Boosting Self Esteem Can Boost Weight Loss Success
Self Esteem. It’s a term we come across frequently in the media and in self-help books, but when asked to define it, most Americans have difficulty pinpointing its meaning. Many think of it as body image. While body image does influence self-esteem, it is only one of several such factors. Self-esteem is a person’s sense of his or her self worth. Our view of ourselves is formed by our life experiences, underlying personality traits, body image, and how we think others view us. Self esteem tends to rise and fall throughout life depending on our experiences.
Given American culture’s preoccupation with youth, fitness, and thinness, your body image may have a greater effect on your self esteem than it would if you lived in a different society.
Since self esteem is the prism through which you view yourself, it affects how you experience life, how you treat and are treated by others, how confident you are about achieving your goals, and how you tackle life’s challenges. Poor self esteem can hinder your weight loss efforts whereas strong self esteem can boost them.
Self Esteem Busters
If you are trying to lose weight, you may be challenged by these common self esteem busters:
A sense of weight loss failure. If you are like most dieters, this is not your first weight loss attempt, so you may carry with you some negative feelings or beliefs about past weight loss experiences that can influence how you deal with the weight loss challenges you encounter now.
Negative self talk
You likely hear a steady, negative internal monologue about your body image, chances of losing weight, and your ability to meet goals. This internal perception will undermine your confidence and make it more difficult for you to reach your goals. As John Lennon once said, “You are where your head is at.” If you see yourself as a failure, you are likely to falter. If you see yourself as competent, you are likely to succeed.
Undervaluing your strengths and exaggerating your weaknesses
This is a common combination of traits in people with low self esteem. It can cause you to undervalue the progress you make when you take a few pounds off and put too much emphasis on how far you still have to go. This lack of balance in perception will make it easier for you to stop trying to lose weight and resume your unhealthy habits.
Overly ambitious weight loss goals
When you expect to lose a lot of weight in a short amount of time, it is a recipe for disappointment. When you fail to meet those ambitious goals, you are likely to conclude that your efforts have been worthless and regain weight.
Unrealistic expectations about how weight loss will change your life
If you are carrying around a lot of excess weight, it can be tempting to blame all the challenges you face or disappointments you experience on your weight. When you discover that being thinner does not solve all your problems, you may be tempted to resort to eating for comfort and because you feel let down that thin does not equals happy.
Feeling unworthy of success
If you don’t believe that you deserve to achieve a healthy body weight, you are not likely to reach your weight loss goal.
Arrogance is not the same as self esteem. Arrogant people may seem to brimming with self esteem, but they are usually overcompensating for a sense of insecurity. True self esteem manifests itself in a sense of comfort in your own skin and in the world.
How do you improve self-esteem?
There is no easy way to reverse poor self esteem, but you can gradually accumulate enough positive experiences that you begin to see yourself in a different light.
Acknowledge your strengths
Begin by thinking about your best traits and accomplishments, both big and small. Write them down and keep the list with you so you can look at it if you start to feel down. When you accomplish a new goal, add it to your list.
Set a realistic weight loss goal
Base your goal on what you have learned about the weight loss results of others following a similar program.
Put weight loss into perspective
Losing a significant amount of weight will dramatically change your health risks, your appearance, and your ability to be physically active. But it won’t automatically improve your relationships or reduce your need to worry about finances, family obligations, and work deadlines.
Respect yourself
Take good care of your own needs. Renowned advice columnist Dear Abbey used to say, “No one can make a doormat out of you unless you lay down first.” Learn to politely but firmly set limits on how people treat you.
Accept yourself
Strive to learn and grow each day, but accept personality traits or aspects of your body that you can’t change.
If these simple strategies do not improve your sense of self and you still primarily view yourself as incompetent and incapable, get professional help improving your self esteem. The healthcare providers associated with your weight loss program are skilled at helping people build self esteem and can refer you for additional support. The future is yours to create.