How To Release Limiting Beliefs About Our Health

I’m stuck…

I’ve been stuck in this cereal craving cycle that usually occurs around 8:42 at night.

Around that time, I wrestle with the question of, “do I pour myself a bowl of cereal this late or not.”

10 years ago I would have said no way, eating before you go to bed is one of the worst things possible if you want to get healthy and lose weight.

But that was back when I let limiting beliefs keep me from feeling healthy and living in my own best personal state of well-being.

Today, now that I know more about nutrition, intermittent fasting windows, and I’ve let that limiting belief falls to the wayside, feeling healthy is completely different.

And it all started with releasing a limiting belief.

So let’s talk about them…

 

What is a limiting belief?

A limiting belief is a state of mind or a feeling of certainty about what something means. They are the stories we tell ourselves and often the lens we view our lives through every day.

These stories come from our experiences, starting in early childhood and all the way up to this very moment. They are seeds planted in us during the formative years that often grow over time, slowly molding a thought process that can often limit our view or ability to see things another way.

The crazy part is that oftentimes, these stories aren’t even our own. They were imparted upon us by others like our parents, family, friends, peers, even culture itself.

From these stories, we develop habits and patterns that impact how we go about our lives on a daily basis. These habits and patterns directly affect how we operate and usually hold us back from uncovering the strategies we need to succeed.

And these limiting beliefs pop up all over our lives.

For example, a limiting belief around physical health might be, “I don’t have time to go to the gym, therefore, I can’t get into shape.”

Another limiting belief around spiritual health could be, “I haven’t talked to God in years, there’s no way He will actually listen to me.”

While our brain continues to tell us this story, the reality of the situation is quite the opposite. We have more control than we realize, but sometimes it’s hard to even know we are caught in the tornado of a limiting belief until we turn around and see the path we’ve created.

 

How limiting beliefs impact our personal narratives…

Limiting beliefs are different from person to person, but what remains true about all of them is that we have the power within us to flip the script on what they mean to us.

Let me tell you a story about a friend of mine

(For privacy sake, her name has been changed in this story)

Meet Callie…

Callie would tell you she’s struggled with her weight since the age of 10.

Callie’s mom was also overweight, and she had vivid memories of her mom enrolling her in Weight Watchers and going to weekly weigh-in meetings.

After these weigh-in meetings, Callie and her mom would go out for ice cream to celebrate their progress or soothe their disappointment, depending upon the number shown on the scale. But no matter what, ice cream was always after meetings.

For Callie, this time with her mom was special, it made her feel loved and accepted.

Food is how Callie’s mom connected and showed love to others.

The result, Callie learned at a very early age the narrative that food made her feel loved and comforted her when she was down. Sweet, little 10-year-old Callie did not tell herself this narrative—unknowingly, her mom planted the seed in her heart, and the story simply took root.

We don’t always write the early stories that take root in our hearts. 

They can come from loving, well-intended parents, siblings, peers, teachers, and coaches—all the people that influence our lives.

In a perfect world, we release these narratives as we grow, learn, and mature, replacing them with our new narrative. Of course, this doesn’t always happen; it’s easy to fall into the trap of operating out of someone else’s story for years before you realize it’s not your own.

Identifying these false narratives and replacing them can be a beautiful act of self-love and clear the pathway to reach our own goals, especially when it comes to health and wellness.

Now, Callie is writing and living a new narrative around food. She no longer associates it with comfort and feeling loved. Instead, food represents nourishment, health, and self-care.

She finds comfort in new, healthy habits like walking outside, reading, and creating opportunities for connection in her community. She receives and gives love without using food as the conduit.

Each day, she writes a new page in her own story with her decisions, mindset, prayer, patience, self-love, and acceptance.

It’s breathtakingly beautiful!

 

How to let limiting beliefs go!

As we talked about before, some limiting beliefs might be obvious, while others can be subtle, so it’s important to know how to identify a limiting belief when we see one.

Here are some of the most common limiting beliefs when it comes to health and wellness.

• • • “I don’t have time to exercise.”

• • • “It’s too expensive to eat healthy food.”

• • • “I don’t have any willpower.”

• • • “I’m not good enough.”

• • • “Being a certain number on the scale will make me happy.”

• • • “Food is my reward.”

So how do we kick these thoughts to the curb?

Start by identifying the limiting beliefs and stories that no longer serve us. Once aware, we can begin the process of reframing these limiting beliefs into empowering beliefs that pave the way to reach our goals.

Rewriting these limiting beliefs in a way that empowers us with a new narrative that is rooted in truth allows us to live out our passions and purpose, and reach our goals.

Identify—Reframe—Start

All it takes are small manageable shifts that align our day-to-day decisions with what we truly believe. That, paired with consistency, it’s incredible how one’s mindset can shift dramatically.

One thing to remember in this reframing process—this new story will take time.

Be patient. Be Gracious.

Remain aware that the old limiting beliefs we once held to be true will creep back into the mind. These thoughts are no longer part of our story. We have already deemed them to be false.

Stand firm, pen in hand, and continue writing this new story that aligns our values and actions to be all God created us to be.

 

Let the limiting beliefs go and embrace empowering beliefs!

Living inside the shadows of our limiting beliefs can be exhausting. Just when we think that one has gone away, another one shows itself, in the hopes of keeping us down. But when we replace those thoughts with empowering beliefs, we begin to form new thoughts and new habits that serve us in healthy ways.

God made us with unique abilities, talents, and passions and when we embrace ourselves and empowering beliefs, we can unlock the true potential of those gifts.

We are the authors of our own narratives, we’ve always been.

All we had to do was pick up the pen and start writing.