4 Mantras for Lasting Weight Loss

Losing weight is not always easy. From personal experience, the battle to lose weight is just that, a battle, until one day it all seems to just “click”. Often, you can reduce your calories and increase your exercise for several days or even a few weeks, but then in an act of frustration (and hunger), throw in the towel and undo your hard work. This diet-failure cycle lasts a lifetime for many people who struggle with their weight, but it doesn’t have to.

Similar to how conventional medications often treat the symptoms of disease without addressing the cause, weight loss programs and diets often address your weight without addressing what’s led you to be overweight in the first place. For most individuals, being overweight isn’t as simple as eating too much—it’s layers and layers of subconscious conditioning, emotional difficulties, and self-worth issues. Until these deeper layers are addressed, symptom-specific diets will only be temporarily effective, if effective at all.

The good news is that you can heal. You can address those things that led you to obesity while applying balanced weight loss decisions like a healthier diet and more movement.

At MindBodyGreen, Katrina Love Senn offers 21 healing mantras that could help reroute your destructive thought processes. But more than simply repeating phrases, many of these mantras can offer deep lessons worth exploring.

• 1. I am learning to love my body – When we despise how we look and don’t like how we feel, our bodies reflect this animosity. Many people think they must be thin to really love themselves, but loving yourself must come first if weight loss and health efforts are to be effective.

• 2. Healing happens with each step I take – Weight loss and the process that goes with it is a healing one. As you lose weight, you uncover vulnerabilities that you may not have known were there—emotions you may have hid with binges or an emotional-physical disconnect. At each stage of the wellness process, there are lessons to be learned and healing to be done.

Read: 5 Ways to Ignite Your Metabolism and Lose Weight

• 3. I am feeling healthier and stronger with each small step – The ultimate goal of weight loss isn’t to look fly in a bikini, but to be healthy and strong. While the process can bring up emotions and difficulties, it should ultimately make you feel better as you address these issues and move forward in a spirit of progress.

• 4. My food is healing me – When we seek healing, healthful foods, we are choosing foods that will help us reach our health and weight loss goals. Learning to appreciate the healing power of natural foods can help change the programs within that often have us reaching for “comfort foods” when we are in need of healing.

Dieting and workout programs rarely last in the long-run, as your weight gain didn’t happen simply because you didn’t know what to eat. Connecting with your potential for ultimate health can help you make the changes necessary for lasting success and wellness.