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

Do you know how to eat??

With all the diet information out there it’s hard to remember what we really should be eating, let alone how much.  I know I’m confused!

Brooke Castillo assures us that it really isn’t that hard.  Her theory is that 90% of the food we eat should be “fuel” – natural, high energy food that the body needs to function efficiently.  The key is eating the “fuel” as soon as you feel hungry and stop when the hunger is satisfied.

I’m not sure I remember what it’s like to feel physically hungry.  Do you?  I tend to eat too much, too often!

Brooke emphasises how important it is to really understand what it feels like to be hungry so that you ensure you eat before you get so super starving that you eat everything in sight!

In Brookes’ words, we “need to retrain ourselves and listen to our bodies.”  The physical sensation felt when hungry is the way our body communicates its needs.  We should be feeling hungry every 3 hours or so and if we’re not we’re either over eating or not tuned into our bodies.

The remaining 10% should be food that you eat to enjoy.  Excellent!

This is where Brooke’s definition of overeating comes in.  Anything that you’re eating outside of the “fuel” and 10% enjoyment food is “over eating”.  It’s when we eat this additional food that we need to be asking ourselves why.  Becoming more internally focused will help us identify the cause of our overeating.

After listening to Brookes’ wise words my goal for the week is to pay more attention to my body and how it feels.  What does it feel like when I’m hungry?

The full seminar audio can be purchased from http://www.marthabeck.com/telecourses_detail.php?class_id=17&cat_name=Recorded%20Telecourses.

Setting yourself up to fail…

How many years have you set New Year resolutions related to losing weight??

I’m too scared to count!  I’m not sure I’ve ever had a New Year goal that wasn’t, ‘this year I WILL lose 5kg and I WILL get super fit.’

Brooke Castillo and Martha Beck believe that when we set diet and weight loss goals we’re setting ourselves up to fail.

In the ‘Why Can’t I Lose Weight? (You Can!)’ seminar (http://www.marthabeck.com/telecourses_detail.php?class_id=17&cat_name=Recorded%20Telecourses), Brooke explains that the minute you go off your diet or have an exercise free week, in our minds we’ve already failed.  The goal is thrown aside in frustration.  Another attempt yet again not completed.

Brooke teaches her Clients that dieting is not a one off event.  The relationship with our mind and body is life long and therefore must be seen as a long term process.

Rather than focusing on the weight (the symptom, not the cause), what we should be doing is asking ourselves two important questions:

“What do you weigh and why do you weight that?”

We all know that if we eat more energy than our bodies need to function then the excess will be stored.  Hence the extra weight we don’t want.

What’s important is that we start taking notice of when we are over-eating.  Brooke recommends keeping a food diary to help track your eating patterns.

For example, do you overeat during work?  Are you bored at work?  Perhaps you’re not feeling challenged?  Or do you overeat when you’re with friends?  Why?

For me, when I’m with friends I’m so worried about what they think that I tend not to eat enough.  Sounds like a bonus but it’s definitely not!  By the time I get home I’m starving and it only leads to me binge eating.  I think I need to follow Brooke’s advice and try and be more conscious of my thoughts rather than worrying about others.

Working through why you’re over eating leads you to the root cause of your eating habits.  Brooke suggests that through this process you will learn more about yourself than you would ever anticipate.

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