Today I want to talk about the photograph.
You know the one.
It’s that photo of you at your heaviest. That photo of you at your lowest ebb. You at your most unflattering.
Maybe you’ve plastered it to the fridge in the hope that it’ll stop you in your tracks when you’re tempted to go back for seconds?
Sure, many weight loss coaches do talk about harnessing the power of the unflattering photo as a motivational tool.
But I disagree. Here’s why.
It’s very hard to create change from that feeling of shame. Let that sink in.
Sure the threat of the photo might feel motivational for a couple of days – but for most women, shame is exhausting, and it doesn’t work in the long term.
For example, a client I saw this week mentioned how she’d used the photo of herself at her heaviest – after the birth of her fourth child – as a bookmark for the last eight years.
Had that motivational bookmark worked? Nope!
That unflattering photo was the last thing she saw before she fell asleep at night. Is it any wonder she woke up feeling despondent and unmotivated!
Shaming behaviour makes us feel miserable. And what do we do when we feel miserable? We eat!
So stop using those unflattering photographs as a way of trolling yourself.
Becoming your happy shape and size is all about re-learning how to listen to your body. And we’re much more likely to listen to someone we feel safe with. Allow your body to start feeling safe with you.
I’m not suggesting you need bury or burn all your unflattering photos – because there is a time and a place for them – but only use photos in a gentle, loving way.
Discovering how to trust your body again is exactly what we cover in Lighten Up. Lighten Up is my six-week online virtual gastric band programme for women.
If you want to reconnect with your body and lose weight from a place of love, virtual gastric band hypnosis can help.
