This is a guest blog post from Personal Development Coach Joshua Wayne, MA
Positive Attitude: How Smiling Can Help Your Weight Loss
Are you the sort of person who takes yourself very seriously? Do you spend a lot of time focused on your problems? Do you walk around with a serious, intense look on your face, or even a furled brow?
If so, you might want to consider going out of your way to smile more. While that may sound trite, I have become more and more aware in the past few years just how important it is to smile. AND, it just might have a positive impact on your weight loss.
Smiling conveys optimism and a positive attitude. While of course we often smile in response to things in our environment- a child saying a funny thing, hearing a good joke, or watching our favorite sitcom or movie- this is also something we can choose to do at any time.
Exercising that choice- in other words “Choosing Optimism”- might just do us a world of good.
According to Christopher Peterson, Ph.D, a researcher at the University of Michigan, “There is a link between optimistic attitudes and good health. It has been measured in a variety of ways. Overall, we have found that optimistic people are healthier. Their biological makeup is different. They have a more robust immune system. Optimistic people act differently ... [and] are more likely to do the things that public health experts say are associated with good health. Generally speaking, they eat sensibly, they don't drink senselessly, they exercise and they get their sleep."
So get in the habit of catching yourself when you’re being super-serious. Build the habit of smiling even if you’re in a funky mood. It actually feels better to smile. The more you ‘practice smiling’, the more will find that it’s a first step to actually changing your state of mind. You can actually begin to transform a heavy, serious mood into a lighter, more easy-going one. And over time, it just may begin to help those pounds keep coming off.
Has A Positive Attitude Helped You Lose Weight?
PEERtrainer Editorial Note: Joshua Wayne leads the PEERtrainer Coaching Program which is a highly effective program that sets the stage for sustainable, healthy and long term weight loss. You can learn more at http://www.peertrainer.com/coaching. He also has a private practice where he coaches people all over the world via telephone and email to achieve their long term weight loss goals. You can learn more at http://www.joshuawayne.com
Having a positive attitude defently help . My daughter and I formed a positive team. Helping one another along the way. Watching each others back. We could tell when the other one was going to slip. We used some humor along the way . Smile, every little step along the way counts . no matter how big or small. So smile and enjoy each day. I now smile along with my work out videoes, sounds corney but it helps keep me going . Thank you Peertrainer for being there for me. 24# slimmer and stil reaching for the end of my goal. :) <3
Posted by: Mary B | July 12, 2010 at 06:15 AM