Your Excuse: "I Feel Like I'm Being Punished By Dieting and Exercising!"

The Excuse Buster: Many of us tend to see weight loss as an unpleasant necessity to reaching our desired goal. In order to achieve the size and weight we want to be, we have to restrict ourselves from indulging in the foods we love and enjoy. We need to push ourselves to exercise even when we'd rather rest, and force ourselves to make the choices we know are ultimately best for us. The problem with this kind of restrictive approach is that it makes us feel like we are being punished. We act as if we are "bad" and need to be beaten into submission because our habits are so out of control. We think we have no choice but to severely discipline ourselves and force ourselves to "behave."

If you have ever approached weight loss in this manner, you know how unpleasant it can be. Instead of feeling good about the positive changes you are making, you feel like you're being punished. You feel like there must be something wrong with you, that you are somehow not good enough as you are. Not surprisingly, you just end up feeling worse about yourself than you did before you started dieting.

There is a better way to form lasting positive changes in your life, and that is: loving yourself to health. Rather than trying to restrict and punish yourself or forcing yourself to do the things you know are best for you, why not begin treating yourself with love and kindness? Why not eat foods that are good for you because you want to treat your body with love and respect? Why not move your body with the intention to make it feel stronger and better? Why not listen to the signals your body is sending about the foods and activities that are right for it?

When you do this, you automatically make living a healthy lifestyle much simpler and easier, not to mention less traumatic. You enter into a state of natural self-respect, rather than punishment. Not only do you end up creating an easier journey that leads quickly to your goal weight, you end up feeling good about yourself all along the way.