MINDSET OVER MATTER
– The Weight Loss & Fitness Connection
‘Losing weight’ is arguably one of the most frustrating and misunderstood aspects of maintaining health and fitness for decades. Though we know that eating healthy foods and activity are important components of any weight-loss plan, we somehow run out of day before we get to fitness. But are you aware that the first steps to success in maintaining healthy body composition happens in your mind first, and only then in your body? For those who have tried repeatedly to lose weight but have never been successful or you lose weight but then gain it back (often gaining more than you started with) it is very likely that your thoughts and beliefs—not your diet—are holding you back. This is because excess weight is a reflection of your mental and emotional state, and your actions, or lack thereof are controlled in large part by your beliefs and emotions. And the number one reason people fail to lose weight is that they neglect to make changes in their subconscious mind to support their conscious goals.
The research in mind-body impact on nutrition and fitness; and its effects on our bodies, minds, and spirits—personally and professionally, are now shining the light on the improvements we must make mentally and emotionally before we’ll see the long-term results on our body. For those born with a body that doesn’t naturally fall into the category of shapely and slim, this mental barrier can be especially challenging! Those of us who are not ‘naturally gifted’ physically, must work consciously on accepting our current size and weight as something we have the power to change. And, seeing thousands of women and men with this challenge on our website and social pages, I can assure you that there are specific beliefs, habits, behaviors and actions that work for any-body!
How Your Beliefs Control Weight-Loss Efforts
In today’s society, women consistently receive unrealistic standards and negative messages about their bodies and this often translates to an unrealistic expectation of being physically perfect with little body fat and an athlete’s figure. There is no surprise that the weight loss business is one of the largest industries on the planet. With more and more people turning to diets, exercise, and gimmicks to control their weight, it’s clear that “diets” are an antiquated concept and simply don’t work – and it’s more the premise of a diet, as it’s temporary rather than a lifestyle change, which is what is actually required for long-term and consistent results.. What we see is the same scenario play out, especially for women, who attempt to lose weight rapidly before attending an event (wedding, social event or vacation) and go about it as a quick fix rather than a sustainable approach. And what happens within 2-3 months, even IF they’re successful? They most often regain the weight (and then some) because their approach was starvation, over-stressing their body and they lost as much muscle as fat, which leads to further fat accumulation because the muscle they lost was key in burning their fat and maintaining their metabolic rate! Then the cycle repeats itself, they develop the limiting beliefs that they just can’t lose weight and achieve the fitness levels that they desire. This leads to a long-term belief that they’ll never be able to lose weight or maintain their ideal weight and fitness level.
There are also the limiting beliefs of fear that prevent the achievement of the ideal body weight and fitness/conditioning goals. Women often fear the attention that being more attractive will bring, or that their friends will judge them. Some fear that if they lose weight and don’t find a lovemate, they’ll be considered a failure. Some even fear that if they lose weight, they will be rejected by their family or friends. Why these beliefs are limiting is because in order to convert fat to fit and better manage your physical wellbeing as you really want, your conscious and subconscious minds must agree on the result. If you truly believe in your mind that you want to lose weight, and believe you can do so easily, and your subconscious mind agrees, you will absolutely achieve your goal. But if your subconscious mind holds the belief that you will never be able to achieve your optimal weight, you will struggle despite your conscious desire.
Reshape Your Mind to Reshape Your Body with Right Thinking
We’re assuming that you don’t have a metabolic issue or medical problem preventing you from reaching your weight-loss goals, though you should always consult your doctor’s advice as medical conditions such as thyroid condition, Cushing’s syndrome, and even sleep apnea and certain medications and cause challenges in weight management. But what most must come to terms with when going on a weight and fitness plan is to become aware of their story. This could include chapters of your past like a relative always pinching your abdomen and calling you “fat boy.” It could be something recent in your personal story that you began telling yourself, such as weight loss is impossible because you can’t eat right and exercise due to the long hours work hours. You see, your thoughts and beliefs create your reality. This by the way is based on scientific research, not hocus pocus. So, before you make the effort to change your diet and exercise routine, take the time to work on changing your thoughts and beliefs, and create your ‘new story’ of empowerment, personal belief and use incantations, affirmations and hang/talk to people who have achieved what you desire to achieve – or at least people who believe in you and your goals! Some even hire a personal trainer or coach to build momentum and help them make that mental shift in belief! In the end, it’s whatever works for you!
The Key Steps to Reprogram Your Mind & Achieve Your Weight & Fitness Goals-
Talk the Self-Talk. Self-acceptance and self-speak are the cornerstones to achieving optimal BMI (body mass index) or weight goals. However most don’t lose weight because they engage in body-shaming talk and negative behavior. It’s important to identify how and why you’ve been self-talking to yourself before you begin your weight and fitness plan. If you have been telling your body that you hate how it looks for most of your life or pinching your skin in the mirror in disgust because someone used to do this to you, your subconscious mind will believe the negative programming. Conversely, talking to your body in a positive, loving manner—the way you would speak to a loved one or child—allows you to rewire your subconscious brain. Look in the mirror and identify what you love about your body. Touch the parts that you want to change and say, “Thank you for keeping me safe.” Assure your body that it is safe to lose weight. Do this every day. Over time, your subconscious will align with your conscious desire to lose weight.
Create Your New Story. Instead of just saying you want to lose weight, write down exactly what you want to achieve and why. Maybe you want to lose 5 pounds (or 50 pounds) so that you can keep up with your grandchildren. Or maybe you want to make better food choices so that you have more energy. Be sure to write down how you feel now and how you will feel when you achieve your goals. For example, if being overweight keeps you from enjoying bike rides with your friends and this makes you feel left out, write down this specific situation and emotion. Then write down how you will feel when you lose the extra pounds and can join in the fun. As you start to uncover your emotions around reaching your weight goals, continue to write them down. Be sure to tell your new story to yourself every day. Let it seep into your subconscious and every cell in your body.
Design Your Day Through ‘Bite-Size’ Goals. Your ultimate goal may be to lose 40 pounds, but if you’re goals for getting there aren’t well planned, realistic and measurable, you’ll be setting yourself up for failure. The secret is to set smaller bite-size and measurable goals. For example, start with goals you have control over, such as eating 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day, by drinking (and eating) more water, wearing a Fitbit, walking more and driving less and take 10-minute breaks at home and work to stretch, contract your abdomen and practice excellent posture. You can also set a goal to sleep 8 hours per night, eat smaller portions of food, never eat more than four-hours before bedtime and so on. You may find that these simple life goals alone help you lose weight – but start thinking fit (not skinny) as well. If you want to set an actual weight-loss goal, make sure it’s no more than 1 pound per-week and don’t weigh yourself more than once per month. This doesn’t sound like much, but 4 pounds per month is realistic, safe and creates lifestyle habits that can last a lifetime, and in 1 year, 4-pounds per month results in 48 pounds in a year!
Tap Away. The art of tapping, or the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), helps to align your subconscious mind with your goals on an energetic level by addressing the underlying emotions, patterns, beliefs, traumas, and more that can lead to weight gain. You start by stating your current limiting belief followed by stating how you love and accept yourself while tapping on specific acupressure points. For example, you can say, “Even though I have a hard time losing weight, I love and accept myself completely.” This reduces stress hormones in your body and helps to release the emotional memories and beliefs associated with the unwanted pounds so you can break old habits and heal. (Learn how to perform the tapping sequence right here)-
Meditate. What are the benefits of meditation you may be asking? Meditation is another tool that can help you become more aware of your thoughts and beliefs so that you can build a path to successful weight management. You can use your meditation practice to create inner connections and motivations to optimize health, wellness, behaviors, the ability to focus and to maintain a harmonious mindset and positive attitude. Meditation helps you to understand emotional and subconscious blocks, triggers and using imagery to achieve your physical, mental and emotional goals creates new neural connections in support of rewiring your brain while developing self-love and compassion for yourself and others. If still meditation is not appealing to you, try active meditation; yoga, Qigong and Tai Chi are excellent active methods of mediation. You may also want to explore alternate Eastern style meditations techniques such as these.
Mindful Nutrition. Research shows that mindfulness—concentrated awareness of your thoughts, actions, and motivations—plays a critical role in long-term weight loss when used with other weight-loss strategies. Practice mindfulness when preparing meals and when eating. Be mindful of feelings of hunger and fullness – and eat slowly, as your mind doesn’t register fullness until 20-minutes after you’ve ingested your food. Pay attention to tastes, textures, and the acts of chewing food. Also, be mindful of how your body feels after you eat certain foods – this can help you determine if there are foods your body doesn’t tolerate well. This will also reduce bingeing and make you more aware of habits that don’t support your weight-loss goals. When you start connecting what you eat with how you feel, you won’t need to diet to lose weight, it will become a lifestyle habit and happen effortlessly. When you change your attitude about food as nourishment, your body composition, and image will transform. When you connect with your body and nourish it from a place of right-thinking, compassion and self-respect, rather than filling an emotional void or eating out of boredom, the feelings associated with that self-respect create metabolic harmony in your body that is conducive to optimal caloric intake and fat burning.
Daily Affirmations. It’s research based and proven that affirmations and incantations help to reinforce your new story as you reprogram your subconscious mind while creating your new reality. However, if you say, “I will be 40 pounds in 30-days,” your subconscious will not believe it. Say rather, “I’m becoming the naturally slim person who lives within me!” Or say, “I always make healthy decisions that support my optimal health, fitness and happiness.” At Health & Holistic, we recommend starting and ending every day by stating your affirmations while in a quiet and non -distracting environment. One recommendation that works for many within our community, create positivity in your room or home of stagnant energy by lighting a candle, then sit with your eyes closed, and say your affirmations three times consecutively – and do this 3 times per day. You may want to say some version of your affirmations just before you fall asleep when your subconscious mind is most receptive to suggestion. Remember, affirmations need to be in the present tense as though they have already manifested. Affirmations don’t make things happen – they make the things you want welcome.
Learn to Breathe – Well. When you take time to breathe fully and deeply, you become more aware of your body. Breathing with intention can also help to lower your body’s stress response. Try deep diaphragmatic breathing or Kapalabhati breathing, a yogic breath practice that helps to reduce stress. There are many other breathing techniques. You can learn about them online and on YouTube. Or simply breathe in deeply through your nose for a count of 5 and hold for a count of 5 at the top of your breath. Then breathe out for 5 and hold for a count of 5 at the bottom of your breath. Repeat for several minutes. This is called “block breathing,” and it instantly creates a parasympathetic “rest and restore” biochemistry in your body while digesting stress hormones.
Boot the Energy Thieves. One of the most striking things I’ve observed in the relationships between negative people and peaceful souls is the disparity in their tendencies to gain weight. Your life and your relationships reflect your ability to nourish yourself. If you are in an imbalanced relationship where you are constantly giving to and trying to please another person, your efforts to lose weight will be in vain because you are constantly taking on the energy of your vampire (which could even be a situation—not a person). This causes excess stress and fear and drains your own god given energy. As a result, you seek out sugar, carbs, and/or alcohol. And you will keep excess weight on no matter what you do—even when you stop eating the carbs—because the weight acts as an extra layer of “self-protection.” It’s cognitive dissonance in the body.
Live Now – Not in The Past. Your beliefs are your reality. Check out Mario Martinez’s advice. He recommends taking a picture of yourself today (or find a recent picture that represents how you look now). Then find a picture of yourself from a time when you liked how you looked and felt really good about yourself. Once you have your two pictures, live for 10 days “as if” you are still the self you felt good about. At the end of 10 days of living “as if,” take a new picture of yourself. You will look much like your former self whom you loved and respected.
Have you struggled to lose or maintain your optimal weight? What is your weight story? Please leave your comments below and reach out to us at www.purehealthandholistic.com – you can also join our Facebook community at https://www.facebook.com/healthandholistic .
“70% of people that start a fitness plan quit. Except you. Not this time.”
