The neuro-science of losing the weight
you hate and keeping it off forever.
The
Neuro-Science Of Losing The Weight You Hate And Keeping It
Off Past Summer
Are
you one of the 90 million Americans who are currently on a
diet? Do you lose weight only to gain every ounce of it
back? Well you're not alone.
The
national center for health statistics suggests that over 64
% of Americans are overweight and that figure is growing
every year. There are currently over 300 books on dieting
and over 16,000 variations of diets from which to choose.
People spend over $40 billion a year on every magic potion
or pill that they think will help them lose the weight they
hate. Unfortunately, 95% gain back all the weight only to
once again look for the next hot new diet.
John
Assaraf, one of the world's leading optimum performance
experts, suggests we look at the cause of this epidemic
instead of relying on diets and temporary weight loss
tricks. "People don't understand how their brain functions
and therefore gain all the weight they lose 99% of the
time," said John Assaraf. "To diet using will power and
exercise is absolutely the worst way to take off the weight
you hate, if you want to keep it off for good."
Will
power is a very short-term solution for weight loss since it
is controlled by the conscious mind. The latest scientific
research shows that the non-conscious, conditioned side of
your personality controls five sixths of your behavior and
therefore your long-term results.
This
means that 83% of the time you are acting automatically at a
non conscious level and explains why you regain all your
weight back. For permanent weight loss, you must re- train
the 5/6th your brain if you really want to keep it off.
AMYGDALA
A
recent discovery has to do with your amygdala. This part of
your brain doesn't like change and will release neuro-transmitters
anytime you try to change something in your life like your
weight. It picks up any deviation from your normal weight
and basically causes you to revert back to your old patterns
of thoughts and behaviors. It works exactly like the
thermostat in your home that automatically picks up any
change in room temperature and then automatically corrects
it. This explains why people on diets often go on eating
binges even while they are on their diet.
Through the years we become conditioned to a certain
internal "weight set point" Once this is done we don't have
to think about the day-to-day food intake and activities we
need to do to maintain our internal image. This is exactly
how we form our habits. Once any habit is ingrained in our
brain we function automatically without thought to maintain
that internal image. If you don't like your current weight,
you must break your old patterns and old conditioning at the
non-conscious level or face the pain of the yoyo syndrome.
Your
internal mental system operates exactly like the mechanism
that keeps airplanes, missiles or boats on course once they
have set their coordinates into the system.
The
outer body is only an expression of the internal image. If
you want to see permanent changes on the outside, you must
re-train the mental image on the inside first.
The
most recent research suggests that it takes about 30 days of
everyday mental training to "re-train" the brain if you want
long lasting and permanent weight loss. By doing a few
simple visualization exercises seeing yourself at your
perfect weight, you start to recondition your internal image
and you begin to erase the old image.
The
more you do this the faster you'll see results. The good
news is that you can't get a brain hernia if you overdo it.
POSITIVE AFFIRMATIONS
Another simple technique you can use is a written positive
affirmation. For example, declare:
I now
weigh xxxx.
My body fat is xxxxx.
I feel and look great
I am at my ideal and perfect weight now
If
you repeat reading this and really seeing it on the screen
of your mind for at least 30 days, you'll have a far
superior chance of keeping to your ideal weight. You can
also cut out photos of the body type you like and paste your
picture to it and review it as frequently as possible.
The
reason for using present tense affirmations is simple. The
non- conscious side of your brain does not know the
difference between an actual event and a lie or an imagined
one and, it also does not understand the future. Once it is
conditioned through repetition and real life or imagined
experiences, it will immediately make the outside match up
with the internal image.
~
John Assaraf
New
York Times @
Wall
Street Journal Bestselling Author
"The
Street Kid's Guide to Having It All"
www.thestreetkid.com
