STAYING MOTIVATED TO LOSE WEIGHT: BELIEVING YOU CAN
I am a great believer in using positive thinking in every aspect of life. In my 40-plus years as an internist and cardiologist, I’ve seen first hand how our thoughts have a profound impact on our physical health. Unfortunately, many of us have filled our minds with the kind of unhappy thoughts that invite disease by weakening the immune system. Millions of Americans are suffering from depression, anxiety, irritability, “hatred and hurted,” and other emotional problems. These thoughts can actually change the body’s chemistry and promote cancer, heart disease, immune system disorders, and many other diseases. I have no doubt that unhappy thoughts can also contribute to a slowed-down metabolism and obesity.
It helps to visualize something before doing it. That sets in your mind a picture of success, a goal to strive for. Sports psychologists do this when they teach their athletes to visualize the roar of victory that will emanate from the crowd as they touch the finish line first. At a more common level, we do this constantly, every day, even though we may not be aware of it. We think, for example, “I need to take a drive,” and we imagine getting our keys and wallets, getting into our cars, and driving along a mountain road. Only then do we actually get the keys and wallet, leave the house, and hop in the car. We saw it in our minds before we did it.
Visualizing a positive end result is a very effective way of achieving a goal. But some people have difficulty doing so, for their ability to visualize a goal depends on their belief in what they are visualizing. It is difficult, for example, for a runner who always loses and whose times are known to be worse than those of his competition to imagine himself winning races. He feels that he cannot possibly see himself winning unless there is a logical reason why previous history won’t apply to the next race .. . perhaps a new training technique. So, rather than visualizing success, he sees himself losing. And that unhappy vision makes it even more difficult to triumph. Unhappy past experiences become self-fulfilling prophecies of future performance.
This is exactly what happens to many dieters. They “know” from bitter and repeated past experience that diets don’t work. Therefore, instead of imagining themselves as slim and
beautiful, they see themselves as even pudgier and more out of shape. They find it a lot easier to fantasize about eating a scrumptious toffee nut chocolate candy bar than a bunch of carrot sticks. Of course, with such unbidden images of candy bars and the like filling their imaginations—and without any counteracting images of ultimate success with which to fight back—the goodies become even more difficult to resist. Many of us can’t.
But matters are wholly different once Chitosan is added to the mix. At last there is an entirely logical reason to believe we can lose weight. Indeed, there is no doubt that, with a degree of self-control well within our reach, we can. As a result, we can start visualizing positive weight-reduction scenarios without boggling our imaginations with their sheer impossibility. Now we have a reason—and therefore the tools—to convert our fantasy about Snickers bars into a more productive fantasy about luscious, juicy peaches, or fresh-baked bread, or. …
Best of all, however, we can now start to imagine food— good, healthy food, not the dry, diet food you really hate—in context with looking good and feeling healthy.
It may seem a little silly at first, but try the following visualization technique. Imagine yourself sitting down to a delicious, health-promoting meal. You’re relaxed, feeling full of energy and well-being. See yourself eating this wonderful meal, savoring the flavors and aromas. With each bite you become slimmer, more attractive, and healthier. Repeat the fantasy every time a meal is approaching. Concentrate.
For many of my patients, the technique of imagining (or imaging, really) does work. Indeed, keeping these mental pictures firmly in our minds may be one of the most important keys to weight loss and good eating. Always remember: If you can see yourself eating healthfully, you can do it! To paraphrase words of Napoleon Hill, “Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve!”
With Chitosan assisting us, it is easy to believe that we can eat healthily and lose weight. We can do it, we can maintain our appropriate weight, even if it sometimes seems as if the entire world is conspiring to get us to eat all the wrong foods for all the wrong reasons. But of course, potential pitfalls still await us. So let’s examine them and see how we can easily avoid these traps.
Always keep your goals in the front of your mind. Constantly seeing yourself succeeding is the first step toward success. And often the most important step as well.
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