Individuals, in general, think in terms of weight loss being easy. If you were overweight as a child, she explains, you may have ruled out some parts of life as not fitting you and chosen to hone skills you thought were more appropriate. If you thought you couldn't be athletic or pretty, you might have worked on being funny or smart. The smart, overweight kid could grow up to become a workaholic, deriving satisfaction from success in hard work. Say the workaholic decides to exercise more.
Exercise takes an hour or more out of the regular day.
To break the barrier, she advises thinking through changes, even if you think they're superficial ones. Then understand that change in self concept happens not quickly, but over time.