Written by Rena Greenberg

You’ve been eating less, sweating at the gym, reaching for healthy meals and passing by the old snacks that used to call out to you, and still the scale numbers aren’t budging. Have you ever had the experience of feeling like you are doing everything “right” but not getting the desired result? You may wonder with frustration what is going on and why your weight loss is so slow.

Here are a few tips to help you get through those times when it feels like your weight loss has slowed down to almost a complete halt.

Keep going. Just because you aren’t seeing the results you are looking for yet, is no reason to give up. In all areas of your life where you are successful, it’s often a journey to get to where you want to go. The only one who fails is the one who gives up. Besides, there’s really no going back once you remember how awful it was to be controlled by food and to literally be putting poison into your body. As you re-train your brain and keep hitting the re-set button, every time you practice self hypnosis, you’ll start to realize that you’ve come too far — there’s no going back.

Be patient. Give yourself the gift of time. Even if you were only to lose one pound a month, you would still be going in the right direction. One of my dear clients, Cathy McHugh, came to me for gastric bypass hypnosis.  When she first arrived, she could barely walk.  Within nine months, she had lost 90 pounds and was ecstatic. Then the weight loss completely stopped. Nothing for six more months!  As of today, she’s down 130 pounds. Imagine if she had turned around and started going in the wrong direction. Instead she continued to practice her hypnosis and have faith. It’s such a joy to get Cathy’s annual vacation photos and see her beaming, healthy, at her ideal weight.

Appreciate your progress. Instead of beating up on yourself, begin to send yourself some appreciation. Have you ever watched a child learn to walk? When it fell down, did you want to yell, “What’s wrong with you?” Of course, not! Your instinct was surely to encourage that child. In the same way, encourage yourself for all your efforts and successes. Don’t only measure success by the number on the scale. Instead measure winning by your actions and accomplishments. Did you take the time to prepare a salad today and bring it to work instead of pulling into a fast food restaurant like you may have before? Give yourself a big smile, pat on the back, and deep encouragement, praise and gratitude.

Heal your emotional patterns. See your frustration as a great opportunity to heal your own emotional patterns. Notice the familiarity of the feelings you are having right now.  Realize that no matter what your life situation, your thought habits are repetitive and predictable. This is a great opportunity to break that old cycle. Without judgment, open your awareness. Be brave and let yourself experience any “dark” feelings of shame, anger, victimhood, fear, insecurity and jealousy.

Whatever comes up for you, you no longer need to push down again. You can bring your feelings into the light of day to be acknowledged and healed. It’s time to hold yourself, instead of rejecting the parts of you that you feel uncomfortable with.

Imagine a huge, radiant sun in your heart that can contains all your feelings — both the wanted and the unwanted ones. Imagine that the dark emotions passing through you can be healed by the light that’s in the core of your being — the light that is part of your true Spirit. Ask to release judgment and criticism of yourself.

Stop suppressing any discomfort within you. You no longer need to bury your emotions with food. Instead, summon your inner courage, breathe light into all your emotions and let this light expand and wash over you. You are much stronger than you think. Also, you are not alone. The feelings that feel unmanageable to you are simply your share of the feelings that all of humanity experiences. By bringing them into the light deep within you, and witnessing them, you can channel them into positive energy — even if that is simply compassion for others and for yourself.

Shift your mindset. Reinstate a sense of certainty within yourself that you are moving in the right direction. Feel with every cell of your body the inner knowing that you deserve to be happy and to live the creative, happy life that your heart longs for. Know that weight loss is only the side benefit of living your life with authentic freedom — freedom to choose what your inner wisdom knows is best for you. Make a decision to release the old habits of thought and action that no longer serve you. Decide to love all parts of yourself, even those that in the past you may have been ashamed of. 

Embrace your humanity while more and more embodying your divinity. Practice self-hypnosis every day to help you get more and more connected to your authentic self.

Never give up and know that all good things happen in their own time. Your job is to keep consciously moving towards living the life that you know is best for you. That means embodying the new habits of healthy eating, eating only just enough to satisfy your physical hunger and moving your body for balance, stress relief and energy. Focus on cleansing your mind daily and nourishing your body. And if you must look back, do so only long enough to see how far you’ve come!

Rena Greenberg is an author, healthcare expert, and educator whose programs are sponsored by over 75 US hospitals and 100 major US corporations, including Disney, Home Depot, and AT&T. She has helped over 200,000 people find their journey to health. Her weight loss and smoking cessation programs, as well as her organic CBD line of wellness products have been featured widely in the national press.