I’m honored to have been asked (by Jane ) to begin a weekly Weight Watchers meeting topic discussion. Before we dive in, a quick little background about what this is and why:
During Weight Watchers meetings, the leader presents a topic and it’s discussed by the members that evening. Many people share their ideas and tips during this time. The topics are usually health and/or plan related. Although they are not rocket science , they can bring to light certain ways we can improve our own behaviors. Most certainly, they can help keep us on track.
Unfortunately, not all of us Weight Watchers are able to attend weekly meetings in person, or we’ve decided that the in-person meetings are not for us. In order to spread the love & knowledge that a meeting can provide, I’ll be posting the weekly topic of discussion. This will give At Home members, Flex followers, Core followers, and even meeting going members a chance to participate and maybe pick up a few useful ideas.
Everyone is welcome to join in and contribute. Please share with us!
With that said, let’s begin our first discussion, shall we?
This week’s topic: It's All In Your Mind Our successes, and our failures, will go exactly how we think they will.
Do you believe that thinking negatively or positively about your weight loss effects your progress?
Do you fall into either of the below examples?
Examples of Negative Thinking:
All or Nothing
Self-fullfilling Prophecy
Any other negative thinking that effects you?
Using our Tools for Living: Positive Self Talk
What is something you might say to a friend or relative who says:
a) I can't do this.
b) I'll never reach my goal weight.
c) I can't say no to food.
How to manage negative thoughts:
1) Catch yourself in the act. Notice when you're thinking negatively.
2) Challenge the thought. Ask yourself why you've thought negatively. Tell yourself that thought isn't true.
3) Turn the Negative around. Tell yourself the positive.
Is there anything you do specifically when you catch yourself having a negative thought?
Positive thoughts breed positive actions and positive results!
Ooooh, I like this idea! I've pretty much always been an "all or nothing" girl, but I am slowly changing that by just paying attention, instead of going into automatic. It really is kinda dumb when you're rational...
And thanks for the perfect timing of this reminder! I'm having a cranky day, thinking all kinds of negative thoughts, weight related and plenty of other things. So now, instead of falling into the pit, as I like to say, I'm going to think about what I would say to a friend who was feeling this way. It's so much easier to be kind to someone else than it is to be kind to ourselves sometimes...
(Was too tired last night to post my own responses to the meeting, I just wanted to get it up so everyone would have a chance to look at it.)
I was heavily afflicted by negative thinking before I began WW. It wasn't a constant harping negative voice, but a true belief that I just couldn't lose weight. That I was obese, and would continue to exist as obese.
I'm a firm believer that we get what we expect. Self-fullfilling prophecies and all that.
I've made a 180. This is going to be a butchery of the English language but: I now can't not think positively. I'm a beaming ball of "Yes, I CAN!"
I take a look at those three statements a friend might say, all of those things: I can't... I'll never... I won't... It's impossible... My heart breaks for those people still out there now thinking this way. If they are trying to lose weight, how are these thoughts helping them in any way??? You wouldn't tell a friend "You can't." So why would you tell yourself that?
Honestly, I'm still an "All or Nothing" person when it comes to certain foods. It doesn't bother me that I'm that way though, and I don't think it hinders my being able to function as a WW member. There are a ton of foods that I used to be "All or Nothing" with that I can now eat in moderation. But certain things I still consider "Off Limits" since they are a huge trigger for me.
Yes, we are allowed to do this. WW has no copyright on ideas so as long as nothing is written word-for-word, we're ok.
Faerie, beautifully written! Wow, this is a huge topic that affects most of us. It's easy to fall into the "well, I overate a bit, so now the day is ruined" mindframe. I finally identified that for what it really is in my case: permission to sneak in extra food for the rest of the day. I have done better with it, but not perfectly. I wonder if having a positive outlook isn't as much of a problem, as much as it is keeping the positive outlook. Especially for those of us with a lot to lose. Finding a way to keep the momentum is sometimes hard for me.
It is so true that would never say discouraging things to others, so why would we do that to ourselves? I have to admit that I'm guilty of that mainly because this has been a life-long battle for me.
Today, I will think positively, and say nice things to myself!
This was a very interesting topic, and I could tell it was very meaningful for a lot of people in my meeting this morning. Why do we see fit to beat ourselves up so often? Why do we hold ourselves to standards we wouldn't dream of expecting from others?
Actually, this meeting made me realize that I've been doing really well at weeding out negative self-talk. I went through a tough time with WW in late spring or so, when I felt really discouraged at my progress, goal seemed so far away, I hated having to make everything "fit" into my plan... I fought a battle with myself for a good month nearly and came out better for it on the other side.
I think the struggle with my inner demons also helped curb my binge impulses, actually - a lot of my inner talk was about my lack of control over food, my lack of willpower - and as we were talking about in the meeting often these negative thoughts are closed-ended, as in, you're not giving yourself any other option other than what your statement says about you. Such as "if I have one cookie, I will eat the whole bag." Self-fulfilling prophecy, right? That was one of my worst thoughts about my actions and it was deeply entrenched... deeply. It took a long time to root it out but I realize I don't feel so out of control with food anymore, which is a wonderful, wonderful thing and the reason I think I am still here, doing this.
I've noticed that using the treadmill has given me the tools to ignore or block out the negative demons. I used to overeat and then spend the next day feeling bad then eating to make myself feel better. Now, I just jump on the treadmill and I feel good about that choice instead of bad about another choice. I've also noticed that I have lost a lot more weight since I have been feeling better. It is hard to break old ways of thinking though. It's almost as if you have to trick your brain.
Honestly, I'm still an "All or Nothing" person when it comes to certain foods. It doesn't bother me that I'm that way though, and I don't think it hinders my being able to function as a WW member. There are a ton of foods that I used to be "All or Nothing" with that I can now eat in moderation. But certain things I still consider "Off Limits" since they are a huge trigger for me.
mod - that is me to a T!
Negativity - I have often wondered why negative thoughts are often the first to be apparent rather than positive? Why do people beat themselves up first before lifting themselves up? Is it easier to be negative than positive? Sometimes I think it is easier to find personal faults rather than positives. Not very motivational at all is it?
Perspective is very important for me. When I decided to start WW again, I needed to think why. Why am I doing this? What do I want from this? Of course the first thing that came to my mind was my physical appearance. Then, as I gradually lost weight, I realized I was able to actually be more active without struggling to keep up. Bending over and picking stuff up from between my feet without holding my breath or doing a weird squat was a very emotional thing for me.
Because I have become more attuned to my body, not just my appearance, it has made me realize that any superficial reason I initially had for losing weight are low on the totem pole. Although looking good is still a motivating factor.. (How vain am I?) LOL
Getting back to perspective. What changed me and my thought process from a negative outlook to a more positive one is that I decided that this 'diet' isn't a temporary thing. I am not going to be successful and reach my goal and then go back to my old habits. This is a life thing for me. Once I realized that, even the small setbacks that I have experienced or will experience don't seem so big for me now. I don't dwell on that, but look forward to how I am going to be for the rest of my life. How refreshing is that?
I wonder, if those who are battling the negative demons of "I can't, or It won't, or It is too hard, I will fail" is because the perspective and expectations are not set for a long term but short term 'reach my goal'? Time after time, me included, reached my goal only to gain again and that turned into failure for me or in my mind "I can't or this won't work for me". Of course it won't work and I will fail because I failed to keep the weight off before, why would that change now and then why should I even try?
Everyone - I am not there yet, but I will get there and I will keep it off this time. Why? Because I have finally realized that I can do this and I will do this. I don't have this urgency or unrealistic expectations this time. This isn't a short term thing for me, but is a 'rest of my life' thing this time.
Once each of us realizes that, and gains a realistic perspective of what we can accomplish then I think that it will be easier to overcome those negative thoughts and feelings. Of course, it certainly doesn't hurt that there are some pretty awesome people here that are some of the most supportive, positive, realistic human beings that I have come across in a long time!
The negativity has just recently started kicking in for me. I've been overweight since I was 19 and gained 100 lbs on Depo Provera, I'm now 33. For so long I think I was just in denial, even when I was pulling on a size 22 instead of a size 4. In my mind's eye I still saw myself as the 110 lb person I was at 18, which had the good effect of keeping my self-confidence at that level but the bad effect of me not changing my lifestyle. That continued for 12 years. After all those years of getting a shock when I saw a picture of myself, my mental image has started to catch up to reality. Now the negative self-talk kicks in easily, and has made me more aware of what I'm doing, what I'm wearing.
Whenever I catch myself thinking that way, it's a conscious effort to change it. I am doing something about my weight and health, not I "should" cut back on what I'm eating.
Wow, posting weekly topics will be so great!! I cannot afford to go to the meetings right now and this will help in so many ways. I've been away from the forums for a long time, and now I'm back to lose this weight. I'm going to think on this topic for a bit and then post my thoughts to it. I just wanted to say thank you for starting this!
Our meeting this morning was generally about exercise, and having the right equipment/items to encourage you to exercise (shoes, swimsuit, gym membership, dog, etc). They didn't really introduce anything of any real import since next week is the Momentum reveal!
This a Great Topic, for me. I've Always been over-weight, as long as I can remember, I've had a problem with the All or Nothing. I would ask myself, why can't I just have one and be done with it, I would tend to eat until I was sick to my stomach, then I would be so angry with myself and start the cycle over and over, until I was at my heaviest, over 300lbs.
In this past 18months, on WW, I've learned so much about myself, I'm still learning, I now know, it really just boils down to ME. I'm the one in control now, not the Food!! For me, I also feel better when I exercise, and drink lots of water, so I'm the one in control there also. It's funny, but WW gives you permission to be in control of yourself, the program is easy to follow, but also easy to get right back on track, after that small detour.
I had stopped posting the meeting topics only because I thought people weren't too interested, but I'm more than happy to start them up again, and this time to keep them going, if only to let everyone know that the meetings continue on & that they continue to help people.
Again, everyone on 3FC is more than welcome to participate in them. I'll post last week's topic to start things off.
Weekly Topic Discussion #1
) to begin a weekly Weight Watchers meeting topic discussion. Before we dive in, a quick little background about what this is and why: 
, they can bring to light certain ways we can improve our own behaviors. Most certainly, they can help keep us on track.
I'm a beaming ball of "Yes, I CAN!" 
My heart breaks for those people still out there now thinking this way. If they are trying to lose weight, how are these thoughts helping them in any way??? You wouldn't tell a friend "You can't." So why would you tell yourself that?
