is your emotional health affecting your weight?
Natural Health Magazine asked us for our expert advice on why people often struggle to lose weight despite eating healthily and exercising.
Our integrative approach to health and wellbeing means that we fully appreciate and work to support the powerful inter-relationship between the mind and body. We work with many clients who are overweight or who struggle to maintain their ideal weight and we understand that this can often be because they are self-sabotaging their own health goals.
…often the problem arises because you ONLY focus on food and exercise, and overlook the most important aspect of living a naturally balanced and healthy life: your mental and emotional wellbeing.”
… the solution comes from addressing the root of the problem, by first dealing with any unhelpful current self-esteem issues or the deeper unresolved emotional misunderstandings that may have caused your original weight gain.”
This interview was featured in the June 2017 edition of Natural Health Magazine – you can read the full article online here.
full interview
why a healthy mindset & emotional health are essential for weight loss
If I eat healthily and exercise well, why do I still struggle to lose weight?
Many clients come to me when they are unable to lose weight or maintain their ideal body shape, despite eating very healthily and following a regular exercise regime.
In my experience, the problem arises because they focus ONLY on food and exercise, and overlook the most important aspect of living a naturally balanced and healthy life: their mental and emotional wellbeing.
For these clients, their self-talk, mindset and belief system are all programmed to sabotage their healthy exercising and eating, and their perception of the results they achieve.
Often, they strive for the ‘perfect’ weight or body shape as a means of self-validation and to boost their poor self-image. Their bathroom scales then become an enemy and unmerciful critic, and they constantly compare themselves against a ‘faceless jury’ of people they don’t even know.
These strategies will never work and, without realising it, these clients create what I call a ‘carousel of despair’: their motivation and energy become drained, their mindset becomes negatively fixed and rigid, as so does their weight.
3 tips for a healthy mindset & weight loss
What practical tips can you offer me to enable my mind and body to work together so I can reach my ideal weight?
The solution comes from addressing the root of the problem, by first dealing with any unhelpful current self-esteem issues or the deeper unresolved emotional misunderstandings that may have caused your original weight gain.
If you can relate to this, you should begin by focussing on your self-worth and what you think about you, regardless of your weight or body shape. Understand that your mindset, not your weight, defines your self-belief and happiness.
- Become self-disciplined with your self-talk. If you hear yourself comparing, criticising or being judgemental about yourself, quickly halt this unhelpful inner-dialogue. Instead, begin to talk to yourself with compassion, positive encouragement and patience, just as you would a loved one.
- Stop seeking approval. Notice when you become concerned about what other people think about your weight or appearance. Remember that it’s what you think about you that should matter most. A mantra I teach my clients is: “what other people think about me is none of my business!”. If you can live by this affirmation, even for one day, it will transform your life.
- Acknowledge when deeper emotional issues may be at play. Don’t be afraid to reach out for support from a trusted friend or therapist to resolve any misguided beliefs around your self-esteem and weight. This will allow you to take full control of any unresolved weight issues so that your goals become more authentic, realistic and manageable.
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