In the early pages of this chapter I stated that your biggest obstacle for weight loss is your thinking. Most of my overweight and obese patients are stuck in what I call weight-gain mentality. They unknowingly have their mental channel set on the weight-gain channel, and as a result, they continue to attract more weight to themselves. I often tell patients dealing with this that their autopilot is stuck on weight gain. You may have the same thing happening, and it is important to remember that the ultimate success of any weight-loss program depends not on how much you eat but what you think and believe.
The Bible repeatedly makes mention of this, often as the law of seedtime and harvest. The book of Galatians states, “Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap” (Gal. 6:7, NKJV). In other words, if a farmer plants wheat, he will reap a harvest of wheat; if he plants corn, he will reap a harvest of corn. Elsewhere, Proverbs 23:7 says of a person that “as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” This simply means that whatever you think about most, you will eventually become. Similarly, Jesus says in Mark 11:24, “‘Whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.'”
This means that what you consistently visualize and confess, you will eventually become. This is why it is so important to get a photograph of yourself at or near a healthy or desired weight and place it in different areas of your home, such as on the mirror in your bathroom, on your refrigerator, or as a screensaver on your computers at home and in your office. Some people even tape a copy of the picture to their car’s steering wheel or dashboard. Regardless of how many places you want to put your healthy or desired weight photo, it is important to put it in your food journal. As you carry your food journal with you throughout the day and look at the picture frequently, visualize yourself becoming that ideal weight again.
It is also important to speak affirmations of your desired weight, pants size, or dress size aloud throughout the day. Even if you weigh 250 pounds, you can state aloud that you see yourself weighing 140 pounds or wearing a size 8, or whatever pant size or dress size you desire. The Bible defines faith in Hebrews 11:1 as “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Romans 4:17 speaks of calling those things that are not as though they are. So if you hope to weigh 140 pounds or wear a size 8 pair of jeans, start visualizing yourself at that weight and speak it aloud a few times a day.
Do not say, “I have to lose 100 pounds,” or you will probably always have that many pounds to lose. Likewise, don’t get in the habit of saying, “I’m planning on losing 50 pounds” or you’ll forever be planning on doing it. Simply look at the picture of you at your desired weight and speak your desired weight aloud: “I see myself weighing _____ pounds” or “I weigh ______ pounds.” (You fill in the blank.) Make that affirmation throughout the day, and as you follow through with your weight-loss program, you will naturally be attracted toward that desired weight, size or image.
I’ve had patients who had struggled with their weight for years do this, and they turned around and told me that losing weight became one of the easiest things they’ve ever done! I believe you will be making the same statement when you reach your ideal weight. This is not difficult. Start by making the decision to lose weight for yourself and no one else. Understand that you are the only one responsible for being overweight. Once you have accepted this and are set in your decision, it is time to take the next step: making a commitment. Decisions come easy, as does lip service. Yet when we make a commitment, we enter into a different arena of long-term planning—one that includes you keeping the pounds off.
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