Try “faking it” before you make it

One of the areas where we get stuck in diet and weight loss is that we think that we have to feel like doing something in order to do it. Here are examples of how this thinking plays out:  I can only exercise if I feel like it….or I can only treat my body kindly if I feel loving towards my body.

This can lead to our staying right where we are. If we wait to treat our bodies kindly until we feel kindly towards them …. well, we may be waiting a long time! Meanwhile, our old painful habits continue, and we get really, really frustrated and may even feel really, really hopeless that we’ll be ever be able to lose weight or stop overeating.

Even it if feels completely insincere, and even if you roll your eyes, here’s how this idea of “faking it until you make it” can help you meet your weight loss or health goals:

Our emotional wounding lives in the limbic system and the “old brain,” as relationship expert Harville Hendrix calls it. (Harville’s the author of several books, including Giving the Love that Heals and the founder of Imago therapy.) Think of the old brain as a storehouse of painful memories and unmet needs.

More than anything, our “old brain” desires safety and nourishment. When we care for ourselves – even when we don’t feel like it – we send a message to our old brain that soothes and heals this wounding. On a deep level, it says, “You’re safe.”

When we feel safe – guess what – we can grow out of painful behaviors like overeating and eating too much sugar.

Try it for yourself. This week, try something different. Whether or not you feel like it, commit to doing 3 things every day for your body that communicates the message, “I love you and I care for you.”

You can do this by:

• Complimenting your appearance
• Eating a healthy, nourishing meal that honors your weight loss goals
• Taking a nap when you’re tired
• Going to bed at a time that leaves you refreshed in the morning
• Exercising
• Taking the time to dress yourself in flattering clothes that make you feel pretty
• Any self-care behavior

Then see:  how does acting “as if” (acting as if you love your body, acting as if you want to eat less sugar, acting as if you feel good about yourself) lead to different feelings about yourself? I’d love to hear how this works for you.

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