Negative self talk is my worst enemy!! I got dressed this morning, looked in the mirror, and thought " Ugh! I look fat!" I let that one little thought negatively effect the rest of my day!! My mood was blah, I made poor food choices to feed my emotions, and avoided social interactions. Just ridiculous! I help others all day, time to help myself! Social Work 101: thought + belief = reaction. My thought "I look fat" + irrational beliefs "if I'm fat I'm not good enough" = depressed mood. I've got to challenge these irrational beliefs! They are so ingrained in me! Does anyone else struggle with this?

I think we all do. One important tip I got from a Cognitive Behavior Class was to ask myself, what would I tell a friend? Picture it's your friend in the mirror, not you. What would you tell them? Another thing we did was make 3x5 cards and looked at them several times a day. One of mine was "My mind is a garden. I am weeding out negative thoughts and planting positive ones." I know it sounds hokey, but it helped me.

Best wishes on your journey,

Lynda

Good advice! Thank you!

When I take my negative self talk to the mirror and look myself in the eye and actually say the words it p***** me off and I want to fight! I can't talk that way to me!

Actually it makes me laugh. I look like such a dork feeling sorry for myself.

Yes, i am dealing with this and it is hard....I dont have advise, just wanted to be part of the post so I can see what everyone else has to say..... So thanks for the topic.

We all have our bad days. And we are all entitled to them. But just remember to pick yourself back up because your worth it !

Along the lines of what Lynda mentioned, I try to picture someone saying the same things out loud to my daughter. She's 13, beautiful (in my unbiased opinion, of course!) and full of all those teenage insecurities that I still struggle with today.

When I imagine someone telling my daughter that she's not good enough, or whatever the negative thought is, my blood boils! That's my daughter, ain't nobody gonna talk to her like that!

Then I remind myself, "Oh yeah, I'M someone's daughter, too."

That usually shakes my inner audio recording out of the negative self talk track.

I really struggle with this too. The funny thing is that if anyone else were to say something negative to me, I wouldn't put up with it for one second!! I feel like I am successful in every other aspect of my life, but am a giant failure with my weight. And of course, then that makes me insecure.

Anyway, years ago, someone told me about a book that's supposed to help with negative self talk, and I actually ordered it from amazon last weekend. I figured before the surgery would be a good time to start working on it. I should get it next week....I'll let you know what I think about it!

I've learned to catch my negative thoughts, check the thought, and if it's irrational, to change it. This is a CBT technique.

I really struggle with this too. The funny thing is that if anyone else were to say something negative to me, I wouldn't put up with it for one second!! I feel like I am successful in every other aspect of my life, but am a giant failure with my weight. And of course, then that makes me insecure.

Anyway, years ago, someone told me about a book that's supposed to help with negative self talk, and I actually ordered it from amazon last weekend. I figured before the surgery would be a good time to start working on it. I should get it next week....I'll let you know what I think about it!

WHat is the Name of the Book??????

WHat is the Name of the Book??????

It's called Get out of your mind & into your life by Steven C. Hayes. I can't vouch for it yet, as I haven't received my copy...

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1572244259/ref=pe_175190_21431760_M3T1_ST1_dp_5

Think about what you're thinking about.

If it's not worth thinking about don't think about it.