Is Feeling Guilty Making You Gain Weight?
Summertime can be a challenging season to make progress with weight loss. There are many more opportunities to indulge and more travel than normal can equal more calories and less exercise. However, perhaps you’re on point with your diet and exercise and still seeing the scale creep up… There is nothing more frustrating than putting in the effort to keep progress on track but continuing to gain weight without a clear reason.
This is a relatively common phenomenon I’ve helped many clients resolve. I’m here to tell you there’s hope and you are not out of options. The strategy that might just do the trick for you is a MINDSET MAKEOVER. I’ll share a 3-step process you can use to shift your “default” mindset from negative to positive to help revive your weight loss efforts.
A few years ago, I read the book Power Vs Force by Dr. David Hawkins. In it, he describes how human emotions can be calibrated into various energy levels. Certain emotions have a positive effect on our bodies and some have a negative effect. See the chart below to learn which emotions are connected to which energy frequency. The one’s at the top of the list on each side are the most potent.
Negative Emotions Positive Emotions
Fear Enlightenment
Grief Peace
Apathy Joy
Guilt Love
Shame Reason
Shame received the lowest calibration, while Enlightenment – the highest.
Many people struggle with the most severe negative emotions such as shame and guilt so frequently they barely notice it. Negativity becomes a “normal” default for the mind. As a mom and business owner trying to balance work and family life, I’m faced with the feeling of guilt daily. From firsthand experience, I can tell you these are some ways that guilt and other emotions on the lefthand side of the chart can affect your waistline:
1. Wreaks havoc on your hormone levels and impacts your metabolism
2. Leads to overeating as a coping mechanism and results in chronic calorie surplus
3. Results in negative self-image and affects motivation to cook or exercise
This is a recipe for weight gain! Luckily, my 3-step MINDSET MAKEOVER is a creative solution you can start using now to make sure your emotions aren’t sabotaging your figure.
Step 1 – AWARENESS: becoming aware of the thought patterns you “default” to is your first step to overcoming the internal dialogue of negative reinforcement. Check in with yourself frequently to question, “is my mindset trending toward emotions on the positive or negative side of the chart Natalia sent me?”
Step 2 – ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: once you’ve pinpointed thoughts and reactions throughout your day that you felt were on the negative side of the spectrum, acknowledge them and explore where those emotions were coming from and why? Catch yourself when the conversations you have tend to revolve around negative emotions and make a conscious effort to steer the energy of the interaction to positive – or simply disengage. Your energy is always yours to shift! It can help to journal about this process or talk to a friend or therapist to reinforce your efforts.
Step 3 – ADJUSTMENT: you are fully empowered to transcend negative perceptions and experiences and begin to consciously steer your mindset toward more positive reactions. Engage your intellect and begin to “reroute” your thought patterns to “default” to a resonance of peace, joy, love… It’s important not to feel guilty if you slip up along the way because that is counterproductive! Simply restart from step 1 with that particular thought or reaction and set a loving intention to do better next time. Refer to your Daily Intention Cards.
Even if you aren’t struggling with mystery weight gain, these tips can do wonders for your quality of life and stress management. If you find you’re having a lot of negative emotions surrounding your relationship with food (especially guilt!), make sure you check out my book, Cravings Boss, to help improve your mindset in that area!