Learn What Science Has Taught
Us About The Frontal Lobe Of The
Brain And Weight Loss
The right questions combined with mental repetition will fully activate the frontal lobe.
In your quest to achieve success in life, including your weight and health, this is probably the best hidden secret that you will ever learn. It is a subject that you have probably heard very little about. People like Oprah, Will Smith, Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, Madonna, and Mother Theresa have all learned to tap into this resource at a deep level. We often think that these people are endowed with brain structures that are different from ours. Why do so few people achieve the same level of success as their heroes? It’s not that our heroes are any smarter or better than the rest of us. They have just learned to do one thing critical for success, and that one thing is something that you can also learn to do.
So what is this thing that’s going to help you think like the great leaders of the world? All right, here it is: This great resource used by the most successful people in history is the part of your brain called the frontal lobe.
I’m thrilled to teach you this secret. Simply by tapping into the frontal lobe, we’re going to change all those old patterns and habits that have been keeping your goals and success at bay. Once you start to actively engage this part of your brain on a daily basis, your weight will change, your life will change, and you will start to achieve greatness at whatever you set your mind to. You will be thinking from the same mindset employed by the doers of this world.
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So what on earth is the frontal lobe, and what does it have to do with achieving your ideal, healthy weight? Rather than go into too many technical terms and bore you, let me summarize. The frontal lobe sits at the front and center of the brain. It is the largest of the four lobes, and is the most highly developed part of the human nervous system. The frontal lobe is the emotional control center of the brain.
What you are about to learn shakes up the traditional approach to changing behaviors. You’ve probably heard it before: your thoughts become feelings, your feelings become actions, and your actions become results. So it would look like this: Thoughts = feelings = actions = results.
But the brain simply does not work like that. What happens is you have a thought that produces a feeling, and then the feeling loops back to the thought. So it goes like this. Thoughts = feelings = thoughts = feelings = thoughts.
Thinking, feeling; feeling, thinking; thinking, feeling. And so the vicious cycle goes on. We need to learn to break this cycle so we can move forward to taking action, and get the results we’re after. If we choose to break this cycle, we automatically tap into the power of the frontal lobe.
The Gatekeeper
It wasn’t too long ago when I asked one of my multi-millionaire mentors, “What do you think is the secret to making over 100 mil ion dol ars?” His response was, “Wel , Shane, in every industry, every venture that I went into, I found the gatekeeper, the person who could open the door for me. I did whatever it took to get to the person who had that key.”
If I were to say to you right now, “I have access to your gatekeeper, the person that can open all the doors to your dreams, whatever career you’re in, whatever stage of life Think, Act, Love, Lose Weight
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you’re at,” would you take the key or would you walk away?
Of course you would take it. It’s like winning the lottery. The frontal lobe functions as a gatekeeper to manage information, and determine whether to shut it out, put it aside and attend to it later, or put it front and center. You have the gatekeeper at your disposal right now.
The frontal lobe is the gatekeeper. Once we get through the gates, we can take efficient and effective action to produce the results we’re after. Can you remember a time when you just could not get yourself motivated to go exercise? The gates were closed. You start thinking thoughts like how bad it was going to be; how much work it would be; how hard it is; and how you might sweat. The more you started thinking, the more you started to produce a feeling of not wanting to follow through. That feeling would go back to a thought; for example, of how exercise is hard, and that thought would then reinforce your lack of motivation.
These thoughts create barriers that keep you from moving to the action stage. In fact, it is pretty much impossible if the gates are closed. You end up with an outcome that you were trying to prevent: gaining more weight. Very few of us end up seeing the results we want because we’re stuck in the thinking-and-feeling, feeling-and-thinking cycle.
The frontal lobe is the part of the brain that provides us with the power to become unstuck, to break out of unhealthy patterns. It is here that we can choose between good and bad (do not eat the whole cake, versus eat the whole cake). And it is here that we associate emotions with memories (the last time I ate the whole chocolate cake, I became moody and depressed following the sugar high.) And, fortunately, it is here that we can break negative cycles.
If the frontal lobe is such an important piece of the puzzle for us to create success in our lives, why then do so few of us utilize it to achieve our full potential? The reason is that most of us become addicted to our emotions. In a very real sense, we have become caught in the trap of Chapter 5: The Frontal Lobe And Weight Loss http://www.free-ebooks.net/t/98
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doing the same things over and over again. Our brains become accustomed to our daily routines, which require little or no thought. We start to crave those routines, and we don’t want to experience new things that are unfamiliar to us. If someone throws us off our routine, we’re completely lost.
We start to live our lives in a catatonic state. We become lazy, unmotivated, and uninspired. We have dif-ficulty focusing in on one single task at hand. When we start a project, or go on a new diet or a new exercise program, or read a new book, we never seem to follow through with it. We become good starters but not good finishers. The people who get rewards in life are the ones who can finish.
Be honest; does any of this sound like you? Don’t be in denial; the first step is to become aware and take full responsibility. This is the only way you can make a change in your life. So don’t sell yourself short.
Emotionally impulsive behavior
The latest scientific brain research shows that the less you use your frontal lobe, the greater chance you have of responding with impulsive, overly emotional behavior. Our emotions are what lead us to impulse eating, and farther away from success in every area of our life. When our frontal lobe is fully engaged, we have the power to have more control over our emotional impulse behaviors. The sooner you start to tap into this resource called the frontal lobe, the sooner you can be on the road to becoming the person you would like to be.
Our personalities are dominated by the cycle of neurological and chemical responses that occur in the body.
Most of these responses are memories of the past, which dictate the choices we make and the reactions we set Think, Act, Love, Lose Weight
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in motion. In essence, we become addicted to these repetitive chemical reactions that keep us living in survival mode. If we can start thinking beyond how we feel, and our emotional responses, then we can start to move beyond living in survival mode, and change the repetitive chemical reactions in our body.
Once I started to learn about the frontal lobe and really put it into action, my life started to completely change. I started to think differently, act differently, and make better choices. I call the frontal lobe a gift we have all been given.
The problem is most of us never unwrap this great gift.
It sits there in the wrapping paper for years and years, often never utilized to its fullest potential. When you’re given a Christmas or birthday present, you don’t just sit there and stare at it, or say, “I am going to wait two years to open this.” No, you’re so excited that you just want to tear the paper open. This is how you should look at the frontal lobe. You have been given a gift, and you are now going to unwrap this gift and learn how to use it to its full potential. Like a video game, once you get really good at it and master it, the game becomes easy. The same process of mastery applies to your frontal lobe. Once you get really good at using the frontal lobe to your advantage, you will start to master your life. It’s time for you to step up and unwrap this great gift called the frontal lobe.
If we were to take away our frontal lobe, we would be similar to every other species. A cat’s frontal lobe makes up 3.5% of its higher brain anatomy; a dog has a little more than a cat, at 7%; and a chimpanzee, 11 to 17%.
In humans, the frontal lobe makes up 30 to 40% of the higher brain anatomy. We have unparalleled potential to use the frontal lobe and control it. What is the sense in not utilizing this gift, and acting like every other species?
Gain mastery over the frontal lobe
Right now, I’ll bet you’re not aware of your surroundings, the noises that are going on around you, the breath you are Chapter 5: The Frontal Lobe And Weight Loss http://www.free-ebooks.net/t/98
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taking in and out, the feelings you are feeling in your body, the taste in your mouth, the smells in the air, the pain in your leg, the smile on your face. All you may be focused on are the words that you are reading right now. That’s your frontal lobe at work. It centers all of your attention.
You may have just turned the page in this book or looked at the clock across the room, scratched your leg, looked out the window, or performed any of a thousand different actions you may make while reading this book.
The frontal lobe is responsible for all the conscious choices and actions you make in a day. Think of it as a conductor on a train. The conductor makes all the decisions to guide the train down the track to get to the final destination. Your frontal lobe has access to all other parts of the brain; like the conductor of the train, the frontal lobe has complete control over the rest of the brain and how it operates. No other part of the brain has the capability to operate at such a high level. If we are ever going to be able to create a change in our behavior, and think rather than just feel, we need to become familiar with the frontal lobe and how it works.
The frontal lobe has the privilege of being the captain of the ship. And it loves to learn new things. So keep learning!
The frontal lobe likes to stay focused on what’s new and exciting. When a skill is new, fun, and exciting, the frontal lobe is like a kid at Christmas. It unwraps what’s new for you and is inspired to try it out. Now, after a few repetitions, when all the newness and excitement is gone, the frontal lobe passes the work to other parts of the brain. This is the privilege it gets for being the captain of the ship. The work is now passed down to the grunts so they can do the mundane, routine work.
The frontal lobe also keeps us focused on what’s important. Do you remember a time when you had the ability to stay determinedly focused, to stick with your health and fitness goals? This is because the frontal lobe cools off other neural signals, so that you do not become distracted Think, Act, Love, Lose Weight
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by information that takes you away from your goals. It’s like tuning into the radio station you choose to listen to.
It removes the static of fuzzy thinking, allowing you to be more creative, and to examine, analyze, and focus on what you really want.
If we don’t learn to direct the frontal lobe, our daily thoughts become concerned with the survival of our body, and if we’re just concerned with survival, then how can we create a compelling future? How can we create a healthy lifestyle? How can we create our dreams? We can’t, because we’re so preoccupied with just getting by.
Our attention, what we focus on, can be our greatest gift or our greatest downfall. We can see into the future or we can anchor ourselves to our past. It’s your choice whether you’re going to make the decision to start working with this incredible resource. I can’t do it for you. I can provide you with the tools. I can lead you to the gatekeeper.
But I can’t take the action for you; you must follow through.
I am going to ask you to make a commitment to work with your frontal lobe every day.
Model Buddhist monks
Many of us have heard of how Buddhist monks can meditate for hours, even days, with extremely focused concentration. This level of control is something we would all love to have, and something that we all can have. There was an experiment conducted on the frontal lobe of Buddhist monks. The monks were asked to hold the thought of compassion. They showed levels of one kind of electrical brain impulses, called gamma waves, that were higher than researchers had ever seen. In one Buddhist monk, the left frontal region was enhanced so much that the researchers concluded he must be the happiest man alive. The happiest man alive! I truly believe that with some work learning to control our emotions through our frontal lobe, we can all Chapter 5: The Frontal Lobe And Weight Loss http://www.free-ebooks.net/t/98
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achieve that level of success. Yes, we can all be extremely happy. The Buddhist monks did this by learning to quiet the other parts of the brain so they could hold one single thought in their minds.
We can train the brain for maximum results so it functions at a higher level than we could ever possibly imagine.
Just like the Buddhist monk who became quite possibly the happiest man in the world, when you learn to control your frontal lobe, you can stay focused on following through with your exercise, you can hold the picture of the body you want in your brain until you get there, you can start to run your brain at an entirely different level.
Countless in-shape individuals have learned to utilize the frontal lobe. The more attentive we become, the higher the level the frontal lobe operates at. Have you ever noticed that when you decide to overeat, you feel controlled by the idea of eating? Let’s say you have a thought in your head about going through the drive-thru at McDonald’s, and you just know you should not act on that thought, but you can’t seem to control yourself. When we gain control of our frontal lobe, we can start to think differently instead of act on those thoughts that are going to leave us with unwanted consequences.
Sometimes teenagers act on certain impulses without really thinking. This is because their frontal lobe is still not fully developed. Similarly, grown-ups sometimes act in the same way as teenagers because they’re not actively using their frontal lobe. I am going to show you how to use the frontal lobe to have the impulse control of a disciplined adult, a level of impulse control that reflects your maturity and intelligence. Those impulses to just go out and act can become a thing of the past.
There was a time in my life when I wondered why I couldn’t get myself to follow through on things. When I was overweight, I would say, “Tomorrow I am going to the gym.” Then tomorrow would come and I would say the exact Think, Act, Love, Lose Weight
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same thing again. I would find myself going for ice cream after dinner rather than going for a good, revitalizing walk.
Why could I not get myself to follow through? I had to find the answer so I could create a change in my life.
How come when we say, “I am going to stop drinking pop,” we don’t fol ow through with what we say? “I am going to be more patient with my spouse.” “I am going to help a charity.” “I am going to read a book a month.” We don’t follow through on any of the promises that we make to ourselves. How come we don’t take action on things that could greatly improve our lives?
First among our excuses, we just don’t feel like it. We start running on automatic pilot -- our days, weeks, months, and years start to become exactly the same. We start to respond to that constant chatter in our head every day, and so we end up making that our reality. Whatever the constant chatter is telling us, we follow. The frontal lobe decides to go completely to sleep, and we start responding solely to our feelings. You might say, “I had a hard day at work. I am so tired and drained. I deserve an ice cream to make me feel better.” You’re responding to your feelings.
Activate your frontal lobe and I guarantee that you will think before you react to those feelings. You will quiet the inner chatter that is trying so hard to talk you out of our dreams and aspirations, your goal to have a long, healthy life, with a fantastic, fit body. The frontal lobe is not only the gatekeeper, but it also acts like your personal secretary. It gives you a plan of action, organizes your thinking, looks at situations with a clear focus, helps you follow through on your plan, guides you to take the right action, and steers you away from the wrong ones based on what you define as your purpose.
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Immediate gratification vs. long-term
success
Imagine this scenario. It’s 11:00 a.m. on Sunday morning and you are set to go out for a workout. You have been doing extremely well. You have stayed on your program for the last two weeks, and you really feel like you’re going to do it this time. You’re going to achieve your ideal, healthy weight, and keep the excess pounds off. After you do your workout, you meet your friend for lunch and order a nice, healthy salad. Your frontal lobe is precisely clear on what you have to keep doing to ensure your future success.
Now let’s look at this scenario. On your way to the gym, you see that your favorite store has a sidewalk sale on, and outside the store you see one of your best friends. On the rack outside, you spot an outfit you have wanted for months. The colors, the design, and the 75% off sign get you so excited that you forget your initial purpose. Your feelings start to override what you really want to accomplish in the end -- that ideal, healthy, in-shape body. You pull into the parking lot, yelling out the window to your friend. You start to shop and chat. You’re having a great time, and hours have passed. You’re getting hungry and no longer feel like going to the gym. Instead you go for lunch with your friend, and you start beating yourself up inside for not following through with going to the gym. So you order comfort food: a big plate of pasta.
If you choose the second option, this is what happens.
When you see your best friend at the store, the outfit hanging on the rack, and the 75% off sign, the external stimuli are so distracting that you completely lose your focus. Your mind wanders to other stimuli; what else is going on around the store? Your brain’s distraction mechanism stops you from restraining your mind. The focus of your original plan, going to the gym, is completely lost. The frontal lobe’s new intention becomes shopping. Your behavior is now no longer matched to your purpose of having your ideal, healthy body.
You start to succumb to immediate gratification instead Think, Act, Love, Lose Weight
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of long-term success. How many of us do this in our lives on a consistent basis?
I think each and every one of us is guilty of this. But the cool thing is we can learn to change it. Here is how that scenario would work if you were in touch with your frontal lobe. You’re on the way to the gym when you see the sidewalk sale, a trigger goes off to stop and check it out, and you activate the frontal lobe and look at the possibilities.
It brings up an image in your head of the importance of working out. You weigh the consequences and benefits, and decide to follow through with your original plan of action.
However, your frontal lobe starts to figure out a solution for you that will resolve the conflict. You decide that after you go to the gym, you will then go to the sidewalk sale and buy that outfit. In a nutshell, this is what happened.
Your prefrontal cortex kept the images of the goal that you really wanted in your head. So your actions now matched your purpose of having that ideal, healthy body, and feeling great about yourself.
I have been practicing working with my frontal lobe so much that when I encounter such a scenario, the picture of what I really want stays in my mind. It becomes so real, so vivid that it feels like I am already there. This is when you really know that you’re activating your frontal lobe. You often hear speakers talk about immediate gratification and long-term gratification. When the frontal lobe is at work, it will provide the inner strength to not respond to those stimuli that have us seeking immediate gratification. Instead of eating that ice cream cone or driving through the McDonald’s drive-thru, we have the ability to hold on to our long-term goals, dreams, aspirations, and purpose.
For most people who are overweight, one of the major causes of the extra pounds is a failure to work with the frontal lobe. An overweight person will easily be distracted, respond to an external stimulus, and overeat. We keep choosing the foods that are not good for us because we can recall what immediate pleasure they give us. We get Chapter 5: The Frontal Lobe And Weight Loss http://www.free-ebooks.net/t/98
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so used to these familiar feelings that we crave more. The same response is triggered when we see an advertisement on TV for our favorite junk food, and we run out and get it.
External stimuli in the environment trigger those familiar feelings in the body.
I am guilty of this as well. My weakness is theater popcorn—as large as you can get. If I know I am going to a movie that night, and if I am not careful, I could be creating pictures in my head all day of the popcorn that’s producing the trigger in me. Even when I drive by a theatre, I notice my body completely changes. I notice I will say things like,
“Could I ever go for some of that popcorn right now!” Simply the act of my seeing the movie theater sets off an external trigger that makes me want popcorn. If my frontal lobe does not go into action, I guarantee that every time I drive by a theatre, I will say, “Let’s go to a movie,” just so I can have popcorn.
Extreme concentrated focus
Through the frontal lobe you have extreme, concentrated focus; it’s simply a matter of time before goals are achieved. The frontal lobe stops your brain from wandering off to other areas that prevent you from achieving your goals. When we see something in our environment that triggers an emotional reaction, the frontal lobe keeps us focused so we don’t react to those emotions. As a result, you enjoy complete control over yourself.
Just as the Buddhist monks can quiet everything down, and are able to meditate at such a deep level, so too can we. When we’re paying attention or focusing, we tend to get very still. We stop seeing the external world. Now something really amazing happens: because we have put the visual information coming in on pause, we now experience thoughts at a deeper level than we could ever imagine. Your thoughts take front and center stage in Think, Act, Love, Lose Weight
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your mind. This also applies to your auditory cortex. You will no longer be aware of noises in the other room, other sounds. Everything starts to become quiet. Each and every one of these neurological signals is shut off by the frontal lobe. The noise that is running wild in your brain is turned right down. When all this works together, whatever we are focusing on or thinking about will become more real to us than the external world. The frontal lobe is so powerful that it can make a conscious thought so real that it seems as if nothing else exists.
The bottom line is a lot of us are overweight because of other events that are happening in our lives. If we are able to summon the power of the frontal lobe, we are able to tune out certain events that are not good for us. For example, say a family member yelled at you and you couldn’t help thinking about it all day. Through the frontal lobe, we’re able to tune out those events and get done what we need to get done in a day, such as going for a workout.
Let’s face the facts: change is hard. Why? Because we seek comfort, and change means discomfort. Our old, boring, regular routine has hardwired our brain to the exact same neural networks that allow us to live that easy, comfortable, and always the same life. There go our dreams, our goals, and our inspirations to have that great, healthy body. Until you break out of the comfort zone, you’re going to stay exactly where you are right now.
How many of us have repeated the exact same pattern for years? “I am going to start a new diet, an exercise program.” “I am going to read a book a month.” “I am not going to watch so much TV.” “I am going to get up early and go to the gym.” “I am going to prepare for my week in advance.” You make all these plans only to find that all your aspirations get trampled by the circumstances that arise in life. All right, I think you now know enough about the frontal lobe, how it works, and just how important a part of your life these higher brain functions are.
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Learn to observe yourself
What is the best way to put the frontal lobe to work for us? The first thing we have to do is observe ourselves.
How do we know we have a problem if we can’t see it? We don’t. This is why many of us stay stuck in our old ways.
I ask a lot of my clients to learn to observe themselves, their particular behaviors and personality traits. You can acquire this skill. It’s the most important and easiest step to creating change.
If we can observe other people’s behavior, then we can observe ourselves. We just have to open up our eyes and start looking. How many times have we looked at somebody else and thought, “I can’t believe the way they’re dressed,” or, “I can’t believe they chose that behavior. I would never do that!” “Can this person really see what he or she looks like?” The truth is, most likely not. They can see the larger world around them but they cannot clearly see themselves.
They may spend a couple of hours in front of the TV every night, but they make no time in their life for self-reflection.
They have no clue about the behavior they choose daily.
They fail to ask themselves the right questions like, “Why do I keep producing these same negative emotions? Why is it that I expect one outcome but my behavior elicits a totally different response? Why is it that I keep getting the exact opposite of what I want in life? I want to be thin but I am fat. I want to be rich but I am poor. I want to have great feelings but I am down.”
Once we activate the frontal lobe, we can start to see ourselves with great clarity. We stop responding to our external world and past memories. We eventually start to leave behind all the programs that we have been running that keep us emotionally addicted. I am not going to sugar-coat the process and say change is going to be easy. It’s going to take some time, effort, and commitment. Your weight did not come on overnight. You did not become broke overnight. You did not establish bad emotions overnight.
This all took some time to create. Converse