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Winning the Mental Game of
Weight Loss and Weight Control
Jeff Griswold
Are you struggling to lose weight? Are your diet and exercise
programs not working for you? Are you finding it difficult
to stay motivated? While it's essential to have a plan for
proper nutrition and regular exercise, there's a one more
thing you need to lose weight fast and maintain your ideal
body weight. You also need to win the "Mental Game" of weight
control.
Most people ignore the importance of the Mental Game in achieving
your ideal weight. Deeply engrained thoughts and beliefs are
the source of bad eating and exercise habits and can result
in a negative, overweight self-image. No diet or exercise
program can succeed if your mind is working against you. To
lose weight fast or maintain your ideal body weight, you need
to combine proper nutrition and regular exercise with winning
the Mental Game of weight control.
Love Comes First
Many people think, and often say aloud, "I'd love my body
if I could just lose 10-20 pounds." The truth is that this
thinking is completely backwards. If you don't love your body
to begin with, it is next to impossible to improve your health
or your weight. Think about it this way, why would you take
care of something you don't already love?
Let's explore an analogy to help illustrate this point. Think
about how you treat an old, beat-up car versus how you treat
a brand new car just off the showroom floor. With an old "beater"
you don't think twice about driving through the mud, over
potholes, or fast over speed bumps. You don't mind spilling
things on the seat and you put in the cheapest gas you can
find. You feel fine abusing a car like this because you don't
really care what it looks like.
With a new car, however, you drive very carefully, wash and
wax it on a daily basis, and park far away just to avoid other
cars. And when you see that first paint chip, within 2 minutes
you're out there with the touch up paint and polish to keep
it looking like new. You care about this car - you LOVE this
car - and you take care of it to keep it looking and running
new as long as possible.
It's the same thing with your body. Just like the old beat-up
car, if you don't love your body, you probably won't take
very good care of it. It becomes very easy to let yourself
eat a whole box of cookies or "super-size" that order of fries.
If you already "hate" your body, you feel like you can't really
do any more damage, so why not have another cinnamon roll
and watch some TV. This reasoning applies to more than weight
loss. It applies to all areas related to your health. Smoking
is a great example. We know smoking does terrible things to
our bodies. It destroys our lungs, causes cancer, and kills
us. So how could somebody who truly loves their body do that
to themselves?
Do You Treat Your New Car Better Than You Treat Yourself?
But what if your body is already in bad shape? It's kind
of hard to love your body if it's already run down and out
of shape, isn't it? Let's go back to the car analogy. It may
be easy to love a shiny new car, but a little harder to love
something that's old and broken down. That may be true, but
think about when a rusted-out, beaten-up 1965 Mustang convertible
ends up in the hands of an enthusiast. That person loves that
car no matter what shape it's in. With wide eyes and ceaseless
energy, he or she will spend a lot of time and effort restoring
it until it's back in mint condition. When it's done, he or
she is as proud as a parent with a newborn baby.
Why do enthusiasts do this? Where do they get the energy to
restore something that to others appears to be a complete
disaster and a hopeless cause? The answer is "LOVE!" Enthusiasts
LOVE the objects of their attention. They see beauty where
others don't. They see the promise and the possibilities.
They can envision the future and know they can reach their
goals.
Be Your Own Enthusiast
Your body is the same way. You can be an enthusiast for
your own health and fitness. Love your body no matter what
shape it's in. Become an enthusiast! Restore it and be proud
of the work you do!
So, begin by loving yourself. Start today and you'll find
it's much easier to succeed in your weight control efforts.
The problem is that for most of us it's very difficult to
change the way we think about ourselves. This is not something
that comes naturally to us. It requires overcoming years of
programming we've received from our parents, friends, the
media, and even ourselves.
Here are some steps you can take to change the way you view
yourself and begin to win the Mental Game of weight control:
- Recognize your negative programming
- Replace your negative programming with positive affirmations
- Apply visualization techniques
- Use guided imagery
You can use these techniques on your own or utilize audio
programs such as those developed by Effective Learning Systems
to guide you in using these techniques.
Learn More
The above article is a brief excerpt from the special report
titled "The 3 Keys to Life-Long Health and Weight Control."
To learn more about each of these techniques, go to http://www.efflearn.com/3-keys.php
to request your free copy of this 24-page report discussing
the 3 keys to effective weight control:
- Nutrition
- Exercise
- Winning the Mental Game of Weight Control
Jeff Griswold is the President of Effective Learning
Systems, Inc. (http://www.efflearn.com/weightlossprogram.php),
the leading creator of audio CDs and tapes for weight loss
and weight control. With over 100 titles available, their
programs are the bestselling self-improvement audio programs
in national bookstores - including Barnes & Noble and Borders
- and have been for over 20 years. "Your Complete Success
Weight Loss Program", recently released by ELS, is the perfect
tool to help you succeed in winning the Mental Game of weight
control. Jeff can be reached at his website or 952-943-1660.
Article Source: EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jeff_Griswold
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