Guess I’ll Be Fat Forever

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In another recent blog, I wrote about how there are five common thoughts of those who fall prey to what I call the Given Up and Given in to Hopelessness of weight loss. They share them all at once or come to them one at a time.

“This is who I am.”

“Guess I’ll be fat forever.”

“It’s in my genes.”

“I’m tired of dieting.”

“I’m happy being fat.”

Today, I want to address the second one; “Guess I’ll be fat forever.”

“Guess I’ll be fat forever” is dripping in hopelessness. It reeks of disappointment. You’re disappointed in the diet, in your efforts, in the exercise you might be doing, and in all of the hard work that you put into it . . . or that you think you put into it.

But you’re also disappointed in yourself.

When you say “Guess I’ll be fat forever” you hear it as and it sounds like what you mean but what’s subliminally being said is that you don’t want this. You want to make changes and you wish that you knew how to make them.

There are reasons that people reach this mindset. It usually starts because whatever weight loss effort they’ve made has simply not happened fast enough for their liking.

The progress is moving at a snail’s pace, and when they don’t see results, they give up and settle back in hopelessness. The way to combat this line of thinking is to realize that when progress takes longer, that’s a good thing.

Studies after studies have shown that slow, steady weight loss is much better and safer than fast weight loss. When you lose weight slowly, even though it seems to be taking forever, you end up keeping the weight off long term.

The key is being able to accept that it is going to take time. Once you settle on that from the start, it will be easy to avoid the “I’m going to be fat forever” way of thinking.

Something else that can trigger this line of thinking is a diet that’s too restrictive. When you plan a diet that’s very strict, you’re setting yourself up for failure. No one wants to be hungry.

It’s not fun and it’s actually detrimental to weight loss because it can lead you to feelings of hopelessness. When it comes to meal planning, if you choose foods that keep you feeling fuller longer, you’ll be able to combat feeling hungry, which in turn will eliminate frustration and feelings of hopelessness.

Another reason that you can fall into the trap of giving in to hopelessness or giving up happens when you decide that you have to eliminate all the foods you like from your diet. This always backfires because diets that take all the fun out of eating will push you to give up.

The best way to avoid experiencing the “Guess I’ll be fat forever” mind set is to focus on eating the majority of your meals and snacks based on healthy choices (lean meats, fruits, veggies, whole grains) and to occasionally plan to indulge in your favorite meal or snack. And the key word there is plan. Try never to do it on a whim. That always makes you feel worse.

And vary your choices so boredom doesn’t set in. But whatever you do, don’t completely eliminate everything that’s high calorie and considered junk food.

If you do that, you’ll definitely pave the way to give up. The best way to lose weight is to eat healthy and to leave room in your eating plan for your favorite foods.