Weight Loss can be helped by Mind Over Body

To increase the success rate of any weight management

program, we have to shift our thinking of "weight loss" as

something that suggests deprivation, hunger or loss to

something that suggests growth, development, and gain.

Weight loss is not loss, but the building of a lean, powerful

body. Losing weight is not losing at all, but gaining a newly

reconfigured body. The best way to do this is to enlist the

power of your mind. Visualize yourself at your ideal weight.

Focus on your slim and slender body, your well-shaped

legs. Imagine yourself living a powerful, dynamic life.

Would you be bingeing yourself to death? Make this

positive visualization of your ideal self a daily practice until

you find it actually easy to see yourself as lean, strong and

beautiful. Next time you feel like wolfing down a whole

chocolate cake, shift your mind to that slender body and

well-shaped legs.

'Hunger" is another word we need to reclaim. We think that

we have to be hungry to be slim. That is not so at all. We

just need to be able to differentiate between real hunger

and emotional hunger. Take time out and ask yourself, "Am

I really hungry?" Think twice before putting anything in

your mouth. If you decide that you are indeed hungry, then

eat, but make sure that what you eat honors your body.

Make sure it is nutritious food and not empty calories. If

you decide the sense of deprivation you are feeling is

emotional hunger, then the searching has to go deeper.

Are you lonely? Angry? Stifled? Resentful? What is

bothering you? Decide if you will take this anger out on

your body or take the more courageous route: have it out

and come to terms with it. Speak out what it is that makes

you mad, sad, uneasy. Don't be afraid to dig. The best

things have come from the darkest pits of the earth.

Know yourself! Know when your most vulnerable moments

are. Know when you are most susceptible to being

sabotaged by your partner's sneer, your mother's

disbelief, your sister's insistence that you don't have it in

you. (Families are so supportive, aren't they?) Understand

that your decision to change challenges their status quo

and families are known to resist change (Don't rock the

boat!). Once you understand where your Achilles' heel is,

develop a list of strategies to deal with the issue when it

rises. Arm your mind: if you understand where they are

coming from, it is easier to be less defensive and

submissive. Arm your fridge: should you be swayed by

these difficult moments to binge, have a whole fridge of

allowable snacks so that even though you indulge in 2, 3

items, there is no harm done.

Plan your day ahead. If you must have a snack before

bedtime, make sure that you have low-fat, high protein

snacks accessible in the fridge so that you do not opt for

what's left over from dinner instead. There is less

likelihood that you will sabotage your weight loss program

if you have nutritious and allowable snacks available at all

times.

Eat 5-6 smaller meals a day (3 meals plus 2 snacks). Make

your body think "abundance", and it will expend more

calories. Do not skip meals as this makes you body go into

"starvation mode" and your body will respond to that by

shutting down your metabolism.

Measure yourself before you start your weight loss

program and once a week after that. Measure your upper

arms, chest, waist, hips, upper thighs, ankles, wrist. Record

your measurements faithfully. If you are following your

weight loss program carefully, you will notice a change in

measurements very quickly. You will lose in inches; your

clothes will feel looser. This will give your mind positive re-

inforcement. Do not weigh yourself everyday. Your weight

is not really an accurate measure of your progress

because weight is dependent on time of day and hormonal

fluctuations.

Exercise 4-5 times a week. Work towards doing 30 minutes

of cardio (walking, running, cycling) and 15 minutes of

weight training. Use visualization to make exercise an

active part of the New Beanutiful You.

Reward yourself in ways other than food. Buy a new dress.

Go see a movie. Take a weekend trip. Go dancing. Enjoy

the new lifestyle you have created for yourself. See it not

as a short term goal; instead focus on making the changes

lifelong habits. You will forever be eating well, exercising

well, taking care of yourself so that you will look great, feel

great, be great!

Be proud of yourself: you have trained your Body to be an

extension of the Mind!

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