Dramatically Improve Your Self-Talk for Better Weight Loss Results Workshop
Are your current thoughts supporting or challenging your efforts to release weight? Your thoughts impact your reality. Imagine what bringing kindness, love, self-respect, and fun to your weight loss journey will do for your goals.
In this workshop, Marna will guide you to the precise tools you need to finally improve your self-talk. Find more love, respect, and kindness for yourself and your body.
Turn those negative thoughts into positive self-talk and directly influence your weight loss.
Session #1:
Why does self-talk matter for weight loss?
Notes for Session #1
This week I am so excited to start training you on how to dramatically improve your self-talk for better weight loss results.
Why does self-talk matter for weight loss?
Why even bother talking about self-talk?
There is a private conversation going on in your mind that only you know. Everyone has an Inner Monologue. It’s a mixture of what you heard growing up, what you believe about yourself, what messages you decided to make part of your thoughts, and what you have consciously or unconsciously repeated.
What you believe about yourself matters.
If you believe you are beautiful and capable of having amazing health, you will live into those thoughts.
If you believe moving your body is easy for you to do and you love doing it, that’s going to play out differently than if you feel it’s hard, a pain, and you just don’t have time.
Your thoughts become beliefs through repetition. That’s it.
One of the biggest misconceptions people often harbor is that belief is static. Nothing can be farther from the truth! Beliefs are a choice. We have the power to choose our beliefs – and they are so important because our beliefs become our reality.
Beliefs are a choice.
Beliefs are intertwined with emotions (conscious or unconscious). Perhaps, that is why we react in intense ways when our core beliefs are challenged.
We also know that our beliefs impact our physiology. We know that from the placebo effect where countless studies share that when people THINK that they are getting cured – research has seen powerful healing when the brain translates the suggestions to healing cancer into healing words.
Every tiny cell in your body is perfectly aware of your thoughts, feelings, and your beliefs.
If you believe you are incapable of health, your body will manifest it. If you believe you are tough, your body undeniably mirrors it. When you consciously believe you are anxious, your personal view along with your physical body internalizes this belief.
So your beliefs and what you say to yourself are super powerful. Let’s take a moment and see how you are doing with your inner dialogue right now.
THE INNER DIALOGUE QUIZ
Rate the question 1 if it’s a low-level belief and 10 if it’s a strong belief
I Believe that… 1 – (I don’t believe it) to 10 – (It is very true)
I am capable of losing weight – ____
I deserve to be healthy – ____
I am attractive – ____
Weight loss is easy – ____
Weight loss is hard – ____
My body has an easy time releasing weight – ____
For whatever reason, weight loss is harder for me than it is for others – ____
My body looks good – ____
Everyone is going to have a different experience with their subconscious thoughts and beliefs due to various messages incorporated throughout life. These messages are played over and over, often unconsciously.
In this series, I want to help you make your unconscious programmed thoughts that aren’t serving you into more conscious and positive ones so you can make weight loss easier on you. Quite simply…
When your mind supports you, you will lose weight faster and easier.
So the question is, can you change your thoughts?
Of course, you can!
The key is that you have to want to change your thoughts. Only you can do the work of repeating the new thoughts so that they become more and more ingrained.
Today we are going to focus on ladder thoughts. Open up this link to see a ladder.
On the top rung of the “Thought Ladder”, you write the supportive thought you would like to have and on the bottom rung, you write the actual thought you are having but would like to change.
The bottom rung of the ladder might be:
I don’t think I can lose weight.
On the top rung of the ladder might be the belief that you want like :
I’m amazing at losing weight.
Or
My body is easily getting down 145 pounds
Sometimes the jump from thinking “I can’t lose weight” to saying “It’s easy,” can happen quickly and other times it is too far of a jump, feeling inauthentic and unrealistic.
The ladder is used to help scale up thoughts when it is challenging to change to a more positive thought.
Here is an example of a Thought Ladder:
Top of the ladder: I’m excited to get down to 155 lbs, then 145…
-I’m seeing good results and I can see releasing this weight is very doable
-I’m excited to notice myself losing some weight
-I’m proud of myself for losing 2 pounds and I think I can lose 2 more
-I’m sure I can lose at least 2 pounds
-I’m hopeful I can find and implement tools to help me lose weight
Bottom of the ladder: I don’t think that I can lose weight
You don’t have to make the jump from hating your body to loving it in an instant. From feeling bad to feeling amazing by force. There are lots of steps along the way that you can hang out in while you get used to the new paradigm of positive, loving thoughts about yourself. Ladder thoughts give you the option to up-level your thinking.
I recommend using thoughts that are in the present and feel realistic. Progressively make each more positive.
Thoughts in the present:
- I am in the process of
- I believe I can
- I am hopeful to
- I am inspired to
You can start the phrase with “I am willing to be hopeful” or “I am willing to consider being hopeful” as you work your way up the ladder.
Reach up to the next positive thought you can believe and reinforce it!
- I’m excited to see my clothes fall off my body.
- I’m in the process of getting better and better at honoring my body
- I’m enjoying figuring out what hunger feels like.
- I’m proud of myself for honoring my hunger today.
- I’m sure that I can feel into hunger once today
Action Plan for Session 1:
NOVICE LEVEL – Monitor your thoughts. Get used to noticing the Inner Monologue that runs your feelings and actions. Write a few of them down and make ONE believable Thought Ladder to help you change that one negative thought gradually into a more and more positive one. Practice the thought at regular intervals like every time you eat. Feel into your body when you practice the new thought to make sure it is believable. If not, write in a new thought on a rung using a step back phrase like “I am open to being…” or “I am willing to be open to being…” When the thought you practice feels solid move on to the next highest thought on the ladder. Don’t rush it. It could take days, weeks, months, or years to change any thought for good. It’ll be worth the effort.
INTERMEDIATE LEVEL- Do the novice level assignment from above. Work on 2-3 thoughts this week (or however long it takes you), making Thought Ladders for each one.
ADVANCED LEVEL – Do the assignment above for 4-5 thoughts.
Also, check into your accountability group or post on our private Inner Circle Facebook what you are doing this week.
Session #2:
Reprogramming Your Limiting Beliefs
Notes for Session #2
Most of the thoughts you think are just on repeat. Some may be positive, especially if you have worked with your thoughts in the past. Many tend to be negative or critical.
Simply thinking a thought does not make it true…
even if it is something you hear in your inner dialogue every day!
How you talk to yourself is just a pattern you have practiced by allowing it to happen. When you are most vulnerable, tired, or depleted the habitual thoughts can be more challenging to confront.
Get in front of your subconscious mind by using Ladder Thoughts to programing in powerful, believable, new mental chatter that will support your desire to release weight and live a healthy life.
You don’t get what you want, you get what you practice.
If you are practicing defeating beliefs like…
- There’s something wrong with me.
- I don’t look good.
- I can’t lose weight.
you are actively working against your goals by allowing them to circle in your mind.
It is your job to love yourself. It is your job to see the best in you.
There are people all around you that love you and see who you really are. They think you are amazing and beautiful. Would you believe them if they told you?
You can be surrounded by people who see the awesome, attractive person you are, but if you can’t see that in yourself, you are not going to feel thin, happy, or beautiful…even when you are at your goal.
Fight through the swamp of defeating thoughts and believe in yourself!
What you tell yourself matters. What you say to yourself everyday matters. You matter!!!!
You are amazing and how you talk to yourself is important. I know many of you have made incredible, incredible changes in how you speak to yourself while others of you need a reboot and are going to struggle with your self-esteem and self-concept until you begin to SUPPORT yourself to lose weight.
You are not a failure at losing weight
You are not going to give up on yourself
You deserve to fight for your health
You are on the road to feeling good in your body.
So what is the #1 limiting belief that is holding you back from fully transforming your body?
(Take 5 minutes to explore this question with a free write.)
Challenge Your Thoughts
When you find a discouraging idea pop into your brain, ask yourself:
- What do I want to think instead of this?
- How to does it feel to think this new thought?
Train Your Brain
Now – it’s time to practice an entirely new way of thinking about yourself. One that embodies, hope, action, excitement and possibility.
Yes, your thoughts can embody hope, action, excitement and possibility!
Find the limiting beliefs you want to change. Rework the thoughts into the opposite, something that supports your journey, use Ladder Thoughts if you need to, and practice it every morning. Check-in every night to see how you have done. Compliment your success and figure out what you need when you fall short.
If you would like to go deeper into this process, I highly recommend using the following worksheet upon waking up: Morning Journaling for Intentional Weight Loss. I use it all the time. It’s my go-to tool to change my thoughts and plan for success in my day.
Action Plan for Session 2:
NOVICE LEVEL – Continue with the Thought Ladder you created in session 1 to help you change that one negative thought you chose gradually into a more and more positive one. It could take days or years to truly shift it.
INTERMEDIATE LEVEL- After free writing for 5 minutes, choose the most powerful limiting belief from your words. Take it on. Use Ladder Thoughts to help you get to an idea that is just a bit above what you are thinking, something doable or think-able. Work your way up the ladder this week if you can or stay at the next best thought you are reaching for.
ADVANCED LEVEL – Do the assignment above for 2 limiting beliefs.
Also, check into your accountability group or post on our private Inner Circle Facebook what you are focusing on this week.
Session #3:
Solve for Your Inner Super-Hero
Notes for Session #3
Every human being possesses an inner voice that questions, doubts, and challenges their dreams, aspirations, and sense of self.
It’s a survival mechanism our ancestors needed to keep them safe from wild animals or big natural disasters. In modern-day society, it is not as vital to our survival to remember to run from challenges as it was when people encountered sabertooth tigers.
We have to tame this negative inner beast so that we can move toward our greatest selves.
I know the type of people who join this program are not striving to “live small” and in fear.
Instead of dieting for a lifetime, you are deciding to listen to your body’s cues and live more in tune with your true physical needs. You want to create a ThinWithin Life™ of your own.
A ThinWithin Life™ means feeling great, looking great, and having the tools to maintain the healthy weight that you deserve.
To become a naturally intuitive eater, you must calm the Inner Critic and insist your brain come up with a more believable thought that will support your Inner Superhero and squelch the unhelpful critiques.
Mo Gawdat, author of the book Solve for Happy, shared that oftentimes people THINK OUR VOICES ARE WHO WE REALLY ARE.
But, as I have said in the previous session, the negative chatter is not the truth of you. It is just programmed responses that you’ve heard and repeated. It can be changed with practice.
This week I want you to do what Mo talks about in his book. Make a deal with your inner monologue that it can only give you useful or positive thoughts that build you up as you progress toward your goals. Everything else isn’t allowed.
Come to an understanding with your brain.
Starve the Inner Critic and feed the Inner Superhero.
Then put your inner superhero in charge.
Everything changes when you master your thoughts. Monitor them with a Wonder Woman pose that shows your power over the chatter.
Mo recommends just listening to your inner dialogue. He said, “I allow my brain to say what’s going on inside, with me listening to it. Most of the time we don’t really listen to our brains, it’s like white noise, so just like a good friend it tries to alert you again and again. If you acknowledge it, your brain goes silent.”
The transformation from looking for what’s wrong with life to being in charge awaits those willing to become the brain’s supervisor. As an example, after you listen you can say to your inner critic…
Thank you for sharing, brain, but I know that is not the truth of me.
What’s something more joyful or positive that my inner superhero would believe about me?
Now strike a superhero pose and bring to mind your superhero self:
She’s strong, powerful, wise, and caring. A badass, taking no prisoners when it comes to her self-image. This part of you knows what she wants in life and is making it happen. She encourages herself to go for her dreams, play full out in life, and face her fears.
She intentionally practices thinking in ways where she’s a badass superhero. She tells herself she can do hard things, face challenges, and acknowledges herself for stepping into her life like the superhero that she is.
If you truly struggle with negative self-talk and find yourself feeling cruddy about yourself, your body, your actions, and your life, then it’s going to be essential for you to make space for joyful thinking.
One way to intentionally work through thoughts would be with the Morning Journaling for Intentional Weight Loss.
Here you can look at your thoughts daily and choose the beliefs you’d like to practice thinking on purpose. Every morning you focus your mind on what you want to think is possible.
The worksheet is just a possible way to address the Inner Critic and put more energy into the Inner Superhero. You can also strike your superhero pose daily and declare the thoughts you want to integrate into your subconscious.
So if you don’t think that losing weight is possible, then you can keep reminding yourself….
Being a size 8 (or 18, 12, or 6) is coming easily and effortlessly. I am excited to continue to create this size body.
Or whatever you goals are just put them into a similar sentence. Rinse and repeat. And repeat. And repeat.
Action Plan for Session 3:
NOVICE LEVEL – If you are still working with the Thought Ladder you created in session 1 and/or 2 to help you change the most challenging negative thought into a more positive one, keep at it. It will be worth the time it takes to truly shift it.
INTERMEDIATE LEVEL- Whenever you notice a negative, unhelpful thought, listen then strike a superhero pose and say,
“Thank you for sharing, brain, but I know that is not the truth of me. What’s something more joyful or positive that my inner superhero would believe about me?”
Repeat the more positive thought.
ADVANCED LEVEL – If you are ready for more, intentionally work through thoughts with the Morning Journaling for Intentional Weight Loss.
Also, check into your accountability group or post on our private Inner Circle Facebook what you are focusing on this week.
Session #4:
Breathe Life into Your Future
Notes for Session #4
Today I want to put together an entire process that you can use to change your thoughts to create the weight loss you want.
Let’s recap:
- Your beliefs become your reality.
- Thoughts become beliefs through repetition. Simply by allowing them to repeat over and over again in your brain they sink in. That’s it.
- What you are repeating over and over again is a collection of positive, neutral, and/or negative thoughts that at some level you believe are true.
- However, many of your thoughts aren’t true. They are just BS! These persistent worries and fears come from someone else or you and the life experiences you’ve had so far.
- So, be aware that many of your thoughts are just subjective untruths that only circulate inside of your brain because you’ve allowed them to be programmed in. And, since you are in charge, you have the power to choose and integrate new beliefs that support the more vibrant, healthy version of yourself you are moving toward.
So here’s the process:
Step 1. Dream it into Existence
Visualize what you want your weight and body to look like for 3-5 minutes in the morning. No matter if you think it can happen, fake it until you make it. If you need a refresher on this, I want you to use the first section of Module 1 of the Mastery Course. There is a workbook walking you through this called Meet Your Future Self by Crafting Your Thin Vision in which I walk you through all of your senses to further activate the power of your imagination to bring what you want to you.
Power up your Vision by engaging your senses of…
- Feeling
- Acting
- Seeing
- Hearing
- Tasting
- Smelling
If your brain throws up any negatives, just say,
“Thank you for sharing, brain. Now, this is what I want, and this is what I’m creating. What can you add to help?”
Step 2. Be Intentional
Get out your Morning Journal for Intentional Weight Loss and you are going to write two ways you are going to show up for yourself that align with your goal.
If you have thoughts that aren’t serving you, you can use Ladder Thoughts. What is the next believable thought that you can use that is in alignment with where you want to go?
Create, experience, and nurture feelings that will naturally occur as you succeed.
Step 3: Act As If
Then walk throughout the day like you are a sexy badass. Walk and talk as though you were that person now. This pretending sends a strong message to your subconscious mind that what you want for your body is already in the works and is happening.
Double-check how you express yourself. Stop talking about what you don’t want and why it won’t happen. Stop fighting for your limitations, your hardships, your “cants”, and “whys” it won’t happen.
Your subconscious is listening to everything you say. Affirm your good fortune by telling the story of your success, even if you don’t believe it yet.
Act and speak as if releasing weight and vibrant health is occurring easily in your life. List what you are accomplishing. Treat your goal as if it’s a done deal.
Saying things like:
I’m so proud of myself for getting into great health,
I’m feeling so proud of my body, I’m taking such good care of myself.
I love eating when I’m hungry and stopping when I’m satisfied.
I love honoring my body
I love finding time to take care of my health.
I know that my body is shrinking down easily.
I’m taking great care of myself and slimming down.
I’m creating such great habits daily.
I’m so proud of my body for all its accomplishments.
I’m grateful for my body and all it does for me.
I’m having such an easy time making meals that are healthy and work so well for my body.
This is what I am doing today to make a difference in my health and thoughts….
Talking about your success enough will give your brain no other choice than to believe that you are incredible, amazing, losing weight, and looking beautiful.
Your brain will see you making yourself and your health a priority in your life while reaching your goals.
Step 4: Evening Recap
Reinforce your thoughts and actions by recognizing your progress daily. Use it to keep you moving forward.
The evening recap helps you see what you’ve done to support your health and body. Simply list 3 things you’re proud of doing that moved your health forward. Then, write or express 3 compliments about your body and/or health.
Action Plan for Session 4:
NOVICE LEVEL – If you still want to work on a Thought Ladder you created in session 1 /2 or use the superhero pose to demand a new, more positive thought from your brain from session 3, please stay with those powerful tasks.
INTERMEDIATE LEVEL- Review steps one and two and chose something to focus on this week. Write it down immediately to help you follow through.
ADVANCED LEVEL- If you feel complete with the first two steps, then advance to three and four and determine an action step for this week. Declare your step in Monday’s post in ThinWtihn Life’s private Facebook group and/or with your accountability group.
Be sure to check back in on Friday’s Check-In post on the TWL Facebook page or with your group to declare your successes/lessons learned.