If you’re overwhelmed by the bigness of your health
goal, break it down into small, manageable pieces.
Women who choose weight loss
over weight maintenance can feel overwhelmed by the numbers—the number of
pounds you want to lose, the amount of time it’s going to take to get there,
the number of calories and fat grams you’re allowed per day—it’s enough to make
you scream for mercy. What’s needed is some good ole Black woman ingenuity.
Reframe in your mind the parameters of your goal. Think of smaller, more
manageable short-term goals. Achievement of these smaller pieces will give you
that feeling of accomplishment you so desperately need along the way. So
instead of saying, “I want to lose one hundred pounds,” give yourself a weight
loss goal of ten pounds. Reward yourself when you succeed. Most of weight loss
is a psyche job. It’s a process of mental toughening and imagination work.
Olympic athletes often attribute their success not to physical ability, but the
strenuous mental work they did prior to competition.
I will rethink my narrow definitions of success.
