One client writes: I thought I was finally in control of my weight, but sugar killed me. I had a terrible day. What I ate today is so wonderful that I won't write it here. All I can say is that 90% of my food today was made of sugar! I really, really need help to overcome this craving. I am definitely addicted to sugar. If you can overcome it, you will definitely achieve your goals. "
If you can see a little bit of yourself in this message, you are not alone. Many people call themselves sugar addicts. They believe they can achieve their weight loss goals if it's just one thing. If you think there's only one thing holding you back from losing weight, think about it. What if one of them (such as sugar addiction) went away? Do you truly believe, "If I can get through this, I will undoubtedly achieve my goals," or is it just a convenient way to get stuck?
If you could tell me how to stop craving sugar, would you like me to tell you how?
Think about it for a second. Close your eyes and really think. You said you would lose weight if you didn't crave sugar. Is that true? Ask yourself the following questions:
Do you eat differently? If so, how do you eat? Would you act differently?
What else has changed and what remains the same?
What do you lose? What will you win?
Until you know what you want, if you can achieve it, and what else is about to change (such as how your life will change), find the obstacles you need to consider first. For example, you don't want to eat anything after 7pm, but your husband doesn't come home from work until 8am and asks you to have dinner with him. This is an obstacle.
If you have the habit of watching your favorite TV show with ice cream in hand, breaking that habit is another obstacle. If you can't find a way to overcome your obstacles, perhaps through arguing or compromising with your husband, or breaking an ice cream habit, then there must be a problem. Instead, identify what might be holding you back from achieving your goals and find ways to get around them. That way, you're much more likely to actually achieve those goals outright.
The statement "If you handle this one, everything else follows" is an "if-then" statement that annoys people. They want a fairy godfather that makes everything better. A single thing like "eating sugar is your problem" will fail, especially if you really like eating sweets.
Grasping your thirst is not an all-or-nothing proposition. You need to leave room for occasional deviations. It's not the occasional detour that causes weight problems, but the roads we usually travel.
A good place to start NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) is the exercise of producing well-formed results. "Well-formed" means meeting all the criteria for a well-thought-out final result.
NLP: How to achieve well-formed results and get what you want
Here are the steps to creating a well-formed result:
1) State what you want (not what you don't want). "I want to weigh 135 pounds."
2) Determine whether it is feasible (do you believe it is feasible?).
3) What are your resources, and what do you require (money, time, equipment, clothing, coaching, and so on)?
4) Determine whether anyone else is involved and any potential roadblocks in your relationship with others. Think of everyone involved in your daily life.
5) Imagine "as if" you had accomplished what you said and see if this picture fits. Do you like what you see?
6) Create an action plan to achieve your goals.
Simply deciding what you really want can seem like a lot of work, but taking these steps first can help you spot potential roadblocks that have previously prevented you from moving forward. For example, if you decided to go to the gym and work out every day but lost your job because you forgot you didn't even have a car, this exercise plan might not work right now. If you join a gym, you don't go there thinking you failed, but it was the plan that failed, not you. You didn't think it through.
A better plan in this case might be to exercise at home or on foot (or just walk). Later, when you have transportation, you can revisit your plans and join the gym. There are always options.
It's better to look at what you want from all angles and then come up with a plan that you can do and that you know will work. And when you know what you want, you know you can make it happen, and you start taking the first steps towards making it happen.
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