Identify your flawed thinking patterns, such as labeling and frustration-based thinking.

**Find your flawed thinking**

Thoughts determine actions, so pay attention to your inner self. To some extent, your inner self is working for your benefit. If you say, "I can't find time to exercise," then you've found a good excuse for not wanting to exercise actively, and you avoid the pressure of having to do better.

Choosing the right thoughts means choosing a good experience, because once you choose a certain idea, you choose the corresponding outcome. If you choose self-denial and self-deprecation, you choose to wallow in a lack of self-respect and confidence. If you choose to be tainted by sad thoughts, you choose to be immersed in depression and frustration.

If you truly don't want to exercise, your body adapts to the information in your mind, reacting to these depressive thoughts and suppressing energy and action. With such a negative mindset, it's no wonder you can't stick to exercising and perform poorly. If your self-evaluation is filled with anxiety and restlessness, such as "I'll never lose weight" or "I hate how I look in the mirror," these thoughts will influence your behavior as if you're declaring defeat.

**Discard any negative aspects of yourself that hinder your actions and replace them with a positive mindset.**

This isn't to tell you that the answer to solving weight problems is to think good thoughts all the time. Rather, it's about being good at understanding your own mind and promptly identifying and correcting negative thoughts that run counter to your weight loss goals.

Here are some common misconceptions that can undermine your motivation to lose weight. How many of these apply to you? Check the box next to them.

1. Based on the above thinking pattern test, I exhibit: Externalized motivation tendency ( ) Internalized motivation tendency ( ) Accidental motivation tendency ( )

2. I lack the motivation to lose weight.

3. Losing weight is too hard, so I'll just accept being fat.

4. When you start dieting, you think, "This won't work, I'll never lose weight, there's too much weight to lose, I'm destined to fail." Or later you think, "I definitely won't be able to lose those last 3 or 5 kilograms."

5. When the number on the scale is not satisfactory, you might think: "I've gained weight again, all my efforts have been in vain." Or one evening, you're having dinner with your family and decide to have a small dessert, but then you think, "Oh well! I've already broken my diet plan anyway, I might as well eat the whole cookie."

6. I've never had perseverance, and I'm afraid I won't be able to this time either.

7. I often dream of having a perfect figure, shining like a fashion model or a Hollywood star. Or I hear advertisements saying you can lose 1 kilogram a day and believe I can do it too.

8. I feel fat, therefore I am fat.

9. I have absolutely no self-control.

10. "It's so unfair that others can eat creamy ice cream but I can't." Or, "I hate it that dieting deprives me of such pleasures in my life." Or, "I don't need to work so hard to maintain my figure." Or, "It's such a shame I can't even go to a party."

11. I'm fat so I can avoid unnecessary attention.

12. Not finishing your food is wasteful and disrespectful to the person who cooked it.

**●Review**

**1. Tendency to externalize or internalize**

The thought patterns discussed earlier will coordinate and guide your self-evaluation. If you have an external bias, you might tell yourself, "I can't lose weight on my own; I need to take diet pills." If you have an internal bias, you'll probably tell yourself, "To achieve my goal, I must put more effort into each workout." If you have a random psychological control over your weight, you might say, "My obesity is predetermined; nothing I do will help."

Regardless of which category you belong to, these three mental forces have a significant influence on your inner self, and any of them can lead to disappointing consequences. Therefore, once you recognize negative thoughts that are internal, external, or accidental, you should immediately pull back from the brink and stop being driven by these forces. Objectively and realistically assess whether you can control yourself and take action to revitalize your life.

**2. Labeling**

Labeling is a form of self-description, reflecting certain conclusions you draw about yourself. Most labels stem from the inner turmoil you feel when you notice life is a mess, while some are imposed by others; perhaps you'll be ridiculed for your entire life because of your weight. In the United States, for example, overweight people are often labeled "lazy and slovenly," "slow," or "ugly." In some workplaces, overweight people often face unfair and unreasonable treatment, yet this is simply part of the unfortunate reality of life for them.

Regardless of where these labels come from, you tend to internalize them. If left unchecked, the labels become synonymous with you. If you fail to lose weight, obese individuals are often categorized as "failures." Once you accept the label's validity, your unwavering confidence, determination, and desire for your ideal weight vanish. By believing a negative label, you negate a positive belief.

**3. Frustration Mindset**

Many people, when dieting or exercising, tell themselves they can't stand the frustration and discomfort of not being able to eat delicious food and dragging their overweight bodies into the gym. Faced with changes in body shape, you feel depressed and frustrated, thinking, "It's too hard, I guess I'll just stay away from the gym."

To protect yourself and maintain a sense of security, you convince yourself that any changes to your diet or lifestyle are too difficult. This self-assessment signifies a pessimistic view of reality, a way you avoid setbacks and discomfort, but every time you think about losing weight, you give up before you even get started.

**4. Negative Prophecy**

Your self-evaluation is like a psychic with supernatural powers, able to predict your performance. When your self-evaluation is negative, this prediction brings misfortune and makes you depressed. The shadow of failure in your mind will overshadow the entire weight loss process. At the beginning, you say: "This won't work, I'll never lose weight, there's too much weight to lose, I'm destined to fail." Later, you say: "I definitely won't be able to lose these last 3 or 5 kilograms." When this mentality prevails, the idea of ​​self-confidence is at a disadvantage and is rejected from your mind.

In 1954, someone predicted that it would be possible to run 1.6 kilometers in under 4 minutes. At the time, the whole world thought that running 1.6 kilometers in under 4 minutes was simply a fantasy from a physiological point of view; no one could do it. Later, a young internist named Bannister believed he could do it. He did, becoming the first person to run 1.6 kilometers in under 4 minutes. The following year, 12 other athletes broke this previously considered insurmountable record, and it would be a piece of cake for today's athletes.

**5. One-size-fits-all thinking**

Imagine you step out of the bathroom, stand on the scale, and the number isn't satisfactory. Deep down, you think, "I've gained weight again; all my efforts have been for nothing." This indicates you've entered a one-size-fits-all mindset: life either ends in success or failure, with no middle ground. This kind of thinking is extremely destructive and can trigger extreme behaviors. For example, one evening, you're having dinner with your family and decide to have a small dessert, which is fine. But then you think, "Oh well! I've already broken my diet plan, so I might as well eat the whole cookie." This extreme self-evaluation is that eating one cookie means everything is ruined, leading to a binge-eating session. It's precisely this distorted self-evaluation that often leads alcoholics, drug addicts, and bulimiars to repeat their mistakes.

**6. Seeing enemies everywhere**

When evaluating things, do you exaggerate their meaning or significance? Do your mind constantly nag with thoughts like, "If I can't lose weight this time, I'll never be able to," "Gaining 1 kilogram is terrifying," or "My boyfriend will hate me if I get fat"? If you have these thoughts, you're overly sensitive. In your eyes, everything in life, even mundane matters, becomes incredibly important. Every kilogram of weight gain is unbearable. Any mistake, even a small slip of the tongue, feels like a disaster. This kind of self-evaluation lacks rational perspective, and you lose self-control over your health.

7. A pipe dream

The idea of ​​radiating stardom like a fashion model or Hollywood star might occasionally cross your mind, giving you the courage to dream of having the perfect figure. Perhaps you hear about losing 1 kilogram a day and believe you can do it. While this seems positive on the surface, it's actually quite negative because the message is neither reasonable nor realistic. Setting unrealistic goals for yourself prevents your dreams from coming true and instead brings frustration.

**8. Perception Error**

Sometimes self-evaluation doesn't reflect your true inner world, but rather a feeling experienced at a specific moment. For example, the thought "I feel fat" is interpreted by self-evaluation as "I must look fat." You take this feeling as an absolute fact, and once you start thinking this way, even if there is a lot of evidence that you don't look fat, you still ignore this more accurate and reliable information.

**9. Self-suggestion**

If you give up first, your self-suggestion will amplify until other related truths disappear. If you become depressed because of your weight, your inner voice will scream and mock you, "I can't lose weight because I have no self-control." Then you'll blame yourself for not succeeding in losing weight, and complain about not doing what you should have done, and not doing what you did well. The problem is, if you treat this unreasonable outburst as absolute truth, it slowly becomes reality.

Perhaps your parents or friends often say things like, "You can't lose weight," "You're as strong as an ox," or "How can someone so fat have any charm?" These words enter your mind, erode your thinking, distort your self-perception, and largely determine your inner suggestions, making you constantly feel ashamed and inadequate. If you accept these words completely, believe them to be true, and allow yourself to become a laughingstock, it would be a terrible disaster. You must acknowledge these changes in your thinking to have the power to overturn these extremely destructive inner suggestions.