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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – Your thoughts and beliefs are what power your eating behaviors and habits. By harnessing the power of your mind, you can successfully lose weight–as I did and as many others have. Used in conjunction with The Anderson Method, these tools can help you reach your goal weight.
Self-image and body image. Your brain takes its orders from your imagination and thoughts. If you imagine yourself at your goal weight, your brain knows what to do to make that happen.
Modeling. Consciously decide to stop copying role models you’d rather not follow, and intentionally choose models who are trailblazing the path you’d like to take.
Written goals. This can be as simple as a to-do list, a letter to yourself, or a Post-It on the mirror saying “120 by December 1.” Something very powerful happens to the mind when you write down goals and revisit them daily.
Vision mapping. Make pictures of what you want to look like (find a body you like in a magazine, and paste a photo of your head on it). Looking at these images each day is the equivalent, for your brain, of typing in the destination for a GPS and pushing “enter.” Your brain will help your body arrive at that visual goal.
Stimulus control. You may need to drive home a different way, quit bowling, or quit coffee hour at church. You may even need to avoid certain friends. Remove eating and craving triggers.
Aversive conditioning. If you are considering eating something that’s not on today’s plan, say to yourself—out loud, if you’re alone—”Wait, if it’s not planned, then it’s overeating. Overeating is what made me fat. I’m on my way to 120.” Then form a mental picture of what you were going to eat that’s unappetizing. Imagine the food crawling with bugs, or think of who handled it before you.
Self-talk. Be conscious of everything you think, because if you think it enough, you will believe it. If the scale reads higher than yesterday, even though you’ve stuck to your plan, say out loud, “Liar. I know I’m burning fat because I stuck to my eating plan. This is water weight.” Don’t let negative thoughts intrude.
Self-hypnosis. Good self-hypnosis would involve saying every morning, “I’m getting better at this undereating every day. It’s not even hard anymore. I’m losing weight like crazy.”
Reframing. Practice changing the meaning of something by looking at it in a new way. Instead of feeling deprived when you feel a twinge of hunger, reframe it by thinking: “That means I’ve burned the calories from my last meal, and now I’m burning fat!”
William Anderson is the author of the top-selling new book, The Anderson Method (Two Harbors Press, 2009, $14.95, www.theandersonmethod.com), which shows how to use psychotherapeutic techniques to achieve permanent weight loss. It’s based on the method he developed that helped him lose 140 pounds 25 years ago, and keep the weight off.
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