You Have The Power...Now Flip That Switch!

You know the switch I'm talking about. The one that when flipped, you are ON PROGRAM! You are fired up and nothing can break your resolve! You are excited, motivated and driven to follow the nutritional plan and see results. That switch!

I've spent time in the last 30 years discovering ways to flip that switch in my own life. Not only in regards to my eating habits, but in other areas of my life that require excellence as well! I've gotten really good at it!

There are really two things you need to invest in, to flip the switch...time and emotions. Oh, I can hear the sighs right now! :-) You're always short on time...and you avoid those emotional moments really well!

Do you want to flip the switch? Do you wake up each morning and say "This day is going to be better" and by the time you lie down at night, you are discouraged with your self again? If you are willing to spend some time, and feel some feelings, you too can flip that switch and TODAY can be the start of a great fall and a content holiday season!

TIME...we rarely take the time to get to know ourselves. We race through this life, taking care of other people and obligations without the important connection with our selves! Can you stop at a coffee shop today and sit in a corner by yourself? Can you drive to a big parking lot and sit in your car on your lunch hour? Can you go to a room in your house that never gets used and spend some time there today? Get alone with yourself! Invest some time in YOU. Some of us are alone a lot...but are we alone, focused on ourselves? Flipping the switch requires time and focus on you!

EMOTIONS...I can promise you, if you have been eating off program, unable to follow through for even one day, you are stuffing your emotions! It's time to look at them and allow them to surface. The first question I ask my self is "Letha, What's up?" I ALWAYS get an answer! You will too. (that's why you're afraid to ask it) If you have a journal...start writing in it. If you have junk mail in the floor board of your car, that works too. Get something down on paper!

Another effective tool I use is the pain and pleasure list! I hope you have all used this "power tool."

Make a list of the pain, over eating is causing you...go for it! Don't stop, get real, get painful...allow it to take you all the way to gaining ALL your weight back, feeling miserable, and overwhelmed with medical problems and personal pain that choosing food has caused you! Don't skip ahead fast...if you have an hour, spend at least 30 of it on this list! Don't forget to include family, children and spouses in this list. How has your overeating affected them. Your overeating has caused you to be irritated, mad at the world and not very fun...how's that working for you and your family? Your clothes don't fit, you feel frumpy, and you don't want to do much of anything! Your overeating is affecting EVERY area of your life!

Now...if you have done a good job on that list... it's time to move ahead...if you haven't, you are not really serious about flipping the switch.(or you're just scared)

This list is a lot more fun! This is the list that includes all the emotions that you feel when you are on program, eating healthy, and setting limits for yourself! Have fun, spend time on this list too. Don't forget to include your family, children and spouse also. How has eating healthy, feeling attractive and in control, made a difference in those relationships? How's your wardrobe? How much energy do you have? Are you fun? Do you laugh more? Do you take pride in how you look and enjoy going out? Is EVERY area of your life affected by how you eat and what choices you are making? Don't stop short dreaming as you make this list. Allow the good feelings to overwhelm you and fill you with hope.

Look at those two lists...ask the all important question now. "Why am I living here...when I could be living here?"

If no tears are involved with this project...you might be dead!:-)

I've had clients tell me, "Ive done the pain and pleasure list thing and it doesn't work." I'm wondering have they REALLY done it. Have they really taken the time to look at the way their eating is affecting their life and the lives of all the people around them? Have they asked them selves, "Why am I letting food win?" "Why am I letting food be the boss of me?"

My friends...to lose weight and keep it off, you must be able to use pain as your friend. Flipping the switch when you are living on maintenance is crucial to you keeping your weight off for life.

I wish I had time to sit in your car with you...but I guess you wouldn't be alone then would you? Take time, allow your emotions to come forth...and flip the switch. Don't wait...today is the perfect day to change the direction of your life!

Always encouraging and pushing you,

Letha

CHANGE...It Does the Body Good!

As we close out the Spring Team Challenge I look back and think about all we've learned about willpower! It's been amazing!  Our thinking has truly changed and I for one, won't ever think about willpower the way I used to. The more I learn about willpower, the more I see that having more of it, is a choice. You don't have willpower, you choose willpower.

Now we're heading into Summer and another great 10 week challenge. This summers' theme..."Change, It Does the Body Good." We are going to spend 10 weeks this summer learning about CHANGE! We are going to explore change and discover more about why it's so darn hard to do it...change permanently that is!

Back in 2006, I chose the word CHANGE as my word for the year.  I studied it, focused on it, and came under the influence of it. CHANGE rocked my world! I was in need of change in many areas of my life and I surrendered to it...and oh boy did change happen!!

One thing I learned that year is that CHANGE IS HARD! That's why people stay stuck! It's easier to stay right where we're at, even though we might be miserable, than it is to change.
I also learned that CHANGE IS REALLY GOOD! As hard as the process is, what you find on the other side is your best life!

I've observed throughout the years that one of the reasons people don't achieve their goals is that they desire to change their results without changing their thinking. We won't move past week one of this Summer Team Challenge without getting one thing straight...it's ALL about your thinking! "The level of thinking that got you where you are...won't take you where you're going." Albert Einstein said that...smart guy! I'll be doing my very best in the next ten weeks convincing my clients of that!

We've got some CHANGE happening at The Healthy Weigh this summer too.  I've gone from being the landlord of suite 120 to be a sub lessee.  I'll be subleasing the suite on THURSDAYS and holding the Team Challenge gatherings then.  I'm excited about the changes and looking forward to a different day of the week. Thursdays are soon to become my favorite day of the week!

I hope you'll join us starting July 11th, for a powerful 10 weeks.  CHANGE will be happening at The Healthy Weigh. Come and be a part of something really great!

CHANGE...IT DOES THE BODY GOOD!

Always encouraging you,
Letha

Meet Your Future Self!

We're growing our willpower at The Healthy Weigh...or should I say, our 'I will' power, 'I won't' power and 'I want' power...the three powers that make up willpower! This week we focused on two more practices that have been scientifically proven to build willpower. Willpower lives in the prefrontal cortex of the brain, and the more blood flow we can get to this region of the brain, the more willpower we'll have.

Our list of ways to boost willpower is growing by the week! The key to boosting willpower  however, is not in knowing about the things on this list...but practicing them. This week we learned about something that helps us delay our gratification...hence providing more willpower.  Meeting our future self!  We added that to our impressive list of willpower boosters! 

Here's our list so far:

Meditate

Rewards

Exercise

Internal processing

Revisit want power

Maintain level blood sugar

Avoid triggers

Complete tasks that you've been reluctant to do

Meet your future self

Brain-imaging studies show that we use different regions of the brain to think about our present selves and our future selves. When people imagine enjoying a future experience, the brain areas associated with thinking about oneself and surprisingly engaged. It's as if we are picturing someone else enjoying the sunset or running a race. The same is true when people are asked to consider whether certain traits describe their present selves or their futures selves. When reflecting on the future self, the brain's activation is identical to when it is considering the traits of another person. It's as if we are observing a person from the outside to decide what is true about them, rather than looking within to decide what is true of ourselves. The brains habit of treating the future self like another person has major consequences for self-control. Studies show that the less active your brain's self reflection system is when you contemplate your future self, the more likely you are to say "forget you" to future you,  and "yes" to immediate gratification.

You can help yourself make wiser choices by sending yourself to the future! Below are three ideas for making the future feel real, and for getting to know your future self.

1. Create a Future Memory. Imagining the future helps people delay gratification.  You don't even need to think about the future rewards of delaying gratification, just thinking about the future seems to work. For example, if you're trying to decide between starting a project now or putting it off, imagine yourself grocery shopping next week, or at a meeting you have scheduled. When you picture the future, the brain begins to think more concretely and immediately about the consequences of our present choice. The more real and vivid the future feels, the more likely you are to make a decision that your future self won't regret.

2. Send a Message to Your Future Self. The founders of FutureMe.org have created a way for people to e-mail their future selves. Since 2003, they've been holding on to e-mails people write to themselves, and delivering them on a future date chosen by the writer. Why not take advantage of the opportunity to think about what your future self will be doing, and how he or she will feel about the choices you're making now? Describe to your future self what you are going to do now to help yourself meet your long-term goals. What are your hopes for your future self? What do your think you will look like? You can also imagine your future self looking back on your present self. What would your future self thank you for, if you were able to commit to it today?

3. Imagine Your Future Self. Studies show that imagining your future self can increase your present self's willpower. One experiment asked couch potatoes to imagine either a hoped-for future self who exercised regularly and enjoyed health and energy, or a feared future self who was inactive and suffering from health consequences. Both visualizations got them off the couch, and they were exercising more frequently two months later than a control group that did not imagine a future self.  To boost your willpower, imagine a hoped-for future self who is committed to the change and reaping the benefits or a future self suffering the consequences of not changing.  Let yourself daydream in vivid detail, imagining how you will feel, how you will look, and what pride, gratitude, or regret you will have for your past self's choices.

Feeling estranged from your future self is a problem...a willpower problem.  It's important to begin to start to integrate your current self and your future self.   Your future self is not a stranger or another person...your future self is YOU!

Work on one or more of these ideas this weekend and I'm SURE you'll have more willpower!

See you in the future.

Always encouraging you,

Letha