Lady MacBeth's Diet
Was Doomed
The following excerpt is from the self help
psychology book, Be Your Own Therapist.
You remember studying about Lady MacBeth when you were in high school.
She was the one who shouted something along the lines of "Out,
damned fat! Out!" Her diet failed because of that statement. Lady Macbeth
emphasized what she did not want, the terrible looks of the fat,
also her repulsion and revulsion. She displayed the worst type
of self-talk. Imitating Lady MacBeth's self-talk about her problem will dig deeper
ruts and cause added unhappiness, whether the problem is damned
fat or a damned spot.
Instead, it is vital that you envision the positive goal or
result. A mental image of a slimmer you will help you achieve
the goal of slimness. Post a picture of yourself when you were
much lighter. As you go by it several times during the day,
pretend you are at that weight for a few seconds. If you have
never been significantly lower in fatness than you are now, go
find a photo of yourself. Cut your head from this photo and
paste it on some magazine photo so that a body of reasonable
(not skinny) proportions is below your head. Similarly, post
this composite photo and pretend this is you several times daily
as you walk by it. Practicing a mental image of yourself at your
goal weight several times a day is highly desirable (NOT with Lady Macbeth's attitude). You can
strengthen your imaging capabilities by practicing images from
Creative Imagery (sample on page 18).
| One vital ingredient in most successful weight loss programs is the image in your mind of a slimmer you. |
This pretending or image-practicing is a common ingredient of
successful weight loss programs. Do not follow this pretending
with negative self-talk (like Lady MacBeth's). If you do find
yourself concentrating on the negative (rolls of flab, anger at
self, what a lousy person I am, how weak I am, etc.) try to
deliberately change your mental focus. Change it away from the
negative to pretending you are the person in that composite
photo. This process of pretending or image-practicing will often
elicit your internal growth impulses. These impulses will
help point you along your road. The road immediately ahead for you may be reading about nutrition,
joining a support group, trying the Add-A-Carrot diet, reducing
negative self-talk, getting some therapy or whatever seems
appropriate for you now. If you care about success, then follow
only one (sometimes two are OK) of the above roads at a time. A
grand program following many roads simultaneously will most
likely fail.
Lady MacBeth doomed herself to failure. Without pretending or
image-practicing (either works well) described earlier, your
weight loss program is most likely also doomed.*
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