Letting Go of Negative Thinking

By Dr. Wrenn

Living a healthy lifestyle is a concept that is promoted in order to combat the plethora of dieting gimmicks on the market today. One aspect of this approach is a focus on taking small steps to improve one’s health and on increasing things that are good for you—not just cutting out the bad. This includes letting go of negative thinking.

Tempting  situations are common and expected across a lifetime of healthy living, but many of us throw our hands up and resort to our destructive patterns telling ourselves: “Oh, well, I tried’. After years of working with people of various shapes and sizes, Dr. Judith Beck adapted a form of therapy to help individuals adapt a healthy pattern of eating. In her book, the Beck Diet Solution she gives helpful advice, explains why many attempts at dieting fail, and tells how you can adopt the thinking style of those who are healthy.

Consider the following example of a behavioral solution and a thinking solution to the problem of being intolerant of the experience of hunger and eating until you are overfull. This often occurs with people who eat “only one meal a day”. Waiting until you feel hungry and eating until that feeling is gone is not healthy. In fact, a sign of health is waking up hungry as this means you did not overeat the night before! After finishing a meal, you should feel comfortable taking a brisk walk. These behavioral tips are what many fitness experts will advise, but many people find it hard to change their eating patterns. One behavioral solution to this is to increase your awareness of you hunger state and track this over the course of a few days. Set a reminder to check in with yourself and assess how you are feeling in terms of hunger and satiety. Notice any patterns that are associated with unhealthy choices. A thinking solution would be to track your unhelpful thoughts and challenge them. For example, when you think “I’m starving”, you can challenge that and respond with, “I do feel a slight pang but I ate a few hours ago and it’s not time for lunch. I might just be upset over that last conversation. Maybe I’ll take a sip of water and practice a relaxation technique instead of heading to the vending machine.”

In terms of unhelpful thinking, some people develop a pattern of negative thinking towards their eating or exercise. One strategy to staying positive and on track is to write down your reasons for losing weight and read it to yourself every day. Also, try to identify your triggers for unhealthy choices and problem-solve ways to avoid them. For example, if you are planning to go out to dinner with a group, eat a little beforehand so that it is easier for you to pay attention to your hunger and not eat mindlessly with the group. You might eat less if you arrive partly full and you can focus on enjoying others’ company.

You may be working on a formal diet program.  Maybe you’re just trying to adopt a healthier outlook on your eating and energy management. Whatever it may be, negative thinking has the power to shift your course. Don’t forget that your thoughts create your emotions and these are powerful drivers of your behavior. Change your thinking, change your life!

This article was originally posted on March 20, 2018.