Using willpower to transform your body is not sustainable!

Using willpower to transform your body is not sustainable!
The very idea that willpower is required shows that an approach of prohibition/restriction is still your subconscious approach to weight-release.

Statements like “I can’t just stop at 1” or “I can’t resist snacking at night” are NOT helping you!
Change your words!

The first time I heard about the Minnesota Starvation Experiment, I was fascinated! As a coach and a recovered Anorexic and then binge-eater/compulsive eater & Yo-yo dieter who grew larger and larger over a period of 30 years; the psychological effects on the subjects of this experiment were all too familiar!

Wikipedia tells us:
“The Minnesota Starvation Experiment, also known as the Minnesota Semi-Starvation Experiment, the Minnesota Starvation-Recovery Experiment and the Starvation Study, was a clinical study performed at the University of Minnesota between November 19, 1944 and December 20, 1945. The investigation was designed to determine the physiological and psychological effects of severe and prolonged dietary restriction and the effectiveness of dietary rehabilitation strategies.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota_Starvation_Experiment

This experiment is one of the best examples to show us what happens when we restrict foods and how our body reacts to starvation.
For me, however, the fascination was about the psychological effects that prohibition has and the effects that it has on a person’s actions.

In this experiment, a group of young healthy young men, with no prior history of weight issues or issues with diet and health, were put on a severely calorie restricted diet for an extended period of time.
The subjects all reported the following psychological responses.
• An obsession with food – to the point that they could think of little else
• Irritability, depression, irrationality
After the calorie restrictions were lifted, it was reported by every single participant that he had

• Maintained an unhealthy obsession with food for a long time after the experiment was concluded
• Gained large amounts of weight for a period of at least 2 years after the experiment was concluded.

Why is this relevant to us “Dieters”
Dieters fill their minds with what they can’t have (just as those guys in the experiment did). This is because food (or at least as much food as they desired) was prohibited.
Dieters make statements like;
I am not allowed…………..
I mustn’t have…………
I must cut out………..
If I just get a strict regime that tells me every day what to eat and when to eat it… then I am really good at sticking to that!

As far as this last statement is concerned… if that were the truth then you wouldn’t be battling with your weight now!

You would have released it all long back and maintained that size long term, but that is not what has happened… is it?

Instead, you have been on a “lost and found” mission in which you got better and better at “finding” that weight, every time you lost it!

How do you change this?
What you should NOT do
• You should NOT approach weight-release from a “prohibitive” angle.
• You should not implement a plan that is too strict or restrictive.
• You should not implement a plan that is regimented and inflexible.
• You should not be “consumed” by sticking to the plan
• You should not panic or worry that eating is going to add weight to your body
• You should not panic or worry that eating will stop you from releasing weight from your body.
• You should not worry that you are not doing enough to release your weight.
• You should not fill your mind with what you can’t have
• You should not punish yourself to achieve a goal.

What SHOULD you do?
• Yes… you do need to implement a lifestyle that creates weight-release.
• Yes… that includes eating the right types and amounts of food.
• Yes… that includes exercising and burning more calories than you consume as much as possible
• It also includes LOVING the process, celebrating your new habits as a life-long change.
• Understand that the occasional naughty treat must not make you feel guilty, instead you mentally take note of how yummy it was and then tell yourself that you will burn those calories EASILY and it won’t add a gram of fat to your body. Also tell yourself that it was SO satisfying that at least your desire for another naughty treat is now gone…for a long time!
• Fill your mind with the great and yummy healthy foods that you CAN have and mentally celebrate how exciting that is, and how blessed you are, to be able to have that healthy food!
• Remind yourself every single day that your body has done SO much for you… If you have borne children– remember that If it wasn’t for your body – then that fabulous family of yours would not be here. This should be enough to remind you every day that you owe your body love and gratitude and the best way to give that love and gratitude is by taking care of it. If you have not borne children then remember that if it wasn’t for your body – you would not be here, you would not have held, hugged and cared for your loved ones, you would not have got up every day and taken yourself to where you need to be or, performed any tasks ever for that matter.
• Remember every day that your body has been SO forgiving – even though you have not always treated it well it still always strives to recover and achieve wellness.
• You should implement a plan that works and that you know you CAN sustain for the rest of your life! That’s what a lifestyle is, as opposed to a diet.
• You should also fill your mind with excitement and belief, every day about the SUCCESSFUL RESULTS that you WILL achieve! (Talk down and replace any doubts that surface about achieving those results)
• Remember that PROHIBITION always has an opposite effect on your mind. All through history in all sorts of different contexts, from alcohol to religion – there are examples that show us that prohibition only makes something more desirable.
• Represent your new healthy lifestyle in your mind as a fun and exciting opportunity to create weight release and health.
• Every time thoughts pop up about what you should NOT have, then calmly acknowledge them and remember how to use your words….
Yes, I do love treats AND what I love EVEN MORE is reclaiming my body and I love the health, longevity and sense of wellbeing that it gives me too. 

Then… while saying those GOOD things to yourself, imagine them as a picture in your mind.
• Fill your mind with belief that your body is working WITH you to release all the extra weight you are carrying.
• TELL yourself every single day and as many times a day as possible, that the extra fat is MELTING OFF YOUR BODY and again picture that beautiful result in your mind.

Make this practice a habit, soon your mind goes “OOOOOH… well if that’s what’s happening then I know what to do” and then it aligns your actions accordingly and even gets your body to start burning that fat!
Remember… every single function of your body is driven by your brain, your mind… give your mind the right instructions and it will do as you tell it to.

• Remember always that sugar is toxic, and your body deserves better!
• Remember that all carbs become sugar in your system… ESPECIALLY processed carbs.
• Remember that there is nowhere in nature that sugars, and fats occur together… think about what that means.
• Remember to use your words to train yourself to LOVE healthy food even more than naughty treats.

Remember always that this must be about life-long change!

This must be about YOU understanding food and understanding YOUR body and what suits YOUR body and YOUR life!

This must be about you totally transforming your worrisome and fretful relationship with food.

If I simply start you a plan about what to eat and when to eat it… then none of that changes.
All that does is uphold your belief that your body will not co-operate with you and release that weight without prohibition and stringent rules. Then after every holiday away, after every Christmas, every Easter you just have to deal with your old “demons” as usual and will find yourself punishing yourself by eating more AGAIN!

This is about changing within, to then support the physical strategies (nutrition and fitness in YOUR life).

This is up to you to absorb ALL the information and develop a plan that You can not only live with, but love and to repair your body so beautifully that over-eating on those occasions is just not a big deal and you get back-on-track quickly, easily and without regret!

Remember that focusing on what you PUT INTO YOUR BODY is not just about being aware that unhealthy treats are not good for your body – that is indeed one aspect but whenever you do turn down those treats I want you to also mentally celebrate by doing 2 things…

Thing 1: Picture yourself at your ideal size and glowing with health and vitality – and feel really positive about that result
Thing 2: Picture the next healthy food that you WILL be eating and tell yourself how excited you are and how blessed you are that you have that to look forward to AND that it will be TOTALLY guilt-free – literally a celebration of yumminess and health!

Learn how to take the power OUT of the hands of ANY diet and put it directly into YOUR hands.

Sign up HERE for your FREE Introductory wellness call. In that call we can get to the root-cause of your "dieting nightmares" so that you can understand how to move forward into weight-shedding and wellness that LASTS!

I am Fiona Burdett; Life-Coach, Body-Transformation Coach and recovered Yo-yo Dieter!

It's Amazing Isn't It, How Life Can Often Get in the Way?

This year has been one of my busiest ever. Then I suddenly realised that I had locked in outside activities on more than half of every week. And that that was is NOT good. Not for me and certainly not for my health and fitness. SO - time to forget sitting at the computer working on more research and so often shooting out to help with this group or that. Time to focus on what I need to do for me that will also help me as well as everyone else.
FIRST Update my wall chart to include both my commitments for others as well as my new commitments to MYSELF. Which are:-
Walk for at least 1 hour, three times per week. There are beautiful walking areas in my area, somewhere I can start to use the hiking poles I received from my son as part of my Christmas present. Even though the weather has started deteriorating and we are definitely deep into winter, it's never as bad as when I lived in the far south. And I now have the gear to be able to accomplish this.
NEXT Eat good, home cooked food regularly, avoid the foods I shouldn't eat. (Not easy that, I slipped up again as recently as yesterday. OOpsy I promise to do better). My last check up was very good, my health, as usual up to par. I continue to take the medication I need and also the supplements I have found that work for me. I have been and continue to be, aware that I need to care for myself first before I can be of use to others.
AND With that in mind here are my latest thoughts, funnily though these days the stray thoughts just seem to pop up out of nowhere.
"Darn it!! You've reached the big 5-0, or 6-0, or even worse, 7-0 - gulp! What to do now? Do you retire to the sofa as some did in the long ago past? Prepare yourself for "OLD AGE"? - Horrors! Perish the thought.
But - if you are anything like me, you're not READY for old age yet. So, what do you do? Well, when my other half left me a widow, and after the first very long months (of which I have no real recollection) had passed, I suddenly found I was a single person again. A 'mature' single person who didn't know what to do with myself now that I was no longer part of a couple. I tried reclining on a sofa, but I couldn't sit still long enough, so the only alternative was to sit up and think.
As a result I have spent plenty of time since researching ways of staying healthy and fit. For after all, I am now wholly responsible for my own health and fitness. My first forays took me out walking, weather permitting and after a while it no longer took half an hour just to walk into my local village and back. And after an even longer time, I was walking for up to an hour and a half, sometimes covering 5+kilometres.
Today is the day I resume living my life with a healthy work/leisure balance. Today is also the day I commit to updating my blogs more frequently.
And having written the previous, I managed to succumb to a flipping bug, which put me in bed AND on the dreaded sofa, for over 2 weeks!!!!
I finally believe that I might now survive and, with the winter in full swing, (cold windy with too many wet days), I will just have to wrap upon those days I can do so, to take myself down onto the gorgeous walks in my local Karangahake Gorge. I am really looking forward to getting my feet under me again. I have a lovely thick infinity scarf, made last year, & a very windproof jacket, courtesy of my late husband
So, if the rain holds off till after lunch, off I will go.
I WILL get fit again and I now truly believe I will survive this darn bug.
Watch this space!

Hilary A Green, copywriter to the health and insurance industries. http://www.hilaryagreen.com. Researching and writing about health matters are my major focus these days. Also writing White Papers, newsletters and articles, which takes most of my days. If you want someone to help with the words you need to inform and attract, I can be contacted on hilary@hilaryagreen.com

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Hilary_Green/336091

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/10157229

How To Stay Motivated To Lose Weight - The Psychology of Weight Loss Success

Best Way to Get Back on Track After a Cheat Day

1. Avoid Insulin Boost for Most of the Day
First of all what is Insulin: Insulin is a hormone made by the pancreas that allows your body to use sugar (glucose) from carbohydrates in the food that you eat for energy or to store glucose for future use

(In detail) Insulin carries calories that you don't burn with activity to be stored as body fat. As such, you want to avoid consuming foods that encourage the release of insulin when you don't need that fuel to energize your workouts, or provide nutrients to rebuild muscle tissue and hasten recovery.

Let's take some action: Avoid sugar, fruit juices, and processed Foods such as bread and pasta most of the time, especially when your goal is to burn body fat. These foods Increase insulin, blunt metabolism, and make it harder to lose fat.

The one thing that you can do to avoid insulin spikes is that you should encourage them around the time of your workouts. Because insulin is a driver of the calories you consume, it will deliver these nutrients to muscle tissue when you're training. In effect, it will provide your muscles with additional energy, and it will provide the raw materials to support muscle repair and growth when you consume protein.

Tip: You can take in a small amount of natural sugar, but keep it to 20-25 grams of total carbs post-workout. You should also avoid fats and fibre pre- and post-workout, as they will slow absorption of the nutrients your muscles are thirsting for. Your protein should be taken immediately after your workout. Around 45-60 minutes following, we suggest taking carbs such as rice cakes.

2. Try Intermittent Fasting (Best way to lose tummy fat)
It's less helpful for people seeking to add muscle mass, and especially those who already have a fast metabolism.

There are many different ways to do intermittent fasting (Don't be scared), Consume all of your calories within a window of a few hours each day, and avoid foods with calories the rest of the day. This window can be fairly long, like up to 12 hours, or rather short, like about six hours, depending on how your body feels with a limited intake of calories.

Choose the time that works best for you, but make certain that you don't break your fast with foods that spike insulin. Start with slow-digesting protein sources, foods high in fibre, or those that are moderate in dietary fats.

You should do a weight-training session in your meal window, so you can get good performance during your weight training workout, and recovery afterwards. And finally, after your workout have a protein-rich snack such as casein shakes about two hours before you jump on your bed to sleep

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Sohail_Sayyed/2532272

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9913274