I was talking with one of my coaching clients recently, and she said she wanted to lose 9 pounds that she had put on since hitting her goal weight. One of the things she was struggling with was extreme dieting and bingeing, and she was having a hard time finding balance with her eating.
One of the things she was struggling with was extreme dieting and bingeing, and she was having a hard time finding balance with her eating.
When we were setting her goals, she said she wanted to lose the 9 pounds over the course of the next several months. I asked her about her why. Why does she want to do it? She didn’t have a good reason. I think this is a lot of times what people struggle with.
Why does she want to do it? She didn’t have a good reason. I think this is a lot of times what people struggle with.
The goal doesn’t match the why.
As we prodded and dug a little bit, what I found out was it wasn’t really about the 9 pounds. It really was about her wanting to have peace with food — to get out of this diet/binge cycle that she was in and to mentally just get to a better, happier place, where she didn’t have all the food rules running around in her head and feel like she was trapped.
Her why became clearer. So we redefined her goal based on that.
If you say you want to lose 10 more pounds but you’re not really motivated to do it, ask yourself why. Where is that coming from? Maybe it’s something similar. Maybe you just really want a better relationship with food, where you feel in control and you feel good in your own skin and you’re confident. It might have absolutely nothing to do with the scale weight.
People often tell me they’re having a hard time defining their why.
Well, maybe the why is attached to the wrong goal. Why not look at the goal and say, is that really what I want? At the end of the day, is losing 9 pounds going to make me happy? Will I lose the 9 pounds and then keep repeating the same cycle of bingeing and restricting, or will I be at peace with my eating and be able to navigate my way through a day of food?
So many people out there are struggling with that last 9, 15, 20 pounds. They’re really caught in that mindset of “I have to get that scale to budge.” But, where is that coming from? Why? If you haven’t been super motivated or passionate to lose that 9, 15, 20 pounds, why is that? Dig a little deeper. Sometimes we just have to reevaluate our goals and make sure they actually match the why.
I want to hear about your why.
Comment below or on Facebook and share your why and how it connects to your goals.