Here are 5 old sayings to help with your weight loss (I can't remember the authors):
*If it is to be, it's up to me
*If you think you can or you think you can't, you're right
*Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results
*There is nothing to fear but fear itself
*People are about as happy (and successful) as they choose to be
Until next time...
Dr. Randy
Hello everyone:
To lose weight, all you have to do is to eat less and exercise more, right? Right. Well, that's easier said than done. One of the critical components of weight loss success is the principle of self-control: exercising willpower with our eating and exercise choices. This is essential, but most of us are pretty bad at it. So, what to do?
In an recent Psychology Today article named "Baby Steps to Grown-Up Control", ideas are given to boost your weight loss journey through strengthening your self control. The main idea is this: self control is like a muscle that becomes stronger with practice and exercise. If you can practice small, consistent demonstrations of self-control through simple tasks, your control will increase. Stronger self-control in general makes for better eating and exercise choices.
Try these exercises to build the mental muscle that can actually help you diet:
-- Think twice before buying something.
-- Focus on eliminating "um"s or other unnecessary words from your speech.
-- Spend a week or two avoiding alcohol.
-- Try brushing your teeth with your less dominant hand.
-- Remind yourself to sit up straight.
A second idea to boost your mental self-control for better weight loss: my comprehensive hypnosis program for weight loss, "The Weight Loss Mindset".
Wishing you strength, will power, and a smaller waistline.
Dr. Randy
In a recent People Magazine article, Hilary Duff discusses the enormous pressure in Hollywood to lose weight. She expressed that, "I did get skinny...I've felt that pressure like everyone else in my position. When a newspaper comes out that says 'Duff Puff – she must have gained 15 pounds' or something like that, how would any normal person react?"
In Hollywood, actresses are in a constant state of being criticized as too fat ("Duff Puff") or too thin ("Eating Disorder"). Is there any woman in Hollywood that actually is an acceptable weight? It seems not. No wonder eating disorders are so rampant there--and in the rest of the United States!
What does all of this mean for you--and everyone else not in Hollywood? A lot. The pressures of Hollywood are simply exaggerations of the everyday pressures put on all women to be thinner, heavier, or so other "er". One good solution? Look to medical science for what is healthy and ideal.
I suggest calculating your ideal Body Mass Index ("BMI") number to find your true, statistical ideal weight range and make that your target weight range to strive for. Your ideal BMI calculation should be between 22-24.9. When in doubt, trusting in science is a decent way to go. Strive to be medically healthy.
As for the self-proclaimed weight police out there telling everyone they're too ___, I say, who made them the experts? What are their credentials? For the most part, they have none. They're usually not medical doctors, so they should stop acting like it. Even if they happen to be MDs, why would it still be OK to give unsolicited opinions and judgement? Think about it. If weight opinions are unsolicited and critical, they're usually not wanted.
Until next time,
Dr. Randy
Hello Everyone:
Have you ever found yourself calm your stress through munching on chips? Have you ever drown your sorrows with a big ice cream sundae? Have you ever escaped boredom through chocolate? If so, you are not alone. We've all done this from time to time. However, these situations needs to be a rare, contained events. If "emotional eating" becomes our usual approach to food, we'll soon need to eat more and more to sooth our panic at our expanding waistlines. We're overweight because we feel bad, and then we feel bad because we're overweight. Yes, it can become a vicious cycle.
As I mentioned in my 12/11/06 post, "The Secondary Gains of Poor Eating", one of the common possible incentives for continuing with poor eating habits is for food to serve as an emotional state changer. In other words, when we don't like how we're feeling, as easy (although temporary) way to try to change those feelings is by eating some "comfort food".
So, how do we control emotional eating? Well, the short answer is to find and swap in a better, healthier way to soothe our upset feelings than through food and eating. Food should be for replenishment and refueling purposes only.
So, here are some other ways to soothe and shift your feelings:
1) Learn and practice healthy relaxation techniques, such as deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, visualization, etc. A solid resource for such relaxation is "The Relaxation and Stress Reduction Workbook" by Davis, McKay, and Eshelman (2003). Learn and practice these techniques so that you can go to them as needed when the crisis hits.
2) Beef up your social life. A disconnected, lonely, depressed, and/or angry person is a person at risk for emotional eating. And, nothing puts us at risk for such feelings like our relationships being strained. The primary relationships are, in order of priority: spouse/partner, children, parents/extended family, friends, coworkers/acquaintances, strangers. Initiate contact with these social sources in your life. Repair, nourish, and reconnect with all of the main social relationships in your life, and your emotions will reward you. Call, email, send a card or letter, visit, etc. Apologize regularly. Also, ask for and give forgiveness to others and yourself on a continual basis.
3) Be your own best emotional support system. Be your own best friend. Pamper yourself. Need a break? Take one. Need some better eating, exercise, and sleeping habits? Give yourself these gifts. Need a hobby? Find one and enjoy. Give yourself what you really need in a healthy, balanced way. Remember, if you're not going to treat yourself well, why should anyone else? Furthermore, how or why would you feel good if you don't treat yourself in positive, supportive ways?
There are many other ideas here, but these 3 ideas comprise a healthy start. Enjoy!
Dr. Randy
Why lose weight? Well, some reasons are better than others. External reasons for losing weight involve trying to impress someone else: family, friends, strangers, potential love interests, etc. Is this a good enough motivator to lose weight? Well, usually, no. Not long term, anyway.
People who successfully lose and keep the weight off need consistency. Longevity. Committment. A permenant, low weight lifestyle. External motivation alone usually runs out--especially because some people are impossible to impress, no matter how much weight you might lose. Or, they just plain don't notice. They're often too into themselves.
To keep your improved eating and exercise habits, it eventually requires that you also possess internal motivation to be thin. Internal, meaning--if no one ever saw you thinner, would you still want to lose the weight--just for yourself? Would you still want to sacrifice that cheeseburger? Would you still get out of bed to exercise if no one ever knew either way? If not, it's time to change that.
Here are some ways to increase your internal motivation to lose and keep the weight off:
1) Research the endless health benefits of losing weight (and the terrible health consequences of staying overweight).
2) Try to remember how much better you'll feel inside when you lose weight. Think of all the extra energy, self-esteem, and overall happiness you'll enjoy!
3) Visualize yourself thin and healthy. Enjoy a preview of your better, thinner looks right now.
4) Practice making yourself the main one you want to impress. Be your own audience. Your own crowd to please. It's all about you!
5) Remember--be your own best friend and your own best support system. You are the one that will never let yourself down. In the end, you are the only one that will be there for yourself 100% of the time.
I wish you all of the internal motivation you need, want, and desire! Until next time...
Dr. Randy
So, I'm up late and I bump into Saturday Night Live on the TV. Yes, that show is still on. I just watched their "Weekend Update" clip tonight (3/17) reviewing a recent actual study about "fat talk among women". Recent research suggests that when women congregate, they typically engage in an obligatory ritual: they share mutual negative put downs of their weight (and other looks topics). Apparently, this "fat talk" serves the multiple functions of mutual female bonding, as well as reciprocal validation, empathy, and support.
Yes, I understand that women in 2007 are still judged primarily by how they look. However, self put downs about weight? Can't there be a better way to promote female bonding? How about giving each other compliments about each others' looks, with the woman receiving the compliment simply saying "thank you"? Or, even better, how about just focusing on non-looks topics altogether?
How can a woman lose weight when she keeps telling others (and hence, herself), how "fat" she is and/or how ugly her ___ looks? To once again quote an Old Testament verse in the King James Version of the Bible, "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he" (Proverbs 23:7). I think that that applies to "shes" as well.
Don't set yourself up for a negative self-fulfilling prophesy. It's like playing with fire. For more info on this topic, see my last blog entry, "The Secret: Thinking Thin".
Goodnight all,
Dr. Randy
Spurred on by support from Oprah, the latest craze in the self-help world is the DVD and Book, "The Secret" by Rhonda Byrne. The essence of The Secret is that thinking positively about what you do want will tune you into the proper frequencies of the energies of the universe to generate the attainment of your goal. Conversely, thinking negatively about what you don't want actually attracts other negative energies to generate the negative result.
The essence of this idea is that our subconscious mind doesn't differentiate between "good" and "bad"--it just generates what we focus on--good or bad. Of course, The Secret is not the first brand of psychology or even religion to promote this idea, just the latest. The Bible states, "as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he’ [Proverbs 23:7].
Therefore, having thoughts like "I'm too fat", "I'm a pig", or "I can't stop eating" won't help motivate you to lose weight. In fact, it will turn into a negative self fulfilling prophesy. However, thinking "I am becoming thin", "I will better and exercise", "I am becoming my ideal weight" sets oneself up for a positive outcome. The same with visualizing yourself--see yourself as your thin ideal before it happens, rather seeing yourself as the overweight person you fear or dread.
In short, see and think about the positive outcome you want now to put yourself in the right direction and you will lead and guide yourself to the positive result. Seeing and thinking about what you don't want will generate the opposite. Simple, but not easy. Well, practice makes perfect. Good luck!
Dr. Randy
