I can't seem to lose weight. I guess I am destined to never be skinny

That is an email I received recently from someone. 

They started off their email by saying "I have tried every diet imaginable".

Can you take a guess as to why they may not be losing weight despite trying every diet imaginable?

Before I give you the answer I want to let you know that I am always trying to improve myself personally and professionally.

So while my wife Liane, our daughter Hailey and I were driving around Colorado on our vacation we listened to a lot of books on tape.

I am always trying to learn so we listened to "The Secret" and "NLP programming" just to name a few. 

We also listened to them because in one town it seemed they only had 1 radio station and for 20 minutes the DJ announced every lost and found item in the Crested Butte area.  If you are looking for just 1 lost bicycling glove contact this radio station because they have it.  I wish I was joking, but it is true.

Anyways,  back to the reason for this post.

I have been taught this in my schooling, but even I need a reminder every now and then about this. 

It is human nature to focus on the negatives, the things that stress you out or things that worry you.

These types of thoughts are very powerful and can dictate your future. 

For example, if you are constantly saying "I can't lose weight,  I will never lose any weight" then the first time that your weight loss gets difficult you will give up and say it didn't work. 

Your mind is very powerful and I will admit that I have fallen into these mind games with myself and it brings down my energy, it is all I think about, I don't want to do anything else except think of this negative thought.  It actually happened to me on Sunday when I got back from vacation.  Thankfully I just listened to these tapes while on vacation so I quickly snapped out of it. 

I recognized what I was doing and said to myself "What are you doing?  These are the exact thoughts that will put me in a horrible mood".  So I immediately started thinking of good things.  I took my daughter outside and we went for a walk and I just watched her be happy, pick rocks, laugh, etc.  I knew my day would be ruined if I let that one negative thought dominate my day. 

It is the same with weight loss and I have seen it over and over.  Weight loss isn't always going to be easy.  There will be challenges along the way.  If you don't believe in the thought of you losing weight and keeping it off permanently then those negative thoughts will slowly start to dominate and sooner or later I will get an email from you that goes something like this.  "I tried to lose weight, but I just can't seem to lose anything.  I am giving up". 

Here is a quick exercise for you.  Think of the last time you had a bad experience or negative thought.  How long did you think of it and how long did it drag you down mentally or stress you out?  Now think of something that makes you happy or feel good inside for 1 full minute.

Did you notice when you were thinking of that negative thought that your mood started to go down and when you started to think of something that made you happy or feel good that your mood elevated.  This is the power of your mind.

Don't for a second think that your mind can manipulate or dictate your weight loss success because it can.

I know you can do it!

Yours in health.

Jayson Hunter RD, CSCS

PS:  Get started today and focus your mind on the positive.  Let me help you get focused by teaching you a lot of this in the Dress Size Reduction Diet program.

See what the right mindset is doing for this customer.

"Thanks for all your great tips Jayson! You are right. I was on the road to obesity and I blamed it on others instead of myself. But I have started eating better, exercising, and imagining what I'm going to look like in my new body! I am still taking your tips and the knowledge you give and applying them to my daily life. I have even forwarded some of them to my friends who think they can't do it as an inspirational, if you will. God bless you and again thank you!"

Stephane Seibles

PPS- If you liked todays article, feel free to fwd this email on to any of your friends, family, or co-workers that would enjoy it.