It's all in your head...

Well that's week four done and over with, and with it it's brought me a stone off in total so far.  I won't lie and tell you that it was easy to do, it's something which has required a lot of conscious thought and effort in thinking, but it's working so I'm sticking to it.  My new target is to lose another stone and I'm not setting a deadline on this.  I know that eating in the pattern that I've established is not a quick weight loss miracle, it's a way of establishing new long term healthy eating habits and the weight loss is bound to slow down soon.  I'll be happy as long as I can see it moving in the right direction each week, be it half a pound or two each week.  

So, I've lost a stone, I'm feeling confident and happy with the results, and this is the point at which my willpower usually starts to wane.  My mindset changes into one that says "I've been really good, I deserve a reward" and then I start introducing treats then willpower and all my good intentions disappear into the ether.  But forewarned is forearmed as they say, and as I know that this is my usual pattern of behaviour (it's happened at least 20 times in the last 15 years) I can prepare in advance for this not to happen.  In trawling the internet again in the last week I found various articles that talk about using the subconscious mind to help with breaking negative behaviour patterns (bad habits to you and I) and this is something I find hugely interesting.  Anyone who knows me will know what a huge Paul McKenna fan I am and this is one small thing he advocates using to help with weight loss.  Sciencey bit coming up right here:

• Frequently, your mind is more motivated by pictures and visualization than it is with words and written exercises. The right side of your brain is where your creativity comes from, and it thrives on pictures. Many times the right side of your brain takes precedence over the left side, which thrives on words. In the past, you may have just written words down to reach your goals. Add this new dimension to your process.

• Draw, cut out pictures, or take photographs of what you want in life. Put pictures up on your refrigerator, your bathroom mirror, or any place that will remind your subconscious mind of your desires to reinforce your goal.  Every thought you have uses electrical energy to imprint a new picture in your subconscious mind. The efforts of your subconscious mind are to match the pictures in your mind with reality.The more you deliberately plant pictures of what you want, the faster you will attract it into your life. It's very important that you allow yourself to fantasize about what you want in your life - let your imagination run wild!

• To achieve what it is you want in life, you must think about it. There are no limits except those we put on ourselves. This is your life and you will be cheating yourself if you don't go for what you want! You must feel your success before you can manifest it in reality.  (Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/132242)

I'm definitely going to have a go at putting this into practice so, if anyone sees me staring into space this next week with a dreamy look on my face, I'm picturing the thinner thighs and tauter tummy I will have at the end of all of this.  Of course it helps to have a realistic target to help with all of this, so I'm aiming for thighs that are more Beyonce than Beckham because I know that my body shape is prone to having heavy legs.  That said I do have a really small waist in comparison so I'm definitely aiming for curves and not wispy waifiness :)

Thanks to everyone who has read this.  As well as the visualization thing I think it definitely helps to write down goals and writing the blog is really helping with my motivation.  Please forward the link to anyone you think might be interested.  Same time next week xx