Changing from the Inside Out

Courtesy of WeightWatchers.com

Think changing how you eat and exercise is all you need to do to lose weight? Think again. The biggest change you need to make is on the inside.

Anyone who has ever tried to lose weight knows it's as much a matter of the heart and mind as of the mouth and stomach. How you think and feel about your weight issues, and about yourself, has a strong impact on your ability to lose weight and keep it off. Most of us have learned this the hard way. But we've also learned how difficult it can sometimes be to change how we think and feel.

Unfortunately, many of us regard our own thoughts and feelings as "things that happen to us." For example, "Today I feel guilty" (or happy or blue or motivated — fill in the blank). That's just the way it is, right? Wrong. It's more helpful for us to think of our thoughts and feelings as "internal behaviors," which we can control and adapt to meet our needs. Just as we can develop more positive external behaviors to support our weight loss (taking smaller portions, walking more), it's also possible to develop more positive internal behaviors (thinking "I can" instead of "I can't").

In fact, not only is it possible, but unless we change on the inside, our newly formed eating and exercise behaviors most likely won't last for long.

So where do I start?
The first step is understanding the five different levels at which we are able to change the way we think and act.¹ We'll start with the easiest-to-change, most superficial level, and move on to the deepest, most difficult level within us.

• Environment. Where and when our behavior takes place.
  "It's difficult for me to lose weight with my hectic job and schedule. I'm on the road and eating in fast food restaurants all the time."
  
• Behavior. What we do. The specific actions we take in our environment.
  "I don't know what to eat or what exercises I should do to lose weight and become more fit."
  
• Capabilities. How we guide our behaviors. The broader abilities and strategies we use in life.
  "I am not capable of losing my weight and keeping it off."
  
• Beliefs. Why we do what we do. The ideas and values we think are true.
  "I do not deserve to be thin and attractive."
  
• Identity. Who we are. Our basic sense of self, which is tied to our mission in life.
  "I am a fat person."

And how do I use my Tools for Living?
So it's easy to see: If, deep down, you still think of yourself as a "fat person," it's going to be difficult to make and sustain the behavior changes necessary to keep weight off for good. The good news is that we can make positive changes at the deeper levels, with our beliefs and identity. You might start by familiarizing yourself with Weight Watchers powerful set of strategies, Tools for Living. Each tool is designed for a specific kind of challenge related to your thoughts and feelings.

One tool, for example, Empowering Beliefs, will help you strengthen your belief that losing weight is worth it, that you can do it and that you deserve to be healthy and feel good. And Anchoring is a powerful technique for tapping your inner resources to help you achieve what you want. Need more determination, for example? Anchoring will enable you to find the will that already exists within you.

Paying attention to your deeper levels of change can pay off big. Combining your "inside" behaviors — thoughts and feelings — with your new, healthier "outside" behaviors will help you not only lose that weight, but, more importantly, keep it off.