Weight Management: Stop Negative Thoughts

Overview

When you are working on getting to a weight that's healthy for you, having negative thoughts about weight and your body or habits can make it harder to succeed. Our thoughts have a lot to do with how we feel and what we do.

Changing negative thought patterns may not be easy. But our minds can be trained to be stronger and healthier—just like a muscle. A technique called thought reframing can help.

Thought reframing is the process of replacing negative thoughts with more helpful thoughts. It's a skill taught in a type of counseling called cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). There are also books and apps that can help you learn thought reframing on your own.

With practice, you can get better at choosing healthier thoughts to replace negative thoughts.