One study found that 95% of people who lose weight will put the weight back on and in some instances put on even more weight, within two years.
So, the bad news is that most people will go through the weight loss process for absolutely no long-term benefit!
So, how can you be part of the 5% and avoid this disappointing scenario?
Before I let you know what you need to do to be part of the 5%, I’m going to quickly explain why 95% put the weight back on.
The Influence of Pro Eating Beliefs
Here we go….
Before people go on a diet, they have pro eating beliefs in their subconscious minds, such as:
- I love white bread and butter. I can’t resist it
- I’m addicted to food
- I love chocolate
- Food makes me feel happy
- Food comforts me
- When I’m bored, eating food gives me something to do
- When I’ve done well or I’ve had a hard day, I feel that I deserve a chocolate treat
- I can’t imagine life without chocolate. It makes every day better
All of these beliefs see food in a positive light, hence I refer to them as pro eating beliefs.
The subconscious mind is designed to help people to avoid pain/discomfort and seek comfort/pleasure. The beliefs above tell someone that food can stop them from feeling uncomfortable i.e. bored, tired and unhappy and move them to feeling comfortable i.e. relaxed and soothed. Beliefs drive a person’s behaviour, so as these beliefs are pro food, they will lead someone to eat the foods that they believe will help them to feel better. However, these are usually the types of foods that lead them to put on weight!
When Does The Mind Stop People From Overeating?
This situation changes the day that someone makes a firm decision to lose weight. This often happens when they experience some form of discomfort/pain, that jolts them into deciding that they need to lose weight.
Here are some examples when this happens:
- They see a photo of themselves and they realise that they are more overweight than they thought
- They jump on the scales and realise that they are two stone heavier than they thought
- Someone makes a negative (and often hurtful) comment about their weight
- The doctor tells them that they will have a serious health problem very soon unless they lose weight
As you can see, these experiences can be pretty uncomfortable and this is why the person’s subconscious mind makes a decision in that moment, that they are going to lose weight.
This decision then leads to a belief being inserted into their subconsious minds.
That belief is….. I MUST lose weight
Before this belief was naturally inserted in their minds, they probably had a belief such as “it would be nice to lose weight” or “it would be a good idea to lose weight”. However, these types of beliefs aren’t strong enough to change a person’s behaviour.
It’s only when a person upgrades their belief to a MUST belief, that they change their behaviour.
The Silent Vow Belief
I call these types of strong, MUST beliefs silent vow beliefs. These are beliefs that:
- Involve someone vowing to either definitely do something or to never do something again
- Are more powerful and influential than other beliefs. They take over the person’s behaviour to the extent where other beliefs no longer work.
I call them silent vows as people don’t know that they have made a vow, as it all happens unconsciously.
The silent vow belief will lead someone to stick to a diet for as long as it takes, so that the person can lose weight
When The Silent Vow Leaves
However, once the person loses the weight that they want, the silent vow belief is no longer required, because silent vow beliefs only enter someone’s mind when the person is uncomfortable. When the person has lost the weight that they want, they are no longer uncomfortable. When this happens, the silent vow leaves the persons subconscious minds and no longer influences the persons behaviour.
This means that the person is now left with their previous pro eating beliefs. These beliefs didn’t go anywhere during this time. They were just overshadowed by the more powerful silent vow belief, whilst it was in their subconscious minds. They didn’t go anywhere. They just lay quietly dormant.
So, once the weight is lost, the person stops feeling uncomfortable. The silent vow has done as it’s job and leaves the mind as it’s no longer required.
The person is now left with the pro eating beliefs, that lead them to put on weight in the first place. Without the silent vow belief determining their food choices, they are now very likely to go back to the way that they used to eat before they lost the weight.
And because they are now back to eating like they used to, they gradually start to put the weight back on again…..until they eventually get back to the weight that they were when they started dieting in the first place.
So, the reason why 95% of people put the weight back on after losing weight is because they haven’t changed the pro eating beliefs that caused the weight problem in the first place and those beliefs drive them to return to their previous weight, once the silent vow has left their subconscious minds.
This process is the reason why people yoyo diet. It’s a constant cycle! and all because of the pro eating beliefs that sit in their subconscious minds from when they were younger.
How To Avoid Putting The Weight Back On
The good news is that people can easily avoid this and become part of the 5% To do this they would have to change their pro eating beliefs at the subconscious level.
There are two types of beliefs that they would have to change:
- The beliefs that cause the emotions that lead them to overeat
- The beliefs that tells them that food can make them feel better
How You Change Your Subconscious Mind
There are a few ways that people can change their subconscious minds.
However, my favourite method is EFT tapping (Emotional freedom Technique) and this is because it is so flexible and can be used to identify and change both the emotions and the beliefs that cause overeating. The even better news is that once people learn how to use it, they can do it themselves in between sessions, to support their weight loss journey!
It you would like to know how I can help you to be free of overeating, either pop over to my website at www.theeftmermaid.com or email me at emma@themindmermaid.com
I hope this has helped
Until next time
Emma x