Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Oprah Celebrity Weight Loss: Mindset First

Third in a series based on a recent Oprah Winfrey Show featuring celebrities who have struggled publicly with weight issues.

It was great to see other women roughly my age (okay, in their 40s) successfully lose weight. So many of us have bought into the idea that once we hit 40 we won't be able to achieve a healthy weight--I applaud these women for their success and providing proof that it is indeed possible to lose weight in our middle years.

Although the three celebrities featured, Valerie Bertinelli, Marie Osmond and Star Jones all used different tools on their journey they all had one thing in common that jumped out to me--they all said they had to change their mindset in order to have success!

You MUST become the healthy person in your mind FIRST so that you can maintain that weight. This process will continue to evolve and strengthen as you lose weight.

As Star Jones pointed our, she didn't even know what she would look like because she had been obese her entire adult life.

You don't have to see yourself as a size 2/4 ala Marie. Start by seeing yourself a size or 2 smaller than you are now. See yourself making healthy choices. See yourself happy and energetic.

This is truly where any successful, permanent weight loss program must start.

From there, you can choose a healthy food and or exercise plan (including surgery) that fits your needs, your goals, your life situation, to help accelerate your progress.

No matter what plan you choose--you have to ultimately learn how to eat on your own. There is no magic pill or surgery that does that for you.

Get education and tools to help you make healthy choices. This education may be part of a food program, or it may be separate.

Again, the most important place to start and to continue to focus is your mind...by putting the emphasis there you will empower yourself and ensure you success!

I'll repeat myself a bit because it is so important--Visualize yourself healthy. See yourself doing things free from the pain or challenges that the excess pounds create. Feel in your heart the joy and energy you have in your life and the gratitude for this 'new' life!

Tomorrow we'll continue this series with a discussion on what is a healthy size for you.

2 comments:

Billy said...

I have been struggling with weight loss for many years. I'm not overly obese, but everytime I gain any weight I lost within months.

I think I have a mindset problem. I read an very interesting and enlightening article at OptimalBodyWeight.com (a website I like and trust)about this issue. Check out their article Weight Loss by Fixing your Life with Tony Robbins. It makes a lot of sense to me.

Good Luck

Laurie Tossy said...

Billy--Thanks for you comments. This is a great article on Tony Robbins'blog--not by Tony.

Readers should know that while I think Tony is an awesome teacher and I use some of techniques I can not speak for or against this program which costs almost $300.

Mindset is definitely something that most of us could use work on! $300 is not a bad price if it works for you and you can afford it.