Can You Really Re-Wire Your Brain?

"The power of positive thinking."

How many times have you heard that phrase thrown around? It’s so much a part of our ordinary language now that it’s almost become meaningless. I think we all agree that thinking positively is a good thing. Especially when we’re feeling positive. When you’re feeling good, how much trouble is it to think, “Hey, I like me. My life is cool. Things are going great.”

But what about when things are difficult? What about those days when you’re so stressed the veins pop out of your forehead? When you hate your job — or you’ve lost it? What about those days when you are faced with a series of unfortunate events that makes the life of Job look like a garden party?

I’ve met people who remain positive during really bad times. Sometimes it's hard to be around them, however, I’ve come to learn that these people know something that changes a life! We can learn a lot from people who have mastered positive thinking.

Here’s the secret that’s not really a secret. It’s revolutionary, exciting science.

Positive thinking really does change your brain. Not in some magical, woo woo kind of way, but in a real physical way.
The science is called neuroplasticity. It means that our thoughts can change the structure and function of our brains. The idea was first introduced by William James in 1890, but it was soundly rejected by scientists who uniformly believed the brain is rigidly mapped out, with certain parts of the brain controlling certain functions. If that part is dead or damaged, the function is altered or lost. Well, it appears they were wrong.

Neuroplasticity now enjoys wide acceptance as scientists are proving the brain is endlessly adaptable and dynamic.
It has the power to change its own structure, even for those with the severe neurological afflictions. People with problems like strokes, cerebral palsy, and mental illness can train other areas of their brains through repetitive mental and physical activities. It is completely life-altering.

So what does this have to do with positive thinking and with you?
It means that repetitive positive thought and positive activity can rewire your brain and strengthen brain areas that stimulate positive feelings. It means positive thinking can change your life!

In his book, "The Brain That Changes Itself", Norman Doidge M.D. states plainly that the brain has the capacity to rewire itself and/or form new neural pathways — if we do the work. Just like exercise, the work requires repetition and activity to reinforce new learning.

Here are some actions you can take to change your own brain during the bad times.
Fear of failure.

Everyone fears doing something new because we don’t wait to fail. The truth is, we can do most anything if we take action, stop negative thinking, and shift our perceptions of the truth about our abilities.

Action steps: Force yourself to stop thinking about reasons you can’t do something, even if you don’t feel brave or capable. Every time a negative thought creeps in, retrain your brain to think a positive thought about your abilities instead. Then take small actions every day toward achieving your goal or desired change. Nike’s slogan, “Just do it,” has real validity.

Over-thinking/Worrying

Have you ever found yourself trapped in obsessive over-thinking about a problem or in a state of anxiety or worry that lasts for days or even weeks? It drains your energy, affects your sleep, and spirals your mood and outlook on life. Focusing on your problem only strengthens the worry function in your brain.

Action steps: When you find yourself in that cycle of worry or compulsive thinking, remember the three R’s — rename, re-frame, and redirect. When the worry begins, mentally yell “Stop!” Rename the issue by reminding yourself that worry isn’t real. Rename it as a compulsive reaction, not reality. Re-frame your thinking by focusing on positive or distracting thoughts, even if you still feel anxious. Force yourself to think different thoughts. Redirect your actions. Go do something uplifting, fun or mentally engaging. The key is following these steps repeatedly, every time you worry obsessively, to break the pattern and rewire your brain.

Mood Disorders/Phobias

Sometimes we might feel blue or out-of-sorts, and it’s just a temporary fog that settles in and lifts after a few days. Some mood disorders, like depression or serious anxieties that morph into phobias, can be debilitating and unrelenting. Psychologists and therapists have used treatments based on neuroplasticity to get to the cognitive root of these disorders and put a patient’s life back on track.

Action steps: A serious mood disorder or phobia requires the help of a trained counselor. Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is a type of treatment that helps people learn how to identify and change destructive thought patterns that have a negative influence on behavior and feelings. If you suffer from severe anxiety or depression, you need someone skilled to help you get to the root of these thoughts and to show you how to change them. Ask them about CBT.

The more I read and understand about the power of our minds, the more encouraged I get. Changing your thinking, will change your life...and changing your thinking...IS possible!

Always encouraging you,
Letha

Announcing Our Spring Team Challenge!

We're going on a CAMP OUT! That's right! The Healthy Weigh announced Tuesday that our Spring Team Challenge theme is "CAMP OUT!" Not only are we going to spend 10 weeks in the spring using that as our Team Challenge theme, but we're going to rally the troops at the end of the challenge and go on a camp out together! What a blast!

One of my favorite things about my job is being able to use creativity and inspiration to help people live their best lives! Losing weight might have been a boring thing in the past, but at The Healthy Weigh it's anything but that! I do everything I can to bring joy and energy into the serious, personal work that I do. Losing weight and keeping it off can be difficult at times but if you can have fun, and celebrate along the way, you'll be more likely to 1. stick with it and 2. keep it off for life! That's what we're about at The Healthy Weigh!

We are currently on our last two weeks of our climb to the summit of Mt. Everest! Our Winter Team Challenge "BEYOND THE LIMITS" has taken us places that we never thought we'd go. We've had courageous spirits, attitudes with altitude, a willingness to change and we've made decisions to NEVER GIVE UP! It's not easy to climb a mountain, but together we have accomplished amazing things! We are two weeks away from breaking the all time record, this 11th season of our team challenge! We will have a greater % of weight loss than all the challenges before this one! It just keeps getting better!

This group of over 80 teams has shown amazing support to each other. From our Facebook closed group to the activities outside of the Tuesday challenge, these outstanding people have bonded together. It has been said that 'It is not good for man to be alone'...this groups knows that and has been there for each other through many difficult times in the last 10 weeks. Going BEYOND THE LIMITS can feel impossible when you try to go it alone, but with the love and support of people around you...anything's possible!

Sometimes you reach goals in life by going beyond the limits, pushing until it hurts and feeling the fear and doing it any way...other times you reach goals by refueling, getting refreshed and finding ways to rejuvenate. That's what the Spring Team Challenge is all about, "CAMP OUT!" At The Healthy Weigh, we believe in living a balanced life and after reaching the summit of Mt. Everest, we're going to need a change of scenery!

April 10th we will begin our 12th Team Challenge with "CAMP OUT" as our theme. The weight loss, the changed thinking and the education that will happen at The Healthy Weigh this spring is inevitable. The experiences we'll have with the theme "CAMP OUT" are soon to be unfolded. I can't wait!

If you've been a part of the Team Challenge before, you know what's ahead of you...if not, I invite you to join us on a "CAMP OUT!" We begin April 10th and will have our finale on June 19th with clients celebrating 20, 30 40, 60 or more pounds of weight loss that night! It's going to be a camp out to remember! For more information, or to register...go on line to www.healthyweigh.com

We'll reserve you a camp site!!

Always encouraging you...because that's what I love to do,
Letha

"It's Beginning to be a Habit With Me"

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. Good habits are our best friends. Because we perform them unconsciously, they allow us to concentrate on other important endeavors.

On the other hand, the opposite is true for bad habits. They encumber us, enslave us, and ensnare us, preventing us from moving forward in our lives.
Nathaniel Emons wrote, "Habit is either the best of servants or the worst of masters." The paradox is, we make our habits and then they turn around and make us.

Habits form the engine beneath the hood of a car. Good habits move us forward, bad habits set the car in reverse. It's important to continually look out the window and see which direction we are moving.

If we want to improve our lives, we've got to replace bad habits with good ones.
Here are 5 steps to making that process a little easier:

1. Become aware of your bad habits.
Since we perform them automatically or without thinking, we first have to bring them into our consciousness before we can change them.

2. Monitor the seriousness of your bad habit.
"I'm watching TV 2.5 hours a day...not bad. That's 17.5 hours a week, 3 days a month, or almost one month a year" Wow, I didn't know how much time I was waisting. (Now you're ready to move on to the next step.)

3. Examine the motivation.
Why do I watch so much TV? To escape, numb the pain, procrastinate?

4. Examine the consequences.
What am I losing by watching too much TV? Be specific.

5. DECISION time.
Now that you've gathered the facts, its time to unleash the power of a decision. The minute you make a decision, you set in motion a new cause, a new direction and a new destination for your life!

Some more thoughts on changing habits:

Change is temporary unless we make is permanent.

New habits are formed by repetition, replacing the old with the new.

It takes 21 to 30 days of repetition to form a new habit. Don't skip a day... and start over if you do!

Habits are subconscious; the part of the brain they come from is called the basal ganglia. Research shows that the basal ganglia responds greatly to the reward system!

Strong positive motivators help develop or break bad habits; rewards, positive self talk, visualization.

Sow a thought, reap an action
Sow an acton, reap a habit
Sow a habit, reap a character
Sow a character, reap a destiny!

We are what we repeatedly do! Choose today what you will repeatedly do.

Here's a visual for you to use in your imagery exercises:

It's a beautiful spring day. The sun is shining and the leaves are popping out on all the trees. You walk out to your car and get in to go for a drive. You are so aware when you slip into the drivers seat that you are 20 pounds lighter than you were 8 weeks ago. You feel great! As you start the car, you remember that your habits are the engine under the hood. The car starts and you are definitely moving forward. As you drive you think about all the habits that you have chosen to change. All the habits that have been newly formed to bring you to this place.
You feel proud, confident and sure of yourself. The choices you are making every day are getting you what you want! You come to a red light and stop. You look down at your body. Your thighs, your abdomen...you realize how slim you feel. Your new habits are paying off. You are excited that you are in charge of your own body and you are walking in self control. The discipline you've shown is yielding peace, contentment and joy. You believe for the first time in your life that you can really keep this weight off, that you really are changing.
The light turns green, you put your foot on the gas pedal, out of habit, and you move forward. The direction you've always wanted to go.

Always encouraging you,
Letha

A Winged Life!

I was sitting with my husband in our little fishing boat on the Lewis river recently waiting for the fish to bite, and waiting and waiting....
It's so beautiful out there. I was trying to take it all in when I noticed a bird soaring above us, so freely, so high. I could almost since it's joy.

As I thought about that bird, I thought about us humans who seem to have no wings at all-to mount up into the life of freedom and joy.

We are terribly conscious of our lack of joy, lack of power and lack of victory.

We experience depression, (a lot of the time caused by anger turned inward) moodiness, boredom, frustration and fear.

We are slaves to destructive habits and unable to master our impulses. We are earthbound because of our own choices and character.

If I've learned anything in the last 30 years working in the weight loss business, I have learned that conquering those things, flying above those things, will get us to our goal and keep us there.

So what do those birds have that we don't have?

BIRDS mount up into a region altogether their own. They soar beyond the reach of their enemies. As long as they stay up in the sky, no one can set limits to their freedom or restrain them.

BIRDS can see farther than creatures without wings. Theirs is a sphere of vision with great distance. The higher they go, the further they see.

BIRDS have a song life! It's a song of joy they sing in their triumphant experience.

To live a winged life, like the birds, it takes a decision! A decision to look at life differently, to look at yourself differently.

So how would we live a winged life with our weight loss program?

WE choose to mount up and make decisions all on our own, against the world, or maybe or co-workers, children or loved ones. We feel free to chose food we want. We say no thank you when we want to and set our own limits...no one sets them for us. I'm sad to say that many of us live and work with our weight loss enemies! Having wings means we don't walk there. We don't allow the circumstances below to affect us soaring!

WE choose to dream BIG! We have big vision for big change and no one can stop it because we are soaring too high. Living a winged life requires great eye sight...the ability to see into the future! The minute we take our eyes of the future, off our dream, off our new truth, we plummet down to earth. There are enough earth dwellers...we've got to soar above!

WE choose to sing a new song! I can't help but think of a few song titles that people with a winged life sing..."I've got a new attitude" "Celebrate good times...come on" "I believe I can fly" "Climb every mountain" ...just to name a few!

Staying on earth, walking among your enemies, continuing to allow food to win, doesn't serve you! It doesn't bring a song of joy to your lips.

A winged life truly is the way to live. A life with vision, discipline and joy.
You have every opportunity to live a winged life...starting this very moment. Make a decision today to soar above it all, have vision for the future and sing a song of joy.

Here's a little imagery for you to read. Allow it to soak in!

Imagine yourself living a winged life. Feeling confident to make choises all on your own. Instead of walking with the crowd, you soar above and choose a healthier, happier life style. You are setting personal limits for yourself and it feels great. You are a person of vision. You dream big dreams and they are about you! Dreams to accomplish your weight loss goals and more importantly dreams about how it's going to feel to live the rest of your life at goal weight! You think about change and you are soaring so high that no one can discourage you. As you set limits for yourself and begin to change, a song of joy comes over your lips that you've never sang before. You've got a new attitude and it's showing in every area of your life. You are living a winged life and nothing is going to bring you down again!

Always encouraging you,
Letha

Let's Summarize...

We've spent the last 5 weeks discussing a very important subject: Being fully engaged. Fully engaged in our own lives. It's not something that just happens, being fully engaged is something that we work for.

The ultimate measure of our lives is not how much time we spend on the planet, but rather how much energy we invest in the time that we have. The number of hours in a day is fixed, but the quantity and the quality of energy available to us is not.

To be fully engaged, we must be physically energized, emotionally connected, mentally focused and spiritually aligned with a purpose beyond our immediate self-interests.

To recap...here are the four principles necessary to fully engage!


PRINCIPLE 1:
Full engagement requires drawing on four separate but related sources of energy; physical, emotional, mental and spiritual.

PRINCIPLE 2:
Because energy capacity diminishes both with overuse and with under use, we must balance energy expenditure with intermittent energy renewal.

PRINCIPLE 3:
To build capacity, we must push beyond our normal limits, training in the same systematic way that elite athletes do.

PRINCIPLE 4:
Positive energy rituals-highly specific routines for managing energy-are the key to full engagement and sustained high performance.

Being fully engaged is a wonderful place to live. To be fully alive in every area of life takes balance and a desire to do so. Days, weeks, months and years are wasted by many people, just going through the motions of life and surviving!

I hope that you have learned something new in these last weeks and will dig a little deeper at experiencing this kind of life; a fully engaged life.


Always encouraging you.
Letha

"Are You Fully Engaged?" Principle # 4

Continued from last week..

a reminder:
To be fully engaged, we must be physically energized, emotionally connected, mentally focused and spiritually aligned with a purpose beyond our immediate self-interests.

The challenge of great life performance is to manage your energy more effectively in all dimensions to achieve your goals. Four key energy management principles drive this process. They lie at the heart of change, and they are critical for building the capacity to live a productive, fully engaged life.

So…to fully engage the following 4 energy management principles will be key:

This week we'll address Principle #4

PRINCIPLE 4:

Positive energy rituals-highly specific routines for managing energy-are the key to full engagement and sustained high performance.

Change is hard…we are creatures of habit. Most of what we do is automatic and non conscious. What we did yesterday is what we are likely to do today. The problem with most efforts at change is that conscious efforts can’t be sustained over long haul. Will and discipline are for more limited resources than most of us realize. If you have to think about something every time you do it, the likelihood is that you won’t keep doing it for very long.


A positive ritual is a behavior that becomes automatic over time-fueled by some deeply held value.

I use the word ritual purposefully to emphasize the notion of a carefully highly structured behavior. In contrast to will and discipline, which requires pushing yourself to a particular behavior, a ritual pulls at you.

Think of something as simple as brushing your teeth. It’s not something that you have to remind yourself to do. Brushing your teeth is something you feel consistently drawn to.
You do it largely on auto pilot, without much conscious effort.

The power of rituals is that they insure that we use as little conscious energy as possible where it is not absolutely necessary, leaving us free to focus the energy available to us in creative, enriching ways.
Look at any part of your life where you are successful…you have probably built routines around that action.

With your eating, exercise, at work, in your home…the areas that you have routine, you are successful.

This week as you identify rituals in your every day life, consider more that you might add regarding your choices to eat healthy and live a fit lifestyle.

I'll close this topic out next Friday. It's been good sharing the power and importance of full engagement with you.

Working to be fully engaged and always encouraging you,
Letha

Are You Fully Engaged? Principle # 3

Continued from last week...

a reminder:
To be fully engaged, we must be physically energized, emotionally connected, mentally focused and spiritually aligned with a purpose beyond our immediate self-interests.

The challenge of great life performance is to manage your energy more effectively in all dimensions to achieve your goals. Four key energy management principles drive this process. They lie at the heart of change, and they are critical for building the capacity to live a productive, fully engaged life.

So…to fully engage the following 4 energy management principles will be key:

This week we'll address Principle #3



PRINCIPLE 3:

To build capacity, we must push beyond our normal limits, training in the same systematic way that elite athletes do.

Stress is not an enemy in our lives, it is a key to growth. In order to build strength in a muscle we must systematically stress it, expending energy beyond normal levels. Doing so literally causes microscopic tears in the muscle fibers. At the end of a training session, functional capacity is diminished. But give the muscle 24 to 48 hours to recover and it grows stronger and better able to handle the next stimulus. While this training phenomenon had been applied to building physical strength, it is just as relevant to building “muscles“ in every area of our lives.

From empathy and patience, to focus and creativity, to integrity and commitment. What applies to the body, applies to all other dimensions in our lives.

We build emotional, mental and spiritual capacity in the same way that we build physical capacity.

We grow at all levels by expending energy beyond our ordinary limits and then recovering. Expose a muscle to ordinary demand and it won’t grow. With age it will actually lose strength. The limiting factor in building any “muscle” is that many of us back off at the slightest hint of discomfort. To meet increase demand in our lives, we must learn to systematically build and strengthen muscles wherever our capacity is insufficient. Any forms of stress that prompts discomfort has the potential to expand our capacity physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually so long as it’s followed but adequate recovery.

This week as you face stressful situations, demands on your emotional and personal life and are tested even spiritually, remember that discomfort in those areas brings about growth if you properly cope with them and then find time to recover and refresh yourself as well.

Next week we'll look at principle #4.
Until then I'm

Always encouraging you,
Letha