Struggling to lose weight? Change your "thinking" habits NOW!

I lost 65 pounds and donated all my too-big clothes to charities and shelters. No more size 22 for me! Or size 20, or 18, or 16, or 14, or even 12. Now I wear a perfect size 10 and I love shopping like never before.

How did I do it? I’ll let you in on my secret, but first I’ll tell what I didn’t do:

• I didn’t undergo any type of weight loss surgery.
• I didn’t join a gym or rigorous exercise class.
• I didn’t sign any contract with a nationwide weight loss chain.
• I didn’t fast or go through any type of detoxification.
• I didn’t take any kind of weight loss drugs.

As a matter of fact, I didn’t spend a single dime! And the process was so easy and permanent; it just doesn’t pay to make uncertain commitments prior to giving this process a chance.

The process I stuck with that helped me shed 65 pounds came almost by surprise. I was significantly overweight – no doubt about that; but more bothersome than my size was my fear of mere existence. Life was painful. Not because of my weight, but because of the gigantic hole in my self-esteem. I felt unworthy, vulnerable, petrified, alone and unequipped to survive life. I went to bed at night hoping I wouldn’t wake up in the morning, because nothing could feel worse than waking up.

The circumstances that led me to that dark place don’t really matter. What matters is how I got out of that place and the impact it had on every single area of my life. The process changed my self respect, my outlook on life, my relationships, my choices, my health, my desire to live and as an added bonus, the process changed my size!

Are you ready to hear my secret? I stood in the mirror and said “I LOVE YOU” over and over and over for hours, days, weeks, months; until I believed myself and completely fell in love with me. In addition, I visualized my life the way I wanted it to be, not the way it actually was. In a very short time, my life became the picture I pasted in my mind. Now, before you discount the idea, consider the following fact:

What you focus on expands. If you think about illness all the time, chances are you will attract illness into your life more than the average person. If you constantly complain about a lack of money, chances are you will experience financial hardship. If you find fault with your spouse all the time, chances are your relationship will suffer more often than not. And if you perpetually whine about your own appearance, chances are your body will become less appealing to you as time goes on.

Don’t fool yourself into thinking its no big deal to criticize your body to yourself or to others. This is a big deal. And when you begin to retrain yourself to only speak highly of yourself, exhibiting appreciation, love and self respect, you will begin to see some amazing results.

Here are 3 reasons changing your thinking habits will change your size:

1. As you practice sending positive loving thoughts and words to your body, you will be less inclined to attack or offend yourself. Your body will respond favorably and respect you in return by providing you with unyielding will-power and a decreased appetite. You will actually acquire a taste for foods that are beneficial for your body (without having to force yourself to eat something you never liked). And you’ll find the high-in-fat comfort foods that you use to crave become completely unappealing and quite possibly, repulsive.

2. Because loving words and thoughts contain such a high vibration or positive energy, you will immediately feel more energetic, lighter, and active. You’ll be more inclined to walk, dance around, or incorporate simple exercises into your life. Believe it or not, you will find it is actually difficult to stay still! And within a short time, an exercise routine will become more addicting than your former need to consume junk food.

3. There is a physiological change that occurs on a cellular level when positive words versus negative words are directed at an organism. Spontaneous healing, miraculous feats of strength or a deceleration of the aging process have been known to occur based on the energy of the spoken word. If you want more evidence, read “The Hidden Messages in Water” by Masaro Emoto who conducted experiments with water exposed to positive versus negative words. The results were amazing and the book provides the proof (along with some incredible photos). The human body contains 70% water – imagine the benefits overall. .

Here are 3 ways to change your “thinking” habits starting today:

1. Spend at least 10 minutes per day saying “I love you” to yourself. You can do this in the mirror, in the shower, in the bathtub, or while meditating. It doesn’t have to be boring; be creative! Flirt with yourself and say things like “You sexy thing, you’ve still got it!” Or be proud of yourself and say things like “You are amazing and I love your victorious spirit” or “You are unique and special and I love you no matter what been through or what anyone else thinks”.

2. Visualization is essential to losing weight! If you want to lose 25 pounds, visualize yourself at that desired weight now. Remember, the idea is to stay in as positive a frame of mind as possible. A negative frame of mind will keep the weight on! Elevate your mindset by faking yourself out. Pretend you are as small as you want to be and then rejoice yourself into getting smaller. It’s called “Acting as if you already are what you want to be” and it works.

3. Write a letter to yourself today, but date it 6 months from now. In the letter, write how proud you feel now that you’ve achieved your weight loss goal (even though in reality, you haven’t started losing the weight yet). Similar to visualization, this is also an act of keeping your mind in a positive place and attracting the “picture” you actually want into your life. The letter can say “I’m so proud I can barely contain myself! I’ve lost the 45 pounds I set out to lose 6 months ago and I look fantastic. I have so much energy and enthusiasm for life now. I have gone down 4 sizes and love my handsome new wardrobe. I am walking 3 - 5 miles daily I’ve never felt better! And everyone has noticed the change in me! I look wonderful!” Once you write this letter, read it daily and believe that it can be achieved. And before you know it, you will be there.

A few bonus tips for achieving your weight loss goal even quicker:

• Write your preferred weight on sticky notes and stick them around the house in various places – put one right on your scale and when you weigh yourself, look at the sticky note instead of the display window on the scale. And congratulate yourself for your achievement.

• Once you begin losing weight, get rid of the clothes that are too big. Most people store them thinking “I better hold on to these in case I gain the weight back”. I’m telling you, if you keep the size 18 when you are down to size 14, chances are you will need the size 18 again since you never truly “let go”.

• Be sure you know what came first, the chicken or the egg. Meaning, know why you want to lose weight. I know someone that was convinced her obesity was the main contributor to her depression and she underwent weight loss surgery. I didn’t support the surgery in her case since I felt her poor self-esteem was the real reason for her depression. Two years later, and 100 pounds lighter, she is more depressed than ever. Evaluate your reasons before you make big decisions.

• I’m not a fan of detoxification diets. You send your body a message of “I’m punishing you” by denying it all the foods it craves all at one time. And in many cases, people get frustrated and eat unhealthier than ever. I say, treat yourself in moderation – cut down the amount, but most importantly, don’t wallow in guilt over something you ate that some weight loss program would smack you on the hand for. Guilt is a negative energy and will cause you to stay stuck. Just love yourself and you’ll know what to do.