Weight Loss for Food-Lovers with Molly Zemek
Episode 76
Summary:
Success doesn’t necessarily follow a straight trajectory – especially when it comes to weight loss. There are inevitable setbacks and, as Molly highlights in this episode of Weight Loss for Food-Lovers, the real question is: How can we best respond? She explains why failure can be a tool for growth, if we stay open to it.
Far from a simple number on the scale, success and failure are a state of mind when it comes to the management of our weight loss goals. If we choose to investigate and come to greater awareness around our setbacks, we develop the kind of resiliency that inevitably leads to the long-term results we wish to see. Molly starts off by defining failure and some of the thoughts that can leave us most vulnerable:
What is it that stops working when you give up?
What constitutes failure?
What does failure even mean?
Using her personal experiences, Molly identifies triggers and offers strategies to deploy when we start to question whether our efforts and goals are sustainable. Step No. 1 requires honest exploration. When we feel urges, we must ask ourselves: What is it that we truly need? Perhaps our bodies harbor other desires asking to be uncovered and honored. Perhaps we are tired or lonely or in need of some fun – none of which can truly be remedied with food or drink.
Molly shows us how – counterintuitive as it might seem – failure can be a wonderful opportunity to take the power back from thoughts like these:
“There’s something wrong with me.”
“I can’t figure this out.”
“It isn’t happening fast enough.”
“It’s too hard.”
If we choose to let them, inevitable stumbles along the road to permanent weight loss can offer clues to our most intimate and integral selves. Join Molly as she unpacks failure and learn how to cultivate resiliency, self-compassion and ultimately self-love. You’ll never see setbacks the same way again!
Links inside this episode of Weight Loss for Food-Lovers:
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Topics Covered
A bit about Molly’s 12-week course – which includes access to a digital library, work sheets and live coaching calls.
What does it really mean to fail? More than simply falling short, it’s about:
Completely abandoning your goal.
Letting yourself down and having to face a fierce inner critic’s response.
The good news is that failure flourishes inside your thoughts, and you’ve got the power to alter that inner monologue.
If you’re taking any kind of action around your weight loss goals, then you are still committed and are NOT failing. That could include:
Being kind to yourself.
Noticing what you’re eating and how you’re feeling.
Making time to do nice things and cultivate feelings of wellness.
Writing down or assessing your plan.
Thoughts that commonly lead to failure in weight loss and many other goals:
“It’s too hard.” What makes following your food plan hard is your thoughts about following your food plan.
“I’ll never be able to do it.” When you make it personal, you’re on a path to failure. You’ve forfeited your power to make change.
“It doesn’t matter.” Your primitive brain likes an easy out, but your higher brain knows better and can be a bridge to the promise of improvement.
Molly shares her own experience with deploying resilience when feeling stuck in failure and self-recrimination.
Tips for becoming more resilient to failure:
Cultivate awareness and understanding about why you’ve stumbled.
Fully accept that there is no real failure if you regard it in the context of a journey that will inevitably unspool towards success – if you persist.
Emotional bandwidth increases when you’re able to stay present with challenging setbacks and put feelings about them in a broader context.
What you need to believe in order to be willing to fail:
There is wisdom in falling off your plan – something that can be taken away and used to foster growth.
Believe that your process is happening as it’s meant to unfold.
Be resolved to support yourself with self-compassion no matter what.
Failure can build integrity because it’s an opportunity to resist self-punishment and instead show compassion for your whole self. It’s a chance to be kind and build self-trust.
Key Quotes
“Not only is failure part of the process of achieving success, it’s a very important part of the process.”
“What will keep you committed to achieving your goal is your willingness to evaluate your own thinking and remind yourself of why it’s important to you in the first place.”
“The hardest part about letting yourself down is just your own thoughts.”
“As long as you’re still willing to try … you are still committed if you’re thinking about (your food plan) and actively doing things like paying attention.”
“Sometimes we associate success too closely with the number on the scale.”
“Planning your food and staying in control … creates more of what you want for yourself.”
“The hardest part about weight loss is your thoughts about it. The hardest part of managing an urge is your thoughts about it.”
“Judgment towards yourself creates a roadblock to really learning from failure.”
“Setbacks along the path of losing weight are a really, really important part of figuring it out.”
“When you become resilient to failure by being willing to experience and learn from it, you realize that it’s just a matter of time before getting to your goal.”
“Failure is an opportunity to be compassionate towards your whole self.”
“When you judge yourself …all you do is divide yourself. You erode your self-trust.”
Links & Resources
Subscribe to Molly’s email list and request her free 6-Point Guide to Kickstarting Weight:
Sign-up for a free discovery call at https://www.mollyzemek.com/bookings-checkout/free-discovery-call/book
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