Who Really Controls Your Weight?
reda
You are not what you eat, You are what you think!
I remember once seeing a picture of a pig on someone’s refrigerator. The person who owned the refrigerator (and the pig) wanted to lose weight. She thought, logically enough, that the pig would deter her from eating.
The pig was supposed to, hopefully, instill into her the fear that she would soon become a replica of the pig if she were to continue in such a manner (visiting the pig so often).
I doubt this tactic was very successful, because whatever we put our attention on is what we become. I, too, thought that forcing myself to not eat certain things, to cut down on quantity or calories, fat or carbs, would make me lose weight. However, as Napoleon said, brute force accomplishes
nothing durable. Thus, the yo-yo syndrome. People gain more weight after each successive diet. So did I. In fact, I gained forty pounds over a ten year period, just from yo-yo fasts and diets!
Will power, or brute force (as in quote above), never worked for me, nor
for anyone else I know.
So, if Brute Force Doesn’tWork, What Does?
Imagination. Imagination works so well because it is not will power, which is very short-lived. Will power is force, where imagination is love. Love is always stronger than power.
Love is a positive feeling that may help things happen faster. With negative feelings, such as fear, anxiety and panic (in this case about weight) we will actually make negative things happen at break-neck speed! This is not something I suggest trying, of course, unless you want something to
happen really fast and you are willing to pay the price. For example, I was afraid (emotion of fear) that I would lose too much weight and look too angular. Well, I did start losing too much weight at one point and had to think myself strong, muscular and balanced!
Why Do Emotions Make Things Happen So Fast?
Because when you are feeling, you are also imagining. Let’s just say a person was afraid of tripping. They are imagining themselves tripping. Now erase that image, because we don’t want you or anyone else to trip!
Thoughts are things, very real things that can motivate us to action, the action we need to take to fulfill the thought, ergo...think thin, eat thin, exercise thin, etc., for your particular body type. It’s automatic!
Why Does Thinking Thin Work?
Put simply, the mind works in images. Prove it to yourself right now with this experiment. Try to think this thought without having an image come to mind:
“I will not eat that piece of chocolate cake!!”
What did you see or experience?
Unless you are from another planet, you saw, smelled, tasted and even felt the texture of that chocolate cake, just like everyone else on our planet would, even if they hate chocolate cake! The people who like it would see themselves eating the cake, feel it, taste it, etc. We will always see the
images created by our words.
Did you notice in the above experimental sentence that I had you say you would not eat the chocolate cake?
Then why did you still imagine eating it?
The Subconscious Doesn’t Hear Negatives, It Sees and Feels Images
Negatives, such as “not, no, never, don’t, shouldn’t, none, won’t,” etc. are completely ignored and disregarded by the subconscious mind. Its purpose is to reproduce images and make them happen. You would soon feel driven to eat the piece of chocolate cake if you kept repeating the sentence
to yourself, “I will not eat chocolate cake.” By the same token, the person who continually looks at the image of the pig, concerned about gaining weight, will soon take on the likeness of the pig’s image, or retain the resemblance they have already internalized.
Want to Reverse the Process of Thinking “Fat” and Begin Thinking “Thin” Thoughts?
It’s easy. Try this exercise: Think to yourself; “I feel a little bit thinner today.” You are engaging your senses as well as your visual image of yourself.
Feelings are powerful adjuncts to visualization. Using all of our senses makes visualization work. I have a theory that those who are most successful with visualization have actually used more of their senses to imagine, not just the visual. So I teach people to use all senses—hear it, see it, touch
it, smell it, taste it and even feel it emotionally. I have coined a term for this, called “focused imagination.”
Let’s say you are on a special eating plan or diet (which is certainly not necessary, nor is it recommended unless you need some re-training to eat healthy food—always check with your doctor about any plan you are thinking about starting). Okay, so you are trying to cut back on starch and
instead of snacking on potato chips, you imagine reading a good book and munching on an apple or veggie sticks and dip. What did you see, feel, taste, and hear?
A comfy chair perhaps? Or a couch with soft pillows and your latest novel lit by a bright window? Did you hear the crunch of the food, taste its freshness?
Did you feel relaxed and sure of what you were doing?
I remember once seeing a picture of a pig on someone’s refrigerator. The person who owned the refrigerator (and the pig) wanted to lose weight. She thought, logically enough, that the pig would deter her from eating.
The pig was supposed to, hopefully, instill into her the fear that she would soon become a replica of the pig if she were to continue in such a manner (visiting the pig so often).
I doubt this tactic was very successful, because whatever we put our attention on is what we become. I, too, thought that forcing myself to not eat certain things, to cut down on quantity or calories, fat or carbs, would make me lose weight. However, as Napoleon said, brute force accomplishes
nothing durable. Thus, the yo-yo syndrome. People gain more weight after each successive diet. So did I. In fact, I gained forty pounds over a ten year period, just from yo-yo fasts and diets!
Will power, or brute force (as in quote above), never worked for me, nor
for anyone else I know.
So, if Brute Force Doesn’tWork, What Does?
Imagination. Imagination works so well because it is not will power, which is very short-lived. Will power is force, where imagination is love. Love is always stronger than power.
Love is a positive feeling that may help things happen faster. With negative feelings, such as fear, anxiety and panic (in this case about weight) we will actually make negative things happen at break-neck speed! This is not something I suggest trying, of course, unless you want something to
happen really fast and you are willing to pay the price. For example, I was afraid (emotion of fear) that I would lose too much weight and look too angular. Well, I did start losing too much weight at one point and had to think myself strong, muscular and balanced!
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| Who Really Controls Your Weight? |
Because when you are feeling, you are also imagining. Let’s just say a person was afraid of tripping. They are imagining themselves tripping. Now erase that image, because we don’t want you or anyone else to trip!
Thoughts are things, very real things that can motivate us to action, the action we need to take to fulfill the thought, ergo...think thin, eat thin, exercise thin, etc., for your particular body type. It’s automatic!
Why Does Thinking Thin Work?
Put simply, the mind works in images. Prove it to yourself right now with this experiment. Try to think this thought without having an image come to mind:
“I will not eat that piece of chocolate cake!!”
What did you see or experience?
Unless you are from another planet, you saw, smelled, tasted and even felt the texture of that chocolate cake, just like everyone else on our planet would, even if they hate chocolate cake! The people who like it would see themselves eating the cake, feel it, taste it, etc. We will always see the
images created by our words.
Did you notice in the above experimental sentence that I had you say you would not eat the chocolate cake?
Then why did you still imagine eating it?
The Subconscious Doesn’t Hear Negatives, It Sees and Feels Images
Negatives, such as “not, no, never, don’t, shouldn’t, none, won’t,” etc. are completely ignored and disregarded by the subconscious mind. Its purpose is to reproduce images and make them happen. You would soon feel driven to eat the piece of chocolate cake if you kept repeating the sentence
to yourself, “I will not eat chocolate cake.” By the same token, the person who continually looks at the image of the pig, concerned about gaining weight, will soon take on the likeness of the pig’s image, or retain the resemblance they have already internalized.
Want to Reverse the Process of Thinking “Fat” and Begin Thinking “Thin” Thoughts?
It’s easy. Try this exercise: Think to yourself; “I feel a little bit thinner today.” You are engaging your senses as well as your visual image of yourself.
Feelings are powerful adjuncts to visualization. Using all of our senses makes visualization work. I have a theory that those who are most successful with visualization have actually used more of their senses to imagine, not just the visual. So I teach people to use all senses—hear it, see it, touch
it, smell it, taste it and even feel it emotionally. I have coined a term for this, called “focused imagination.”
Let’s say you are on a special eating plan or diet (which is certainly not necessary, nor is it recommended unless you need some re-training to eat healthy food—always check with your doctor about any plan you are thinking about starting). Okay, so you are trying to cut back on starch and
instead of snacking on potato chips, you imagine reading a good book and munching on an apple or veggie sticks and dip. What did you see, feel, taste, and hear?
A comfy chair perhaps? Or a couch with soft pillows and your latest novel lit by a bright window? Did you hear the crunch of the food, taste its freshness?
Did you feel relaxed and sure of what you were doing?
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