The point of training your brain is to increase mind-body synergy – which basically means that your brain and body should be singing from the same hymn sheet! If you are trying to force your body to do something without your brain’s support, you are much more likely to fail.
We are all aware that in order to lose weight we need to make some big changes to our energy intake and expenditure. But for us to see a change in our bodies and to actually drop that size we need to work on the relationship between brain and body. For our bodies to lose weight, yes, we have to eat less and exercise more, but for the mind’s eye image in the mirror to change, we need to get our brain on the winning side, too.
The mind is a crucial factor in weight loss success because what we think about ourselves can give significant momentum to our efforts and hence directly affect the result of those efforts. If your brain is not on the same wavelength as your body then your weight loss efforts will flounder. I have seen it time and time again with my clients – however, once they have mastered these seven simple steps they achieve greater success and it lasts longer too!
Not getting your mind sorted out before you embark on your weight loss plan is a bit like setting off on holiday without any preparation – you can’t wait to get there and you’re so excited about arriving quickly you don’t bother to check the oil, water and petrol gauge before you set off and end up breaking down. You might have been raring to go, but the car wasn’t and the upshot is you end up stuck on the hard shoulder for 2 hours waiting to be rescued. If you’d taken a little time to ensure the car was as ready for the journey as you were, you’d be well on your way. Instead, the journey that you were so excited about has become tediously long, disappointing and irritating. Of course, in reality, few of us would set out on a long and important journey without checking the basics, yet many of us embark on our weight loss journey without seeing to the fundamentals first!
The action points for step one are all about getting your brain to register what you are feeling within your body, thus forging a closer link between mind and body.
ACTION POINT 1: TIME YOURSELF
WHAT YOU NEED TO DO
Time how long it takes you to eat your meals. Time each meal separately – your breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. You may find you wolf down your breakfast and lunch, but have a more leisurely dinner. Alternatively, dinner may be a hurried affair as you try to eat your main meal while simultaneously feeding the kids, or you simply race through it so you can collapse on the sofa and have a rest.
Once you have recorded your times, try to give yourself longer to complete each meal. Start off by aiming to increase the amount of time it takes to eat each meal by 50 per cent. Try to do this for each meal for one whole week. In the following week, try to add a further 50 per cent of time to complete each meal.
THE LOGIC
It takes 20 minutes for the stretch receptors in your stomach lining to send a message to the brain registering there is any food inside. As a result, when you are full there is a gap before the brain actually receives a message to that effect – by that time you may well have eaten more calories than you actually need.
Eating too quickly is itself unwise. It can cause digestive problems and has been acknowledged as a factor in irritable bowel syndrome. In reality, your life may not allow you to devote more time to all your meals, but even the process of doing it sometimes will make you more aware not just of what you are eating, but how much you are eating. Eating will become more of a conscious process rather than an unconscious motion that happens as life rushes on around you.
ACTION POINT 2: EAT UNTIL YOU ARE
80 PER CENT FULL
WHAT YOU NEED TO DO
You know what 100 per cent full feels like, so back off before you reach that point. At first, eating until you’re about 80 per cent full may feel an alien thing to do – perhaps you were always told to finish everything on your plate as a child, or your body just really likes that feeling of being very full – but persevere with this, it has multiple benefits.
THE LOGIC
Your schedule may not allow you to always take as much time as you would like over each meal or snack, so learning to eat until you are 80 per cent full is a back-up plan that works hand-in-hand with taking more time over your food. This allows your brain to become aware of the food entering your body, which stops you from over-eating and actually energizes you more. Eating too much food decreases your immediate energy levels, as your body has to work harder through a process called the ‘thermic effect of feeding’ to digest your food. This can leave you devoid of energy and feeling as if you need to reach for that chocolate bar for an instant energy fix. In addition, you should start to feel empowered as you feel more in control of your food volume. Saying no can be very powerful.
ACTION POINT 3: EAT WITHOUT DISTRACTIONS
WHAT YOU NEED TO DO
Try to eat your meals without any distractions. In your lunch break, stop trying to finish off a report as you munch at a sandwich; at breakfast, avoid grabbing mouthfuls of toast in between applying your mascara and ironing your blouse for work. Okay, okay, I hear you say – where am I going to find the time to do this? Well, I do understand that you may not be able to do it for all your meals for the whole week, but do try to do it at least once for each meal during the course of your first week. Try to focus entirely on the food on your plate – look at the colours before you start to eat, feel the texture of the food in your mouth and chew your food completely before you swallow.
THE LOGIC
Today’s fast-paced lifestyles mean that eating meals gets put on the ‘to do’ list as we multi-task with other aspects of our busy day. However, eating should not be a task – it should be an enjoyable experience that you share with friends or take time over. Sadly, it has become so rushed that we no longer seem to appreciate what we are eating or the actual sensual pleasure eating can give us. Eating can be sexy! Taking the time to really concentrate on and relish your food will heighten your awareness and sensuality of food. Focus on both the amount you are eating and the way it feels as it enters your body.
ACTION POINT 4: BELT UP!
WHAT YOU NEED TO DO
Stop wearing elasticated waistbands. Replace them with fitted waistbands or belts. Do this straightaway, not tomorrow, not next week, but straightaway. You need a reference point that tells you how much space your body takes up and this will help your brain to become aware of this.
THE LOGIC
Elasticated waistbands lull you into a false sense of security. They encourage your abdominal muscles to become lazy, as there is no
