Diets ..... why don't they work?

There are many reasons that diets don't work.  In this article I will talk about what I consider to be the most important reason. How many diets have you "gone on" and then "gone off"?  How many worked?  Even if they worked and you lost some weight, what happened when you stopped the diet? Well, my guess is that you put the weight back on again.  You may have been focused on "being good" while you were on the diet but immediately the diet ends you go straight back to your old ways and your subconscious patterns.

All these diets overlook the power of the subconscious mind and the patterns and habits that are operating beneath the surface.  Most of these have been in operation since you were a child - they are completely outdated, but nevertheless because we generally operate on auto-pilot and don't challenge our automatic thoughts, these subconscious negative thought patterns persist and cause us to behave in punishing, self-destructive ways. I have counselled many beautiful, successful people who are full of self-doubt and self-loathing because of negative childhood experiences.  It is so sad and they are missing out on so much by thinking that way.  

 

Albert Einstein once said, "The world we have created is a product of our thinking.  It cannot be changed without changing our thinking."

Have you a history of losing weight, only to sabotage yourself and put it all back on again?  Why did you do it?  Understanding ourselves and recognising what our beliefs are about ourselves and the world is vital if we are to succeed in our endeavours to change patterns of behaviour that do not work for us. We can't change something if we are not aware of it.  Once we are aware of what we are thinking and why, we need to work on challenging our outdated negative cognitions (thought patterns) and replacing them with thoughts that will work for us instead of against us.

Dieting, in the majority of cases, doesn't work because you only make temporary conscious changes to your food intake.  These conscious thoughts are far outnumbered by the vast amount of subconscious automatic thoughts that we have every day.  It is these thoughts that actually control our lives and cause us to act in the way that we do. We need to change our thinking at the subconscious level if we are to succeed long-term. Retraining your mind is similar to training your body.  Results are usually not immediate and you need to persist, even when you can't see results. Positive affirmations, visualisation and Cognitive Behaviour therapy can all combine to make a huge difference in how you are thinking and then acting.  It's time to get off that old treadmill and make some positive changes to your life.  To succeed you will need every weapon available and in my next article I will talk about how important your attitude is and how important it is to remove any emotional blockages so that your energy can flow freely as it is meant to.