Professional women suffer muffin top frustrations for a variety of reasons. Learn about Muffin Top Frustration and the Mind Body connection of Weight Loss.
As a holistic practitioner for almost two decades, I understand the mind body connection. As a professional woman with 37 years of entrepreneurship, I have struggled with those tenacious extra pounds. What is a mind body connection and how does it relate to weight loss?
The mind clarifies through the words we choose to use to tell our story, any story, the theme, the synonyms, the pronouns; and how we blend them together to form “our” story; all are unique to each of us. And it is a fundamental tool used by holistic practitioners to understand the mind body connection unique to each of us.
By studying language we can truly understand what is happening to us internally. So what is your language saying? IS it positive, hopeless, struggling, despair, determined, fearful, insecure, overwhelmed….
How does any of this relate you your weight and your desire to lose weight? It reduces your stress level, one of the most common causes for people carrying more weight.
Up down struggles with weight can cause misery and stress that can lead to emotional eating and the pattern can be life-long. And losing weight doesn’t solve most of life’s problems does it?
So giving up the blame game and being hard on yourself, it really doesn’t help!
It may actually be the power of positive thinking combined with ATTITUDE, +++, focus, commitment, personal VALUES, priority, inspiration, short and long term MOTIVATION, capability, time, deadlines, due dates, small steps, reward, CONTINGENCY planning, flexibility, concrete steps, clearly defined direction, DETAILED ACTION, clearly stated goals and your willingness to make it happen.
As you can see now, none of these words say…… diet or exercise, although they do lead to both and more…..
Planning can be the first step, a small step towards take an overwhelming task and “chunking” it into usable manageable baby steps. It’s important to realize one step and one-inch at a time is still a step, a step towards your goal. A manageable step, an important step. Because you are taking ACTION! You have committed to that first tiny step forward.
An “Action Vision Statement or board” can be another one of several tools to chunk information and create a vision for a different future. An Action Vision Board takes the overwhelmed into a realm of potential ACTION. It is another visual tool that moves our thinking into the visual brain, the brain or potential and ACTION!
What is really important here is a VISION without ACTION is simply a dream…………. Action combined with vision makes a positive difference for a specific outcome.
Anything we want to do, or are committed to doing is 90% attitude. We need to understand WHY we want something, and it is not about the weight, it’s goes way deeper than that……. understanding WHY gives us motivation to complete the task, and motivation is important, as important as Attitude. The WHY is bigger than the “what”
Delving into WHY is the first step in planning anything. “Why is it important to you? Get a clear picture of the real reasons you want to lose weight, this will be your motivating factor.
There may be several reasons. Maybe it is that you want to be a healthy grandmother to a new grandchild? It may be a medical concern: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease. A social injustice: stereotyping, stigma, isolation, discrimination. An event: a wedding, a high school reunion? Is there urgency? How committed are you? What are your “WHYs’?
It’s a life style change, not a short term commitment. Our desire to change must always be greater than the resistance to remain the same.
What else has to change; within you to make it happen?
What else has to shift to make it possible?
Where will resistance be?
What will you do when it shows up?
What is your plan B, Plan C?
What does your ideal day look like?
What does the ideal you look like?
What does the ideal you feel like?
How has it changed your vision of the future?
Why is that vision important?
Are you committed to taking action?
WHY?
Because without action, it is simply DREAMING…… and the weight remains.
So how do we write all this information down? Why do we write it down? The brain works in certain ways, some visual, some methodical, some unconscious or conscious. We need to learn how the brain takes in information and stores it so it can be accessed when we need it.
We need to chunk. What is chunking? Small bites of information (sorry the pun) Pie charts, wheels, photographs, color, graphs all make chunking more visual
Chunking is fundamental: Visuals are key to moving the thinking pattern into the visual brain. You want Visual brain action!
Repeating the desires outcome, keeps the brain moving forward. Everyday, repeat the same actions, the same verbal ques, the same outcome. Through repetition our brains believe our thoughts to be true, this helps us become what we want on any level, not just for losing weight!
Making concrete steps, by using your positive visual brain, helps you to understand the strong mind body connection; CREATE short, intermediate and long term action Charts that are organized, prioritized, measurable and attainable. Post them so you look at them every day, make adjustments, make it apart of your daily activity, chart your progress.
Have a clear understanding WHY it is important as this will help you to maintain your motivation through any goal you want to achieve.
It’s not about the weight, it is much deeper than that…………… get support, someone to “hold the space” to believe in you and to keep you focused.
Until then
Stay well.
Adele Anderson
Xo