Fear of gaining back any weight they lose is very common with people who’ve lost weight and gained it back.

I’ve seen people actually hit goal and be so scared of gaining back weight that they go off the rails and cause the very thing they were scared of!

On the one hand, it’s understandable.

You’ve lost weight and gained it back before, so you have all this “proof” that it’s gonna happen again.

And even though it’s totally relatable why you’d be worried about it, here’s what you’ve gotta understand.

Fear of gaining the weight back keeps you focused on what you don’t want.

Your brain has this part called the Reticular Activating System (RAS for short).

And this part of your brain focuses on whatever you tell it to focus on…even by accident!

A super common example of this is when you get a new car, and suddenly start seeing that same make and model of car every time you turn around (whereas before, you didn’t even notice).

When your RAS is focused on something, it’ll do everything it can to bring more of that something into your awareness.

If that “something” is what you don’t want, you’ll get more and more of it.

You’ll also have a tough time seeing any evidence to the contrary, even if it’s right in front of your face.

For example, when your RAS is focused on that new car, and you’re seeing it everywhere, it’s easy to forget that new car you’re seeing all over the place is still just a small fraction of the cars on the road.

It’s the same when you’re focused on what you don’t want. You’ll see that everywhere, and ignore (or dismiss) everything else…

Unless, of course, you make a point to stop focusing on what you don’t want, and start focusing on what you DO want.

If what you don’t want is to regain the weight, what you DO want is to keep it on.

So get your mind focused on that. Think about it. Imagine how it’ll look and feel. Look for evidence that it’s possible to keep the weight off, and remind yourself, “If there is even one other person on the planet who has lost weight and kept it off, that means I can, too.”

Fear of gaining your weight back is common and not a surprise.

But if you don’t want it to happen, fixating on it is the absolute worst thing you can do, because your mind will hunt down and focus on evidence that what you fear will happen.

Consciously make the choice to focus, over and over, on what you DO want – to keep the weight off – and your mind will start fixating on that instead.

Train your mind to be your ally! It wants what’s best for you; it just doesn’t always understand what “best” actually is. YOU can teach it, and with conscious practice, keep it focused on what you DO want!