Tag Archive for Mind/Body

Our Weight and Health are Ruled by our Thoughts

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAIn my last Post, I said you can’t have a “10” life/body without having a “10” mind.  Not my quote, but I LOVE it!

What would make a mind a 10?

– That you’ve PRACTICED right thinking so diligently, that there’s very little stress involved in making healthy choices.

– That most of your CHOSEN thoughts lead to Positive Long Term Benefits.

– That instant gratification is NOT a practice you engage in, or even think about very often.

– That you’re able to “capture” any thoughts that are unproductive, or contrary to our health or normal weight, and reword them so that they are productive.

 

Not a week goes by that I don’t get an email detailing someone’s weight or health issues, and often it includes statements like, ” I know I shouldn’t eat _____, but sometimes I can’t help it.” Or, “I know I should not snack/get to bed earlier/not drink so much/remember to take my supplements/etc”

I’ve been there.  I struggled for decades with issues I KNEW could be resolved if I gave up grains, sugar, and artificial sweeteners, but honestly, I seriously couldn’t imagine a life without them. One part of my brain understood all the reasons they’re not good for me, but another part of my brain was aghast, sad, depressed, and pretty determined to get what it wanted. That part of the brain was the winner for years.

“How do you live without grains or sugar?”  “How do you not snack?”  I’ve heard these questions a million times, 500,000 times from MYSELF to Myself. For a long time, I thought Will Power was the answer.  It’s not.  All of us have a very tiny, finite supply of Will Power; and if you DO successfully muster some up, there’s usually a “rebound effect”.  That’s best illustrated by the Diet example:  try to eat Low Cal/Low Fat for a few days, and you’ll rebound with a Binge.

That’s why statistically, almost 100% of EVERYONE who goes on a diet gains their weight back. It’s the same for people with health issues who try to muscle their way through food cravings that impact their heart/headaches/joints/bloat/blood sugar etc:  the rebound effect happens, even when the health issue is serious and advanced.

Rebound even happens when you can’t stand yourself for giving in over and over.

What’s the answer?  You’ve Got To Work On Your Mind, because your thoughts control your actions.

Remember that podcast by Hal Elrod I mentioned the other day? Listen to it.  He gives great advice on training your mind to work for you, and not against you. He quotes Jim Rohn:  “Your level of success will NOT exceed your level of personal development.”

Have you given much thought to your thoughts?  Because most people haven’t.  Most people don’t even realize their thoughts are a choice. If your thoughts are statements about what you could never do ( I could NEVER give up sugar/wine/pasta/cereal/bread/diet coke…I could NEVER take that class, ..I HATE cooking, .. I’m TOO busy to pack…), then your thinking has doomed you when it comes to your Health and your Weight.

What if every time a counter productive thought popped in our head, we captured it, and changed it?  We HAVE to do that, because our thoughts become actions, always.

Real Health only happens with CONSISTENT productive habits.  Not most of the time, not 80/20, not weekdays or when we have time.  Losing weight, sleeping well, great energy, lowering blood sugar, ridding our arteries of plaque, supplying our skin with the nutrients it needs to look good, …… happens when we so firmly wrap our mind around the ACTION STEPS necessary that consistency is second nature, instead of an enormous effort.

If you haven’t listened to Hal Elrod yet, please do!

Here’s another amazing source:  Dr. Caroline Leaf.  Dr. Leaf is a cognitive neuroscientist with a PhD in Communication Pathology specializing in Neuropsychology.   HOLY COW IS THIS WOMAN AN AMAZING SPEAKER.  She’s all about the SCIENCE of Quantum Physics, which is the SCIENCE of how our Thoughts Control Our Brain on a PHYSICAL LEVEL.  Thanks to MRIs, and new blood tests that look at different neurotransmitters, and more, scientists have so much insight into how the brain actually works.  Hint:  it never stops changing; and we have power over those changes.

If you’ve been trying for years to diet or exercise and had no lasting results, open your eyes.  It’s your Brain you need to change.  Invest time and energy on your THOUGHTS, and you will FINALLY have the body and health that you want.

Critical Resources:

http://drleaf.com/about/toxic-thoughts/

YouTube – this is LIFE CHANGING: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZczIP_79jXs

Book: http://www.amazon.com/Switch-Your-Brain-Happiness-Thinking/dp/149151874X,   by Dr. Leaf

Book: http://www.amazon.com/Your-Mind-What-Brain-Living/dp/1626340587,  by Steven Fogel

 

You Can Be Better By January, 2014, Or Not…. & More Gluten E Summit Facts

debbie (27)It’s been over a week now that I’ve challenged you to Change your Thinking if you want to Change Your Body; and I’m specifically talking about those negative thought patterns that I’ve heard so many people express:  I hate my thighs, if only they were thinner;  I hate my stomach; I hate my butt; I want to lose weight; If only I could lose 10 pounds…. etc etc etc.  Ask yourself how long you’ve been spinning on these exact same thoughts and how well they’ve allowed you to change.  How long?

Change doesn’t happen when you keep doing the “same old same old”;  negative thought patterns NEVER produce positive results.  Never.  Get your mind off of what you don’t like, and start focusing on improving yourself in your soul.  Seriously.  Focus on being kinder, gentler, more patient, more loving, more thoughtful.  Get your focus off your body (and calorie counts).  Use Mantras, Meditation, and Prayer;  write a quote on 10 or 20 sticky’s and post them all over: your mirrors, wallet, fridge, doors, car.  PRACTICE changing your mind.  Work on it.  It doesn’t just happen, trust me.

We had a speaker at church yesterday who’s a life long missionary, and a Mother Teresa fan.  He quoted her and I’m going to make it my quote for the week:  ” Find someone that no one else loves, and love them.”  This goes right along with “loving-kindness” meditation, where you don’t just pray for yourself and your loved ones, but for someone “neutral” and someone else you’re currently having difficulty with.  We’re not supposed to focus on ourselves so much, despite decades of advertising hypnotizing us otherwise.  Nothing good comes of that.

Here’s something I’m really into:  the way Science is Solidifying the Mind/Body connection:  eat flour/sugars, and you create a brain that ONLY thinks about flours and sugars.  As your body becomes unhealthier, and you become unhappier yet continue to eat flours and sugars, NOTHING CHANGES; the negative thought patterns continue, the addictive eating continues, the thoughts, the addiction and so on and so on.  Too addicted to think about quitting?  Fill your head with facts about what Flours and Sugars actually do beyond making you gain weight, because it’s pretty profound.  I hope I’ve persuaded you all to tune into the Gluten E Summit – what a wake up call!  It’s not too late to register and catch the final day presentations and listen to them in kitchen, your car, or during a workout.  Here’s some recent snippets:

From Dr. Amen, MD Psychiatrist

* Neuroplasticity, or the ability to Change Your Brain, has been a scientific fact for 10 – 15 years, but many doctors are still unaware and don’t practice/prescribe according to this.   We can make our brain Better or Worse through our Life Style Choices:  Food, Exercise, and Thoughts.

* Low Fat Diets and Bad Fats have horrible consequences for the brain ( because our brain is about 60% fat).  This applies whether you’re 2, 12, 22, or 82.

* There are MORE than 100 studies which show that Big Belly’s correlate with Smaller Brains.

* Genes are NOT as important as Behavior and Choices (Epigenetics).

* “Food is Medicine, or Food is Poison.”  You know I love that one!

* Gluten is Poison for most of the population. ( No human has the enzymes to break down the gluten proteins)

* ADD studies show 100% of people affected with this disorder show some level of improvement when Gluten and Casein (milk protein) are removed from their diet.  (Diet or drugs, diet or drugs???)

* “Why do we celebrate with Toxins?”

* The less insulin we need over the course of our life, the longer we live.  Insulin triggers many inflammatory pathways.  ( what triggers insulin?  Carbohydrates.  Not Fat. )

* Cancer uses Glucose (the breakdown product of carbohydrates) as it’s main fuel.

* Anyone with Thyroid issues MUST go Gluten Free.  Gluten affects the Thyroid in a myriad of ways, including inhibiting the conversion of the Thyroid hormone T4 to it’s active and usable form T3.

* 2002 Study from Journal Of Neurology:  Severe migraine sufferers (the study group were actually unable to work and on Workman’s Comp because of the severity of the migraines) were put on a Gluten Free Diet,   70% NEVER had another headache.

From Dr. Davis, MD Cardiologist (the Wheat Belly doctor)

* Heart Scans that measure Coronary Calcium Plaque show that once Plaque gets started, it grows at the rate of about 30% a year.

* STATINS DO NOTHING TO INHIBIT PLAQUE GROWTH.  NOTHING.  (don’t even get me started)

* What’s the biggest factor in Coronary Plaque?  HIGH BLOOD SUGAR.   He says if you have Pre-Diabetes, Diabetes, or Insulin Resistance, no drug in the world will stop the Heart Disease you’re nurturing with your high blood sugar.

* Main Driver of High Blood Sugar?  Wheat, Grains, and Sugar.

*Wheat, Grains, and Sugar also are the only foods that cause the body to create Small, Dense, LDL (the bad stuff).  The ONLY foods.  Small, dense LDL is sticky, and lasts up to a week in the blood.  This is totally different from big, fluffy LDL, which has beneficial side effects, like carrying essential fatty acids to our brain and glands.

* The Gluten Proteins in wheat are highly “opioid”, which makes them appetite stimulating and addicting.   Who’s addicted to meat?  No one.  Who’s addicted to foods full of flours and sugars?

*  If we continue on the path we’re on now, by 2044 the amount of money the US will need to treat JUST diabetes ALONE, will be MORE THAN all the tax revenue the Federal Govt collects.

* Yet, Main Stream Medical Advice/  Governments Health Advice is to eat a diet of 60% carbohydrates, many of them from “healthy whole grains”.

Quit thinking of food in terms of Calories In Calories Out, that’ll just lead to weight gain and horrible health.  It’s a wrong paradigm that’s made a lot of people a lot of money.  The Scientific Evidence against Grains and Sugars is overwhelming, and concrete.  Take your health into your own hands.  Ditch the grains and sugars, and eat Real Whole Foods.  Practice your Mantra.  You can be a whole different person by January 2014, or you can be the exact same.  It’s up to you.