Words Matter Part 2

“If you realized how powerful your thoughts are you would never think a negative thought” Dr Carolyn Leaf, cognitive neuroscientist. #wordsmatter #changeyoulife #positivethinking #nutrition #goals #vision

In last weeks article, I talked about the power of words and how negative and positive words affect the brain. So how do the words we speak pertain to nutrition? Let me tell you a story and then I will give you some practical ways you can apply this to your everyday life

One of my clients, that I will call Steve, came to me frustrated and discouraged. Steve had been following his work out and nutrition plan to the T. Of course, he had a few small slip ups but nothing major. He had given up alcohol and was passing up his favorite treats to reach his goal. Yet, when he would weigh himself, or track is body fat nothing was changing.

Within a few sessions, I recognized that Steve routinely called himself a fat ass, lazy and would say he lacked determination. What Steve and I needed to work on was his mindset and the words he spoke. I challenged Steve to pick a few options off the list and see if that made any changes.

1. Speak Scripture over yourself, if you are struggling with a positive self-image, eating healthy, etc., find scriptures in the Bible that you can speak over yourself. “I am fearfully and wonderfully made,” Psalms 139:14. “You will be adorned with beauty and grace. Wisdom’s glory will wrap itself around you, making you victorious in the race.” Proverbs 4:9. When the Bible talks about renewing your mind, its is referring to thinking about good things. When your mind is troubled and you have doubt, find scripture in that area, and speak it over yourself.

2. Create a vision board, you can use a picture frame, notebook, or hang stuff on your fridge. The key is to place your vision board somewhere you will regularly see it. Ask yourself, what would the healthiest version of myself look like? What would he or she be doing? What would he or she be eating? Once you answered those questions find pictures that align with that vision.

3. Gratitude, often we find ourselves frustrated with where we are at in our fitness journey. Thinking we will only be happy when we get the desired result. Instead, focus on enjoying the journey. Challenge yourself to find 3 things you love about your body. What are you happy that your body can do? You might start with being happy with being able to breath, or get out of bed, but over time as your practice this you will find more things you are grateful for.

4. Affirmations, there is no secret that Olympic athletes as well as some of the most elite people in the world use affirmations. Some people use longer affirmations, where others use small mantras. When ever coming up with an affirmation or a mantra, make sure to use first person and present tense. “I am fit, fast and fierce”, “I am teeny, tiny and tight”, I lose weight easily and effortlessly”, “I am at my perfect weight.” Make sure you are optimistic when saying them. Mean what you say and repeat them regularly.

5. Reframing, it is easy to look at a setback, obstacle, or mistake, and get down on yourself. Instead, of being angry that you didn’t eat healthy, or you missed your work out, look at it as a learning lesson. What do you need to do to set yourself up for success next time? Do you need to heavy healthy snacks in the car, do you need to have gym shoes in the car? What didn’t work, that can be corrected in the future. When we reframe the obstacle in a positive light and learn something from it, we can move forward instead of staying in a negative self-sabotaging cycle.

Every time I am getting ready to prep for a show, I make myself a book. Every book looks different and is filled with different things. The cover is my vision board and matches what I want my health to look like. In the book, I fill it with mantras, goals, and most importantly scripture. I know my mind is extremely important, If I don’t speak the right words over myself, I am setting myself up for failure. Don’t let doubt creep in with out putting up a fight. Speak the right things over yourself and watch how your health and life will change.

Steve did end up reaching his goals with only changing the way he spoke to himself, which inevitably changed the way he saw himself.