Reprogramme your brain…

Ok.  So we’ve learnt from Brooke Castillo and Martha Beck that we need to be internally focused and really work on listening to our thoughts and what we’re feeling.  But how does that help us to change our eating habits?  What really drives us to eat when we’re not hungry?

Brooke and Martha believe that thoughts drive all behaviour.  Thoughts are responsible for our feelings, which cause our actions and our actions determine the results.

Brookes’ example is that being overweight is the result of over eating, which is the action.  What this model is saying is that every time we over eat we can trace back to particular thought(s) that drove us to eat.

Although a little confusing at first, this concept is revolutionary!  For so long I’ve been attempting to run off the fat and follow stupid diets without success.  Treating the result (and even small amounts of weight loss) have done absolutely nothing to help change the way I feel about my body.  It makes sense that until we address why we’re feeling a particular way our behaviour will not change long term.

After years of beating myself up about the way I look and my inability to change my body to look the way I wish, I’ve become totally disconnected with my body.  Not only can I NOT tell when I’m physically hungry I’m also not sure I even know what I’m thinking half the time!

Another amazing concept that I learned from this seminar is that our beliefs (such as ‘I’ll never be thin’) are just thoughts that we keep thinking and become fixed in our minds.  It follows that if we can change the way we think, we change what we believe and how we feel.  It is only then that our behaviour will change.  Brooke refers to this as “reprogramming your brain.”

Brooke’s first step for Clients is listening in and acknowledging your thoughts.  It all sounds too easy but after only 24 hours of trying to hear my thoughts and be more aware of what I’m thinking I can honestly say it’s not easy!  After being disconnected for so long I can see that it’s going to take time and I’ll really need to be super focused.

Give it a try and let me know how you go!

The seminar (presented by Martha Beck Inc) can be purchased from http://www.marthabeck.com/telecourses_detail.php?class_id=17&cat_name=Recorded%20Telecourses

For more detailed information relating to the Thought – Feelings – Actions – Results model, refer to Brooke Castillo’s book, “If I am So Smart, Why Can’t I Lose Weight?” available from www.amazon.co.uk

Long term, sustainable weight loss…

I was very sad to learn last week, although not surprised, that there’s no quick fix solution that results in sustainable weight loss.  Bugger!

I had the pleasure of meeting Vanessa Shaw, the founder of Simply Zest (www.simplyzest.com), last week.  A BIG thank you to Vanessa for sharing the following fabulous advice with us… (I’ll post the interview recording very soon – once I work out how to download it off my audio recorder!!)…

“Lifestyle Guru” Vanessa Shaw’s philosophy is based on long term, achievable weight loss.  Although the media is filled with tempting short term answers, such as our favourite 2 week diet and exercise blitz, they will not lead to lasting weight loss or help to increase vitality.

Vanessa focuses on health, well being and particularly weight loss.  Unlike some professionals, Vanessa believes that losing weight is important (where there is weight to be lost!) and through achieving realistic weight loss goals your overall health, well being and outlook on life is improved.

A key success factor in Vanessa’s work is understanding ingrained habits such as those inherited from family, relating to food, exercise and the way we deal with stress.  I was amazed to find out that about 85% of our behaviour is actually habit and undertaken subconsciously.  That’s pretty much everything we do!

**Note: the above picture of Vanessa Shaw has been copied from www.simplyzest.com

Another important aspect of behavioural change is the way we actually think – our thinking habits.  This includes our beliefs and state of mind, all those lovely negative body thoughts included.  Yikes!  That’s a whole lot of bad habits!  The Simply Zest approach is to support us to not only identify and understand these bad habits but also to “create new healthier, more helpful ones for the future”.

Readers out there will be excited to know (as I was!) that the starting point with Simply Zest is taking action and helping us to actually lose some weight.  Ah, music to my ears!  Although I really need to learn to love myself more and change my inner thoughts, deep down I also know that I truly want to lose weight.

Vanessa’s advice is to take a whole of life approach and look at the big picture.  Physical exercise is not enough and in order to achieve our goals we need to feel good about ourselves.

Wouldn’t it be absolutely fabulous to have Vanessa work with you one to one??  After we’d talked I felt like signing up there and then.  But I know that it’s not possible for everyone.  So, Vanessa left us with these tips and advice:

• Life is too short to be spent miserable.  Think about all the time and effort you’ve spent focused on feeling crappy about yourself and make a conscious decision to take action.  Re-educate yourself about healthy eating and set realistic, achievable goals.  And the most important part, “bask in the glow of achieving those goals”!
• Set realistic goals that are achievable.  Remember that real women aren’t perfect!  “Move beyond the quick fix”.
• Try keeping a food diary.  Write down everything you eat and drink each day and the time you ate.  This will help to increase your awareness about what you’re eating and not eating.  Look for trends and triggers.
• Find out what works for you.  Be realistic and make sure your goals fit in with your lifestyle.  “Life is for living”!

Interview recording to be posted shortly!!