Wednesday, September 28, 2011

50 Mind Tricks for Weight Loss

*50 Mind Tricks for Weight Loss*

*Source: **TotallyZen.com<http://www.totallyzen.com/50-meditation-mind-cont
rol-techniques-for-weight-loss.html
>

*

You know there is no magic way to shed pounds or become fit. The only way t
o

get there is through hard work and eating right. Yet you can give yourself
a

leg up in the process by changing how you think about food, weight loss and

eating healthy. By changing how you think, you'll also change how y
ou act

and hopefully impact your health for the better.

Meditation can play a key role in helping you overcome food issues and

create the body you want to have now. Awareness, consciousness, focus and

concentration developed through yoga practice and meditation will help you

to embody these key points.

Here are 50 tips to help you learn some tricks to get your mind ripe and

ready for weight loss.

General

These general tips will help you learn to adapt your thoughts to healthy

weight loss.

1. Be patient. Losing weight in any kind of healthy way is going to take

time. Give yourself a break and relax, and the weight will come off.

2. Don't stress. Stressing about weight loss will likely only make
it harder

to lose.

3. Be realistic Setting unrealistic goals for your weight loss isn'
t healthy

for your body or mind. Get your mind set on more realistic accomplishments

and you'll be happier and healthier.

4. Create a routine. Success with any weight loss program requires creating

a routine and sticking to it in what you eat, when you work out and how you

think about your progress.

5. Listen to your body. It will tell you when you aren't eating eno
ugh,

you're eating too much, or you're pushing yourself too hard
.

6. Use your imagination. Our imaginations are powerful things and you can

use yours to picture your body and your life the way you really want it to

be.

7. Take it slow. You cannot expect to change your mindset or your body

overnight. Take the process slow and steady for the best results.

8. Be honest with yourself. Being honest might be more difficult or more

painful, but you cannot move forward in changing your body or how you think

about it without facing some hard truths about yourself.

9. Find out what you truly want. The reality is that you might not be ready

to lose weight or commit yourself to the work that it takes. Find out what

you truly want in your life. Knowing that you really, really want to lose

weight can be a huge factor in motivating you.

Mindset

Learn how to change your mindset with these tips.

10. Always be accountable. There is no one else who is responsible for you

losing weight. You have to be accountable for what you eat and how often yo
u

work out.

11. Break the cycle of excuses. We all make excuses to try to justify our

behavior, but these kinds of excuses aren't doing you any favors wh
en it

comes to weight loss. Force yourself to accept your failures and work to

improve them.

12. Deal with your emotions. For many people, food is an emotional thing an
d

a coping mechanism for other things that aren't right in their live
s. If you

want to change your mindset about your body, you'll first have to d
eal with

these powerful emotions.

13. Make the decision to be thinner. Sometimes all it takes is a firm

resolution to make a change in your life. If you want to lose weight, make

the choice to do so and let your actions follow suit.

14. Take responsibility. No one is forcing food down your throat or keeping

you from the gym. Once you realize that and can take responsibility for you
r

own actions regarding your health and fitness, you'll be one step c
loser to

meeting your goals.

15. Think clearly. Weight loss, body image and personal health can be

emotionally charged issues. When you think about these things it it

important to separate them as best you can from your emotions and make

logical, thoughtful decisions about what is best. For instance, our emotion
s

might tell us we need a piece of cake after a hard day, but our logical

thinking would tell us it will only make you feel worse about yourself.

16. Change your programming. Many of us have programmed our brains to think

we are fat, unhealthy and will never look or feel like we want to. Thinking

this way is often a self-fulfilling prophecy, but by changing your mental

programming, you'll change what you're capable of in weight
loss.

17. Stay positive. There is no upside to negative thinking when it comes to

losing weight. Staying positive will help you feel better about yourself,

keep you motivated and reduce stress — all of which will help you l
ose more

weight.

18. Train your mind to think in your best interest. If you want to lose

weight, focus on replacing your unhealthy thoughts with healthy ones. After

a while, you will think less unhealthy thoughts and be a step ahead in

reaching your goals.

Motivation

Give your mind some motivation with these ideas.

19. Pick out a motivational photograph. Whether you want to look more like

you did 20 years ago or have the physique of someone else you admire, choos
e

a photograph you can look at when you're struggling to help keep yo
urself

motivated.

20. Set smaller daily goals. While your larger goals are important, focusin
g

on smaller, individual goals will give you more of a sense of accomplishmen
t

and change your mindset on a daily basis.

21. Use support from friends. There are few things that can change how you

feel about yourself and your progress like motivation from friends around

you.

22. Reward yourself. When you've worked really hard for something i
t's only

fair to reward yourself. Give yourself an indulgence, though not a

food-related one, that you've really been wanting.

23. Tell yourself you can do it. Change your mindset about weight loss by

constantly reminding yourself that no matter how hard it is that you can an
d

will do it.

24. Never stop thinking about your goals. Keeping your goals in mind

throughout the day will help motivate you and keep you on the right track.

25. Surround yourself with good role models. You won't do yourself
any

favors when you're trying to lose weight if you surround yourself w
ith

people who practice bad habits and influence you to do so as well. Spend

time with friends who motivate you to be healthy instead.

26. Have a mantra. Finding your own personal weight loss mantra can be a

great way to help keep yourself positive and focused on your goals.

27. Look at the bright side. Setbacks don't have to ruin your motiv
ation for

weight loss. Instead, think of them as a chance to work harder and prove

your commitment to your goals.

28. Create a map to your health and happiness. Spending some time laying ou
t

your goals, collecting photos that motivate you, and planning out your step
s

along the way can help make process easier, more real and something youâ
�™re

more motivated to do every day.

Food

Change your relationship with food by changing your thoughts using this

advice.

29. Think yourself out of bad habits. Bad habits with food don't ha
ve to

take down your weight loss goals. Instead, use the power of your mind to

fight these bad habits. It will take some doing but you can overcome them.

30. Look at food differently. Food isn't your enemy or your friend
— it's

neutral. Learn to look at food as a source of nourishment rather than a

reward or a way to deal with emotions.

31. Picture what food is doing for your body. When you look at what youâ
�™re

eating, picture what that food can do for your body and how the nutrients

will help you feel.

32. Allow yourself to eat when you're hungry. Losing weight should
never

mean starving yourself. Listen to your body and feed yourself when your bod
y

tells you it's hungry. Just make sure it's actually hunger
and not boredom

or thirst you're giving into. Likewise, stop eating when you are fu
ll.

33. Eat foods you crave. You can have foods you crave while you're
trying to

lose weight if you can do so in moderation. Keeping things totally off

limits could cause you to binge.

34. Be conscious. Always be aware of what you're eating. Eating min
dlessly

while watching TV can lead to a lot of unwanted and unneeded calories.

Self-Image

How you see yourself can make a big impact in how much weight you lose. Try

these solutions to feel good about yourself no matter how much you weigh.

35. Change how you think about your body. If you think you are a fat person
,

you'll likely stay that way. Train your mind to see yourself as att
ractive

at any weight and you'll see more weight loss progress.

36. Get control over your thoughts. When your thoughts are out of control

it's easy to think cruel things about yourself and put yourself dow
n. When

you start to feel your thoughts heading in that direction, take the wheel

and steer them somewhere positive.

37. Stop looking at the numbers. Weight isn't everything when it co
mes to

health. Some people look super skinny and feel healthy at one weight while

another person might be totally different. We all have our own comfort zone
,

so listen to your body, not the scale.

38. Focus on how you feel. You might not have met your goal weight yet, but

focusing on changes in how you feel can help keep you motivated and feeling

good about yourself.

39. Stop berating yourself. Negative thoughts aren't going to help
you lose

weight. If you have a misstep or aren't progressing as fast as you
'd like,

never berate yourself. Simply get up the next day and start again from a

positive standpoint.

40. Fill yourself with love. If you want to get the most out of your weight

loss journey, make part of the process learning to truly love yourself. No

one is perfect so get a handle on accepting and appreciating your faults.

41. Take pride in your appearance.It doesn't matter how much you we
igh, you

can look good and feel good about yourself. Shower, put on a fragrance,

style your hair, and wear your favorite clothes. It will change how you see

yourself and how others see you as well.

Meditation

Learn how to turn your meditation practice into a reflection on your

personal weight loss goals with these tips.

42. Imagine yourself eating like you should be. The more you imagine it, the

more likely it will become reality.

43. Picture yourself thin. If you believe that you can and will be thin,

then you give yourself the motivation and drive to actually make it happen.

44. Think about activities you'll do when you're thin. If you're too

overweight to do things you love right now, picture yourself doing those

things as the new, thinner you.

45. Relax. You can't take control over your thoughts and your mind
if you're

stressed out and distracted. Simply relax and let go the problems of the

day.

46. Picture yourself wearing something you've always wanted to wear
. A big

reason many people want to lose weight is to fit into the clothes and style

that they love and admire. Get a mental picture of how you'll look
sporting

something you've always wanted to wear to give you some motivation.

47. Imagine that you love to exercise. Rely on the power of imagination to

help give yourself the initiative you need to get fit and in shape.

48. Don't let negative thoughts interfere. It's easy to thi
nk negative

thoughts about yourself when you're tackling a big and difficult ob
stacle

like losing weight, but you have to make sure to keep these kinds of

thoughts out during your meditation. Replace them with happy, supportive

ones instead.

49. Kick all unhealthy habits and foods out of visualization. Don't
let your

mental fantasies include unhealthy foods and behaviors. You might really

crave them but the purpose is to retrain your mind to let them go.

50. Breathe deeply and calm yourself. Once you're calm, relaxed, and in

control of your mind and body, you'll be able to start thinking clearly

about who and where you want to be.

Edited by: Lawyer Asad

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