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There is a lot of debate over the extent to which our minds can affect our physical bodies.  I’ve personally witnessed people whose negative outlook towards exercise and nutrition has greatly impacted their physical results.  In my experience, the majority of people who fail to achieve their goals do so because of mental obstacles rather than physical ones. 

I like to use the analogy that our mental state works much like a weather pattern with our mood being the barometric pressure.  This is especially true for people with weight loss and body image goals.   A common example of this would be a person who is unhappy about being overweight. This person wakes up in the morning, looks in the mirror or steps on a scale, and is disappointed with what he or she sees.  Perhaps this person has been working on an exercise or nutrition program for a while with some positive results, but has recently reached a plateau.  Although trying to stay positive, recent set backs have begun to turn his or her thoughts negative.  “I’m getting sick of this!” the person thinks.   That’s just one negative thought that I’m sure we’ve all had in a moment of frustration and while some of us are able to brush it off quickly and push on, others allow it to stay and fester in their minds.

Let’s take a look at what can happen once that one negative thought creeps in.  If not properly addressed, that single thought can cause the barometer to fall.  Our mind begins to cloud as the low pressure system builds.  The thought begins to echo and repeat in our head gaining strength.  As it does the cloud begins to swirl and intensify and before long that one negative thought begins to kick up more negative thoughts: “I’m sick of this!” leads to “I’m never going to reach my goal”, which leads to “Why am I trying so hard, I’ll always be fat.”   All of these swirling negative thoughts finally touch down in the form of: “Screw it, I give up.  I’m just going to eat a whole pint of Ben & Jerry’s.”   This F5 negativity tornado flattens the towns of Conviction and Determination that the person had worked so hard built up.  The spiraling mass of self destructive thoughts and feelings could last a day or it could last months.  When it’s all over the victim looks out over the devastating aftermath with feelings of guilt and despair.  “Now it’s really hopeless.”  This is the first thought that starts the whole weather pattern over again.  You can easily see how some people can end up living in an emotional tornado ally.  I realize that makes the forecast seem pretty bleak but there is hope for those caught in this cycle.  It is the power of positive thinking.