Sounds like a strange question doesn't it?
But actually its the key question you should be asking yourself. If you're really truly beyond all doubt serious about achieving success in your weight loss program you need to ask yourself this question.
Why?
There are several reasons but one of the key reasons is that you have to have a very clear picture in your head about what your achieved goal looks like. I once remember reading about someone successful in another aspect of their life but the quote that summed it up for me was when they said:
"Do you know what done looks like?"
Basically what they're saying is how will you know when you've arrived at your destination.
A lot of people go into a weight loss program with big hopes, but the image is very faint. They're not 100% clear on how they will know if they've achieved goal. A good goal is one where you are absolutely crystal clear on what your definition of success looks like.
So whilst you might feel it's not dieting and it's not exercise, please spend some time imagining and thinking about what done looks like. It might take you a bit of time but it could really rev up your diet success for the long haul
Saturday 9 February 2008
Friday 8 February 2008
Diet hit a Bump in the Road? Don’t Worry!
If like many, you started a diet in the last month or so, chances are you might be finding it a little tough going. In fact many have abandoned their diet plans altogether by now and have possibly decided that the diet is no good or worse still that they themselves are just worthless and no good when it comes to dieting. If that’s you read on because it may be that you just need to change your point of view slightly and look one of the ‘secrets’ professional sports men and women use.
Going on a diet is a big change for any person who has, over the years gained weight. That weight gain is the result of many years of habits. What many people who then decide to go on a diet tend to underestimate is the size of the task in front of them. It’s a big change so it’s important to understand some of the fundamentals of success. Food is only one part of it.
The thing any one looking for permanent weight loss needs to understand is the thing that all people who are successful in any walk of life understand.
You’re not constantly successful.
Success is a journey marked with both ups and downs. It’s only when you look at it from the outside that it appears to be an endless success. What professional sports people do is they don’t let the down parts overwhelm them. They keep on getting up no matter how many times they seem to slip up or get knocked down.
Think of it like a game of golf. 18 holes, all riddled with traps and challenges along the way. Sometimes golfers bypass the traps but sometimes they fall into them. Even when they are in them, they have to play their way out of it. Eventually golfers get round the course. Golf is easy when you’re missing the traps. What seperates the good from the great is what golfers do when they hit a set back. How do they recover from it. Players like Tiger Woods simply get back into the game of golf.
It’s not just golf though. Every successful professional sports career is defined by how well they handle and recover from the inevitable setbacks that will occur. Long term diet success is no different.
And here’s the ‘secret’.
How you deal with the setback is not about your game or your diet. It’s about your mind and how you deal with it and you need to learn this if you want to keep the weight off over a long period. It’s vital that you bring your mind to the present to focus on getting away from the problem as opposed to falling into the kind of negative self talk that calls you a loser all because of a hiccup.
Does a golfer stand in a sand trap holding their head in their hands talking about how awful a golfer they are? No they don’t. They look at the problem and work out how they can get out of the problem. Then they pick the club and work their way out of the problem.
Take this approach with your diet. If you fall off the diet wagon and either by eating wrong or by gaining weight first stop beating yourself up – you won’t change anything for the good. Second start telling yourself you can do this and get yourself back into your diet.
It sounds simplistic but the more times you take this approach the more success you will enjoy over the long haul. Eventually you will start to break the hold your habits have over you and you will strengthen your resolve to be a long term success
Going on a diet is a big change for any person who has, over the years gained weight. That weight gain is the result of many years of habits. What many people who then decide to go on a diet tend to underestimate is the size of the task in front of them. It’s a big change so it’s important to understand some of the fundamentals of success. Food is only one part of it.
The thing any one looking for permanent weight loss needs to understand is the thing that all people who are successful in any walk of life understand.
You’re not constantly successful.
Success is a journey marked with both ups and downs. It’s only when you look at it from the outside that it appears to be an endless success. What professional sports people do is they don’t let the down parts overwhelm them. They keep on getting up no matter how many times they seem to slip up or get knocked down.
Think of it like a game of golf. 18 holes, all riddled with traps and challenges along the way. Sometimes golfers bypass the traps but sometimes they fall into them. Even when they are in them, they have to play their way out of it. Eventually golfers get round the course. Golf is easy when you’re missing the traps. What seperates the good from the great is what golfers do when they hit a set back. How do they recover from it. Players like Tiger Woods simply get back into the game of golf.
It’s not just golf though. Every successful professional sports career is defined by how well they handle and recover from the inevitable setbacks that will occur. Long term diet success is no different.
And here’s the ‘secret’.
How you deal with the setback is not about your game or your diet. It’s about your mind and how you deal with it and you need to learn this if you want to keep the weight off over a long period. It’s vital that you bring your mind to the present to focus on getting away from the problem as opposed to falling into the kind of negative self talk that calls you a loser all because of a hiccup.
Does a golfer stand in a sand trap holding their head in their hands talking about how awful a golfer they are? No they don’t. They look at the problem and work out how they can get out of the problem. Then they pick the club and work their way out of the problem.
Take this approach with your diet. If you fall off the diet wagon and either by eating wrong or by gaining weight first stop beating yourself up – you won’t change anything for the good. Second start telling yourself you can do this and get yourself back into your diet.
It sounds simplistic but the more times you take this approach the more success you will enjoy over the long haul. Eventually you will start to break the hold your habits have over you and you will strengthen your resolve to be a long term success
Thursday 24 January 2008
Don't Just Take My Word For It
It's very easy to look at this website and wonder what it's got to do with success in achieving permanent weight loss. It's easy for the reader to look at it and wonder if what I'm saying really has any truth in it.
If you're asking that question that's a good thing. It's important that you check what you're being told to make sure it stacks up.
So I thought I should give you a bit of background to who else is harnessing the power of the mind to maximum effect. I think once you understand who is using it and why, you will see the role it can play in helping you achieve your weight loss goals.
I first saw it in action some years ago watching the winter Olympics. The bobsleigh event was on TV and the camera and commentary focused on one team who hadn't yet started. There was a guy with his eye's closed outside of his bob, making all kinds of twists and turns with his body and his hands and arms held up near his face. No one from the TV knew what he was doing.
They interviewed him later and asked what all that was about. He told them he was playing the whole run out in his head, including every twist and turn. More to the point he was seeing in this "film" he was running with everything running perfectly.
Flip forward a few years and I came across the work of Denis Waitley who was the Chairman of Psychology for US Olympic Committee Sports Medicine Council. He talked a lot about how they had taken the visualization work that NASA had used as part of the space programme and brought it into the sports arena. They worked with US athletes round the clock on the role of the mind in their success.
It's now common practice amongst all athletes to focus on what they are about to do before they do. And more importantly seeing it all go just how they want it to go. Watch the finals of any major sprint event on the TV and you'll see it in action. The great athletes at the start are absolutely somewhere else. Not looking right or left. They are absolutely still, sometimes with their eyes closed. What they're doing in their head is winning the race. But they are doing it to a level of detail you wouldn't believe. They are seeing a perfect start, feeling the muscles push off. They are feeling and seeing their arms and legs move perfectly. They are seeing their breathing absolutely perfect.
Now I'm not saying you have to see it to that detail. Bear in mind that finals of major events are won in gaps of 100ths of seconds so they need to see it to that level. What I'm showing you is that people at the top of their game use their mind to devastating effect.
Legendary sprinter Michael Johnson wrote a book about his success. It's an absolutely fantastic book called Slaying the Dragon. Although it's a bit of autobiography the most dominant theme through it is how he harnessed his mind for success.
I've seen dieters from all walks of life. I know of successful ones and I know unsuccessful dieters. What seemed to be the difference was to what extent they used their mind. That's why I created this page, to help you get to where you need to be in your head.
Come back for more as I'm about to show you one of the first lessons that all the greats use in all walks of life.
If you're asking that question that's a good thing. It's important that you check what you're being told to make sure it stacks up.
So I thought I should give you a bit of background to who else is harnessing the power of the mind to maximum effect. I think once you understand who is using it and why, you will see the role it can play in helping you achieve your weight loss goals.
I first saw it in action some years ago watching the winter Olympics. The bobsleigh event was on TV and the camera and commentary focused on one team who hadn't yet started. There was a guy with his eye's closed outside of his bob, making all kinds of twists and turns with his body and his hands and arms held up near his face. No one from the TV knew what he was doing.
They interviewed him later and asked what all that was about. He told them he was playing the whole run out in his head, including every twist and turn. More to the point he was seeing in this "film" he was running with everything running perfectly.
Flip forward a few years and I came across the work of Denis Waitley who was the Chairman of Psychology for US Olympic Committee Sports Medicine Council. He talked a lot about how they had taken the visualization work that NASA had used as part of the space programme and brought it into the sports arena. They worked with US athletes round the clock on the role of the mind in their success.
It's now common practice amongst all athletes to focus on what they are about to do before they do. And more importantly seeing it all go just how they want it to go. Watch the finals of any major sprint event on the TV and you'll see it in action. The great athletes at the start are absolutely somewhere else. Not looking right or left. They are absolutely still, sometimes with their eyes closed. What they're doing in their head is winning the race. But they are doing it to a level of detail you wouldn't believe. They are seeing a perfect start, feeling the muscles push off. They are feeling and seeing their arms and legs move perfectly. They are seeing their breathing absolutely perfect.
Now I'm not saying you have to see it to that detail. Bear in mind that finals of major events are won in gaps of 100ths of seconds so they need to see it to that level. What I'm showing you is that people at the top of their game use their mind to devastating effect.
Legendary sprinter Michael Johnson wrote a book about his success. It's an absolutely fantastic book called Slaying the Dragon. Although it's a bit of autobiography the most dominant theme through it is how he harnessed his mind for success.
I've seen dieters from all walks of life. I know of successful ones and I know unsuccessful dieters. What seemed to be the difference was to what extent they used their mind. That's why I created this page, to help you get to where you need to be in your head.
Come back for more as I'm about to show you one of the first lessons that all the greats use in all walks of life.
Have You Slipped Up
If your diet has gone off the rails a bit don't worry. It's not the end of the world so stop the beating that you're probably giving yourself. You've simply got to get on with it again whilst accepting you will slip every now and again.
A friend of mine sent me this link to a piece of film that you might want a look at and bear in mind its message.
Some might look at it and think it's a bit cheesy. That might be true (it depends on your point of view, but you've got the right to have any opinion you want about it).
That said I think the message is very important and one you should carry around with you every day.
http://www.the-race-movie.com/
It contains one of the great secrets of working towards a great goal.
A friend of mine sent me this link to a piece of film that you might want a look at and bear in mind its message.
Some might look at it and think it's a bit cheesy. That might be true (it depends on your point of view, but you've got the right to have any opinion you want about it).
That said I think the message is very important and one you should carry around with you every day.
http://www.the-race-movie.com/
It contains one of the great secrets of working towards a great goal.
Are You Ready For Success?
Let's get to the nitty gritty shall we?
It's about this time when many people who have gone on a diet at New Year really start to fall by the wayside. In fact many have just flat out quit the idea of dieting and have beaten themselves up. They've probably told themselves all kinds of things.
It's just the way it is. Many experts will tell you that starting on a diet in the New Year is a bad thing anyway. I can see how it would be real tough to maintain which is why I tried to get people started before New Year.
Now is a good time to have a rethink. The hype around New Year diets is out of the way and everything has calmed down a bit so we can start to focus on the real issue of diet success.
As I've said before pretty much any diet that has a sound scientific basis can succeed. Notice I said can succeed, not will. It's a very important distinction. The reason why diets succeed over the long term is because the dieter has taken control over their mind and their thoughts and is focussed solely on success.
Have a think for a minute. Two seperate people on the same diet in different places. One keeps the weight off whilst the other abandons it after a while and complains it doesn't work. Is it the diet that doesn't work? Well that would be difficult given that one has succeeded at the diet.
So if it's not the diet that's wrong, there must be something else going on. Usually there is. What's usually at issue is how well their mind focusses on success and keeps them motivated. It's the vital ingredient.
If you want diet success you must harness the power of your mind to get you on and keep you on track. Make this part of your diet and you will increase your chances of success hugely.
It's about this time when many people who have gone on a diet at New Year really start to fall by the wayside. In fact many have just flat out quit the idea of dieting and have beaten themselves up. They've probably told themselves all kinds of things.
It's just the way it is. Many experts will tell you that starting on a diet in the New Year is a bad thing anyway. I can see how it would be real tough to maintain which is why I tried to get people started before New Year.
Now is a good time to have a rethink. The hype around New Year diets is out of the way and everything has calmed down a bit so we can start to focus on the real issue of diet success.
As I've said before pretty much any diet that has a sound scientific basis can succeed. Notice I said can succeed, not will. It's a very important distinction. The reason why diets succeed over the long term is because the dieter has taken control over their mind and their thoughts and is focussed solely on success.
Have a think for a minute. Two seperate people on the same diet in different places. One keeps the weight off whilst the other abandons it after a while and complains it doesn't work. Is it the diet that doesn't work? Well that would be difficult given that one has succeeded at the diet.
So if it's not the diet that's wrong, there must be something else going on. Usually there is. What's usually at issue is how well their mind focusses on success and keeps them motivated. It's the vital ingredient.
If you want diet success you must harness the power of your mind to get you on and keep you on track. Make this part of your diet and you will increase your chances of success hugely.
Saturday 5 January 2008
Pay It Forward
If you like what you see here (and it is going to have so much more added to it) have a think if you know someone who might benefit from it.
If you're having a chat with someone you know who light just be starting to struggle with whatever diet they're on - email them the link:
http://superdietsecret.blogspot.com
I'm going to put them in touch with some of the biggest names in achieveing success.
If you're having a chat with someone you know who light just be starting to struggle with whatever diet they're on - email them the link:
http://superdietsecret.blogspot.com
I'm going to put them in touch with some of the biggest names in achieveing success.
How are you doing?
I've deliberately left it a few days following New Year before posting again. The reason is I wanted you to see how you felt and behaved once the initial excitement about your new diet had flagged just a little bit. I wanted you to see if you would revert back to any old habits that you promised you wouldn't.
Several things here. If you haven't then very well done indeed. Many people get into diets because they are focussed on New Year. They're not focussed on the diet. So once new Year has come and gone, all the trappings surrounding it are gone to so they're left only with the diet.
If you have reverted back to old ways to various degrees my advice is don't worry. This happens to all dieters at some point - even the successful ones over a longer term. You just have to recognise it as a blip and put yourself back on track. It's not failure and nor should you see it as that. So you got knocked down by it - just get back up and go again. But do it soon - very soon.
In my next post I'm going to start explining what you should be focussing on and how you can do. There will be more on Vision boards and other tools you can use to help you.
Several things here. If you haven't then very well done indeed. Many people get into diets because they are focussed on New Year. They're not focussed on the diet. So once new Year has come and gone, all the trappings surrounding it are gone to so they're left only with the diet.
If you have reverted back to old ways to various degrees my advice is don't worry. This happens to all dieters at some point - even the successful ones over a longer term. You just have to recognise it as a blip and put yourself back on track. It's not failure and nor should you see it as that. So you got knocked down by it - just get back up and go again. But do it soon - very soon.
In my next post I'm going to start explining what you should be focussing on and how you can do. There will be more on Vision boards and other tools you can use to help you.
Tuesday 1 January 2008
Happy New Year
Firstly can I wish you all a very Happy New Year. I hope everything you hope for this year comes to you and that it's everything you imagined it would be.
I know for pretty much all of you that losing weight is high on your list of wishes for the New Year. Well I've got so much to add and it's all great stuff so please do come back or subscribe so that I can keep you updated to when I add something new.
Today I'm going to go right back to the basics. There's a bit of science but hopefully it won't be too boring. Once you understand this principle everything about why you do what you do (especially around your diet) should make more sense.
Everything we do, walk, sleep, eat, lift right arm, lift left arm, turn head - it's all controlled by our brains. Absolutely everything. Our brains are made up of a massive network of connections that fire electrical messages to carry out those instructions.
Not only does our brain control our body movements, it controls our reactions and responses. Our thoughts and our responses are made up of those same messages going along the same connections.
The connections tend to be different thicknesses. The thick ones are our most popular habits. The ones we've built up over a lifetime. the thin ones are the reactions we don't have so often. As you can imagine the thicker connections have more powerful impulses travelling along them. It's these messages that become our everyday habits. The things we do without seeming to think about them.
Your eating habits are those you've built up over years. They travel along those really thick connections. They go along the freeways that are in your brain. They don't travel down your little alleys. They are virtually automatic responses.
That's why diets are so difficult to stick to over the long term. You're taking on your long term habits.
Now the really good news is you can change the route your thoughts take. The even better news is that the more your thoughts take that new route, the thicker the connection becomes and the old way starts to shrink.
What I'm saying is this. You can change - your mind will let you. You can win this battle and you can get your good habits to a point where they are dominant. your brain can be reprogrammed for success.
That's what we're here to do.
More soon.
Here's to your long term weight loss success!!
I know for pretty much all of you that losing weight is high on your list of wishes for the New Year. Well I've got so much to add and it's all great stuff so please do come back or subscribe so that I can keep you updated to when I add something new.
Today I'm going to go right back to the basics. There's a bit of science but hopefully it won't be too boring. Once you understand this principle everything about why you do what you do (especially around your diet) should make more sense.
Everything we do, walk, sleep, eat, lift right arm, lift left arm, turn head - it's all controlled by our brains. Absolutely everything. Our brains are made up of a massive network of connections that fire electrical messages to carry out those instructions.
Not only does our brain control our body movements, it controls our reactions and responses. Our thoughts and our responses are made up of those same messages going along the same connections.
The connections tend to be different thicknesses. The thick ones are our most popular habits. The ones we've built up over a lifetime. the thin ones are the reactions we don't have so often. As you can imagine the thicker connections have more powerful impulses travelling along them. It's these messages that become our everyday habits. The things we do without seeming to think about them.
Your eating habits are those you've built up over years. They travel along those really thick connections. They go along the freeways that are in your brain. They don't travel down your little alleys. They are virtually automatic responses.
That's why diets are so difficult to stick to over the long term. You're taking on your long term habits.
Now the really good news is you can change the route your thoughts take. The even better news is that the more your thoughts take that new route, the thicker the connection becomes and the old way starts to shrink.
What I'm saying is this. You can change - your mind will let you. You can win this battle and you can get your good habits to a point where they are dominant. your brain can be reprogrammed for success.
That's what we're here to do.
More soon.
Here's to your long term weight loss success!!
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