The Greatest Weight Loss Secret

What is the greatest weight loss secret? Is it lowering your food intake? Is it increasing your exercise? Is it a new magic pill or diet drink?

There is a fellow down the hall from my office. For several months now he has been trying to convince everyone he sees that this new magic, all-natural pill has helped him lose 30 pounds in less than 2 months. He claimed he has lost over 90 pounds total. What he fails to say is that over 60 of that came from lap-band surgery. Then he gained some of the weight back and now uses these pills to help him go on a starvation-like diet.

Another friend of mine and his wife are telling everyone that together they lost a combined 105 pounds in 3 months. He lost 55 and she lost 45. They found a doctor that gave them some kind of injection and they lived on a 500 calorie a day diet... another form of starvation.

Of course you don't have to watch much TV or listen to the radio very long before an advertisement for some new and miraculous cure for obesity comes on. The irony is that none of those magic ingredients are nearly as powerful as one simple reality:

What is the greatest secret to weight loss? It is this simple... "if you can see it you can be it"

Do you remember the old story about putting fleas in a jar? The story goes that if you put a bunch of fleas in a glass jar and screw the lid on they will start trying to jump out. Now, fleas are supposed to be extraordinary jumpers and could normally jump right out of the jar were it not for the lid. After a day or so, you can remove the lid and the fleas will jump but only to the top of the jar and not beyond. That's because they have become conditioned to only jump so high and, I suppose, prevent themselves from being injured by hitting the lid (which has now been removed).

We do that exact same thing. Over the years we have created imaginary barriers that we perceive to be limits to our success. Unfortunately, many of these barriers were put in place before we were 6 years old. But the point is, they are imaginary... not real. But, just like the fleas, we perceive them to be real and thus they limit our ability to move past them.

So, what does this have to do with your losing weight? It's everything! One of the most neglected elements in weight loss is actually seeing yourself at your ideal weight. When you can paint a mental picture of yourself at your ideal weight, you will have essentially won the battle.

Why do people buy magic pills and potions and spend millions of dollars on gimmicks to lose weight? It's because these things promise to break the barriers that are keeping you from losing. And, they work, at least temporarily. However, when you can break your own barriers when you remove you own "lid". You will reach your ideal weight, without the aid of pills and potions and can you can maintain it forever! See it, be it.

How do you paint the picture and destroy your mental barriers?

I am going to share a technique used by Natalie Ledwell as part of her MindMovies.

1. You sit down in a comfortable place. You close your eyes and begin to take deep, relaxing breaths.


2. Get as relaxed as you possibly can. Your arms and legs feel warm and a bit heavy.


3. With your eyes still closed begin mentally counting backwards from 10 to 1. As you count down, feel yourself relaxing deeper with every number.


4. Now, picture yourself in a beautiful place. Maybe on a beach or in a meadow. Wherever you can feel nature. You feel safe and totally at ease. You notice your surrounds. What are you hearing? What do you smell? Is it warm? Is there a breeze gently blowing? Just savor the peace and beauty of this place.


5. Now as you are in your safe and beautiful place, imagine 2 pictures appearing in front of you. One is very large and positioned directly in front of you. The other is much smaller and positioned in the upper left hand corner of your view.


6. Stare at the larger picture. It is you at your current weight. As hard as you try, you can't lose weight. You try to eat less. You try to exercise. You try to do all the right things but you are still heavy and can't seem to do anything about it. You are a failure. You feel all alone and not even worthy to be slender. Feel this pain. Feel this heartbreak. Face this picture head on.


7. Now, notice the smaller picture. It is up in the left hand corner and much smaller than the one in front of you. But it's different. It is a picture of you and you are at your perfect weight. You are happy. You feel younger than you have in years. Your friends are showering you with compliments. You are active, doing the exciting things you have always wanted to do. You look incredible.


8. Now, in an instant, switch the pictures with a snap. The picture of you at your ideal weight is now in front of you and the "old you" is in the background.


9. The old picture keeps trying to come back and dominate your view but every time it does, snap it back so that the "new you" remains in front of you. Keep snapping the "new you" picture to the foreground until it is all that you are conscious of.


10. This is you. Feel yourself smiling as you feel so alive and happy. It's a beautiful picture.


11. With this picture firmly planted in your minds eye, start wiggling your toes and fingers. Bring yourself back to consciousness, alive and feeling refreshed.

Try spending 10 minutes a day painting your own mental picture of yourself at your dream weight. I think you will be very impressed with the result.

Different Efficient Ways To Get In Shape

Are you looking for a way to get in shape? You can reach a healthy weight by adopting an efficient weight loss system. Go over the following article to learn more about different efficient ways to get in shape.

How much weight do you want to lose? Start by figuring out a healthy weight for your size and age. If you are not sure how much you should weigh, meet with a doctor or with a nutritionist. Your goal should be to lose one or two pounds a week. Losing weight at a faster pace is not a healthy solution.

Find a way to stay motivated. You should make a list of the reasons why you want to get in shape. Reward yourself when you get good results, for instance by buying new clothes. Avoid rewarding yourself with food. Following your weight loss program will be easier if you find new foods you really love and have fun with your fitness program. If possible, find some friends who want to lose weight too so you can exercise together.

Try introducing new healthy foods to your diet. If you do not get five fruits or vegetables a day, introducing more fruits and vegetables in your diet should be a priority. Go to the grocery store more often and look for fruits and vegetables that look appetizing. If you do not like a vegetable right away, try different ways to cook it. You should also try juicing so you can have a couple of glasses of juice a day to get your five portions of fruits and vegetables.

Be more careful with the portions you eat. If you tend to overeat, put less food on your plate and try eating slowly. Avoid distractions so you can stop as soon as you are full. If you always feel the need to snack between meals, try having several smaller meals during your day. Have five small meals at regular hours or even six.

Be active for at least thirty minutes a day. Going for a walk is a great way to burn calories after eating. If you cannot go for a walk, find an activity you can do to get some light exercise. You could for instance clean your house, play in the backyard with your children or work on a home improvement project.

Work out twice a week to tone your body. You should start by developing your core muscles, for instance by doing some sit ups and some crunches. Once working out becomes easier, try exercising more frequently. Add some cardio exercises to your fitness workouts so you can burn a large amount of calories. Look for exercises you really enjoy so you look forward to working out. Join a gym if you need help with your fitness program.

These tips will help you reach a healthy weight in a reasonable time frame. Use what you just read to develop your own weight loss program and you will soon get the body you always wanted.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7856212

How to Know If You Are Using Fat As a Way of Hiding From the World

How to know if you are using fat as a way of hiding from the world

Very often people unconsciously hold onto fat as a way of hiding a secret or something about themselves that they don't want to share, much in the same way a child might hide under a blanket. Food itself is a great way of stuffing down words and feelings that you either wish you didn't have or don't want to share. Some of the most common things that I see people try to hide with fat are:

Having a lot of debt: People with large amounts of debt often overeat as a way of stuffing down the bad feelings around debt.

Not feeling safe or happy in a relationship. Example: Partner is cheating or is abusive and you don't know what to do about it.

Being a victim of past sexual violation: People use fat this way in the misguided belief it will protect them from future pain.

Being overly sensitive to other's problems and trying to put up a buffer. (This is a problem that nurses and other healers often have.)

Being very unfulfilled in a career. Example: the artist who is trying to make a career as a lawyer because it pays better, but all the while hating it.

Now we all know intellectually that being fat or hiding behind fat will not change any of these situations or heal any past wounds, but since these actions are unconscious they are not being subjected to the intellectual scrutiny of our reasoning mind.

Don't assume that every overweight person you know has been molested or is in debt. That is not always the case, but sometimes it is. So please don't judge the overweight people in your life. You have no way of knowing what pain they have experienced.

If you suspect you may be using fat as a way of hiding ask, yourself the following questions:

What am I trying to hide from the world?

How can I be more authentic and honest with the world in a way that is safe? Or who can I talk to about what happened?

Sometimes just journaling about your feelings is all you need to do to get that energy moving. Other times a good therapist, hypnotherapist, or best friend can help you release yourself from the chains of secrets and emotions by being a sounding board. Sometimes all it takes is just bringing awareness to the situation which helps you release the need to hide behind the fat.

A new diet won't take this problem away. You have to do the emotional work but when you do the rewards are more than just a smaller size, they are a bigger life.

Weight Loss and Diet Using Hypnosis

A few years ago, a rather overweight lady came up to me after I finished a hypnosis demonstration. With arms folded, she said to me, "I want you to hypnotize me to lose weight but I don't want to change the way I eat and I don't want to exercise." I said to her, "Lady, I can hypnotize you to think you're thin, but the only way to lose weight is through better diet and exercise."

I have been practicing hypnotherapy for over 15 years and have attended several schools of hypnosis. Though I've learned from each school and from countless lectures and therapy sessions, I can tell you that in general, a therapist practicing hypnosis will usually use a particular method of hypnosis that they are comfortable with and discount the others either because they are not aware of other methods or they were 'taught' that one method is best. In reality, there are many ways to hypnotize for successful weight loss and it's best for a hypnotist or hypnotherapist to use a method that matches the subject being hypnotized.

I can tell you from experience that one session is almost never enough if the goal is permanent weight loss. On the other hand, it is not uncommon to need only three sessions. Why not just one? Why might three be enough? To answer this question, you need to understand the two types of hypnotherapy: Direct Suggestion and Regression to Cause.

With direct suggestion (used by the vast majority of those that use hypnosis in their practice), the subject is hypnotized and given suggestions to crave healthy foods, eat in proper amounts, detest unhealthy foods, exercise regularly, etc. In the short term, this can be highly effective. But often these suggestions can wear off. One session is not enough. With regression to cause, the subject is hypnotized to the point where the subconscious mind can reveal the real issues causing a person to overeat. The trained hypnotherapist can then help the subject come to terms with the issue(s) and... permanent weight loss can be the result. A combination of direct suggestion and regression to cause can achieve permanent results in as little as three sessions!

Additionally, most hypnotists were trained in a long process of getting someone hypnotized (it's called progressive relaxation and unfortunately it is still the dominant method taught). There are much better, efficient methods of induction (getting a person hypnotized) that can be done in a few short minutes (and sometimes even seconds)!

But the bottom line is this. If a person chooses a highly qualified hypnotist or hypnotherapist, it is indeed possible (and probable) for a person to lose weight without feeling deprived. They can embark on a new life of eating healthy, exercising regularly and enjoying the new lifestyle on their way to obtaining and maintaining great health!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7851542