Change Your Mind, Your Body Will Follow

Just the other day, a determined eDieter concluded her Emotional Support Center (ESC) post with the statement: Dr. Sklare, I am not giving up on this! In my opinion, this is the battle cry for success. Refusing to give up is the single-most important weapon you can have in your arsenal. The most important elements in the formula for success: You must believe in yourself, and you must refuse to fail!

The problem for most people: Years of habitual behavior and negative thinking. You must be alert to old patterns and relentless in your pursuit of healthier living. This, however, doesn’t happen overnight, and it doesn’t happen without a struggle.

We humans are definitely creatures of habit. We get so used to thinking and behaving in certain ways that simply the thought of change is difficult for some to even consider. This habitual behavior reminds me of "muscle memory."

Muscle memory is a term that I was introduced to when I was being certified as a tennis pro. If I can be so bold as to oversimplify: In its most basic form, muscle memory refers to repeating certain movements long enough for them to become automatic.

This is why there is so much repetition involved in the physical training of athletes. It takes time and repetition to create habit. I think the same principle holds true with our thinking. If you do something or think something for long enough, you have a tendency to repeat it automatically. This is also called habit formation.

Negative mental conditioning is the enemy of the moment. One of the problems with habit is that it robs you of choice by making it difficult for you to see options and alternatives. Part of the solution lies in being patient, refusing to give up and being mindful of the choices that you make. Habit is the enemy of change; awareness is the enemy of habit.

The key to being successful is that you must believe in yourself, and you must refuse to fail. Keep that thought in mind, stay focused on the moment and address this one decision at a time.

Whenever the daily struggle of making wise choices becomes overwhelming, just repeat the closing phrase from the woman I mentioned earlier: “I am not giving up on this!”