Fat Loss and Conflicted Feelings

Ambivalence is a state of having simultaneous, conflicting feelings toward something. That is, we can want something, but at the same time feel conflicted because we also want something else that cannot be had at the same time.

For example, we can WANT to lose fat and can list all of the benefits of what it will bring us. But what most people fail to evaluate is that benefits that we already experience by maintaining the lifestyle we currently have.

-We can have the freedom to eat what we want whenever we want.

-We don’t have to deal with family/friends who complain or criticize our eating habits.

-We don’t have to create time in our day for exercise.

-We don’t have to carry the weight of potential failure.

-Being overweight is a protective mechanism against the other sex (common amongst women who have been sexually assaulted in the past).

If the desire to maintain all of these things is as equal to our desire to lose weight we reach a state of ambivalence and inaction (which is interesting because not making a decision IS making a decision).

So how do we break ourselves free from this place?

You need to find out the deeper reason WHY you want to change and weigh that against the reasons you don’t. If your WHY is big enough, taking action will be the only possible decision.

See the previous post on Finding Your WHY.