had been on their own health mission. They had each lost over 100 lbs., were consistent exercisers and they ate in a healthy but realistic manner. They told me that the key to the dramatic changes in their health didn’t come from nutrition advice or personal training (though those did help); the changes came from understanding and changing their mindset around health and wellness.
Here are 3 unique ways to get healthy by getting a handle on your mindset:
The first is to understanding and changing your internal energy.
Do you often feel sorry for yourself regarding your health? Do you blame others for your health problems or the abundance of unhealthy food? The lack of time you have to exercise? Are you angry a lot because of your health or your weight? Do you feel jealous of others who seem to have their health in order? If any of these thoughts apply to you, you are hanging on to a negative energy that will keep you from getting healthy. Your mindset needs to be different in order for you to make the behavioral changes necessary for a happy and healthy life.
The second way to change your mindset is to understand the think, feel, and behave model.
Our thoughts about wellness lead to our feelings, which ultimately lead to our behaviors. If you are thinking, “I hate to exercise,” your feelings will follow suit and you certainly won’t be running out to the gym. On the other hand if you think about exercise as a step towards having health and energy, you will feel motivated and thus get yourself moving. Change your mind to change yourself and you will have accomplished one of the most important steps to getting healthy.
Finally, the third step is to listen for and learn what your personal history or story is regarding diet, exercise, and food.
Did you learn to use food as comfort? Clean your plate no matter how full you were? See exercise as an obsession or that something only thin people do? Does your story carry a message for you that you can’t be healthy because others in your family have never been? Or you are too old, too overweight, like ice cream too much or any version of these? It’s crucial for you to understand the story you are telling yourself and to find out if it is one that is helpful or hurtful to you.
Before you follow some obscure diet or wild exercise plan, maybe you should start with getting healthy in your head. Start thinking about your thoughts and see if they are leading you in the right direction. If not, it’s time to make some changes! Let me know how you do.
Love,
Lisa Kaplin Psy. D. PCC