Why? Weight loss for Couch Potatoes - Don't Get up, I'll Explain...

 How to use emotional re-programming (natural self-hypnosis) to transform food 

cravings into exercise cravings. Explains how behavior patterns are created 

and how to change patterns to achieve effortless and permanent weight loss.

*** You're fat and you know it! Now I'm going to tell you something you don't 

already know. 

 You think you already know why you're fat but you don't. You think it's 

because you just don't have enough time and motivation to exercise. You 

think it's because you love food and don't quite have enough willpower to 

cut back sufficiently. You don't have a clue!

The real reason you're gaining weight is going to shock you: it's because 

you have the mind of a well-trained athlete. Don't laugh quite yet. Have 

you ever noticed how fast athletes gain weight when they retire from 

competition? It's freakish. The same reason that athletes are good at sports 

later causes them to bloat -- they have especially "trainable" subconscious 

minds. If you understand the mechanism then you can learn to control your 

weight without diet, suffering or an inhuman exercise schedule.

*** Weight Loss and your Athletic Mind

Before I continue, I should say that it is true: the immediate cause of weight-

gain is what you eat and how you live. I'm not preaching any pseudo-science here. 

However, controlling what you eat and how you live is elusively difficult and I 

will show you why. If you think you can change your behavior pattern with sheer

willpower -- then you just haven't really tried yet.

Sure, you and I pride ourselves in being rational adults, in control of our 

choices and our destiny. But that's just a load of crap. In truth, we rarely

 ever do anything that brings us discomfort in the short run. You think otherwise? 

Go take a straight-cold shower just to prove who is in control. Go without solid 

food for two days. It won't hurt you, but it will make your body angry. And the fact 

of the matter is that we are usually slaves to response patterns established by our 

bodies. Sorry but it's true.

*** The Key to Controlling your Body is to Control Your Mind

Training your body is all about training your mind. We're not talking calculus here, 

we're talking about your sub-conscious mind -- where deep emotions, established

patterns, habit and instant responses live. You are a trinity of sorts, 1) a lazy 

body, 2) a clever and fickle conscious mind and 3) a lumbering but steady subconscious 

that does most of the work around here.

You probably know already that the subconscious mind provides emotional responses to 

reinforce "good" behavior (like eating pizza) -- but what you might not know is that 

the subconscious is also responsible for all athletic ability. Even the simple stuff 

like walking or typing is a constant interaction of conscious commands and unconscious 

responses. For example, when you learn to shoot a basketball, what you are actually doing 

is using the conscious mind to burn in a pattern which develops into a subconscious 

skill-set. When you've truly mastered a move, you "no longer have to think about it". 

If you're still thinking about the mechanics of a dance step -- it's a sign that you 

have not "learned it" yet. That is, your subconscious cannot yet take over. Once you 

have "learned" the skill, your conscious mind need only call out the command and the 

subconscious does the action.

To better understand your psychology, let's liken your mind to a couple animals: imagine a

 Chimp riding on the back of an Elephant. The subconscious mind is like a slow dumb strong 

elephant while your conscious mind is like the clever fast chimp.

Chimp (conscious mind)

----------------------

  Fast

  Clever

  Creative

  Forgetful

  Thinks he's in control

Elephant (subconscious)

-----------------------

  Slow

  Not creative

  Slow learner with a vast memory

  Awesome reflexes (ok so the metaphor's not perfect)

  Usually in control 

*** The Willpower Myth

The nice thing about this little metaphor is that it allows me to point out the 

absurdity of the whole concept of "willpower" in the sense of the conscious mind 

overwhelming the subconscious with a show of brute force. Seriously, just imagine 

the chimp wresting the elephant. Where's the "brute force" of the chimp? The elephant's 

just going to sit on him and the game is over. That, by the way, is exactly where 

every diet ends when supported by willpower alone. The subconscious is a powerful 

part of your mind. You can control it through persuasion but not with brute force.

*** The Elephant, the Stick and the String

In Indonesia, elephants are used in construction work because they are so powerful 

and yet obedient. All day long the elephant moves hundreds of tons of stone and wood

 and at night he taken to his bed of straw and tied up. Do you know how big the rope 

is required to hold an elephant? It's just a little string tied to a stick driven into 

the ground.

You see, when the elephant was very young, he was tied with the same stick and string 

-- and he was too little to pull free. For the rest of his life, he remembers this and 

never questions the superior strength of the little stick and string. Think about it.

What are you really capable of? To be blunt, you have no idea. Your limitations are 

defined by childhood experience -- and bear no relation to your adult capabilities. 

Like the elephant, you are emotionally tethered by childhood ideas. Most of your adult 

personality is just a protective cage built by a scared child. What would you give to 

have the power to redefine yourself?

Now for the good news: you're not just an elephant, you're also part chimp! That could 

have sounded better but never mind. Your mind has a small, clever, conscious aspect that 

gives you the ability to reprogram your entire mind. That's right, your conscious mind 

(the chimp) has the ability to completely re-write and take control of your entire mental 

reality.

This ability defines humans -- it makes us the most flexible animals on earth and it 

allows us to train our minds to do amazing things. From playing concert piano to extreme 

sports, the vast power of the mind is tapped by this uniquely human capability.

*** Ok, so what does all this have to do with weight loss?

Remember, the elephant learns and repeats patters of behavior that are taught to it -- so 

the real question is "how to teach the subconscious". Here's the simple single trick that 

people need to understand. If you understand this simple principle then you can be the master 

of your own mind. You will also understand why our educational system doesn't work (but that's 

another article entirely).

Our subconscious mind ignores most of what we tell it because we bark at it in the wrong 

language. The language of the subconscious mind is EMOTION. Using the barometer of our 

emotion, the subconscious mind is able to determine the importance of any particular 

behavior. For example, say that you're trying to learn a new skill. You're working hard 

to learn but you are not enjoying the task and your emotions are saying "this sucks, I 

wish I were elsewhere, how much longer is this going to take?" Well, it's going to take 

a lot longer because you're broadcasting to your subconscious mind the message "ignore 

this activity, just move along, there's nothing to see here." What was your emotional 

state, and how easily did you learn in high school?

It may not feel like it but you're in full control of your conscious emotions. And this is 

the fundamental method of programming the subconscious mind. It is, without a doubt, a form 

of natural hypnosis. Whereas traditional hypnosis works by moving aside the conscious mind, 

emotional programming works by using the conscious mind - but to the same effect.

Now for the dark side: remember how I mentioned that have three aspects? Body, conscious 

and subconscious? Well, as it turns out, your body is busy programming your subconscious 

mind all the time. For example, you're hungry so you bite into a slice of thick cheesy pizza 

-- at which point your body screams out (on an emotional level) "this is good activity, very 

very good activity". Food cravings are actually subconscious patterns based on years of 

such programming.

*** Thankfully, the mind is fully re-programmable.

Now that you understand the basic mechanics of programming your mind, you can put it into 

practice right away. What you are going to do is to replace food cravings with exercise 

cravings. This technique is fun and very powerful because, rather than working against 

years of food programming, you're going to do some mental Ju-Jitsu and simply translate 

an existing food craving into a desire for exercise. Magic? It's better!

It's quite simple: first of all you're going to stop eating for a while (non-sugared 

drinks are ok). This is not a diet plan, we're not yet trying to lose weight. We're just 

trying to stimulate a hunger response. Now, when you begin to feel the initial sense of 

hunger, do this:

Breathe in deeply, relax, and feel the hunger -- then don't think of food. Instead, imagine 

yourself doing sit-ups and absolutely loving it. That's right, visualize yourself hungry 

and doing sit-ups and let a feeling of joy and satisfaction flood over you. Then return 

to whatever you were doing.

In a few minutes, when the next pang of hunger comes, repeat this mental exercise. Keep 

it up for an hour or so and then go have a light snack. While you are eating (especially 

while you are eating) visualize yourself doing sit-ups and loving it. Associate in your 

imagination hunger, food, situps and joy.

*** Hunger, Food, Sit-ups and Joy? He's Crazy

Perhaps, but what you are doing is linking a desirable behavior to a very well established 

response pattern. You will be amazed at how you can use this technique to stimulate a deep 

urge to do sit-ups. The mind is truly amazing.

By the way, after a few days go ahead and give into the urge to do some sit-ups. As you 

exercise, make sure to continue the emotional feedback by "letting" yourself enjoy exercise. 

If you feel yourself not enjoying the process, take control of your emotions right away 

or stop exercising. It's not worth

 sabotaging your work to burn a few extra calories.

Don't push your body, push your mind! Your mind is the only gymnasium that really matters. 

Eventually, your mind will push your body and you will be able to enjoy the process.

I remember several years ago when I first experimented with this technique. As I started 

craving situps, I realized that doing situps would physically relieve any sense of hunger 

for an hour or so. I thought I had stumbled upon the strangest diet plan ever, the "silly, 

happy, situp diet". But really, what I had discovered was the ability to consciously 

sublimate deep cravings to accomplish a desired objective. If you're interested in 

exploring this technique I strongly suggest you download a self-hypnosis MP3 audio 

called "Appetite Zapper". It will step you through the process of taking complete 

control of food cravings:

    Appetite Zapper MP3:   http://weight-loss.wendi.com

The mind is amazing but it just doesn't come with a user's manual. Most of the time it 

works pretty well on autopilot so we rarely learn to pop the hood and explore its full

 potential. That's a shame because most of what we want in life -- success, happiness, 

health, good relationships, the satisfaction of achievement -- these things are all within 

our reach and the only thing holding us back is, you guessed it, a string and a stick.