Train your mind before you change your diet and start an exercise program

There is an endless supply of diets and dietary supplements available on the market today, and that market continues to expand. The question is why are there so many products available?

The answer is quite simple, there is a huge demand for products that will enable people to lose weight and live healthier lives. People that have problems with their weight are desperate to lose weight and are driven to pay millions of dollars of their money each year in the vain hope of finding something that is going to help them do that.

Unfortunately there are a number of unscrupulous companies that are prepared to take advantage of the situation, by making outrageous claims about what their products can do.

In fact some of these claims border on the ridiculous, ranging from losing anything between 30-50 pounds a month. It is possible to lose 30 pounds a month, just stop eating. However this will only be a temporary answer and very soon all the weight will return.

Even with all the products available, statistics show that 91% of the people that try to lose weight through conventional methods fail to lose any significant weight for any length of time. The facts speak for themselves, dieting in its traditional form will simply not work for the large majority of the population.

The dilemma lies in not so much with the people that use dieting but with the information that is NOT provided to them. I know there is a ton of information out there, but that obviously isn’t working.

There is one key element that is essential if you want to lose weight, without this factor you will find it very difficult if not impossible to lose weight in the long term.

This key element is the ‘state of your MIND’ or more to the point the state of your ‘sub-conscious MIND’. It’s beyond belief that this vital ingredient is often missed or ignored by most weight loss programs.

You can compare your sub-conscious to a computer. It receives data from you, and the world around you. Using this information it creates a picture of who you are and what your role is in your world. This picture is called your self image, now your sub-conscious creates your self image purely from information. It doesn’t test to see if this information is true , it doesn’t judge this information, and it doesn’t care how this information affects you. All that it is interested in is creating your self image, protecting it, and make your behaviours fit it.

If you are overweight, your sub-conscious will have an image of you as a person who is overweight. This image has been created through the messages that have been sent to it over the years.

These messages could have come from:

The food that you eat
How little you exercise
The size of the clothes that you wear
What you see in the mirror
What you see when you step on the scales
What others say about you
What you think and say about yourself.

All these messages have been reinforced over the years and are strongly embedded into your self image and your behaviour will be reflected by that.

When you go on a diet all goes well for a few weeks, but then things get much harder. You find that thoughts and excuses enter your mind, which begin to stop you from doing what you know you should be doing and your motivation and willpower begins to erode, and soon you are back to where you started.

This happens because the changes that you are trying to make do not fit in with your self image, and your sub-conscious mind begins to move you away from what you are trying to do. Many of your behaviours are based on what is in your sub-conscious and it is very powerful. It basically tells you that you shouldn’t be doing these sorts of things because you are an overweight person and that is not the sort of behaviour that suits who you are. This is why many people fail to lose weight.

The question is how can you change your self image? Well the answer is that you must start feeding your sub-conscious new and different information. Now this is the important part. The information you feed your sub-conscious does not have to be true , it just needs to be supplied on a regular daily basis. Your sub-conscious doesn’t care if the information is true or not, if it continues to receive it, it will then have to produce a result based on the messages it gets, it’s that simple.

One of the best ways to send new information is through affirmations; these are short statements which are repeated on a regular basis. What you need to do is to write down a list of positive affirmations in the present tense and read or speak them to yourself on a daily basis. Write your own or use the ones below.

I am healthy
I easily lose weight
I am strong mentally and physically
I enjoy exercise
I eat food which I know is good for me
I am a very motivated person
I achieve anything that I want to
I am a winner

It’s more powerful if you can say these out aloud, and say them with determination, conviction, and really feel the meaning behind the words.
It’s important that you say these words first thing in the morning, last thing at night and a few times during the day. You need to do this for 3 weeks, as it takes roughly 21 days for a habit to form.

Don’t forget that it doesn’t matter if these statements are not true , it’s not important. What’s important is that your sub-conscious mind keeps getting these messages. You may even feel a little silly at first, ignore these thoughts and just do it.

You will begin to notice a difference in your thinking in 10-14 days. You may find that your motivation to lose weight is really high. However do not change your diet or begin an exercise program, just follow the steps for 21 days and then start your weight loss program. By this time you should be itching to start.

Continue with the affirmations once you begin your weight loss program, as this will continue to reinforce and strengthen your motivation. Don’t tell anyone what you are doing unless you know that you will be supported 100% Just make the decision to do it! I think you’ll be in for a big surprise.