The Secret To Weight Loss Mastery
You have the power to transform your life The secret to weight loss mastery is not a cookie-cutter approach that claims to work for everyone. What I have to offer you is an individualized approach that will work for you.
This is a program for developing a lifelong commitment to weight loss and good health that will work, because it will be designed by, and for, you. You will become the master of your own destiny.
This book is about much more than just how to lose weight. It’s about changing how you think, and achieving self-mastery – mentally, emotionally, and physically. Leonardo da Vinci, an artistic and scientific virtuoso, once said: One can have no smaller or greater mastery than mastery of oneself.
With this understanding, Leonardo not only became one of the world’s greatest painters, but also a musician, scientist, architect, engineer, geologist, botanist, and writer. You too have the power to paint the fresco of your own life.
What makes this book truly unique is that you can apply the principles and strategies I’m going to teach you not only to your weight loss goals, but to all your life goals. Thousands of my seminar participants and weight loss clients have written to me, saying, “You have not only helped me change my weight, you have helped me change my life.” You have the ability to direct your own thoughts and behaviors, and produce outstanding results. I will show you how to improve your health and add extra years to your life. But first, you must come to terms with the reality that your weight issues start in the mind. A healthy mind produces a healthy body.
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If you have ever failed on a diet, this book is for you.
Implement the strategies I will teach you, and you will:
Lose weight and keep it off for a lifetime Control your cravings
Stop your endless counting of calories, fats, and carbs
Detoxify your body
Slow down the aging process
Increase your energy and motivation
Create a new way of thinking in all areas of your life
Gain complete control over yourself once and for all
Elevate your quality of life
Self-mastery is easier than you may think. Most people have no idea the enormous capacity for change we possess when we focus all of our resources on mastering a single area of our lives. Scientific research shows that you do have the capacity to break old habits; change your beliefs and perceptions; master new skills; and become a totally new person. Read this book, and you will have all the resources you need at your disposal to master yourself, mental y, emotionally, and physically. I promise you that.
Never doubt the power of your mind
I’ll never forget the day that I suddenly realized I had achieved everything that I had envisioned for myself. As I drove my BMW to one of my weight loss seminars, I was talking on my cell phone to a multi-millionaire who was offering me his assistance to help advance my career. I was healthy and fit; in place of that extra sixty-five pounds of unwanted fat protruding over my belt, I could feel my strong Think, Act, Love, Lose Weight
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abs supporting me with every breath. I no longer needed a quick fix of empty calorie foods to boost my mood. And I was bursting with positive energy.
I drove past the bus stop where, a mere seven years before, I used to catch the bus every day. In those days, I was concerned about having enough money for bus fare or a McDonald’s cheeseburger. I had no real direction, no focus, no sense of identity. The only escape I could find from the emptiness I felt was through food, drugs, or alcohol. Constantly substituting one addiction for another, I felt scared and alone.
But as I drove by in my BMW that day, I thought about what a huge difference seven years can make. And I realized that all of the challenges in my past had paved the way for the extraordinary way of life that I now enjoyed.
Making changes in beliefs and behaviors We have all experienced changes that have lasted for only a day, a week, a month, or maybe even a year. But what we are after here is not a short-term fix; our goal is to create change that lasts a lifetime. We are not talking about just making a change in the way you eat, but a change in you as a person; we’re talking about changing the way you think and behave to create a new and more powerful you.
You will stop thinking like a human garbage disposal who constantly overeats, and start thinking like a thin, fit person who makes healthy food and lifestyle choices.
Imagine how good a healthy diet will make you feel. You can have that feeling for a lifetime. You will become a person who shapes your own life. You have the power. You have control over all of your choices. You are the painter of your life’s masterpiece. So no more justifications, no more excuses; the time to change is now.
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I learned to model people who had already made the changes I wanted to make. What did these successful people have in common? How did they think? What did they believe? How did their beliefs affect their behavior?
What did they do differently to create lasting change? Learn to ask good questions. The quality of your questions will determine the quality of your results.
I can ask a person just five questions, and be able to identify the core problems and insecurities that hold them back from success. Then we work together to change those unsupportive beliefs, enabling them to shed their insecurities and their excess weight for the rest of their life.
Later, we will take a tour deep into the subterranean level of the mind, the unconscious, and explore how we can change our lives by changing our deeply rooted beliefs.
But first, let’s take a closer look at the core concepts and strategies that you will be using to guide yourself on this journey.
If you incorporate the strategies I teach into your life, you will raise your level of success from where you are now to heights you can now only imagine. You will bring the “impossible” into the realm of what’s possible for you.
The first step on that journey is to simply make a decision. Once you decide the level of success you want to reach, and define what that looks like for you, you will set in motion all the other wheels that will keep you rolling in the right direction.
The path to raising your level of success is no mysterious “magic bullet”; reinventing your life requires discipline and hard work. Like the samurai, who rose to become the elite warrior class of Japan, you must cultivate discipline.
Master yourself mentally, emotionally, and physically, and you will automatically raise your level of success.
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What is it going to take for you to create lasting changes in your life? What will truly light that fire within you that will cause you to take control of your mind, your emotions, and your body once and for all? If you are going to create the body, the success, and the life that you have always wanted, you can’t be trying to build that success on a hope or a wish. Each goal must become a “have-to”; something you have to have. In chapter three, we will explore how to find your true source of inspiration. For now, let me just plant the seed in your mind that finding the right motivation is critical to your success.
To raise your level of success, anything you set your mind to must become a “have-to”. You must be willing to do whatever it takes to succeed. The only difference between people who achieve their goals and those who don’t is the willingness to do whatever it takes.
How do you know if you’re moving in the right direction?
If you’re doing the same things over and over, and achieving total success in your life, keep doing those things! Most of us keep doing the same things we have always done, and expect different results. The excess weight will never come off if you keep doing the same things you have always done.
To achieve different results, you need to change what you are doing and how you are doing it. Start doing things differently and you will be working toward success.
Every day, ask yourself what you are doing differently to raise your level of success. It could be something as simple as getting up an hour earlier in the morning to fit in a workout. If your goal is to create more love and affec-tion in your life, maybe it’s telling ten people you love them today. There are an infinite number of ways to raise your level of success. Become aware of the things that are not bringing you any closer to your goals, and do something different!
Let’s start with thinking differently. A belief is simply a thought that you hold to be one hundred percent true. To Chapter 1: The Secret To Weight Loss Mastery http://www.free-ebooks.net/t/98
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change anything in your life, you must first change your limiting beliefs. Instead of supporting your success, these beliefs hold you back from achieving everything you desire.
So start to question your beliefs, and adopt new ones that will serve you on your journey to success.
While we’re on the subject of beliefs, let’s talk about your belief in your own ability to succeed. Do you think that if you have a 99.9% belief in yourself, you can succeed?
No! Just one-tenth of a percent of doubt can hold you back. Doubt is insidious; even the tiniest seed of doubt can prevent you from achieving your goals and aspirations.
You must create a “without-a-doubt” mindset. Do not doubt yourself; there are enough other people in the world that will do that for you.
There will be no shortage of people on your journey who will tell you that your dream is unachievable. Some will scoff at your claim that you are not only going to lose the excess weight, but keep it off forever. They may say,
“You’ve failed in the past. What makes you think you can succeed this time?” Or, “Why bother with another weight loss program when you’ve failed with all the others?” Do any of these dream-killing words sound familiar? Others may not douse your dreams outright; they just may not offer any encouragement.
Often, the reason other people do not support your dreams is that they do not believe that they themselves could do it. When you decide to make a change, when you stretch beyond your “comfort zone”, you challenge their view of reality because they don’t believe in their own ability to succeed. Even those who love us may get uncomfortable with any major changes we make in our lives. Don’t buy into other people’s limiting beliefs! You get to choose which beliefs to adopt; why not choose supportive ones?
Choose to believe in yourself with one hundred percent conviction. Don’t let doubt fueled by past failures creep into your mind. You are learning to do things differently this time.
And it all starts with changing the way you think.
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Find a strategy that works
Once you have the right attitudes in place – you are disciplined, you are doing things differently, you believe in yourself without-a-doubt – are you ready to succeed? Not yet. Next you need to find the right strategy, the one that will work for you.
Japanese warriors used hundreds of sword fighting techniques. But what set the elite samurai apart were the distinctive techniques and unique sequences they developed that put them in a class of their own. For example, they developed the technique of drawing and slicing a sword in a single, fluid motion. Actually a precise series of steps, this al owed them to defeat their opponent quickly and decisively. If they failed to perform the sequence exactly right, they would not succeed with their strike.
Similarly, the highly customizable weight loss strategy I have developed for you is in that elite “samurai” class.
How is it different from any other diet or weight loss program? The sequence of the steps is the key to achieving long-term results. Placed in a different order, the same steps will not work. You cannot build a house without the required foundation. You can’t run a car on an empty gas tank. Foundation first. Gas first. Reshape your mind before you reshape your body.
Many weight loss programs fail to create long-term results because they are running on empty, and they don’t address your total health – a healthy mind, body, and spirit.
They often start with the advice to simply exercise more and eat less. But if you don’t have a strong foundation to support your success, of course you will fail! If you don’t adopt the mindset of success, and believe without-a-doubt that you can achieve your goals, you wil not have the ability to make permanent healthier lifestyle choices.
The strategy I wil help you design wil change your unsupportive beliefs, keep you motivated, and ultimately, Chapter 1: The Secret To Weight Loss Mastery http://www.free-ebooks.net/t/98
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help you to maintain your new, healthy weight for a lifetime.
Realize that when it comes to gaining control over your weight, you have not failed; the strategies you have been using have failed you. All those other misguided weight loss programs, diet books, and gurus have failed you. Provided you have the right tools to use in the right sequence, you will lose the excess weight – and keep it off forever.
One size does not fit all
When I was going to school, I was a “problem student”. I wouldn’t sit still; I didn’t listen; I always seemed to be focused on something other than what was being taught. Why did teachers typically have such a hard time holding my attention? The strategies they used were not right for me.
I realized that I was not necessarily the problem when, one day, I found myself in a classroom with a teacher who held everyone’s attention captive, mine included. To this day, I can still recall information I learned in her class. Why was her teaching method so effective? She used many different strategies, including ones that worked for me.
This particular teacher told stories and used props.
She varied her tone of voice, and she exuded a passion for teaching. In short, she was able to engage the visual learners, the auditory learners, and the kinesthetic learners.
Most of my teachers, it seemed, used only the auditory approach. This new teacher went beyond that; she used all three modalities to draw in the entire class. Her classes were fun and interactive. As a result, I never received less than 85% in her class – something I had previously been unable to achieve.
I share this story with you to demonstrate that one size does not fit all. If you have tried other programs in the past that did not produce the results you wanted, then you have Think, Act, Love, Lose Weight
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not yet found the strategy that works for you. There is no failure, only positive feedback. That’s why I have designed this book to include many different strategies for you to implement in order to achieve optimal, long-term results. If you have without-a-doubt belief in yourself, a “have to have it” attitude, and the right strategy, you will succeed.
Develop clarity and focus
The primary main reason most people don’t get what they want in life is that they don’t know exactly what they want! You may be thinking, “Of course I know what I want.
I’m overweight and out of shape. Isn’t it obvious? I want to lose weight and get fit.” But losing weight or getting fit are neither clear nor specific enough goals to get you where you want to go.
Most people do have a clear idea of what they don’t want. “I don’t want to be fat.” “I don’t want to be broke.”
“I’m tired of sitting at home alone watching TV every Satur-day night.” But if you are constantly focusing on what you don’t want, that is exactly what you are going to get. If I say to you, “don’t think of the color red,” what happens? You automatically think of the color red. And if you associate particular emotions with the color red, you may start to feel those emotions. What if I say, “don’t think about ice cream”? You’re probably on your way out the door right now to go get ice cream. Stop, right now!
What you focus on, think about, and talk about is what you are going to move toward. So focus on what you want, and be as specific as you can. For example, if you want to lose weight, what is your target weight? By what date do you want to reach your goal? What exactly are you going to do to get there? Clearly defined, compelling goals will drive your success.
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The other day, I was riding in my friend’s new car when we got lost. Fortunately, his car has a GPS navigational system. He gave it our exact destination, and the navigational system directed us to precisely where we wanted to go. When we arrived, I turned to him and said, “Isn’t the navigational system a great metaphor for life?” “How is that?” he asked. “Your mind is like the GPS device,” I explained, “Give it a clear destination, and it wil go to work for you, guiding you to the very thing you want to achieve.” If you don’t give the navigational system in your car a precise destination, it wil not be able to direct you to where you want to go. Your mind works the same way. You must give the mind a clearly defined outcome in order to achieve your goal. Be specific about where you want to go in life, and your mind will help get you there.
Now that you have described in detail what you want to achieve, you must be able to visualize it. Imagine you have achieved your ideal, healthy weight. How does your body look? What is your new life like? How do you feel? Make the image in your mind as real as possible. You must have a vivid and detailed picture in your mind of what success looks like for you.
Now hold this picture of the new you in your mind as often and for as long as possible. The brain cannot distinguish the difference between something you see with your eyes and an image you create in your brain. So as you visualize your goal, your mind will begin to accept this as real, and it will strive to make your physical reality match what it “sees”.
Next, find and cut out a picture of a body that looks exactly the way you would like yours to look. Choose a picture of a body that has a similar structure to yours. If you Think, Act, Love, Lose Weight
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are tall with broad shoulders, for example, don’t choose a picture of a short, fine-boned body. Better still, find two pictures. Place one in a prominent spot where you will see it every day, and carry the other one with you wherever you go. When you find yourself heading for a fast food drive-thru, stop and pull out the picture. Using this technique will help your goal become even more firmly embedded in your mind.
It does not matter at this point how you are going to achieve your end result. The important thing is that you be able to see in clear detail exactly what your desired outcome looks like. As you will soon discover, the how will start to take care of itself.
Don’t get derailed
When you were a baby, you knew exactly what you wanted, and you were very insistent about it. When you were hungry, for example, you would cry until you were fed.
In a sense, you were pursuing a specific goal, loudly and without inhibition, until you got exactly what you wanted.
Then you learned to crawl, and fueled by curiosity, you would crawl around a room towards all the things that intrigued you the most. Never did you hear a little voice in your head that said, “You can’t have that!” You were still clear on exactly what you wanted, and went after it.
As we get older, we begin to hear negative messages that inhibit us in the pursuit of our goals. “Don’t touch that!” “Eat everything on your plate, whether you like it or not.” “Life isn’t easy.” “You can’t have everything you want just because you want it.” “Money is the root of all evil.”
“Can’t you think of anybody but yourself?” This conditioned thinking becomes embedded in the subconscious mind and impacts our ability to set and achieve goals without us even being aware of it.
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Realize that these thoughts are nothing but other people’s beliefs. Be careful not to take them on and automatically accept them as true. We will work more in-depth with questioning your beliefs later. For now, just remember that you have the power to choose what you believe.
We may also unwittingly take on other people’s goals as our own. People often pursue things that they don’t truly want for themselves, just to please someone else. Did you earn a business degree because that’s what your parents wanted you to study? Did you get a “real” job instead of pursuing your dream to be an actor? Sometimes the influence is more subtle. We fall into a “pack mentality”. Maybe you don’t start your own business because everyone else in your circle of friends has a “traditional” job. Or maybe everyone in your family is overweight and inactive, so it’s easier for you to stay that way too.
Do not allow yourself to get derailed on the way to your dreams. You must take control over yourself, and decide exactly what you want, and who you want to become. It’s time to stop making other people’s needs and desires more important than yours, and make your life your own.
Stick with it!
I often see people adopt a new strategy and come close to achieving results, but they lose patience and quit. They may start a new diet or try out a new fitness program for only a week, then decide, “This doesn’t work!” Remember, the excess weight did not come on overnight; it’s not going to come off overnight either. To achieve results takes repetition over time. Commit to using your new strategies long enough for them to begin to work. Once you see even a tiny bit of success, you will be excited and motivated to stick with it.
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How many things have you enthusiastical y started, but then let slide over time? Anyone can start something, but the real winners are the ones who stick with it. The people who get the rewards in life are the ones with the staying power to achieve their goals. Think about people who are in great shape. They keep on following through, day in and day out, and they get results.
How often do you hear about someone’s great new business idea that has the potential to make them rich?
The average person actually has three great ideas a day.
That’s like holding three winning lottery tickets in your hand every day! But the ones who actually follow through on their ideas are few and far between. Follow-through is
critical to your success.
I can give you every strategy I know in this book, but you must put those strategies into play, and follow through. If you don’t fol ow through with your new personal program for weight loss success, you will get exactly the same results you always have in the past. You will have the roadmap you need, but you will be no closer to your destination. One year from today, you will think the same, look the same, and be in exactly the same place you are now. It’s all up to you. You have the power to transform your life. So take action right now!
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Action steps
Decide what you want
Write out your health and fitness goals. Be as specific as you can.
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Do something different
Most of us keep doing the same things we have always done, and expect different results.
What three things can you do differently today that will help you achieve your weight loss goals?
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Reprogram your brain
Repeating positive affirmations daily will motivate you, and help reprogram neural pathways in the brain to create new ways of thinking. Psychologists say it can take up to twenty-one days to rewire a neural pathway. The more you repeat your affirmations, with vivid imagery and strong positive emotions, the sooner they will go to work for you.
Here are three examples of positive affirmations: I am developing a strong and attractive body.
I am creating a body I enjoy and love.
I am full of energy and enjoy great health.
Now write three of your own. Carry them with you, and hang them up where you can see them every day.
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Visualization
Spend five or ten minutes creating a vivid picture in your mind of the new you. Hold this picture in your mind while you feel the emotions; feel how great it feels to be you. If this doesn’t come naturally to you, then “borrow” the emotion from another time in your life when you were highly successful.
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NOTES:
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