I mean, I think that work is… I just imagine the Lord looking down on all of us and just saying, “Look at you, my precious chosen daughters, just working so hard to please me, God.” So I know he is really blessing this work. And then I see some women who I’ll call in between, if you will, and these are the women who have started their journey with Catholic weight loss, who have stepped away, life has happened, and they’re coming back.

And so I’ll just call that a mid journey, just because it’s fun to say there is a beginning, a mid, and a more advanced. But the point is, is that all of us want to have better thoughts so that we can have better results. All of us want better results, all of us want to be closer to God, All of us started this work for a reason, and all of us want the obstacles to bringing it to fruition to be removed.

And one of the greatest obstacles that I see, and actually a massive percentage of them, of the obstacles that all women encounter at all levels, no matter where you are in your journey, is our thoughts, including Denise Jelinek. And so for those who are brand new to thought work, I wanna give you an overview of how you can really manage your mind.

It’s called managing your mind. It’s… That’s kind of a coach-y term, which is simply… which essentially just means controlling your thoughts. And I know until now you didn’t know that was a thing. You probably thought just thoughts popped in your head, and you have no control over what you’re thinking. And well, we’ll talk more about that, but the CliffsNotes version is this: You do not have control over thoughts that just pop into your head.

Those are automatic. But once you’re aware of a thought, you do have the control, and God gave us the power to change our second thought. So let’s dive in to a little overview of how thoughts work, and then I wanna give you some really specific examples of the thoughts that are not the better thoughts that are obstacles for many women.

Those thoughts are things like, “I’m behind.” Those thoughts are things like, “I’m doing it wrong,” and, “I don’t know how to do this.” So if you at any point have ever thought, “I’m behind,” or maybe you’re currently believing that, ” I’m doing it wrong,” and, “I don’t know how to do this,” then this episode is for you because we’re going to tell you what to think instead.

And I want to reiterate that I am working so closely with all women in all levels, and I see these three same thoughts at every level. And I just say that, so I hope you just see it’s such a human thing. It is such a human thing. You aren’t doing anything wrong. But I just want you to see that it is not a helpful thing.

So I wanna show you how to shift your mindset so that you can ultimately shift the results that you’re getting. So a little bit of how thoughts work. When you have a thought, that thought activates different parts of your brain. Depending on what part of your brain is activated, different neurochemicals or, and neurotransmitters or hormones travel through your body and attach to receptors in your organs or in different places of your body.

They create this sensation, and that sensation we call a feeling or an emotion. So the most simple way to say that is when you have a thought, it creates an emotion in your body. And depending on how we feel, we’re going to do some things, and we’re not gonna do some other things.

And I’ll prove all of this to you

So if we want to change what we’re doing, all we have to do is change what we feel. Because if what we feel is determining what we’re doing, if we want to do something different, we just have to change how we feel

And again, until now you thought, “Well, I just feel the way I feel. I have no control over that.” Well, that isn’t true, because when you have a thought, it’s that thought that releases the hormones and the neurotransmitters and the chemicals that create that feeling or that emotion. So I am telling you right now that you can think different thoughts to feel differently.

And then when you feel differently, you act differently. And when you act differently, different fruits come from your behavior. You get different results. You get better results. So let me prove this, and we’ll go through those examples, those three examples I gave you before of I’m behind, I’m doing it wrong, and I don’t know how to do this.

And I wanna show you what those thoughts are resulting in, what those thoughts are leading you to feel, what those thoughts are then leading you to do. So let’s dive in

Let’s start with I’m behind. So when you have the thought, “I’m behind,” the emotion or the feeling that you have is probably something like rushed. when you feel rushed You’re doing and not doing certain things. So when you feel rushed, you’re probably rushing, and you’re looking for all the evidence that you’re behind ’cause you’re telling yourself, “I’m behind.

I’m behind,” and you’re focusing on that. So maybe it’s not even the work that you’re doing in the fall reset, but you also think, “Well, I’m behind on all these other projects.” You likely feel overwhelmed and paralyzed, and the work that you are doing is probably rushed and not very good work. You’re just trying to touch it to get it done What you’re not doing when you feel rushed is you’re not thinking logically, you’re not calming down, you’re not thoughtfully doing the work You’re not calmly making progress And so what happens when you’re rushing, you’re looking for the evidence that you’re behind and you’re focusing on that, you’re feeling paralyzed, you’re rushing through all of the work and not doing it very well at all.

The result is, is that you continue to be behind Because you’re truly not doing the work. And the fruits of that are stagnation, are disorder, are confusion And it all comes from that first thought of, “I’m behind.”

So I was coaching a woman in the Stay program the other day, and she said, “I just feel like I’m so behind.” And I said, ” Well, if you were on the same lesson that everyone else was on, how would you feel?” And she said, “Well, I would feel like I’m doing it right,” which is a thought. It’s not a feeling, but it’s a thought.

She would have the thought, “I’m doing it right.” And I said, “Well, that thought, ‘I’m doing it right,’ is just as available to you for you to think right now just as, as much as ‘I’m behind.'”

Isn’t that crazy, you guys? She could just as easily think, “I’m doing it right.” And so then I asked her, “Well, how is it true now? What is the evidence that you are doing it right?” And then she gave me three or four, five things that she is doing right, evidence that that she is doing it right.

And you can tell the change of my energy and my voice, and even if you think to yourself, “I’m doing it right.” And she puts on the I’m doing it right glasses, and she feels, now let’s look at that thought. I’m doing it right. What is the emotion that that brings up inside you? I feel encouraged when I think I’m doing it right.

And so the actions that I will do are things like I’ll start, I’ll look at the progress that I’m making. I will start to encourage myself. I’ll speak kindly to myself. I’ll actually do the work. I feel positive about it. I feel capable. What I’m not doing is focusing on the negative. I’m not feeling stuck.

I’m not feeling paralyzed And so when I do start, when I see my progress, I do think positively, I’m – encouraging myself, and I do the work, the result from the thought, “I’m doing it right,” is I do it right. And those fruits are so much better. Those are the fruits of growth and fruitfulness and harmony and joy Remember the thought I’m behind was leading to disorder and stagnation and confusion.

But the thought I’m doing it right is growth and fruit and harmony and joy So some other thoughts if you notice your brain saying, “I’m behind,” some other thoughts you can try on that might shift you, we’re just looking for a little shift away from feeling rushed, are things like, ” I’m on pace for my life.

It’s okay to go at my own pace. There’s no rush. It’s okay to take my time.” And I’m just offering you some examples of thoughts that might be helpful for you if you find your brain saying, “I’m behind.”

that will shift your feelings so that you can not feel paralyzed or rushed and actually take some first steps. And so when we’re looking for more helpful thoughts, they do need to be true. So if you have the thought, “I’m behind,” and then you just start to practice, “Well, I’m not behind. I’m not behind.

I’m not behind.” Well, if you don’t believe it, then it’s not a helpful thought. But if you can find just that little shift, like I said That will take you away from I’m behind. Things like I’m doing it right. I’m on pace for my life. It’s okay to take my time. There’s no rush. Okay? All right, let’s move on to I’m doing it wrong.

So many women say, “I’m afraid I’m doing it wrong,” which essentially means I’m doing it wrong. They believe they’re doing it wrong. And so when you have that thought, I’m doing it wrong, what feeling or emotion comes up in your body? One word.

For me, incapable comes up. I’m doing it wrong. And when I feel incapable, there are things that I will be doing and not doing. The things that I’m doing is are I feel confused, I believe it’s true that I’m incapable, I often give up, I throw my hands up, I say, “Well, you know, what’s the use?” And when I feel incapable, I’m not even trying.

I’m not even thinking logically or calmly. And so from that place of I’m doing it wrong, I feel incapable, and I just stay in confusion, believe that’s true. I give up, I throw my hands up. The result is I do it wrong. I’m not doing anything, actually. And the fruits from that thought are stagnation, disorder, despair, division, condemnation.

I’m doing it wrong. It’s just this really heavy thought that keeps me stuck

And some other thoughts we can try on, especially when we’re trying something new. A lot of women feel this thought in the beginning when we’re doing something unfamiliar. So some other helpful thoughts could be, ” Of course this will feel new. I’ve never done this before. Of course I don’t know how to do this.

I’ve never done this before.” Which feels way different than I’m doing it wrong Or this is unfamiliar, or I’m willing to try. One of my clients loves the thought, let’s see how this goes, or it’s okay to try new things. And this comes up also when women are, looking for what food they should plan when they’re making our easy to stick to meal plan.

They think they’re doing it wrong. And I always say, “It’s your best guess. Give it a go. See how it goes for today. You can always make adjustments tomorrow.” And one of my clients, one of the things that helped her just make an easy to stick to meal plan is she would just have this thought, let’s try this.

Let’s just try this. Let’s see how it goes. And one of my favorite thoughts anytime I’m trying something new is, let’s just try this, we’ll see how it goes. It could totally blow up in my face, and that’s fine, but I’m just gonna do it this one time. And that I’m gonna do it this one time always really helps me.

But now let’s see if we try, if we look at where the thought I’m willing to try. I’m willing to try. Let’s just try that on and see how that plays out. So I’m willing to try. When you have that thought, I’m willing to try, how do you feel?

Probably something like willing. And remember, when we feel something, then we’re inclined to do things and not do things. So when I feel willing, I’m willing to start. I do feel calm. I think logically. I feel very open. And when I feel willing, I don’t feel paralyzed So the result of the thought, “I’m willing to try,” the result is that I do try.

And the fruits from that, oh my gosh, you guys, growth, faith, trust, clarity, willingness All from that thought, I’m willing to try. Which is way better than I’m doing it wrong Do you see how we can just shift one thought that’s keeping us so stuck

to think better, to get better results And the last one that comes up for a lot of women, and – we could go on infinitely, but I thought these three examples would give you a little bit of understanding so you can start to see what your thoughts are and start practicing some of the other thoughts that I’ve offered in this podcast.

So the third one we’ll address is, “I don’t know how to do this.” And when you have the thought, “I don’t know how to do this,” how does that feel? I don’t know how to do this. I don’t know how to do this. Now, for some people, it may feel just fine. I don’t know how to do this, and I’m willing to learn. I don’t know how to do this, but I bet I can figure it out.

So that might feel good, but if it feels confused or stuck, then it is not a helpful thought. I don’t know how to do this. When I have that thought, I feel confused in my body, and when I feel confused, I just spin out on, “I don’t know how to do this. I don’t know how to do this. I don’t know how to do this.”

And remember, once you have a feeling, that’s what drives what you’re doing and not doing. So what I’m not doing is I’m not calming down. I’m not thinking logically. I’m not planning. I’m not even starting

And the result from simply spinning out in confusion is that I still don’t know how to do it. All I keep saying is, “I don’t know how to do it. I don’t know how to do it.” So the result is I still don’t know how to do it. And those fruits are stagnation, disorder, confusion, despair

More helpful thoughts though are things like, “This is new. I’ve never done this before, but I can learn. I’m willing to try something new. I’m willing to learn something new. I know who I can ask. I can slow down and focus. It’s okay to take my time. I can figure this out

Any of those thoughts are so much more helpful, and I’ll prove that. If I’m having the thought, “I don’t know how to do this” And I have the thought, ” I bet I can figure it out.” I bet I can figure it out. When you have that thought, how do you feel? When I have that thought, I feel capable I feel open. And let’s go with open.

I bet I can figure it out. When I’m open, I’m willing to try. When I’m open, it feels possible. When I’m open, I’m looking at what I understand. I’m not closed off. I’m not spinning out in confusion And so if I have the thought, “I bet I can figure this out,” when I’m open and I take my time and I start just even one, one piece of a project or one page of something to read, the result is I do figure it out And those fruits are growth and harmony and fruitfulness

And so the point of this podcast is very simple. The point of this podcast is for you to see that you have been given a power by the Lord to be able to change your focus and change your thinking. It’s a skill. You weren’t born knowing it, and so it’s going to feel unfamiliar until you’ve practiced it a little bit, but you simply need to know it’s a real thing and that you can do it.

And the first place to start in being able to practice this is to just observe your thoughts. Notice them without any judgment. Notice the sentences that are running through your brain

So simply noticing and observing your thoughts And then the second step, which doesn’t have to happen right away, but it will happen slowly by slowly by slowly the more you listen to this podcast, the more you do the work that we are doing in whatever program that you’re currently in, or maybe you’re not even in a program but you’re just listening – this podcast, is that you will start to notice your thoughts and remember that you are not in charge of your first thought, but you do have power over your second thought.

And so listen to this podcast again. As you listen, any thought that feels light or helpful or you feel a charge or a change in your energy, those are helpful thoughts for you. You don’t even have to know what feeling comes from them or what you do when you think them. You don’t have to know all of that.

You can just tell in your body, “Ooh, that’s a helpful thought. That feels motivating. That feels encouraging. That feels positive.” It’s just a great place to start to get your feet wet into this so that you can start thinking better to get better results. You can start thinking helpful thoughts that get you the results that you want.

And when I say the results that you want, I mean the results that God called you to work on here. All of what we’re doing here, friends, is just our cooperation with God’s grace. And part of cooperating with him is stewarding what we can control, stewarding our resources. And some of the resources that we don’t talk a lot about in the church are our resources of attention, are our resources of our thoughts, are our resources of our energy.

And so here we’re talking about how to steward the resource of your thoughts because truly, when we can change our thoughts and change our feelings, we can change the behavior that we’re doing. And I think all of us came here so that we can change our behavior so that it’s working for us, that it’s glorifying the Lord.

And one little caveat, friends, is that the battle for your soul-

is fought On the battlefield of your mind I’m gonna say that again. The battle for your soul is fought in the battlefield of your mind. You see, you have such a precious soul that the Lord is not the only one pursuing you There are forces that are looking to distract you from what the Lord wants for you.

And when we think thoughts that have the, the fruits that I just mentioned of those unhelpful thoughts, that have the fruits of disorder and stagnation and confusion and despair and condemnation you can be assured that those thoughts are not aligned with God. And I’m not saying all of our thoughts are from the enemy.

I am saying that you know that they’re not of God. And our work is to remove everything in our life that is not God so that we can be aligned with him. We can be thinking the thoughts that he wants us to think. We can be acting in a way that glorifies him and brings life and fruit and health and healing to ourselves.

And the first place to start is in our minds. So I hope to be doing some more podcasts that will empower you to truly be able to take control of what is yours to steward. God never asks us to control things that we cannot control, only what we can control. And our thoughts are one of those places and no one else has likely taught that to you before.

Welcome to this new concept. Again, I would love for you, especially if you are new to this concept, to rewatch or re-listen to this podcast so that you can hear whatever thoughts are helpful for you, write them down, and then you can practice those often. And they will keep you protected from the fruits of the stagnation and the confusion and the despair and condemnation.

Isn’t that cool how you can use your brain to protect your soul? So amazing. Thank you, God, for helping us live in a time where we understand this. It’s so incredible. So remember, at Weight Loss with the Holy Spirit, we keep God our God, not the scale, not our pants size, not the best food plan. We keep God our God.

All right, everybody. Have a blessed day.