It's a cold and snowy morning here in Provo Utah. The first month of 2012 is already on the downhill slide. Unfortunately, so are a lot of resolutions made in good faith at the beginning of the month. We all hunkered down for the holiday season, making decision after decision about food as it was so much a part of it all. Well... That is done for another year and we should all be well in to our month of new beginnings. So how's it going so far?
It's a fact of life that at times, the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. However, in this case it is more like the flesh is willing but the spirit is weak. Obesity begins and ends in the mind. If you can control your thoughts you can control your world. If you are stumbling or struggling right now to get on track, consider that this is not about the physical challenge of weight loss, but the emotional/mental challenge. Pretty much every pound you gain begins as a single thought. You have to think about eating the foods that put the weight on you before you follow through and eat them.
EFT is a wonderful tool to help you defuse the behaviors and thoughts that cause you to overeat or not stick to your diet. You can find some info about it at the top of this board. You can also use some simple techniques that have worked for me. An example: when watching TV and a big juicy burger ad or a glistening pizza is suddenly in front of you the first thing you probably do is consider going and getting some. It may be fleeting, but the thought is there. That's what advertising is all about. Planting an image and a desire to consume a product in your mind. Try this; CLOSE YOUR EYES! Believe me, if you don't see it you won't crave it. Hearing about food has no power, but seeing it or smelling it does.
When you drive by a fast food place that pumps the smell of the food out in to the street it immediately gets your gastric juices flowing and you want to eat! Pop a sugar free mint in your mouth or be chewing gum when you go out. The minty taste and smell does not compliment the smell of greasy food and it will dramatically decrease it's hold over you. Same when cooking for the family. Have some gum in your mouth and you will not be likely to taste as you go. Those calories can add up when it seems like you have had nothing at all.
The message is this; set yourself up for success, not failure. It is the easiest thing in the world to find reasons to fail with your diet. If you don't put in place some techniques to counteract the marketing we are all subjected to then you will likely succumb. It will be a never ending cycle of starts and stops.
It's a fact of life that at times, the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. However, in this case it is more like the flesh is willing but the spirit is weak. Obesity begins and ends in the mind. If you can control your thoughts you can control your world. If you are stumbling or struggling right now to get on track, consider that this is not about the physical challenge of weight loss, but the emotional/mental challenge. Pretty much every pound you gain begins as a single thought. You have to think about eating the foods that put the weight on you before you follow through and eat them.
EFT is a wonderful tool to help you defuse the behaviors and thoughts that cause you to overeat or not stick to your diet. You can find some info about it at the top of this board. You can also use some simple techniques that have worked for me. An example: when watching TV and a big juicy burger ad or a glistening pizza is suddenly in front of you the first thing you probably do is consider going and getting some. It may be fleeting, but the thought is there. That's what advertising is all about. Planting an image and a desire to consume a product in your mind. Try this; CLOSE YOUR EYES! Believe me, if you don't see it you won't crave it. Hearing about food has no power, but seeing it or smelling it does.
When you drive by a fast food place that pumps the smell of the food out in to the street it immediately gets your gastric juices flowing and you want to eat! Pop a sugar free mint in your mouth or be chewing gum when you go out. The minty taste and smell does not compliment the smell of greasy food and it will dramatically decrease it's hold over you. Same when cooking for the family. Have some gum in your mouth and you will not be likely to taste as you go. Those calories can add up when it seems like you have had nothing at all.
The message is this; set yourself up for success, not failure. It is the easiest thing in the world to find reasons to fail with your diet. If you don't put in place some techniques to counteract the marketing we are all subjected to then you will likely succumb. It will be a never ending cycle of starts and stops.
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