Reframing Automatic Negative Thoughts

Goal

Recognize automatic negative thoughts and reframe them into positive thoughts.

Hopefully by now you’ve kept track of your thoughts for a week. Last time, we went through various types of negative automatic thoughts. This time, we will talk about how we change those thoughts. Take a look at your thought record from the last lesson and work along with Jordan through the reframing options below. As before, just do it on paper.

1. Challenge your thoughts. Remember: thinking something does not make it true.
   1. Jordan can challenge her thought that she will always fail at her goal of weight management by simply reminding herself that thinking she will fail does not mean she will.
2. Next, look for evidence. Acknowledge any evidence in favor of your thoughts, but then ask yourself if you’re ignoring evidence that contradicts your thoughts. Be sure you have considered all the facts.
   1. When Jordan takes a step back and looks at how she’s doing right now, she acknowledges that she has made some mistakes on her weight management plan. However, she also takes time to consider how well she has done at sticking to her work out schedule and eating healthier.
3. Then, search for alternatives. Try to look at the situation from another perspective. Ask yourself if your thinking is becoming too inflexible.
   1. Jordan tries to reframe her thought by thinking about redefining success. Maybe her success at weight management is more about success in eating right or working out well than on the actual numbers on the scale.
4. After considering alternatives, make sure to put the whole thing in perspective. Consider what the worst possible outcome could be.
   1. Next, Jordan considers the worst possible outcome for not sticking to this plan. As she thinks, she realizes that even if her current plan doesn’t work, the worst thing that could happen would be that she starts over with a new plan.
5. Finally, consider what a more helpful thought would be. Ask yourself what a more helpful way to look at the situation would look like.
   1. Finally, Jordan decides to trust herself, that she will be successful, even if being successful is defined by meeting smaller goals along the way to a goal weight.

Conclusion

This kind of reframing can help you overcome the barriers to your goals, especially the ones that come from your own negative thoughts. By working through the lessons in this guide, you have taken many big steps forward on your weight management journey. The tools you’ve learned will help you to move from being unsure of how to change, to having a clear plan for moving forward with your journey. When you face barriers or setbacks, you can come back to this guide to reset. The listeners at 7cupsoftea will also be here for you along the way if you feel that you need support. Congratulations on taking control of your weight management journey.