In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

Why we need to build resilience especially at the beginning of the year.

The epidemic of people who are smart about weight loss but can’t stick with it and why it happens.

Building confidence in three ways.

If you’ve ever started a New Year weight loss plan full of hope… only to feel off track and defeated by February, you are so not alone.

Studies show that up to 80% of people abandon their New Year’s resolutions by the second month of the year. And when that happens with weight loss, most of us don’t think, “Hmm, I need better mental tools.” We think, “What’s wrong with me?” or “I just need more willpower next time.”

But your struggle with weight doesn’t start with what’s on your plate or get fixed at the gym. Around 80% of weight struggle is mental. The real game-changer is weight loss resilience training: building the mental strength to keep going when you’re tired, tempted, traveling, stressed, or just over it.

In this 3-part series, we’re focusing on exactly that: Weight Loss Resilience Training – Building Mental Strength to Reach Your Goal. In Part 1, we’ll dive into the foundation of resilience: confidence in yourself as a long-term weight master, not a “chronic dieter.”

This article is based on coaching and stories from clinical hypnotherapist and weight loss expert Rita Black, creator of the Shift Weight Mastery Process and host of the Thin Thinking Podcast, who released 40 pounds with hypnosis and has kept it off for over 25 years.


What is weight loss resilience training (and why do diets alone fail)?

Weight loss resilience training is the practice of strengthening your “stick-with-it” muscle so you can keep going toward your goal, even when life isn’t perfect.

Most people don’t fail at weight loss because they don’t know what to do. You probably already know a lot about calories, carbs, steps, and macros. You might even follow weight loss experts on Instagram or binge YouTube videos about the “best” diet.

Where things fall apart is in the messy middle:

  • You have a terrible day at work.
  • You travel or eat out with friends who aren’t “on plan.”
  • You hit a plateau and the scale refuses to budge.
  • You celebrate, you commiserate, or life just feels like… a lot.

In those moments, you don’t need a new meal plan. You need mental resilience:

  • The ability to stay with your goals when you don’t feel motivated.
  • The skill of getting back on track quickly after a wobble.
  • The mindset that says, “I’m a work in progress” instead of “I blew it, so why bother?”

Rita calls this your “stick-with-itness” – and it’s not something you’re born with or without. It’s a mind skill you can build.

Traditional diet culture rarely talks about this. It tells you to:

  • Be perfect.
  • Start on January 1.
  • “Fix” yourself quickly with a trendy plan.

But real, lasting change doesn’t come from quick fixes. It comes from rewiring how you think, talk to yourself, and see yourself around food and weight.

That’s what weight loss resilience training is all about.


How does confidence build real weight loss resilience?

Confidence is the backbone of weight loss resilience: when you believe you can handle tough moments, you’re far less likely to abandon your goals.

When you’ve struggled with weight for years, it’s easy to build a negative identity around it:

  • “I’m a struggler.”
  • “I’m bad at diets.”
  • “I always end up gaining it back.”

Consciously, you may be excited about a new plan. But subconsciously, a quiet voice mutters, “We know how this ends.”

So when something hard happens—travel, stress, a party, a plateau—your brain simply fulfills the old prophecy: See? You can’t stick with it.

Resilience training starts by changing how you see yourself:

  • From “chronic dieter” to “weight release student.”
  • From “failure” to “work in progress.”
  • From “I can’t stick with anything” to “I’m learning to stay with myself.”

In this series, Rita breaks resilience into three trainable pillars:

  1. Confidence – how you see and speak to yourself.
  2. Commitment – the promises you make and keep with yourself.
  3. Creativity – how you adapt when life doesn’t fit your perfect plan.

Part 1 is all about confidence—because when you lack faith in yourself, it’s easy to give up on yourself. When you start rebuilding trust, everything else becomes possible.

Confidence isn’t “I’ll never mess up again.”
Confidence is: “I know I can handle it when I do.”


If rebuilding confidence and trust in yourself feels like the hardest part of staying consistent, you may also find Episode 131 — 10 Self-Permissions of Long-Term Weight Success helpful, as it lays the identity and self-compassion groundwork that makes resilience possible.


How do self-compassion and forgiveness keep you from giving up?

Self-compassion doesn’t make you weak or lazy; it reconnects you to yourself so you can learn, adjust, and keep going instead of quitting.

When you’ve struggled with your weight, you usually carry two loud inner voices:

  • The Inner Critic – perfection-obsessed, harsh, and condemning.
  • The Inner Rebel – impulsive, defensive, and “screw it, I’ll start tomorrow.”

You might recognize the critic’s lines:

  • “You blew it.”
  • “See? You can’t stick with anything.”
  • “This diet won’t last. None of them do.”

And then the rebel comes in to “rescue” you from that pain:

  • “It’s fine, just eat the rest of the bag and start again tomorrow.”
  • “Everyone else is eating – don’t be weird.”
  • “You’ve already gone off. Might as well enjoy it.”

These two voices keep you stuck in an all-or-nothing loop: try to be perfect → slip → shame → rebel → overeat → shame again.

Resilience training introduces a third voice: the Inner Coach.

Your Inner Coach is:

  • Compassionate, but not coddling.
  • Solution-oriented rather than shaming.
  • Focused on learning and moving forward, not punishment.

In practice, that sounds like:

  • “Okay, I overate at dinner. That’s human. What can I learn?”
  • “I had dessert when I didn’t plan to. I forgive myself. What’s my next best choice?”
  • “I went off track this weekend. I’m back in charge now—what’s one simple step I can take today?”

Rita often guides people through a powerful forgiveness exercise:

  1. Write down what you’re mad at yourself about related to weight.
    • “I’m mad I’ve dieted for 30 years and never kept it off.”
    • “I’m mad my weight has contributed to health issues.”
    • “I’m mad I’ve avoided things I wanted (dating, travel, photos) because of my weight.”
  2. Read one of them out loud (or in your mind) a few times:
    “I’m mad at myself for dieting for 30 years and never keeping it off.
  3. Then gently shift it to forgiveness
    “I forgive myself for dieting for 30 years and never keeping it off.
  4. Take a slow breath in and imagine that forgiveness settling into your heart. Repeat a few times.

You may notice:

  • More presence and less heavy shame.
  • A sense of self-respect instead of self-disgust.
  • A feeling of “I’m on my own side now.”

This isn’t fluffy. It’s how you take your power back. When you forgive yourself, you reconnect with yourself—and you are much more likely to show up for someone you’re connected to.

Instant forgiveness then becomes a resilience tool:

  • “I forgive myself for that extra slice.”
  • “I forgive myself for skipping the gym.”
  • “I forgive myself for late-night snacking.”

Forgive. Learn. Adjust. Continue.

That’s resilience.


How can you create a future vision that pulls you toward your goal?

A clear, emotionally charged vision of your future self pulls you forward through hard moments far more powerfully than willpower pushes you.

Most of us know exactly what we don’t want:

  • “I don’t want to feel this heavy.”
  • “I don’t want to struggle like this forever.”
  • “I don’t want to be out of control with food.”

But the brain doesn’t move well away from vague negatives. It moves toward clear pictures.

Resilience training asks: Who are you becoming?

Not just, “How much do you weigh on the scale?” but:

  • How do you eat in everyday life?
  • How do you move your body?
  • How do you talk to yourself?
  • How do you act in tricky moments?

Spend a few minutes imagining the “you” at the end of this year, having practiced resilience:

  • You wake up tired but still put on your workout clothes because “I’m someone who exercises even when I don’t feel like it.”
  • You enjoy three mindful bites of dessert, then stop, knowing more won’t add more satisfaction.
  • You notice the urge to binge after a stressful day, pause, breathe, and choose a calmer response—maybe a walk, a bath, or journaling.
  • You eat something off-plan and, instead of spiraling, you simply make your next meal a healthy one.

This isn’t a fantasy bikini montage. It’s a realistic movie of your future behavior.

To build that vision:

  1. Close your eyes for a minute.
    See yourself at the end of the year at your comfortable, healthy weight.
  2. Picture specific moments:
    • Saying “I’m satisfied” and pushing your plate away.
    • Ordering what truly serves you at a restaurant.
    • Stopping at three bites of dessert.
    • Going for a walk even when you’d rather scroll.
  3. Attach identity statements to those images:
    • “I am someone who moves my body regularly.”
    • “I am someone who stops when I’m satisfied.”
    • “I am someone who gets back on track quickly.”
  4. Practice this vision often.
    The more you rehearse it, the more familiar—and doable—it feels.

Then, in a real wobble moment, you can ask:

“What would that future me do right now?”

And then take one small action in that direction. That’s how your vision starts pulling you forward instead of your past dragging you back.


How do you turn “failed” diets into your weight loss success story?

Your past diets weren’t proof that you’re hopeless; they were training reps that taught you what doesn’t work and what you value most.

If you’ve been up and down the scale for years, you may be carrying a heavy mental backpack filled with:

  • “I’ve lost and regained these 20, 40, or 80 pounds so many times.”
  • “I’ve spent so much money on diets, programs, and trainers.”
  • “I’ve tried everything—why would this time be different?”

Most people let that backpack define them: “Clearly, I can’t do this.”

But if you look at people who’ve lost weight and kept it off long term, most of them have also gained and lost hundreds of pounds over their lifetime. The difference is they decided to see their past not as a verdict, but as education.

You can do the same.

Try this reframe:

  • Instead of: “I failed at Weight Watchers / keto / tracking / that app.”
    Shift to: “That attempt taught me something valuable about my body and my brain.”

Maybe you learned:

  • You actually enjoy planning your food in advance.
  • Extreme restriction backfires and leads to binges.
  • You need flexibility for travel, holidays, and restaurant meals.
  • You do best when you feel in command, not controlled by a rigid list.

Rita even used to imagine being interviewed about her weight loss success story and saying:

  • “From Weight Watchers, I learned X.”
  • “From that personal trainer, I learned Y.”
  • “From that low-carb attempt, I learned Z.”

Suddenly, those “failures” become part of a powerful narrative:

“I’ve been studying my own brain, body, and habits for years. Now I’m using what I’ve learned to create a sustainable way of living.”

Ask yourself:

  • What did each past attempt teach me about what does not work for me?
  • What did it reveal about my triggers, patterns, or needs?
  • How can I use those lessons to design a kinder, smarter approach now?

You’re not starting from zero. You’re starting from experience. That’s an asset, not a flaw.


What simple daily practices build your weight loss resilience muscle?

Resilience grows from small, repeatable practices that strengthen your relationship with yourself—not giant bursts of short-term willpower.

Here are simple ways to begin training your resilience today, focused on the confidence pillar:

1. Practice instant forgiveness

When you do something you didn’t plan—extra dessert, skipped workout, snacking in front of the TV—catch it quickly:

  • “I forgive myself for overeating tonight. I’m human.”
  • “I forgive myself for skipping my walk. I’m still committed.”

Then ask:

  • “What’s my next best step?”
    Maybe it’s hydrating, planning tomorrow’s food, or going to bed on time.

This cuts the “I blew it, so I might as well…” spiral.

2. Catch the critic and invite the coach

When your inner critic starts:

  • “You’re hopeless.”
  • “You’ll never keep it off.”
  • “Here you go again.”

Pause and literally answer back as your coach:

  • “I’m learning. One moment doesn’t define me.”
  • “I’ve bounced back before; I can bounce back again.”
  • “What’s one small thing I can do differently in the next 10 minutes?”

You’re not trying to silence your critic overnight. You’re just choosing which voice you follow.

3. Rehearse your resilient future self daily

Take 60–90 seconds each morning:

  • Visualize one resilient choice you’ll make today.
    Maybe it’s stopping at “satisfied,” doing a short walk, or choosing the healthier lunch.

Connect it to an identity statement:

  • “I am someone who takes care of my body.”
  • “I am someone who follows through, even in small ways.”

Over time, these tiny mental rehearsals add up.

4. Use simple resilience mantras

Pick a few that resonate and repeat them during your day:

  • “I am building weight loss resilience.”
  • “I forgive myself for struggling with weight.”
  • “My past failures are building blocks to success.”
  • “I am increasing my confidence so I can be consistent.”
  • “This year, I’m mastering weight release one choice at a time.”

You can write them on sticky notes, in your phone, or at the top of your journal page.

5. Treat this year as your “weight mastery training year”

Instead of “This is the year I’ll finally be perfect,” try:

  • “This is the year I train my resilience muscles.”
  • “This is the year I stop starting over and start staying with myself.”

That mindset shift alone changes how you respond when things don’t go as planned. Instead of quitting, you ask:

“How can I use this moment to practice resilience?”

And that question is pure gold.


Weight Loss Resilience Training FAQ

1. What is weight loss resilience in simple terms?

Weight loss resilience is your ability to stay with your goals when life isn’t perfect. It’s the mental strength to keep going—even after a slip, a stressful week, or a holiday—without throwing everything away. It’s less about being perfectly “on plan” and more about bouncing back quickly and consistently.

2. Is resilience really more important than the “right” diet?

The way you eat matters, of course. But most people don’t fail because they chose the “wrong” plan; they struggle because they can’t stay consistent with any plan over time. Resilience skills—self-compassion, future vision, reframing, and quick recovery after slips—are what allow you to keep going long enough for any reasonable approach to work.

3. Won’t self-forgiveness just make me excuse my behavior?

Not when you pair forgiveness with responsibility. Forgiveness isn’t “It doesn’t matter what I do.” It’s “I’m human, I forgive myself, and I’m choosing to learn from this.” People actually follow through more when they feel connected to themselves instead of shamed. Shame disconnects you; compassion stabilizes you so you can change.

4. How do I rebuild confidence after years of yo-yo dieting?

Start small and stack wins. Instead of promising huge, drastic changes, commit to tiny, doable actions you can actually keep: one planned meal, one walk, one “I stopped when I was satisfied.” Each follow-through is a vote for “I can trust myself again.” Combine that with reframing your past attempts as training, and your confidence grows step by step.

5. What should I do after a big binge or off-plan weekend?

First, pause the shame. Forgive yourself out loud: “I forgive myself. I’m still on my journey.” Hydrate, take a gentle walk if you can, and get back to your normal plan at the very next meal. Avoid “compensation” punishments like skipping meals or extreme restriction—that usually leads to another rebound. The fastest way back on track is a calm, normal next choice.

6. Can I build resilience even if my life is really busy or stressful?

Yes—in fact, busy, stressful lives are where resilience matters most. You don’t need hours of free time; you need micro-moments of leadership. One deep breath instead of automatic snacking. One “What would future me do?” at a restaurant. One instant forgiveness instead of a shame spiral. These small mental repetitions gradually rewire your patterns.

7. Where does hypnosis fit into weight loss resilience training?

Hypnosis is one powerful tool for helping your subconscious mind let go of old identities (like “I’m a struggler”) and install new patterns (like seeing yourself as a calm, capable weight master). It can make it easier to practice self-compassion, visualize your future self, and shift your automatic responses in tricky moments.


How will you train your weight loss resilience next?

Resilience isn’t a personality trait some lucky people are born with. It’s a trainable skill set:

  • Seeing yourself as capable instead of broken.
  • Treating yourself with compassion instead of criticism.
  • Holding a clear vision of who you’re becoming.
  • Reframing your past as training instead of proof you can’t change.
  • Making the next best choice instead of giving up.

This year, instead of hunting for the “perfect” diet, you can focus on building the inner muscles that keep you going when motivation fades.

If you want help going deeper into the mindset of long-term weight release, including hypnosis to support your subconscious, check out Rita Black’s free masterclass, “How to Stop the Start Over Weight Cycle and Begin Releasing Weight for Good,” and explore the Thin Thinking Podcast and Shift Weight Mastery resources mentioned in the show notes of this episode.

You don’t need a newer, stricter plan.

You need a more resilient, compassionate partnership with yourself—and that starts today, one thought and one choice at a time.

Want to learn more? Check out my free masterclass, How to Stop The “Start Over Tomorrow” Weight Struggle Cycle and Start Releasing Weight For Good.

If you found this episode helpful, you might also enjoy this related Thin Thinking episode:

Rita Black: If you’ve ever found yourself excited about starting a weight loss journey in January, only to feel frustrated and off track just a few weeks later, it’s not that we don’t want to succeed, it’s that life happens, motivation dips, and we lose our way. And here’s the thing, you’re not alone. Studies show that 80% of people abandoned their New Year’s resolutions by February. So listen, it doesn’t have to be like this. And here are some good news. The stick withitness you need in order to take weight off permanently isn’t genetically passed along or granted to people with the most willpower. No, no, my friends! The mental tenacity, you need to stay consistent in the long run, is a mind skill you can build. And that is why we are here in the heart of I have just begun to lose weight or refocus my weight high season, I am bringing you my three-part New Year’s series called Weight Loss Resilience Training, Building Mental Strength to Reach Your Goal. Because most of the time the issue isn’t knowing what to do to lose weight. It’s those moments of struggle when you’re tired, tempted, or ready to throw in the towel that make or break your success. This series is all about strengthening your stick with it muscle and building the mental resilience you need to stay focused, consistent and unstoppable no matter what life throws your way. So let’s make this the year you don’t just set weight loss goals, you reach them. Grab that New Year’s resolution for health and fitness and let’s dive in.

Rita Black: Did you know that our struggle with weight doesn’t start with the food on your plate or get fixed in the gym? 80% of our weight’s struggle is mental. That’s right. The key to unlocking long-term weight release and management begins in your mind. Hi there, I’m Rita Black. I’m a clinical hypnotherapist weight loss expert, bestselling author, and the creator of the Shift Weight Mastery Process. And not only have I helped thousands of people over the past 20 years achieve long-term weight mastery, I am also a former weight struggler, carb addict and binge eater. And after two decades of failed diets and fad weight loss programs, I lost 40 pounds with the help of hypnosis. Not only did I release all that weight, I have kept it off for 25 years. Enter the Thin Thinking Podcast where you too will learn how to remove the mental roadblocks that keep you struggling. I’ll give you the thin thinking tools, skills and insights to help you develop the mindset you need, not only to achieve your ideal weight, but to stay there long term and live your best life. Sound good? Let’s get started.

Rita Black: Happy New Year. Happy, happy, happy, happy New Year. And come on in. I hope your 2025 is off to a smashing start and that you welcomed the new year in the way you like to. I’ve had my kids here. My daughter came from Spain, Valencia, where she’s teaching this year. And my son came from college and it’s just been wonderful. It’s been very low key and I am recovering from surgery, which I talked about in the last episode. And it’s going well, thank gosh. And everybody’s been dotting on me and my kids. Well, okay, I’m gonna be honest. They’re dotting on me as much as a 19-year-old and a 22-year-old can right as much they’re capable of.

Rita Black: But they’ve been very sweet and I do feel loved and cared for, and that’s just about as good as it gets. And I’m very grateful for my family and for you, my amazing community. ’cause I wanna thank all of those of you who wrote in wishing me well. I am recovering quickly, and I was up and walking the day after my surgery, after having my lady bits ripped out, as they say in England. So eloquent. But I won’t lie. Ouch. It hurt a lot. It really did. And I had to rest a lot and I’m still having to rest quite a bit, a lot more than I kind of thought I would. But I do have my heating pad. It’s become my best friend. It’s always at my side. And it’s, you know, I’m, I’m getting back to fighting form slowly but surely.

Rita Black: So how about you? Have you started the new year with a bang or are you slowly gathering speed? Well, over this next week, I am bringing you a three part series. So we’re having, I’m dropping one today, one in a few days and one in next week this time. And I think it’s perfect for you where you are at at the beginning of the year. It’s about building the resilience that we need to stay focused on our journey of weight mastery. And it’s been one of our most popular series. I aired this a couple of years ago because whether you are starting out now on a weight journey or currently on a weight release journey, life happens. And there are times we need that ability to stick with our goals in spite of what’s going on around us. I got into this in the last session when we built that mental bridge.

Rita Black: And I wanna dive into this more with you because this is where I see people failing themselves. Not that they’re failures, but this is where we are not focusing and building. This is a skill to build. So it’s so important I’m bringing back this series because we are gonna focus on three very specific areas, skills that you can build to stick with it this year to really release that weight. No kidding. And get to where you wanna be. I’ve been using my resilience skills these last few weeks, so I hope, I hope you appreciate this series. So let’s dive in.

Rita Black: You know, I have this joke about Trader Joe’s you know, ’cause a lot of you here in the United States, we have this store called Trader Joe’s, and it’s a great store because you get great bargains, great fresh food but Trader Joe’s is, well, like many grocery stores, they really know how to market to your impulses and instincts. That’s how they stay in business. So it cracks me up to knowing every single year the shelves are laid in with sugary goods during the holidays, the peppermint bark, the, you know, the advent calendars, the with filled with chocolate, the gingerbread house making kits, all those things are just scattered all around the store. And then, and then come January 1st, they disappear into the ether, right? I’m like, where did, where did that gingerbread making house go? And in its place, you know, are the protein powder drinks, the kale, you know, the collagen mixtures, all of that healthy stuff has taken its place that which has, you know no doubt if they took it all away to make way for the sugary treats during the holiday season. So you just gotta love that.

Rita Black: And also, I remember when I struggled with weight this time of year as soon as January one came around, it was the list of diets. Like, what diet am I going to hop on? What diet train am I hopping on this year? You know, am I going to Weight Watchers? Am I going to Jenny Craig? Is it Ra, is it Atkins? You know, it’s just a natural habit of our mind to go there, right? And it’s a habit. It’s not really even mindful talking about being mindful. Our brain just goes, I feel fat. I gotta lose weight, I gotta go on a diet. And you know, obviously I way over ate during the holidays in the old days, and I just wanted to feel like I was getting myself back out of the chaos of the Christmas goodies and into the New year feeling focused, feeling, you know, on top of things, right? But the problem was that I was reacting not taking true action. You know, I was reacting to this feeling of chaos.

Rita Black: I was reacting to feeling overweight, but nothing ever lasted very long because where I was reacting from wasn’t a place of true change, true desire to make change. My desire was to get outta the pain a lot more than it was to truly change my life, make long-term changes in myself, how I talk to myself or make changes in my environment, or make changes in what I was doing in my life. It was just more reacting like, I feel fat, I gotta lose weight, let me get, you know, these 20 pounds off ASAP. And of course it never stuck because I wasn’t coming from solid ground. It was just loosey goosey reaction mode.

Rita Black: So one thing I think there is, is an epidemic of people who are really smart and savvy about weight loss. You know, but they can’t stick with it for the life of them. I have actually seen this more and more and more and more over the years as we have more information available to us online. I mean, my God, we can go on YouTube and, you know, power three hours and hours of different diets and trainings and all of this stuff about what to eat, how to exercise. And I think really the pandemic made it, you know, put it into some sort of steroid gear.

Rita Black: So I am excited about this series on resilience, our stick with itness, because I really do believe that this is what you need more than finding the latest diet. You need to make internal structures of success rather than looking for that quick fix on the internet. You know, I had a student in my Shift Weight mastery process recently tell me, you know, oh God, Rita, it is such a relief to finally be in command of my own weight release rather than being overwhelmed and bombarded by all the different diets and ways to lose weight on Instagram.

Rita Black: You know, long-term weight release begins in the mind, not on Instagram, right? We all know this. So this series is being sponsored by my free masterclass called How to Stop the Start Over Weight Cycle and Begin Releasing Weight for Good. And it really is a deep dive into the subconscious, really looking at what’s driving that start over tomorrow, behavior that becomes habitual the roadblocks, those mental roadblocks that keep us struggling with weight. And, and I give you some very specific mind shifts that you can begin to make to break that start over cycle. And we do some weight loss hypnosis as well. So this masterclass is the perfect companion to this resilience series to get you ready in a new way for the new year, getting ready to be consistent with weight release. So sign up! The link is in the show notes and you know, get into that class. There are a number of class times you can choose from. So get in and get going.

Rita Black: Okay? So let’s do part one of our resilience talk. So resilience is that ability to stick with something even when things are tough or feel weird or you plane just don’t wanna do it. So let’s face it, with weight loss, there are many, many times we get going well with weight loss, but then something happens, right? We have a bad day, we travel, we go out to dinner with friends who aren’t on diets. We get bored. We experience a plateau, we lose our job, we get a job, we celebrate, we commiserate, and the list goes on. So we give up, or we get off track and we go back to those old ways of being and eating and gain the weight back.

Rita Black: And it’s so frustrating. And of course we get mad at ourselves because we feel like we’re constantly letting ourselves down. We call ourselves weak. We call ourselves undisciplined, we call ourselves hopeless. But that’s not true. You just haven’t built the resilience for those moments when those things happen. The difference between you now and the you at long-term ideal weight isn’t about being perfect or disciplined or finding that perfect diet. It’s about you’re training your mind to stay with it, to get back on track fast when these things happen. And they happen a lot in life. There is a holiday almost every month of the year. We go out to dinner, we travel, these things aren’t gonna stop happening, but we keep making the mistake of thinking we’re gonna somehow be different, better behaved. No, it’s about a skill of building resilience. I’ve maintained my weight, not because I’m perfect, I’ve maintained it for 27 years, going on 28 now, not because I’ve been perfect, but because I have learned to guide myself through those moments or those hours, or even those days differently than when I struggled.

Rita Black: And now you can too. If I did it, you can do it. So there are three ways I see to build resilience. I see we can build resilience with confidence. I see we can build resilience with commitment and with creativity. So today I am going to focus on confidence, and the other two will be covered in the next two episodes. So let’s talk about confidence and why is this such an important piece of resilience, shall we? So when we lack faith in ourselves, it’s easy to give up on ourselves. The way we see ourselves in this area of our life is important. And most people who struggle see themselves as a struggler, we have given ourselves this self-identity of being bad on diets, a failure and a struggler. So the idea we see of ourselves is a negative one. And you can see that anytime you start to lose weight, even though you might consciously hope that you found the right diet, your subconscious view of yourself is that you are going to fail.

Rita Black: So when things get tough, we give up. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. So are we gonna change that around and build confidence in three ways. The first way is self-compassion. So when we struggle with our weight, I, I believe we develop two very clear inner voices. One is the inner critic and one is the inner rebel. And if you’ve worked with me or been a student of mine, you’re very clear about your inner critic and rebel. The critic is addicted to perfection. And when we get off track, that inner critic will speak to us in a very vicious and condemning way. That critic also, when we go on any sort of diet, does sort of sit back and go, oh yeah, well, we’ll see how long this one lasts, right? And even when we’re dieting or trying to lose weight, that inner critic, when we put something in our mouth that, you know, is off the diet or off that list of foods, or if we’re intermittent fasting and we you know, try to not eat after seven o’clock, but we eat something at eight o’clock, the inner critic’s like, well, you blew it, right?

Rita Black: So that inner critic creates tension within us, creates anxiety in us, creates a lot of feelings of unease. Now, over time, what we did, and, and this was our subconscious really trying to cope with this painful inner voice and the pain and feelings that this inner voice evokes the inner rebel is formed to kind of protect us from the critic, really, you know, to let off the steam, so to speak, to say, ah, it’s okay, you know you blew it. Well, we’ll start again tomorrow. Or, oh, it’s okay, you know you eat a few of those, we’ll just finish up the bag and then we’ll never buy it again. Or, oh, everybody’s eating tonight, that’s okay. You know, like, you don’t wanna not fit in you, you fit in and we’ll start again tomorrow. Right? So there’s, there’s that tension building inner critic that expects perfection.

Rita Black: And then there’s that inner rebel that wants to come along and shut it all down almost as a coping mechanism, or definitely as a coping mechanism. Or also sometimes we just get impulsive. And the inner rebel part of our brain is that part that sort of overrides the inner critic and, and, and wins. So those, these are really the two voices that, that drive our struggle, our inner inner communication that continues the weight struggle. So we wanna change the voice, we wanna change the part that we’re listening to, and we wanna change the part we wanna develop now what I would call your inner coach. This is your more compassionate solution seeking inner voice that. So in those moments when we go off track which we will, you know, let’s, let’s be clear, we will go off track. We will pop stuff into our mouth.

Rita Black: I don’t think that’s the idea isn’t that we’re never gonna do that again. And I think that’s the illusion diets give us, is that we somehow are gonna do that. No, we are gonna put food in our mouth that probably aren’t the best choices. We are gonna get off track, but when we do, we need self-compassion and a planned move forward immediately. Not criticizing, not rebelling, not reminding us we’re a failure. Now, I hear you, you might be saying, Rita, forgiveness. If I forgive myself, I’m just going to eat everything all the time. I need to whip myself into shape. But no, no, no, no, no, my fair, fair friends, my research shows people follow through when forgiving themselves because it reconnects themselves to themselves and it builds belief in themselves, right? So when we forgive ourselves, we want the best for ourselves. We, we, we have empathy and compassion for ourselves, but we and we can learn lessons more readily.

Rita Black: And really, ultimately, long-term permanent weight release isn’t about perfection, but it’s about learning all the little lessons that we need to along the way, but also it connects us to ourselves that we become our own best friend. Now, if you were talking to your own best friend in those moments when they were trying to do their best and they get off track, you would say, oh, it’s okay. You know, you would forgive them. You would say, Hey, forgive yourself. Just keep going. And they would. So you wanna start really building a more powerful connection with yourself in these moments. We do this in the shift weight mastery process. We actually have a forgiveness exercise where people write down all the things that they’re mad at themselves for regarding their weight, maybe physical element ailments due to weight, or things that they haven’t done their life because their weight has kept them from doing them.

Rita Black: Or for instance, like, I’m angry at myself because I’ve dieted for 30 years and I’ve never kept it off. Or I have arthritis and my weight makes it worse, or I haven’t asked for a raise because I feel insecure about my weight. So this, these, all these resentments, these what I would call hidden resentments because we carry them around underneath in our subconscious mind. So we have all this resentment underneath there, but we’re just on the surface looking for the next diet. But all of this is brewing underneath, and it takes your power absolutely away from you. So I would like to invite you to take a moment and walk and, and do write down some resentments that you might have for yourself with regards to weight. So just take a moment and do that. Just let’s take the magical moment, take a nice deep breath in, and just settle you, you can even close your eyes if you need to.

Rita Black: And just, I’m here with you. So you know, you can be brave and allow some of those resentments to come up. Like, think about physically, are there physical ailments that weight has created for you? And if so, just write those things down and leave. And yeah, just write down anything, any physical ailments, diabetes you know, arthritis, inflammation bad hip. Just write those things down. And you can also write in front of it. I am mad that I have arthritis because of weight. I am mad that I have diabetes because of weight. Okay?

Rita Black: Getting real gets you present pushing it down keeps you in the past, right? Because those, those things own you, even though they don’t aren’t necessarily with you. They own you. You know, there’s this great my, my husband told me this story about two Buddhist monks who are walking along on a journey. And there was a woman by the river and she was, you know, damsel in distress, I guess. And she was like, I can’t, I’ve gotta get across the river. I’ve gotta get, I’ve gotta get home to my children. Now, one of the monks said, no, no, you know, Buddhist monks are not allowed to touch women, but the other guy just picked her up and carried her across the river and put her down and off she went. And, you know, the other Buddhist monk kinda looked at him and glowered at him.

Rita Black: But, you know, they kept walking and about three miles later, the glowing Buddhist monk said, you know, you shouldn’t, you shouldn’t be doing that, that, that, you know, you touched a woman and you know, you you, you know, you, you, you, right? And the other Buddhist monks just said, you know, I left that woman at the river and you are still carrying her with you. And I just love that ’cause it’s so true. You know, it’s just like really getting clear on things, owning them and working through them, you know, carrying them across the river and putting them down rather than submerging them, you know, they still live and they still own you. You know what I mean? So, so let’s get clear. Let’s, let’s think of some other ones. Some feelings. Where has weight kept you from doing something in your life, like asking for a raise or going out and being social or you know, going on to match.com and finding the love of your life. Where has that weight kept you back? Or what has weight done with your emotional state? You know, have you been depressed? Have you been anxious?

Rita Black: Just write them all down. Now you can do more later, but what I’m gonna have you do is I’m gonna just kind of teach you how to start to forgive yourself. I mean, it’s really basic. It’s, it can be easy and very powerful, and it is really a skill. I have this skill called instant forgiveness. So when I do something I know that I, I I might resent later, I just instantly forgive myself. So you know, oh, I forgive myself for, you know, eating eating that serving of pie, I didn’t mean too, okay? I instantly forgive myself. Now I take action also on that, but I forgive myself so I can connect myself to myself and solve that problem. Okay? So, but let’s look at your list. And now I’d like you to look at maybe two or three of those things on your list that you wanna forgive yourself for. And, and what you can do is just really easy. You can just read that that line like, I am mad at myself for dieting for 30 years and never kept it off and, and read it again. I am mad at myself for dieting for 30 years and never kept it off.

Rita Black: And one more time, I’m mad at myself for dieting for 30 years and never kept it off. Okay? So you just read it over a few times and then you shift it and you say, I forgive myself for having dieted for 30 years and never kept it off. And as you say, I forgive myself for x, y, z. At the end of the sentence, take a nice deep breath in and bring that forgiveness into your heart and just hold that and allow that to melt away that resentment. And again, say it again. I’m mad at myself or now, and now you’re letting it go. I forgive myself for having dieted for 30 years and haven’t kept it off and feel that forgiveness. And one last time, I forgive myself for having dieted for 30 years and never kept it off.

Rita Black: And what you’ll start to notice is you’ll start to notice a feeling of being present with that, a feeling of connection to yourself, a feeling of self respect. You know, when you hold these things to the light, it begins to melt away the darkness. And you really do begin to have empathy for yourself. You know, if, if this was, like I said, a friend of yours saying these things to you, you would have no problem thinking the best of them holding them our heart in a very special place. But when it comes to ourselves, you know, we push everything down. We put ourselves into a dungeon, and we lock the key, and we don’t let ourselves out. So let’s begin to open up our hearts to ourselves and begin with self-compassion. So good. Now let’s talk about vision, which is the next thing. Often we know what we don’t want.

Rita Black: You know, we don’t wanna be overweight, but we don’t know what we do. And we need to focus our mind on where we wanna go. The stronger the vision of where we are, who we are becoming, the more resilience we have in those moments when we get off track. Because in the past we know we don’t wanna be overweight, but if we don’t have a vision, there’s no vision pulling us forward through those moments. You get what I’m saying? So let’s do a vision, not only a vision of you being slim out at your ideal way, but really creating a vision of the you you are becoming, meaning the you out in your life who is resilient. See yourself in a moment. Not wanting to exercise, but taking that breath and doing it anyway. Seeing the you at your ideal weight, passing by the attempting foods because it’s easy for you because that’s who you are.

Rita Black: Becoming, seeing yourself sitting at a meal, taking a few bites, and then being done, not continuing to eat past the point of being full. So take a moment and take a breath and just close your eyes. And again, if you can’t see this in your mind just see, get a sense of that you out at the end of 2023, a year from now, having made all those healthy choices, having been resilient through all those moments, really get a sense of that you, you are becoming, and, and seeing yourself not on the bathing, in a bathing suit on the beach. I mean that you can save that vision for some other time, but I want you to see yourself actively out in your life. Being, being the person you know is going to allow you to keep that weight off, because that is what we are cultivating.

Rita Black: So see yourself out there waking up in the morning and even feeling that resistance of, ah, I don’t wanna exercise, but smiling, getting up and putting your workout clothes on anyway, because this is who you are cultivating in your mind, somebody who is resilient in those moments. You know, it’s easy in our mind to go, oh, I’m just gonna get up and work out every day. Well, that doesn’t always happen. Sometimes you have to breathe through that moment and pull that vision of yourself. You know, that pull that vision has to pull you forward. I am a person who exercises, even when I don’t feel like it, or I am a person who eats three bites of dessert, enjoys it thoroughly. And even though I might want that fourth bite, I know I’m not gonna enjoy it as much. So pushes the plate away.

Rita Black: So see yourself out near life, maybe in those situations where in the past you let yourself, you know, down, or you, you, you, you know, got off track. See yourself in a social situation with your friends and see yourself making the healthier choice. Seeing yourself pushing the plate away when you’ve had enough is seeing yourself in those moments maybe when you ate something you didn’t intend to. And instead of giving up, you just keep going and eat the healthy meal and make the next meal a healthy one, right? So just see yourself being the person that you are, becoming that resilient person who keeps on going know matter what, and see how that ref is reflected in you being at your ideal weight. Alright? You got an image of that. You see that you, and this is something you can always come back to all again and again, I want you to practice this vision.

Rita Black: So this isn’t just a one and done. This is something that you are now we’re bringing this to life so that you can cultivate this because this is the image of you that is pulling you forward. Like so in those moments when you wanna give up, it’s like, no, would the person who is me at my ideal weight give up in this moment? Absolutely not. That person is gonna keep on going. So cultivate that vision that is gonna keep pulling you forward in those moments. Okay? Now the third thing, let’s change the journey. So we’ve done vision, we’ve done self-compassion, and now let’s, let’s re what we’re gonna do is reframe this idea of the journey that you are on. So again, when we don’t believe in ourselves, we are on a struggle journey hoping or trying, and we carry with us all of the weight loss failures of the past.

Rita Black: Think of all the weight loss attempts that you’ve been on. That is a big heavy load, my friend. That’s a big heavy load that we carry with us into any future attempt. So let’s reframe those failures right now. You know, most people who have taken weight off and kept it off long term gained and lost over 250 pounds over the course of their life. So they didn’t give up just because they’re, they, you, they could look at their past and say, wow, you know, I’ve gained and lost 250 pounds over the course of my life. I guess that means I can’t do it. No, they just kept going and that last time was the time for them. So you either allow the failures to say you are a hopeless loser, or you can allow your past weight release attempts to be valuable. Lessons that were stepping stones to your long term success.

Rita Black: So, you know, when I was struggling with my weight, you know, as you know, I struggled up and down the scale, 40 pounds for 20 years, over 20 years. And when I was finally successful, you know, like all and all of those failures, you know, I’d been a Weight Watchers a number of times. I’d gone on a lot of gimmicky diets. I had done even paid a weight trainer, hundreds of dollars, maybe thousands. I don’t wanna think about that. And I had gained weight during that time. I had a weight trainer you know, and so I could look at to all of those failures and say, Ugh, what a loser. You’re never gonna be successful. But you know, the, that last time I said, you know what? I have learned stuff from every single thing that I’ve done. I, and a lot of it has, I have learned what not to do.

Rita Black: You know, and those were very, very valuable lessons. So I started to, you know, imagine myself being successful and imagine that all those things that I’ve learned on all those diets along the way were part of my success story. In fact, I in my mind, I used to do this funny little thing I used to imagine I was being interviewed and say, and and saying, oh yes, you know, I learned from Weight Watchers, I learned from having a personal trainer. Those things were all a part of my success story. Can you see how quickly you can turn things around in your mind when you shift the focus off of you, the shifting the focus off of you being bad and horrible and awful into you being a powerful person, courageous person, on a long-term permanent weight release journey. So let’s review. So we’ve covered the three parts of part one, which are weight resilience.

Rita Black: Part one is really about having confidence. So confidence comes from self-compassion, having a very powerful vision, knowing where you’re going, cultivating that idea of who you’re becoming and really looking at this journey that you are on already as your success journey. So now I’d like to do some mantras with you just, and what I mean by that is I’m going to give you a sentence or a suggestion and all you need to do is repeat it powerfully inside your own mind and just allow these to sort of sink in and become a part of you. Alright, let’s begin. I am building weight release resilience. I forgive myself for struggling with weight. I am moving in the direction of believing in my ability to release weight consistently. I am creating my vision of that slimmer long-term weight release master. My vision is full of resilient moments that allow me to practice staying on track. My past failures are now building blocks to success. I am increasing my confidence so that I can be consistent. I look forward to making this new year a year of weight release mastery. Great. So now take a nice deep breath in

Rita Black: And open your eyes and get ready to get on with an amazing day. So we learned today that confidence and belief in yourself is a big factor of resilience. That is a huge part of long-term success with taking weight off and keeping it off. Now the next step is taking the confidence and giving it power with commitment. So we will be discussing that next time on the show, which will be dropping in just a couple of days. So between now and then, don’t forget to check out my free masterclass called How to Stop the Start Over Weight Struggle Cycle and Begin Releasing Weight for Good. You’re gonna love this masterclass. I know it’s gonna have you looking and experiencing weight loss from a whole new place.

Rita Black: Have an amazing week and remember that the key and probably the only key to unlocking the door of the weight struggle is inside you. So keep listening and find it. You wanna dive deeper into the mindset of long-term weight release, head on over to www shift weight mastery.com. That’s www shift weight mastery.com, where you’ll find numerous tools and resources to help you unlock your mind for permanent weight release tips, strategies, and more. And be sure to check the show notes to learn more about my book From Fat to Thin Thinking. Unlock Your Mind for Permanent Weight Loss.

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