Silence Your Mind and Change Habits

We all know we need to eat right and exercise. Yet, most people do not even though they want to lose weight and know that’s the only way. Sound familiar? Do you want to know what really stops you from taking positive action and changing your life? The answer is fear! You really want or need to lose weight but you stop yourself because you are:

• afraid you’ll fail
• afraid it will hurt
• afraid of changing your lifestyle
• afraid of working
• afraid of how others will react
• afraid you will have to stop eating things you love
• afraid you will have to exercise 24/7

Change is not possible without action. Action will not take place if you have fear stopping you dead in your tracks. Fear affects different people in different ways and can affect anything in your life. Have you ever seen someone freak out when they see a spider or travel in an airplane? You may not be bothered by either of these examples. When faced with your fears the negative emotional response you feel is real.

That’s usually when the little voice inside your head floods your mind with excuses; “I do not have time,” “I’m too tired,” “I’ll start tomorrow,” “Eat it,” “Have seconds even though you’re full because it tastes so good. ”

That little voice is nothing but your ego trying to protect you. Whenever you feel anything negative; bored, rejected, angry, sad, lonely, the voice will come. The voice speaks the language of ‘excuse’ – it is fluent – and its goal is to get you as comfortable as possible. When it comes to weight loss the way you react to the Voice will determine your results.

But, even when you did step up and took action … why did not it last? Changing habits is one of the most challenging things you can do. Unfortunately, most people do not experience long-term results, because they did not give them enough time or reinforce the new positive habit.

It only takes two weeks to establish a new habit. But, it takes an average of 60 days to reinvent that habit until it becomes permanent. There are 3 stages of habit changing:

1) Excitement – Weeks 1 to 2 (14 days)

2) Reaction – Weeks 3 to 5

3) Reformation – Weeks 6 to 8 (up to 60 days)

Changing a bad habit may seem impossible but it is not when you know how. You have to get your Mind Right. You literally have to stop the old habit and do something else that’s productive. The ability to break the bad habits that are affecting your fat loss goals depends on three things: awareness, acceptance, and positive action.

Awareness: Think about your bad habits. What do you do that is unproductive or bad for you? Some examples include: frequently eating out, drink alcohol every day, fast food, overeating portion sizes, being inactive, etc.

Acceptance: Accept your bad habits are that, bad, and they keep you from your weight loss goals. Accept that you have to change if you want to lose weight. How? By taking action.

Action: Acting in a positive way!

I want you to be successful and reach your goals in a healthy, sane way. It is my mission in life. I know how hard and overwhelming it can be trying to break bad habits. Trust me I’ve been there and done that but it is possible. Act by taking these steps: Analyze the bad habit then stall or replace it!

ANALYZE – To analyze a bad habit all you have to do is ask yourself: “What am I getting out of this?” The truth is that on some level your bad habit works for you. But, the problem is also hurting you.

An example is a bad habit of eating when you’re bored. It works because you get satisfaction because it’s something to do. But, it’s bad because all of those extra calories add up and turn into unwanted pounds. Another example: skipping the gym. It works because it provides comfort and protection from possible awareness, embarrassment and having to work. It hurts because it keeps you from your weight loss goal and you will not get a chance to prevent muscle loss.

STALL & REPLACE

Once you have finished analyzing your bad habits, stay alert. When the urge to give into the bad habit comes you must Stall or Replace it!

STALL – The panic and sense of urgency that the Voice creates, prompting you to give into your bad habits can be very strong. But, the urge, has a short lifespan. So when the Voice comes, postpone taking the negative action. For example, if you are tempted to eat out of boredom, stall; clean, make a phone call, read a magazine, or flip through the TV channels. Sometimes, a few minutes will stop the urge. But, other times it may take 2 or 3 rounds of stalling the Voice before the urge is gone completely.

REPLACE – If stalling does not work, you must replace the habit with an opposite, positive action that competes with the habit. Find something comfortable and productive that does not involve food or avoiding exercise. If the Voice is tempting you to skip the gym, do the opposite! Put on your sneakers and go anyway. If you’re tempted to eat do anything else that does not involve food: Listen to music, take a shower or walk around your neighborhood.

Be aware of the Voice. It can be powerful and persuasive, but it is afraid of you because it knows you can over it. Accept that the Voice will try to depone its expiration date as long as possible. It may even try to negotiate with you. Take positive action that will keep you on track with your goals.

A good way to make sure you maintain control is to prevent the problem from occurring in the first place. If the Voice wants you to:

Eat ice cream – Take a walk instead

Have seconds – Leave the table or get the food away from you

Not go to the gym – Get in your car and go!

If you take these steps, over time, your bad habits will vanish. You will change your mind in a body in ways you never thought possible.

So how can you work on changing your bad habits? If you can not think of anything then ask yourself if you’re really ready to change? Do you really want to get rid of your bad habits once and for all?

If not then go online and find pictures of people who continued the bad habit you also share that are miserable because of it. For example, if you want to stop over searching for binge eating forums and see how other people are suffering because they continued the bad habit.

Know that if you do not change NOW, you will be paying the receipts, too! Print pictures and quotes from that affect you the most and put them around your house to constantly remind yourself how your habit can hurt you if you do not change. If you want something better and you can have it now. Take positive action. Practice makes perfect.

You can not get your body tight unless you first get your mind right.

Source by Christina Carlyle