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Changing Your Mind Can Change Your Body, Too
This is a fantastic article about how our minds and negative thoughts throw a monkey wrench in our plans to lose weight and become fit. I have been a long time member of the “Positive Self-Talk Club.” One of my favorite quotes reads, “Whether you believe you can do something or believe you can’t, you are right.”
I so often hear people say while doing Atkins, “I can’t ______” or, “I never could _______” or, “Since I’ve already __________, I might as well throw in the towel.” Or, “I tried, but I can’t______.” You fill in the blanks with your personal excuses.
I even had several doctors helping me make excuses for both not exercising and going on a diet. One of the people quoted in this article, Diane Whaley of UVA in Charlottesville, helped me sneak around to find out just what exercise I could do with my chronic and incurable disorder.
If I had followed those doctors’ orders, I would still only be walking short distances with quad-canes or worse. I would be bedridden most of the time and would probably weigh 400 pounds. Lucky for me that I am stubborn and determined, so the best way for me to get back up on my feet is for someone to tell me I can’t do it. My response: “Hide and watch!”
I so often hear people say while doing Atkins, “I can’t ______” or, “I never could _______” or, “Since I’ve already __________, I might as well throw in the towel.” Or, “I tried, but I can’t______.” You fill in the blanks with your personal excuses.
I even had several doctors helping me make excuses for both not exercising and going on a diet. One of the people quoted in this article, Diane Whaley of UVA in Charlottesville, helped me sneak around to find out just what exercise I could do with my chronic and incurable disorder.
If I had followed those doctors’ orders, I would still only be walking short distances with quad-canes or worse. I would be bedridden most of the time and would probably weigh 400 pounds. Lucky for me that I am stubborn and determined, so the best way for me to get back up on my feet is for someone to tell me I can’t do it. My response: “Hide and watch!”
Changing Your Mind Can Change Your Body, Too
Destructive thoughts can wreck your workout efforts, experts say
Jacqueline Stenson, MSNBC
The first step in charting the right course to fitness is to recognize how your thoughts are undermining your exercise plan.
JANUARY 13, 2009
Change your mind, and you just might change your body, too. Psychologists say our “self talk” or “internal dialogue” can make or break a fitness routine.
The problem is that many people simply aren’t aware of how destructive their thoughts are, says Gareth Dutton, a psychologist at Florida State University in Tallahassee who specializes in helping people to exercise and lose weight.
“The thing that precedes your behavior is a thought, and we sometimes aren’t good at getting in touch with our thoughts,” he says. “We’re on autopilot.”
The first step in charting the right course to fitness is to recognize how your thoughts are undermining your exercise plan, says Dutton. The second step is to challenge the negative thinking – and there’s certainly no shortage of that when it comes to exercise.
Playing mind games
The key, Dutton says, is to remember that “a thought is just a thought. It doesn’t mean it’s reality.” In other words, just because you think you hate everything about exercise doesn’t mean you can’t find some activities that are more tolerable than others. Likewise, just because you think you absolutely have to eat that piece of pumpkin cheesecake (easily canceling out the calorie burn of your workout) doesn’t mean that you really do.
It can be tough for beginners to master the skills necessary to adhere to an exercise plan, but give it time, advises Diane Whaley, an associate professor of sport and exercise psychology at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, and a spokesperson for the Association for Applied Sport Psychology. “If you can stick it out for six months, it starts to become a part of who you are versus what you do,” she says. “You have more of an identity as an exerciser.”
Plus, you’ll probably see some positive results that can motivate you to keep at it. Among them: better muscle tone, feeling stronger and more fit, weight loss, improved mood and better sleep.
Read the rest of the article at this link: Changing your mind can change your body, too - Smart Fitness- msnbc.com
Destructive thoughts can wreck your workout efforts, experts say
Jacqueline Stenson, MSNBC
The first step in charting the right course to fitness is to recognize how your thoughts are undermining your exercise plan.
JANUARY 13, 2009
Change your mind, and you just might change your body, too. Psychologists say our “self talk” or “internal dialogue” can make or break a fitness routine.
The problem is that many people simply aren’t aware of how destructive their thoughts are, says Gareth Dutton, a psychologist at Florida State University in Tallahassee who specializes in helping people to exercise and lose weight.
“The thing that precedes your behavior is a thought, and we sometimes aren’t good at getting in touch with our thoughts,” he says. “We’re on autopilot.”
The first step in charting the right course to fitness is to recognize how your thoughts are undermining your exercise plan, says Dutton. The second step is to challenge the negative thinking – and there’s certainly no shortage of that when it comes to exercise.
Playing mind games
The key, Dutton says, is to remember that “a thought is just a thought. It doesn’t mean it’s reality.” In other words, just because you think you hate everything about exercise doesn’t mean you can’t find some activities that are more tolerable than others. Likewise, just because you think you absolutely have to eat that piece of pumpkin cheesecake (easily canceling out the calorie burn of your workout) doesn’t mean that you really do.
It can be tough for beginners to master the skills necessary to adhere to an exercise plan, but give it time, advises Diane Whaley, an associate professor of sport and exercise psychology at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, and a spokesperson for the Association for Applied Sport Psychology. “If you can stick it out for six months, it starts to become a part of who you are versus what you do,” she says. “You have more of an identity as an exerciser.”
Plus, you’ll probably see some positive results that can motivate you to keep at it. Among them: better muscle tone, feeling stronger and more fit, weight loss, improved mood and better sleep.
Read the rest of the article at this link: Changing your mind can change your body, too - Smart Fitness- msnbc.com
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