Tenacangel

Muffin tops, hail-damaged thighs, badonkadonk butts, and chicken wings: we have 'em; we hate 'em. So how do we get rid of them? We diet! We make plans to lose weight. We pick a surgeon, join a gym, and visualize the day we can zip back into those size 6 jeans.
Or so we think.
Weight loss isn’t about diet and exercise. It's not a plan. It's a battle. A battle in the mind. And without the right ammunition you're doomed to lose the Battle of the Bulge.
It is mental just as much as it is physical. Why? Because until you are honest with yourself that you can't just diet, lose weight, and live happily ever after, then you won't be successful at losing weight. Dieting is so much more than eating less and exercising. It's about recognizing your motives for over-eating. It's about accepting the fact that in order to get to and stay at your ideal weight, you need to eat in moderation and consume the right types of foods. And to do that you have to make a lifestyle change - permanently.
If you tell yourself that for a certain period of time you'll eat a high-protein diet, or drink only diet shakes and one meal per day, or eat ready-made foods from a weight loss center, or count points, or eat like a cave man - or any number of other fads which are out there - and then go back to eating how you prefer once you've shed the pounds, then you efforts will be in vain. You simply cannot go back to eating like you have been eating. We've all seen celebrities whose weight yo-yos with every passing year (hello, Ophrah?). Why? Because they stop exercising and eating right – or stop following a fad - and go back to business as usual. I'm betting they didn't internalize the lifestyle change which they appeared to embrace.
"Lifestyle change?" you echo. Yes, lifestyle change. That means your life must change. For life. Period. As in, there's no going back. Now I know most of you just cringed at the thought of chomping on carrots for Breakfast and forsaking your daily soda in favor of asparagus smoothies, doomed to a life of butterless, bland meals with no cheesecake in sight, but hear me out. Before you can successful change the things which go into your mouth, you must successfully change the thoughts which go into your head.
There are three "weapons" you must think to win the weight loss war. They are:
1. I am worthy.
It's not about what you should do for yourself to slim down and be healthier; it's what you can do for yourself. And you can lose this because you are worth it. Even if you are the only person on the planet and have no one to impress, you are still worth it to lose weight. You've got to love yourself to the extent that you want to feed yourself properly and do good things for your body. It's a process, but you'll reach that point of loving yourself. I promise.
2. I am not a fat person.
Okay, so you're tipping the scales and wear a size XXXL, but you are still not a fat person. You are you living inside a prison of your own making and you will be released. You must release yourself in your mind to be slim. Visualization is a powerful tool. Consult any positive thinking self-help book, Zen monk, or successful business person, and they will tell you the same thing: you've got to visualize the success in order to get there. Picture yourself not stopping at the fast food joint. Picture yourself working out – and then go do it. Picture yourself eating salads and drinking plenty of Water and enjoying it. See yourself reacting in horror to preservative-laden, highly processed junk food. See yourself taking the stairs instead of the elevator. See yourself in that slinky little black dress. The more you change your thoughts and think rightly, the more your actions will follow. "I am not a fat person" – think it, believe it, and become it.
3. I am not a failure.
Newsflash: the world isn't going to end if you slip up and eat something that you shouldn't eat. You made a mistake – so what? Forgive yourself and move on. You have the next minute, hour, day, year, decade, life to keeping moving forward, to be a winner. Learn this valuable lesson from your mistake: I don't have to make the same mistake again because I am worth it!
Now you have the ammunition; you know the location of the battlefield. It's time for war. Victory is yours!
About Becky Siame
Becky Siame is the author of The Lighter Side of Large, her debut novel, currently released as a kindle digital download on Amazon and Smashwords. She lives in Nelson with her two children.