You are not fat

Such a great perspective to have and I love this statement made on tumblr it really made me think.

You are a soul. You are a mind.
You are not fat. You have fat.
You also have fingernails, but you aren't fingernails, are you?
You have hair, but you aren't hair, are you?
You have fat, but you are not fat.
You are beautiful.

This is really quite profound and is a very clever statement because it enables us to think of our weight loss in a new way.

Some of use have longer fingernails or more hair than others but we do not define ourselves or get in an emotional muddle over it, if the fingernails are too long we just cut them to our desired length. If we do not like our hair we change it to a style we like. These two brilliant examples of fingernails and hair do not define us, so why should we let fat do the same. If we are happy with our weight and feel we have enough fat great, if we have too much then lets remove in with a similar mindset to how we change the length of our nail and hair. No real emotional attachment, just do what is best for you.

You are amazing please do not define yourself by something you have too much or too little off, define yourself by your soul and your life purpose.

Best wishes
Mindful Mark

The Code for Your Weight Loss

Have a look at this video below and see if it resonates with you and if it does why not learn more.



Find out more

5 Ways To Think Yourself Thinner

These are the five ways Lauren Conrad suggests to think yourself thinner:

1. Out of site, Out of mind: Clean out your kitchen and get rid of the junk food to eliminate temptations
2. Portion Control: Trick the mind into thinking you are eating more by putting meals on smaller plates
3. Drink up!: Sip on water in between meals when you think you might be hungry. Chances are you are just thirsty
4. Eat until 80% full: Taking smaller bites, eating slower, and avoiding distraction like TV will make a difference and help you slim down faster.
5. Take a hike: When you're bored and want a snack, get and take a walk instead.

Walk, Cycle or Drive?

This nice little image sets the scene for a question to ask yourself before you go anywhere. And that question is 'Shall I Walk, Cycle or Drive to my destination?"

Walking and Cycling are the ones which run on your fat and saves you money.

Where as Driving runs on money and makes you fat.

To me this bit of information is a game changer in relation to changing our behaviour to aid weight loss.

I hope, like me, you can see how this question can effect your weight loss.

Kind regards
Mindful Mark 

A Letter to The Body

 Below is a letter to the body which really made Can do Craig and I think.

Dear Body,

I'm sorry I've treated you this way, feeding you the wrong foods and not taking care of you. I promise to do better and get you back to the best shape and fitness level you can be.

We can do it!

Sincerely,
Me

This letter is great at placing us in a point of acceptance from which we can build from, it sets out a plan with a clear goal for us to achieve and work towards and most importantly we will know when we got there. We will have reach our goal when we are back to the best shape we can be.

I hope you liked this letter as much as we at Mind Body Weight Loss do, it is great find from Tumblr.

Take care and speak soon
Mindful Mark

Weight Loss Motivation - Change

This is quote helps demonstrate the point that most people take action and decide that their weight loss has to happen, with Desire, Belief and Expectancy as mentioned by Jose Silva, when the pain of not changing is greater than any pain perceived in the actual change itself.

''Change happens when the pain of staying the same is great than the pain of change."

 It really made me think and I can actually say any bug changes I have got to that point and just gone for it! It has always paid off too.

Take care and speak soon.
Mindful Mark

Hungry For Change - Weight Loss Documentary

This amazing weight loss documentary will, like it did with me, change your relationship with food forever and help you not only lose weight and keep it off.

We reviewed the Hungry for Change documentary a little while back and it is truly quite an amazing documentary, it is a bit like 'The Secret' but the Weight Loss and Healthy eating version.

It has lots of really interesting facts and fantastic expert speakers including Jon Gabriel who lost over 200lb and kept it off.

Please check this DVD out and let us know your views and comments.

Speak soon

Mindful Mark

Mind Techniques for Weight Loss - Part 2

This section of Mind Techniques for Weight Loss focuses on how your mindset can help with weight loss.

1. Always be accountable. There is no one else who is responsible for you losing weight. You have to be accountable for what you eat and how often you work out.

When taking total responsibility for your own action you can feel empowered as you are the master of your own destiny. By taking responsibility you accept that something is not working and you change it to make it better next time. By being accountable you do not look for others to fix you, you pledge to fix yourself by learning new skills and being responsible to action the knowledge for your greater good.

2. Break the cycle of excuses. We all make excuses to try to justify our behavior, but these kinds of excuses aren’t doing you any favors when it comes to weight loss. Force yourself to accept your failures and work to improve them.

One good way of breaking the excuse cycle is to ask this question - "What could I have done differently to get better results" No excuses just focusing on the future and getting better results. This reminded me of something I read in a book about Buddhism a little while back, which said something along the lines of - "Feeling guilty is pointless, you can not go back and change the past, accept you have done wrong and pledge not to do it the future" Perhaps guilt and excuses are linked together.

3. Deal with your emotions. For many people, food is an emotional thing and a coping mechanism for other things that aren’t right in their lives. If you want to change your mindset about your body, you’ll first have to deal with these powerful emotions.

We have touched on this quite a few times at Mind Body Weight Loss, dealing with your emotions is so important because emotions and hunger are both felt in the stomach area and can get confused. We also looked at Louise L Hay and her Mirror Work in helping us deal with our emotions.

4. Make the decision to be thinner. Sometimes all it takes is a firm resolution to make a change in your life. If you want to lose weight, make the choice to do so and let your actions follow suit.

Make a decision of where you want to go, a good way to do this is a simple meditation or visualization where you imagine yourself ten years in the future looking back at yourself now. The first time your look back you didn't make a decision and you are the same weight you are now, notice how you are feeling. Then follow the process again, from yourself in ten years time but your ideal weight and the weight you have been for nine of the last ten years. Notice how you are feeling. And finally compare the 2 feelings, this should help you make your decision.

5. Take responsibility. No one is forcing food down your throat or keeping you from the gym. Once you realize that and can take responsibility for your own actions regarding your health and fitness, you’ll be one step closer to meeting your goals.

Very similar to point 2 because accountability and responsibility overlap.

6. Think clearly. Weight loss, body image and personal health can be emotionally charged issues. When you think about these things it is important to separate them as best you can from your emotions and make logical, thoughtful decisions about what is best. For instance, our emotions might tell us we need a piece of cake after a hard day, but our logical thinking would tell us it will only make you feel worse about yourself.

I recently heard a fantastic technique to help you 'think clearly', especially when there is a conflict between emotion and logic as described in point 6. Say you are tempted by a piece of cake, but you do not want it because you will bad afterward, try this exercise: Sit down, close your eyes and take a few deep breaths, now imagine the slice of cake in front of you, take a bite of imagine the taste and texture in your mouth, chew it and swallow it, now repeat this until the whole slice is gone, now take another slice and imagine the whole process of imagining the taste, texture, chewing and swallowing again until this slice has gone too. Now note how imagining this cake has made you feel, feel every bit of this feeling right through to the end. Now open your eyes and make the decision and take all responsibility for it.

7. Change your programming. Many of us have programmed our brains to think we are fat, unhealthy and will never look or feel like we want to. Thinking this way is often a self-fulfilling prophecy, but by changing your mental programming, you’ll change what you’re capable of in weight loss.

All I can say here is; if you want to learn how to reprogram your mind we suggest reading 'You can heal your life' by Louise L Hay in her book she guides you through how to change a negative view of oneself in to a positive view, using affirmations.

8. Stay positive. There is no upside to negative thinking when it comes to losing weight. Staying positive will help you feel better about yourself, keep you motivated and reduce stress — all of which will help you lose more weight.

As mentioned above affirmations are fantastic ways to stay positive, the two most popular ones I use are: 'I trust in the process of life to bring me my highest good' and 'Every day, in every way, I'm getting better and better'

9. Train your mind to think in your best interest. If you want to lose weight, focus on replacing your unhealthy thoughts with healthy ones. After a while, you will think less unhealthy thoughts and be a step ahead in reaching your goals.
Source - totallyzen.com

The point of replacing unhealthy thoughts with healthy ones is a gem and reminds me of a David Wolfe Quote "The best strategy we have got is to just add in good stuff and eventually it will crowd out the bad stuff. It’s so simple and deactivates the mental neurosis we have about diets and what we have to eat". So the best way a thought or food is to not stop negative thought but to keep adding positivity (Food, Thought and Actions) until it over takes and eventually eliminates the negativity all together.

Thank you for reading this post, if you liked it and would like more information form us at Mind Body Weight Loss please fill in the form at the top right of this page to receive offers, the latest new and other great weight loss goodies.

Read More of this series:
Mind Techniques for Weight Loss - Part 1
Mind Techniques for Weight Loss - Part 3
Mind Techniques for Weight Loss - Part 4

Mind Techniques for Weight Loss - Part 1

We love these mind techniques for weight loss below and they are a great way to help you lose weight and keep it off, why not check them out and give them a go?

1. Be patient. Losing weight in any kind of healthy way is going to take time. Give yourself a break and relax, and the weight will come off.

Be patient and kind to yourself you deserve it as much as anyone else.

2. Don’t stress. Stressing about weight loss will likely only make it harder to lose.

This is very true. We recently found an interesting article that demonstrates a way we can change our language to reduce stress. Have a look and let is know how it works for you.

3. Be realistic Setting unrealistic goals for your weight loss isn’t healthy for your body or mind. Get your mind set on more realistic accomplishments and you’ll be happier and healthier.

We hear that any goal set should be smart - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic & Time Based.

4. Create a routine. Success with any weight loss program requires creating a routine and sticking to it in what you eat, when you work out and how you think about your progress.

They say it take 28 days to get in a routine after that it starts to become a habit. 1 month of conscious effort is required.

5. Listen to your body. It will tell you when you aren’t eating enough, you’re eating too much, or you’re pushing yourself too hard.

As we say about mindful and conscious eating, listen to your body to tell you when you are full or are hungry as it already knows the answers, but if you are distracted or stress it can be hard to hear its messages.

6. Use your imagination. Our imaginations are powerful things and you can use yours to picture your body and your life the way you really want it to be.

There is evidence to show that our bodies do not know the difference between what is imagined and what is real, it reacts the same to the action as it does to imagining the action.

7. Take it slow. You cannot expect to change your mindset or your body overnight. Take the process slow and steady for the best results.

We have all heard of quick change, but does it last? We at Mind Body Weight Loss feel that weight loss should be done once and not over and over. If this means losing weight at a slower pace but keeping it off forever that must be worth it.

8. Be honest with yourself. Being honest might be more difficult or more painful, but you cannot move forward in changing your body or how you think about it without facing some hard truths about yourself.

I always say to myself that honesty sets you free, it also gives an acceptance of exactly where you are in your life from which you will then have a solid foundation to build. It is much easier to build from a solid platform than it is from a soft sandy one. Honesty and acceptance gives us that solidity.

9. Find out what you truly want. The reality is that you might not be ready to lose weight or commit yourself to the work that it takes. Find out what you truly want in your life. Knowing that you really, really want to lose weight can be a huge factor in motivating you. Source - totallyzen.com

Knowing ones purpose is the key to a happy fulling life. Why not try a visualization of your life 10 years from now, imagine what you would like it to be like. Everything exactly how you want it. This will help show you where you want to go. Also you could read the book "Man's search for meaning" by Viktor Frankl who was a in a concentration camp and found that developing a purpose is what allow us to be happy and move forward with our life.

 We hope you found this post helpful and interesting, if so please sign up for our eNewsletter to receive lots of Weight Loss goodies as well as information, tips, techniques and offers.

Read more in this series:
Mind Techniques for Weight Loss - Part 2
Mind Techniques for Weight Loss - Part 3
Mind Techniques for Weight Loss - Part 4

Hypnotic Gastric Band

The Hypnotic Gastric Band is a process where a person chooses to be hypnotized in to believing they have had an actual Gastric Band fitted. The people who created this have stated that this is upto 75% successful and are in the process of sourcing academic research to confirm, deny or even enhance their claims. This said hypnosis is known to be extremely successful:

Analysis of 18 studies comparing a cognitive behavioral therapy such as relaxation training, guided imagery, self monitoring, or goal setting with the same therapy supplemented by hypnosis.
Those who received the hypnosis lost more weight than 90 percent of those not receiving hypnosis and maintained the weight loss two years after the treatment ended.
Source weightlosshypnosispro.com

What is the Hypnotic Gastric Band

The Hypnotic Gastric Band is where you have hypnotherapy sessions which enable you to believe you have had a Gastric Band Fitted in an operation, like a virtual operation.

The operation itself is where a small piece of plastic is attached to the top of the stomach to make it small enabling the person to become fuller quickly.

Paul Mckenna explains it like this:

"Your body also communicates with your brain through the nervous system. When your stomach fills, its wall is stretched and nerves react and send signals to the brain.

These systems get thrown out of balance by overeating. The body starts to believe there must be an important reason why its signals are being ignored, and assumes the overeating is a deliberate preparation for a famine. So all the extra food is converted to fat, which is basically stored energy.

When your hypnotic gastric band is fitted, it stops that overeating, and as you move towards a healthy weight your normal responses to your hormonal and nervous signals are restored"
Source -  thesun.co.uk

Success Stories with the Hypno Gastric Band

Daughter lose 6 stone in weight when her Hypnotherapist Mum fits a Hypnotic Gastric Band

Louise turn to Hypnosis as a last hope after attempting many diets. The Hypnotic Gastric Band helped her lose nearly 2 and half stone.

Lauren, a busy full time mum lost 2 stone 10lb using the Hypnotic Gastric Band, even though she had a passion for fast food dinners and snacks. She stated "I used to get really peckish between meals and snack on crisps and chocolate and drink lots of sugary, fizzy drinks – but I just don’t get those same urges any more. My portions have got a lot smaller and I’ve stopped craving fatty meals"

How you can get a Hypnotic Gastric Band

There are a variety of ways you can do this:

• Find a hypnotherapist in your area to see if they have this service. 
• Visit Hypnoband.com,
• Google Hypno gastric band
• Get the book - Hypnotic Gastric Band by Paul McKenna

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Be You Only Better

A few years ago I found a really good advertising strap line for a Gym, "Be Yourself, Only Better" This profoundly affected me at the time. It gave me the realization that from wherever you are in your life, at this point right now and right here you can make a choice to move in any direction you wish to create a better you.

Yesterday I found this visualization technique which spells out the 'Best Me" Which at this moment, right now you can start to create that better you.

• (B) Picture yourself in the future, at the very moment you reach your desired weight. Make it as real as you can, so that it feels as if you were really there.
• (E) Feel the admiring looks of your friends and family upon you, and enjoy to the fullest your sense of pride and accomplishment as you dwell on the glow of your success.
• (S) See it happen, hear it happen, and feel it happening, as you allow yourself to experience this thrill of achievement throughout every part of your body, from head to toe.
• (T) Visualize this goal so clearly that it feels as if you were actually willing it into existence.
• (M) Let yourself believe that you are headed toward a certain and inevitable success.
• (E) And as a result, allow yourself to act, think, and feel as if it were impossible to fail.

Source - wikihow.com

The feeling this exercise can give you helps create your motivation to keep going, because you will know how you will feel upon achieving your weight loss goal.

If you feel it is for you please give it a try and comment below on your individual experience.

Wishing you a fantastic day

From Mindful Mark

Hypnosis and Weight Loss

Hypnosis is a fantastic way to lose weight by focusing your mind on your weight loss goal.

For some it is helps people learn news habit to ensure they not only lose weight but keep it off. Georgia is one such person who had tried a variety of diets before having hypnotherapy. In her own words she explains what her hypnotherapist stated to her:

"four simple agreements to which I would need to adhere: Eat when you're hungry, listen to your body and eat what you crave, stop when you're full, eat slowly and enjoy every mouthful. As such, no foods were off limits and I was encouraged to eat everything in moderation—music to my ears!"
Source - Shape.com

It sounds as if Georgia had a great Hypnotherapist as her advice is good. Georgia explains that she saw her hypnotherapist 8 time in the space of year and says that "The weight dropped off slowly and surely, without huge changes to my lifestyle". This goes to show the power of the mind in helping to lose weight.

The topic of hypnosis and how it may feel was then raised and Georgia explains herself in hypnosis as being "very lucid and in control". She stated how some of the visualization techniques she followed during hypnosis made her realize how creative and precise she was as person.

Can Do Craig and me Mindful mark did a video a while back to explain hypnosis and to put peoples mind a rest to how it may feel. (Apologies for the video. It was one of our early ones. ;-) )



We stated earlier in this post that some like to use hypnotherapy to break a habit which as you can see above can be very successful, others now use hypnotherapy to have a virtual gastric band fitted.

Lose Fat in a Cold Shower

The advice to lose Fat in a cold shower goes something like this:

When your body is exposed to cold, it requires more heat to warm you up. To do so, it has to process more energy and, in doing so, helps you burn more fat, more efficiently. It can also activate “brown fat”, which is a sort of good fat that helps generate heat, increase your metabolism and burn fat.
Source - impossiblehq.com

Interesting eh!

There are also many other benefits you can get from taking a cold shower. Some of which can be found here:

http://impossiblehq.com/cold-shower-health-benefits
http://www.thehackedmind.com/7-reasons-to-take-cold-showers-and-1-that-really-matters/