The Science of Changing your Brain to Change your Body€¦ · body you want for life. This book has been structured to begin programming your brain for slimming success the moment

The Science of Changing

your Brain to Change

your Body

‘It’s about Brain not Brawn’

Neuro-SlimmingDr Helena Popovic MBBS

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© 2014 Dr Helena Popovic – Winning at Slimming 2

NeuroSlimming – The Science of Changing Your Brain to Change Your Body

Copyright © 2014 Dr Helena Popovic

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.

Liability Disclaimer

The material contained in this book is general in nature and does not represent professional advice. It is not intended to provide specific guidance for particular circumstances. The author disclaims all responsibility and liability to any person, arising directly or indirectly, from any person taking or not taking action based upon the information in this book.

Note to my American and Canadian readers: the spelling in this book is Australian – it isn’t that I’m linguistically challenged!

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CONTENTS

FOREWORD ................................................................................. 4

PART I ....................................................................................... 6

SOURCE ................................................................................... 6

SAILING ................................................................................... 9

SECRETS ................................................................................. 11

PART II ..................................................................................... 13

STEP 1: WHAT? ......................................................................... 13

STEP 2: WHY? ........................................................................... 16

STEP 3: WOW! .......................................................................... 18

STEP 4: HOW? ........................................................................... 23

STEP 5: WIRING ......................................................................... 28

STEP 6: WORDS ......................................................................... 30

STEP 7: WINDOWS ...................................................................... 34

PART III .................................................................................... 37

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FOREWORD !

This is no ordinary book and no ordinary slimming program.

Understanding the principles of NeuroSlimming will enable you to attain the body you want for life.

This book has been structured to begin programming your brain for slimming success the moment you start reading. You will see that each chapter is encapsulated by a single word, an image and a quote, followed by a question or a phrase. Each of these elements delivers a fundamental concept to your brain through a different channel. By doing so, what you read lays down new neural pathways so that you start thinking and behaving in ways that will move you towards your goal.

There are three parts to this book.

Part one lays the foundations and explains the role of the brain in slimming, how the brain works behind the scenes and how you can go about changing your own brain.

Part two gives you the seven critical steps to NeuroSlimming.

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Part three reinforces what you have learned so it is firmly ingrained in your grey and white matter.

You will also notice that stories - as well as scientific data - are an integral part of the text. The purpose of the stories is to allow you to switch from analytical left brain evaluation of the facts to right brain, creative exploration of the possibilities for your own life. Stories are more powerful in effecting change and making messages stick than is straight knowledge. Robert McKee, master storyteller and lecturer, teaches that “People are not inspired to act on reason alone... In a story you arouse your reader’s emotion and energy.”

I invite you to be guided by your own emotion and energy as you transform your thinking about slimming and passionately embrace a healthy life.

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PART I

SOURCE

What’s wrong with existing weight loss approaches?

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful, highly technologically advanced city situated near the banks of a great river. Water from the river was processed and distributed to all the households to provide clean drinking water, and the river was renowned for its plentiful supply of delicious, succulent, fresh fish. Life was good and the people were healthy and happy.

However over time, the townspeople noticed that the river was becoming increasingly polluted – to the point where it became a serious threat to their health. People began getting sick and developing chronic illnesses because of the shortage of clean water. Clearly something had to be done to rectify the situation. So both as a community and as individuals, they embarked on a massive clean up effort. They were very intelligent and industrious so they developed highly sophisticated sanitation methods. They used physical means, chemical agents, natural products and all the latest technology to remove the pollutants from the river. They employed widespread education campaigns to inform the public about how to reduce their waste and how to dispose of it responsibly. Everyone was aware of the problem and everyone was making a

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huge effort to solve it. But instead of getting better, the problem kept getting worse. Sometimes they succeeded in cleaning up the river but even before the celebrations were over, the river became polluted again.

The lack of success and ongoing medical problems began to have a negative impact on the mental health of the whole population. They were feeling guilty, losing hope and getting down on themselves because they were trying so hard, yet were achieving only limited, short-term results.

Why? What was going on?

One day a group of fisherman, whose livelihood was under threat because the fish were dying, decided to follow the river upstream to try and find uncontaminated water for fishing. So they walked and walked and followed the course of the river but they couldn’t find any clean water. Just as they were about to turn back, they came to the source of the river at the top of a mountain. To their amazement, here they found a large factory that was dumping all its waste products into the river – and the pollution was being carried downstream to the city and contaminating the water. The fishermen had finally discovered the source of the problem! It wasn’t their carelessness or incompetence or lack of effort – the problem was the factory. The problem was that they hadn’t known there was a hidden source of pollution. No wonder none of the efforts of the townspeople were working! It didn’t matter what measures they employed downstream, their endeavours would continue to be thwarted until they addressed the source of the pollution upstream: the factory.

The fishermen were ecstatic! The factory owners had no idea that their waste removal practices were causing downstream damage so a meeting was organised between the CEO and the town leaders. After a series of discussions between the two parties, the factory changed its waste disposal practices and the townspeople were able to quickly and easily clean up the river. There was no more stress, struggle or lack of understanding. As the river became clean, the physical and mental health of the people was restored. They realised that for years, they’d been blaming themselves for a problem that had a hidden cause. Whipping the horse – punishing themselves – was not the answer. Addressing the source was what provided the definitive solution that had eluded them.

What does this allegory teach us?

This story sums up exactly what’s been going on with the worldwide obesity

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epidemic. Overweight and obesity are downstream issues and we’re desperately pouring all our time energy and technology into downstream solutions. Diets, calorie counting, appetite suppressants, boot camp – name anything that’s out there – are all downstream measures.

That’s why people are getting short term results at best.

For a definitive solution, we need to go upstream and ADDRESS THE SOURCE OF THE ISSUE: THE BRAIN. The brain, like the factory, is the hidden cause of overweight and obesity. The brain is unknowingly giving out chemical and hormonal signals that are carried downstream to the rest of the body instructing it to store fat. It’s time we established clear communication between the brain and the body and rewired the brain to redesign the body.

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SAILING

What is the difference between the brain and the mind?

The brain and mind are both integral to slimming. How do they operate in determining our body shape and the behaviours that support it?

Imagine for a moment a large boat, complete with captain and crew, sailing the ocean blue.

The captain makes the decisions and gives the orders, which the loyal crew follow. Without a captain, the boat would be directionless. Without a crew, the day to day running of the boat would be impossible.

The crew know their role and they don’t need the captain to tell them how to do their job or to remind them of their job on a daily basis - they’re very well trained. The captain only notifies the crew when he or she wants something to change and takes charge whenever leadership is required.

As for the boat, it needs to be kept in good nick and fueled on a regular basis.

The captain, the crew and the boat form a single interdependent unit. If the captain and crew don’t do their job properly, the boat can get damaged or end up in disrepair. If the boat is damaged it’ll make the journey harder for everyone and it won’t be in optimal condition to handle rough seas. If the

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captain is apathetic or incompetent or drunk, it will have a negative impact on the running of things. And if the captain and crew are in disagreement over things, or if there is no clear communication between captain and crew they won’t get very far either.

How does this relate to the brain and mind?

The captain is analogous to our conscious mind, the crew is like our subconscious mind, the boat is the brain and the ocean is life.

The conscious mind is the thinking part of ourselves. It sets goals, makes decisions and interprets experiences. It’s also what we’re aware of as our ‘mind chatter’ - the constant commentary going on in our heads.

The subconscious mind is the part of ourselves beneath our conscious awareness that actually keeps us alive and running. It’s what keeps our heart pumping, our lungs expanding and our hair growing. We don’t consciously sit there saying to ourselves: “pump, breathe, grow!” All these actions are handled subconsciously through what’s known as our autonomic nervous system. The number one priority of the subconscious mind is our survival – physical, emotional and psychological. And because survival is instinctively our primary goal, the subconscious is much more powerful than the conscious. So if there’s ever a conflict between our conscious wants and our subconscious needs, the subconscious always wins. It’s a case of essential versus desirable.

That’s why the subconscious mind plays a powerful role in dictating our behaviour: it protects our psychological and emotional wellbeing. That’s why sometimes we consciously think we want one thing, but still end up doing something else. Wanting to lose weight is a classic example. You set a clear goal for yourself and for the first three weeks you eat well and exercise regularly. Then something happens or life seems to throw you a curved ball and you find you’re simply not able to keep up the eating and exercise regime. The reason for this is that the subconscious mind isn’t on board with the conscious mind. The subconscious pay offs for not losing weight override your conscious desire to be slim. And that’s one of the reasons that diets don’t work – they don’t address subconscious issues. The captain wants one thing but the crew know that it will be a threat to your emotional survival so they actively ignore the captain’s commands.

How can we get the captain and crew working together towards the same goal: attaining your ideal healthy body weight?

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SECRETS

What has been the greatest discovery this century?

For millennia we believed that the brain was like a hard-wired computer. The brain you were born with, you were stuck with. And with age, your brain function gradually declined - or not so gradually if you abused it with excessive alcohol or party drugs.

Early this century, neuroscientists made a startling discovery: our brains are not hard-wired at all. Our brains are constantly changing in response to what we do, what we think, how we feel and how we behave. We can grow new cells (neurons) in our brains and create new circuits between them. We are not passive victims of our genes. We play an active role in how our brains develop throughout our lives. Our thoughts, emotions and actions determine the types of signals the brain sends out to the rest of the body. This ability of the brain to change is known as NEUROPLASTICITY. The word is coined from “neuron” meaning brain cell and “plastic” meaning malleable or able to be moulded. It is the greatest and most far-reaching discovery in over 1000 years, not just this century.

However, most people are yet to realise the enormous personal power this gives us.

And even fewer people know how to use this knowledge to easily lose weight.

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NEUROSLIMMING is the practical application of neuroplasticity to weight loss. In other words, by changing the signals that your brain is sending to your body, you can speed up your metabolism and reverse your tendency to store fat. You can rewire your brain to process food differently and create the body you want. You can turn subconscious behaviours that have led to being overweight into habits that lead to losing weight - and keeping it off for good.

Change your brain and you’ll change your body.

Change the course of the boat and you’ll arrive at a different destination.

The following 7 steps will reprogram the course of your boat (brain) to arrive at your ideal healthy body weight.

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PART II

STEP 1: WHAT?

The brain operates like a teleological device. What that means is that our brains are designed to achieve goals, just like a boat is designed to take its passengers from one port to another. If we don’t set goals, we drift about aimlessly and we randomly hit targets that we may or may not want. It seems like an obvious first step, but many people don’t set a specific goal in relation to losing weight. What’s more, the way you phrase your goal is critical to whether it penetrates through to your subconscious. Your conscious mind (the captain) clearly wants to lose weight or you wouldn’t be reading this. Your subconscious mind (the crew) is probably holding you back or you would have already achieved your goal of being slim. The captain needs to communicate to the crew in a clear, concise and compelling way. Otherwise your goals are like the captain shouting out orders into the wind - they are carried away without the crew even hearing them. Before you can change the course of the boat, you need to advise the crew of the new destination or they will continue to operate on autopilot.

You need to have a crystal clear target - a precise statement of what you want.

And you need to communicate your goal in such a way that the crew understand it and will act accordingly. They need unambiguous instructions.

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“There is one quality that one must possess to win, and that is definiteness of purpose, the knowledge of what one wants, and a burning desire to possess it.” Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich.

You may have come across a system known as SMART goal setting. This technique advises that you make your goals Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely (or a variation of this theme). This is not smart enough to get through to the crew when it comes to losing weight. Instead, here are the specific guidelines to setting an effective slimming goal.

Get a blank sheet of paper (or open a blank document on your computer) and just write (or type) what you want in terms of your health and your body weight, without worrying about the wording. Just get it out onto the page.

What would you want if you knew you couldn’t fail? If you knew that success was guaranteed? This is the free flow stage so don’t hold back or censor anything. Enjoy the process and answer the following four questions as you write or type:

What would you look like?

What would people be saying about you or your achievement?

What would you be doing?

How would you be feeling?

Choose a significant date at least six months in the future eg a Birthday, anniversary, Mother’s Day, Christmas or simply a day that means something to you and describe how you will look, behave and feel differently on this day because you have passionately embraced a healthy life and achieved a body that you’re proud of.

Now that you have a detailed picture of what you want, the way you word your goal is of paramount importance. Go through what you have written and apply the following criteria to every statement. This enables the crew to comprehend where you want to go.

GOAL SETTING CRITERIA FOR NEUROSLIMMING

1. Make it PERSONAL. Your goal needs to be written as a complete sentence beginning with I or My eg “I am…” “I have…” “My body…” You need to take ownership of your goal.

2. Put your goal in the PRESENT tense. If you’ve written “I will...” or “I want...” simply change it to “I am...” or “I have...” Even though the goal hasn’t yet happened, write it as though it already exists.

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GOAL SETTING CRITERIA FOR NEUROSLIMMING

3. Frame your goal in a POSITIVE way. The crew don’t understand negatives. The subconscious mind is unable to compute “don’t” or “won’t”. Therefore avoid starting your sentences with any of the following: “I won’t...” or “I don’t...”

4. Be very PARTICULAR - here’s the biggest catch of all: avoid the word “lose” or “loss” in your statement! Yes, you read correctly. No mention of the word “lose” because the word “lose” has negative connotations. We instinctively resist loss of any kind, even if that loss benefits us. And our resistance occurs on all levels: physiological, psychological and emotional. If the crew lose something, they are trained to find it again. It’s crucial that we put our minds and bodies in a state of acceptance of the goal, not resistance to the goal. This is one of the reasons a person regains weight even more quickly than they lose it. I have used the word “lose” and “loss” so far in this book, but from now on it will only be in the context of explaining a concept, not as part of your goal. Naming this program “Winning at Slimming” is no accident. It deliberately sets up positive expectations and sends the message that you’re a winner not a loser in the game of life.

5. Be PRECISE and detailed about what you’ll be doing, saying and wearing. Include all the things you will be able to do that your weight has been holding you back from. The more information you give the crew, the more easily they’ll carry out their job.

SOME EXAMPLES OF EFFECTIVE SLIMMING STATEMENTS

I am my ideal healthy body weight and I feel great.

I am a slim, strong, sexy size ...

I feel totally comfortable and happy with my body.

I look and feel absolutely fabulous.

I can wear whatever I want.

PRINT or write out your goal, so that you can read it every morning and every evening. Put it in PROMINENT places (only for you to see – not to display to the world!) and add to it whenever you’re inspired to do so.

Now that you’re clear about WHAT you want, the next step is getting fired up about WHY you want it.

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STEP 2: WHY?

Why do you want to change your body?

Why do you want to be slim and healthy?

Why does being lighter matter?

Why do you want to look great?

What difference will any of this make to your life?

Answering these questions is the most powerful factor in rewiring your brain for ongoing slimming success. When you truly want something, you don’t need willpower. Want-power is stronger than will power. The key is to engage your emotions.

If you have a big enough, powerful enough, compelling enough reason for wanting to attain something, you will attain it. Even if you have no idea how you’ll get there, your subconscious mind - your faithful crew - will figure it out. You simply need to fire them up to do it.

When you’re absolutely clear and passionate about your reasons for being slim and healthy, you will become unstoppable. Everything you encounter along the way becomes a stepping stone and not a stumbling block. And here’s the

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secret formula: you need to uncover your own PERSONALLY MEANINGFUL, MOVING and MOTIVATING reason. What’s a reason or several reasons that excite you and ignite your passion? What are reasons that engage your heart, not just your head?

Passion gives us power. Passion energises us. Passion changes our brain and body chemistry. When we’re passionate about something, we’re naturally switched on, focused and firing on all cylinders. We don’t have to find ways to motivate ourselves because we’re intrinsically motivated.

Passion enables us to do things we never thought we were capable of doing.

Passion isn’t simply a feeling – it causes the brain to release the chemicals of success: dopamine, adrenaline and acetylcholine.

Dopamine opens our minds, expands our vision and makes us feel great. Adrenaline gives us a massive surge of energy to enhance our performance in whatever we undertake. Acetylcholine sharpens our focus and consolidates the changes we make in our brains whenever we establish a new habit. In addition, brain imaging studies have shown that when we’re passionate about something, we turn on more brain cells so that we’re more resourceful and effective.

So the message is to get fired up or forget it!

Take the time right now to write your answers to the five questions at the start of this chapter. Add your answers to the description of your goal and read your reasons along with your goal every morning and evening. When you get that winning feeling you will get your goal.

“The most beautiful makeup of a woman is passion. But cosmetics are easier to buy.” Yves Saint-Laurent

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STEP 3: WOW!

In the first of many groundbreaking experiments, two groups of people with no previous experience were taught to play the piano. One group engaged in standard real-life practice. The other group imagined their fingers pressing the correct keys and imagined hearing the music as they did so. They did no physical practice whatsoever. After three days, both groups played with the same accuracy, even though the people in the second group had never actually touched the keyboard. After five days, the real-life practice group was slightly better than the mental practice group. However, after a single two hour session where they actually played the piece, the mental students were as good as the real-life students.

How is this possible?

Phenomenal as it is, the brain is unable to tell the difference between what’s real and what’s vividly imagined. The same neurons fire and the same parts of the brain light up, whether we’re looking at a cat or whether we have our eyes closed and are imagining a cat. Or whether we’re experiencing an event or imagining ourselves experiencing that event.

Read the paragraph below and then close your eyes and follow the instructions.

Think of a lemon. See yourself slicing the lemon in half and then picking up one of the pieces and taking a bite. Feel the juice trickling down your chin.

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Experience the tart, tangy taste. Imagine this now. You don’t have to be a ‘vividly visual’ person to be able to imagine something. How do you bring memories to mind? Use the same process for this exercise.

When you imagined biting into the lemon, the same activity was going on in your brain as though you had actually taken a bite of a lemon. The same neurons were firing. A thought can be as powerful as an experience in switching on our brain cells.

Every time we have a thought, just like every time we perform an action, we fire an electrical signal through a neural pathway. Each signal thickens the myelin sheath that surrounds the nerve fibre (called an axon). The thicker the sheath, the more efficient the signal and the better the nerve cell in performing its function. How can we apply this to changing our shape and weight?

A study published in the Journal of Neurophysiology1992, by Dr Guang Yue and Dr Kelly Cole, showed that imagining using one’s muscles actually strengthens them! The study looked at two groups: one that did physical exercise and one that only imagined doing exercise. Both groups exercised a finger muscle, Monday through Friday, for four weeks – group one at the gym and group two in their mind.

The physical group did trials of 15 maximal contractions, with a 20 second rest between each. The mental group merely imagined doing 15 maximal contractions with a 20 second rest between each, while also imagining a voice shouting at them “Harder! Harder! Harder!”

At the end of the study, the subjects who had done physical exercise increased their muscular strength by 30% as one might expect. Those who only imagined doing the exercise increased their muscle strength by 22%! A difference of a mere 8%! During the imaginary contractions, the neurons responsible for the muscle movement are activated and strengthened, resulting in increased strength when the muscles are actually contracted.

The scientific journal, Research Quarterly, reported an experiment on the effects of mental practice in basketball. Students were divided into three groups and scored on their ability in sinking the ball through the hoop. The first group then practised on the court for 20 minutes every day for 20 days. The second group did nothing relating to basketball for 20 days. The third group only practised in their imagination for 20 days. They didn’t set foot on the court. All they did was imagine themselves getting the ball through the hoop. And at the end of 20 days, they were all scored on the court again. The result?

The first group, that had been physically practising, improved their score by 24%.

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The second group, that had done nothing, showed no improvement.

The third group, that had only practised in their minds, improved their score by 23% - the same as the group that had been on the court every day!

I could fill this book with countless more experiments on the power of mental rehearsal. The question is: how will it help you attain the body you want?

When you create a mental movie of achieving your slimming goal, all the neurons required to make this scenario REAL begin to fire signals throughout your body. Your metabolism speeds up, your body starts to burn fat as fuel and your muscle cells are stimulated to transform into the shape you visualised. Thinking is thinning because it thickens our myelin sheaths! How’s that for a tongue twister?

Even more importantly, your brain releases chemicals that influence your appetite and your behaviour so that you find yourself eating in a way that leads to a lighter body weight. There is no need to force anything - your brain starts to control everything in your body so that it naturally moves in the direction of your goal.

When you regularly play mental movies of your desired goal, it’s analogous to showing the crew video clips of where the boat is going. The crew know exactly what the destination looks like and exactly what they need to do to get there. An exciting destination excites the crew! Any habits or subconscious issues that were holding you back are overwritten by the new program you have created.

So now it’s your turn.

Read over your WHAT and your WHY and then imagine your answers to the following questions. Engage as many senses as you can and make your mental movie as vivid as possible. Do NOT force anything. Relax and enjoy the process. You are daydreaming about a new possiblity for yourself, not trying to “drum” something into your head. Relax and allow yourself to play with a new reality.

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VISUAL

1. Close your eyes and imagine for a moment that you’ve accomplished your goal of Winning at Slimming. Describe how you look.

2. What expression do you have on your face?

3. What are you wearing?

4. What are you doing?

5. What else can you see in your life that tells you you’ve accomplished your goal?

AUDITORY

1. What are you saying to yourself?

2. What are you saying about yourself?

3. What are other people saying to you?

KINAESTHETIC

1. How does it feel to be slim and healthy?

2. How do you feel having achieved your goal?

3. Think back to another time in your life when you felt that way. Can you re-experience that feeling now?

RUN YOUR MENTAL MOVIE

1. Now experience the scenes, the sounds and the feelings you’ve just described, as vividly as you can – with all the colour, sound, action and emotion of a scene from real life.

2. Run it through your mind for a minute or two as if you were re-living a memory. When you’re ready, open your eyes.

This is your preview of life’s coming attractions. Visualising our goals actually rewires our brains.

Whenever you’re waiting in a queue, sitting on a train, taking a bath or just want a break from whatever you’re doing, run your mental movie in your mind. Mental practice works like physical practice - the more often you do it, the more quickly you will reach your goal. Just a few minutes several times a day will bring shifts in your life and your self-image. You will begin to feel and behave like a slim person – whatever that entails for you.

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The most effective time to do this is first thing in the morning and last thing before you fall asleep. These are the times when the crew are most impressionable and receptive to change and when your brain is the most “plastic”.

Running your mental movie is the WOW! factor in catapulting you to your goal.

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STEP 4: HOW?

DEFINING THE WORD DIET

The word diet is currently used in three ways.

Originally ‘diet’ simply referred to the food that a person or animal usually consumes.

The diet of an elephant includes grass, leaves, twigs, bark, fruit and seed pods.

The diet of a human usually includes fruit, vegetables, grains, dairy products, meat and fish. Not everyone eats all of these things, but everyone eats a selection of these things.

The second use of the word diet is to mean a controlled intake of food and drink designed for a specific medical or religious purpose. The best known example of this is coeliac disease – an intestinal intolerance to gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye, barley and oats. The lining of the small intestine is damaged by gluten and this can interfere with the absorption of nutrients. A gluten-free diet is the only successful treatment at this point in time.

The third use of the word diet is to refer to a restrictive eating plan that promises weight loss. This is the most common usage and it is how I am using the word in this chapter.

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FAD DIETS

There are countless different restrictive diets on the market but they all have four ingredients in common:

1. Cutting out certain types of food – sometimes it’s a whole food group, sometimes it’s a list of specific foods.

2. Regulating the amount of food consumed.

3. Dictating how or when or in which combinations to eat the food.

4. And often – but not always – a recently discovered amazing secret ingredient with seemingly magical properties that melt away fat.

The last ingredient is optional but the rest are pretty standard.

All of these restrictive, regimented, ritualistic eating plans are fad diets. And despite what any of them claim, there is no scientific evidence that any of these diets result in sustainable weight loss. If they did, you wouldn’t be reading this. And that’s the cruncher. They don’t produce sustainable weight loss. Restricting any food – be it fats, carbohydrates or a specific selection – will result in initial weight loss. Most fad diets work for a limited period of time because at the end of the day you’ve consumed less calories than you’ve expended. Energy in has been less than energy out.

However, the weight loss is unsustainable and the most common end result is regaining MORE weight than you originally lost. Why does this happen?

ALL RESTRICTIVE DIETS HAVE AN IN-BUILT FAILURE MECHANISM

It isn’t you who failed the diet; the diet failed you.

Diets are physically, psychologically and emotionally damaging.

Diets are denying, depriving, discouraging, disappointing, disempowering, demoralising, depressing and defeating.

Diets don’t work because:

1. As soon as you reduce our food intake by more than 25%, you slow down your metabolic rate so that you need less food just to maintain your weight.

2. A loss of more than 1kg per week will trigger your body’s starvation response so that it works overtime to store fat instead of burn fat. These numbers are rough averages because everyone processes food slightly differently. Some people are able to drop several kg per week

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before their metabolism slows down. This is also influenced by the amount of physical activity a person is doing.

3. Rapid weight loss changes your body composition resulting in less lean muscle mass and more body fat in the long run. When you shed weight on a diet, you lose water, muscle and fat. When you regain weight after a diet, you regain the weight as fat and water, not muscle - unless you’re pumping heavy weights at the gym every second day. The result is a higher fat to muscle ratio than you started with, even if you only put on as much weight as you lost. Fat has a slower metabolic rate than muscle. This means you need fewer calories to maintain your previous weight. This puts you on the path of yoyo dieting.

4. Any time we deny ourselves something, it becomes all the more appealing. We are able to resist things for a finite period of time but eventually we give in to the ever-increasing drive to have the foods that were on the forbidden list. Willpower is a finite resource, it isn’t a personal failing when we “give in”. We get worn down by constant restraint until we simply run out of willpower. Studies have found that if you find yourself exercising restraint in your job (for instance if you feel like telling your boss that he/she is unreasonable but you hold back in order to keep your job), it is then harder to exercise restraint in other areas of your life because your boss has used up your quota of willpower for the day.

5. Diets create an effect given the scientific name, “What the hell!” Researchers observed that when people are on a diet and they break their diet during one meal, there is a tendency to say “What the hell! I’ve ruined my diet so I may as well have extra helpings of everything.” The person ends up eating more than if they had not been on a diet in the first place.

6. When you’re on a diet, you override your body’s hunger signals and lose touch with your body’s needs. You disconnect from your body because you’re following external rules rather than tuning in and asking yourself “What do I feel like eating now?” “Am I satisfied yet?” All of this reduces your capacity to know how much you need to eat when the diet is over.

7. People who are deprived of food are at risk of becoming obsessed with food. During WWII, biologist Ancel Keyes discovered that reducing people’s intake to less than 1500 Calories per day for three months produced irritability, exhaustion and excessive preoccupation with food - and this behaviour continued even after people were able to eat as much as they wanted. What is frightening is that 1500 Calories a day is far more than most diets prescribe!

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8. Diets are something we want to get over with. Diets make us wish our lives away.

Diets are not a way to live.

LIVING means DIETING means

Fulfilling your needs Suppressing your needs

Making choices Enduring restrictions

Having energy and vitality Being tired and grumpy

Knowing your values Living by someone else’s rules

Feeling empowered Being disempowerment

Enjoying freedom Exerting restraint

Self expression Self denial

Fulfilling your dreams Putting off your dreams

Discovering exuberance Fearing failure

Thriving Barely surviving

IF DIETS DON’T WORK, WHAT’S THE ALTERNATIVE?

Instead of restrictive dieting, what works is listening to what your body needs and fulfilling those needs.

Living not dieting means taking the following radical approach:

EAT WHEN YOU’RE HUNGRY.

DON’T EAT WHEN YOU’RE NOT HUNGRY.

That’s it. That’s all it takes for your body to reach your ideal healthy body weight.

But that’s too simple.

Yes and no.

It would be simple if we always knew when we were hungry. If we regularly paused throughout the day and checked in with ourselves: “Am I hungry? If yes, I’ll take a break and eat now. If no, I’ll check in with myself again later.”

So many people have been overriding their hunger for so many years they no longer trust themselves to know when they’re hungry or when they’re following external cues. Many of these processes are unconscious. We are often

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unaware that our driver to eat is the fleeting thought, “It’s midday - time for lunch.” Or “Everyone around me is eating so I’ll join in.”

Get into the habit of asking yourself: “Am I really hungry? Or is it that I want to change how I’m feeling? Or do I simply need a break from what I’m doing?” Asking yourself these question begins to retrain your brain and body to send you stronger signals about what you need in any given moment.

Obviously there are times when we have a commitment to eat with others so we are not in a position to choose exactly when to eat. Ask the question regardless. Become aware of what you’re feeling. If you’re not hungry and you find yourself at a meal surrounded by people, you will eat more slowly and consume less food than you otherwise would. Over time your body learns to adjust to the time constraints that govern your life and you’ll find yourself getting hungry at convenient times. Giving yourself permission to eat when you’re hungry sends positive messages to yourself. It communicates self-respect, self worth and self-reliance. This is how healthy-weight people eat and when you eat the way a healthy person eats you are telling the crew that you are healthy. The crew will then start working below deck to lead you to better health. The more you practise pausing and questioning, the better you will become at recognising what is going on for you and what you need.

Be patient with yourself and trust that your body will guide you faithfully. And above all, enjoy your new-found freedom.

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STEP 5: WIRING

Once you have determined that you’re hungry, what do you eat?

This requires another revolutionary idea:

EAT WHAT YOU LIKE.

DON’T EAT WHAT YOU DON’T LIKE.

Everyone is unique and has different nutritional requirements at different times. We all need to consume proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals and water to stay alive. But in terms of which specific foods will best provide you with those nutrients, let your body tell you.

Many people are afraid that if they take away all the food rules they’ve laid down for themselves, they’ll eat all the “wrong” foods and put on even more weight. Scientists have discovered that this is not the case. A 30 day experiment was done with toddlers where children were given access to an enormous range of foods from biscuits to broccoli, 24 hours a day. The toddlers were allowed to eat whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted and everything they ate was recorded. At the end of 30 days, this self-directed eating resulted in EVERY SINGLE CHILD consuming a well-balanced nutritious diet. Their instincts told them what to eat. Most of us had this instinct when we were three years old but by the time we’re five, many of us have lost touch

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with our nutritional needs because we’ve been socialised to eat what we’re given or what we’re told is good for us. Or our parents insisted that we finish everything on our plate before we could have dessert. So we need to retrain ourselves to know what we need.

How do we do this?

After establishing that you are hungry and not bored, lonely or angry, ask yourself, “What do I feel like eating?” Then wait for a few moments. Tune into your body and become aware of any sensations that guide you to a particular selection of foods. If you’re not sure, guess! Try eating something slowly and consciously - not while doing something else - and focus on the taste and texture. How does it feel in your mouth? How does it feel in your stomach? Is it “hitting the spot?” If not, try something else.

We may not always be at home in front of the fridge or in a food outlet that offers a vast array of foods. Do the best you can in the circumstances you are in.

This may seem very laboured when you first start doing it. With a little practice it will become second nature. If you make it a habit at every meal, you’ll soon find yourself knowing almost instantly what you’re inspired to eat.

In this way, food becomes just food. It loses the additional attributes we are prone to give it: comfort, reward, punishment, blackmail. And we stop judging ourselves for our behaviour around food: “I am being virtuous” “I am being naughty” “I have no self discipline” “I feel guilty for eating this”. Let this go. Food is essential to our survival - it is not a moral issue. Once we know we are following our inner guidance and that what we eat balances out over time, our relationship with food becomes nourishing not punishing.

When you win back confidence in your ability to make your own food choices, you’ll feel exhilarated!

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STEP 6: WORDS

Have you ever noticed that the language of Western medicine is the language of war?

Modern medicine wants to fight the infection, kill the virus, eradicate the invaders, cut out the cancer, defeat the disease and wage war on obesity! Meanwhile patients are battling their illness, combating side effects and struggling with weight loss.

This is major warfare we’re talking.

What’s wrong with this approach? I believe a great deal.

For a start, in war there are always casualties, whether the battle is won or lost; the warfare approach implies collateral damage to our bodies. This contradicts what I learnt on day one of medical school: primum non nocere or “first do no harm”.

Secondly, this kind of language makes us regard our bodies as a battle ground. Whatever happened to treating the body like a temple? The language of medicine sends out mixed messages. On the one hand, we’re told to “look after your body” and the next minute we’re waging war on our bodies. This actually creates a subconscious resistance to looking after ourselves because we know that sooner or later we’ll be fighting ourselves.

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The crew are not able to cope with this sort of ambiguity. We need to start thinking in terms of working with our bodies, not against our bodies. Creating an attitude of awe and respect for the human body is what creates the intrinsic inclination to eat well, get adequate sleep and move our muscles. When you love something, you look after it. If you’re fighting something, you actively go about damaging it. No wonder everyone seems to find it difficult to sustain a healthy lifestyle. Being bombarded with messages of fighting the body tells the crew to sabotage your healthy eating efforts.

Thirdly, the language of war creates fear, anxiety and stress, all of which are counter to health, healing and slimming. What an enormous difference it would make if we spoke in terms of love, not war; in terms of nurture and support versus killing and fighting. Whether we’re aware of it or not, we automatically tense up in response to words relating to combat and we immediately relax when we hear the language of love. Attaining a healthy body weight is the result of feeling at peace with ourselves and with life – not being at war with ourselves.

On 7 March 2005, the results of a study conducted at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, were presented at the Scientific Session of the American College of Cardiology in Orlando, Florida. The researchers measured the changes in blood flow in subjects who were shown one of two films: either the war film, Saving Private Ryan, or the comedy, King Pin. They found that brachial artery flow was reduced in 14 of the 20 volunteers following viewing of war clips that caused mental stress. In contrast, beneficial blood vessel relaxation (vasodilation) was increased in 19 of the 20 volunteers after they watched the movie segments that generated laughter. Overall, average blood flow increased 22 percent during laughter, and decreased 35 percent during mental stress. That’s a difference of 57% in response to language and imagery.

This magnitude of change in the endothelium is similar to the benefits of aerobic activity. Imagery and emotion have a profound impact on our health.

I’m trained in Western medicine and by no means reject what it has to offer. If my appendix has just ruptured, I want immediate surgery. But the language and the imagery of modern medicine are counterproductive. Changing the language of medicine would re-structure our whole approach to treating illness and attaining a healthy body weight. Love builds up, not tears down. Love protects, not harms.

When we speak about slimming and healthy eating, why not talk about strengthening the immune system, building up resilience, enabling our organs to do their job and supporting our bodies for optimal functioning? Just hearing this kind of language makes us feel better. Rather than “Let’s wage war on obesity! Let’s fight fat!” Or when it comes to illness: “Don’t worry, we’ll kill the virus that’s invaded your liver!” One of my patients, after seeing a specialist, made the comment: “How can I not worry when there’s killing and

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invading going on?”

Optimal health, healing and slimming require profound respect for life and for our bodies, not turning our bodies into a war zone. Love and respect for ourselves are what provide life-long motivation to take care of ourselves.

So let’s stop fuelling the paradigm of war and start creating a culture of love, acceptance and nurture.

How do we do this?

There are two very powerful practices you can engage in.

The first is to become aware of any combative words you use. It’s so prevalent we don’t even notice it. Change words like ‘struggle', ‘battle’ and ‘force’ into ‘fuel’, ‘re-charge’ and ‘enhance’. It will bring about a huge shift in your capacity for self-care if you start using words that build you up rather than tear you down or make you feel that slimming is hard work.

The second habit to cultivate is that of consciously practising gratitude for all the things you appreciate about your health and your body. Gratitude for your ability to see, hear, smell, taste and feel. Gratitude for your ability to move, talk and sing - even if only in the shower. Not everyone has the gift of all five senses or all four limbs but we all have something to be thankful for.

Gratitude is a secret super power.

At the University of California, psychologist Robert Emmons found that gratitude exercises improved physical health, raised energy levels, increased self-care behaviours and even reduced pain and fatigue in patients with neuromuscular disease. People who elaborated more and had a wider span of things they were grateful for experienced the greatest benefits.

In a study of adolescents, asking them to count their blessings was associated with enhanced optimism, mood and satisfaction with school, even though nothing in their external circumstances had changed. The benefits of practising gratitude were even greater than a comparative group given Prozac!

And in a group of women who wanted to shed weight, teaching them to appreciate their bodies - even if they didn’t like everything they saw in the mirror - resulted in all of them fitting into a smaller dress size by the end of three months without any of them going on a diet or consciously restricting their eating! When surveyed they all reported “just naturally making healthier food choices” and “feeling like exercising more”.

How does gratitude work? Neuroscientists are still unravelling all the mechanisms but one explanation is that regularly reflecting on things that we’re grateful for changes our brain chemistry so that we feel more optimistic

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and we think more creatively and expansively. When we are in a positive mood state, we’re better able to solve problems and come up with new ideas. When we feel down, we are less likely to see how we can fit exercise into our busy day. When we feel more appreciative of what we have, we are more likely to notice opportunities that will help us achieve our goals. Most importantly, when we feel grateful we look after for what we have and subconsciously behave in ways that bring us more things to be grateful for. We have the crew working full time to give us what we want!

Right now, come up with a list of ten things you’re grateful for in your life - your family, friends, experiences and gifts throughout your life. Write them in a journal or type and save them in a Gratitude File.

Then think about what you are grateful for in terms of your health and your body - your eyes, your hair, your voice, as many things as you can come up with. Start EVERY DAY with a review of what you’re grateful for - in general and in relation to your body. You’ll be amazed at the result!

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STEP 7: WINDOWS

I love trampolines. I’ve also sustained more injuries on trampolines than anyone I know. But it doesn’t deter me from having a jump whenever I come across one.

A few years ago I was at Brisbane’s* night markets where a series of huge trampolines had been set up for children. I watched as 10 year-olds were strapped into harnesses, which enabled them to jump to great heights without fear of flying off into the bushes. I had to have a turn.

(*For my non-Australian readers, Brisbane is the capital city of the state of Queensland.)

The young man supervising the operation gave me a bemused look but took my money and connected me to the thick, elasticised ropes. I began bouncing with great gusto. True to form, I landed nowhere near the centre of the trampoline – I was always just short of falling off the edges, but the ropes were there to rescue me every time.

When my time was up, the affable young man couldn’t hold back. “That was very impressive,” he grinned. “I’ve never seen anyone miss the bulls-eye so consistently. It’s like you had a magnet drawing you off to the sides. But I figured out your problem. You were always looking off to the sides. You never once looked down at the middle of the trampoline. If you look there, that’s

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where you’ll land.”

I thought about his advice for a minute. The crowds had thinned and the temptation was too great. “OK I’ll give it another go.”

Back in the harness, I propelled myself into the air and fixed my eyes on the centre of the trampoline. I couldn’t believe it – I landed where I looked! I kept my focus on the target and got the same result, over and over again. I was a trampolining legend! When I glanced over to the side, sure enough, that’s where I headed. I looked back to the centre and I was back on track. I laughed for the entire duration of the “ride” and then thanked my young wizard for the life lesson: what we focus on is where we end up.

What do you tend to focus on?

Start to pay attention to your thoughts and conversations. Do you beat yourself up for what you didn’t achieve or do you congratulate yourself for what you did accomplish? Do you look back over your week and recall your wins or your sins?

Every day is full of things that go “right” and things that we feel have gone wrong. What scenes do you replay in your mind? What do you talk to others about? I am not suggesting you become boastful. I’m inviting you to choose where you put your focus. Choose which window you look through: the one that offers the good view or the depressing view?

Choosing to practise gratitude in the previous chapter is one example of this.

If you look in the mirror and put your attention on all the things you don’t like about yourself, you reinforce that this is who and what you are. If you look in the mirror and make a conscious effort to notice your beautiful hair, your shining eyes and your great smile, these features will start to stand out - not only to you but to others as well.

Go on, do it now - no one is looking!

Your focus is the window through which you view the world. Pick the best view every time.

Your focus acts like a magnifying glass and a magnet. In other words, whatever you put your attention on, expands in your life. What every you talk about, you see more of. Whatever you think about, you experience more of. What you focus on, directs your subconscious mind - your crew - to seek out and create more of the same.

How can you apply this principle to slimming?

Start to keep score of your wins, not your sins. Whenever you do something positive in relation to your health, PAUSE and take it in.

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Give yourself a mental pat on the back. Celebrate in some way – even if it’s just having the thought, “I am so pleased I managed to fit in a walk this morning” and smiling quietly to yourself. Get in touch with the feeling of satisfaction, contentment, success or fulfilment that it gives you. Indulge in the good feeling – don’t immediately move on to the next thing, without acknowledging that you’ve accomplished something. We tend to rush through life and not enjoy or even recognise many of our achievements. This not only detracts from our happiness but also our performance. The effect that celebration has on the brain is to put it in a “can-do” state. This means your brain will be operating more efficiently and effectively when you apply it to the next task and you create a positive, upward spiral of ever-increasing success in ALL areas of your life, not only your healthy body weight goal.

At the end of every day as you commute home from work, take the time to review all the things that you did well or succeeded at or accomplished that day, even if it has nothing to do with slimming. Nothing is too trivial to acknowledge e.g. I handled a difficult conversation sensitively and effectively; I was patient with my new co-worker, I caught up on my overdue bills; I took my time while I ate and savoured lunch.

The days you find this most difficult to do are the days you need to do it most. Focusing on “what went right” instead of “what went wrong”, not only improves our mood but our capacity to create more things that go right in our lives. The more attention you pay to the healthy choices you make and the things you like about yourself, the more you will naturally demonstrate those behaviours and become who you want to be.

We become what we feel and focus on.

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PART III

Congratulations! You have begun the exciting adventure of changing your brain to change your body.

Memorise your seven guiding mantras:

1. Clarity not confusion 2. Want-Power not willpower 3. Seeing is Being 4. Living not dieting 5. Nourishment not punishment 6. Love not war 7. Winning not Sinning

The seven processes outlined in this book have the potential to begin transforming the structure and chemistry of your brain so that you attain your ideal healthy body weight. Most importantly, you’ll find yourself living in a way that feels natural, enjoyable and totally fulfilling.

I use the word ‘potential’ because nothing will happen if you don’t take action after reading this book. The way the book is written will put you on the path

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of slimming but you need to maintain the momentum.

The beauty of this program is that it’s all about fun not force and being you, not new.

Ralph Waldo Emerson stated: “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” This is what lies at the core of Winning at Slimming. Every step is about bringing you more joy and life satisfaction, and as a result you will naturally attain your ideal healthy body weight.

So what now?

This book lays the cornerstones of a slim, healthy life and starts you thinking the light way. Reread this book until each step becomes part of who you are and how you operate without having to make a conscious effort.

However it is not the whole story.

So many people feel like a failure when it comes to being in control of their weight. That’s not the case. Your body is doing what it is programmed to do and nothing will change until you change the programming. You are not a failure – you’ve been missing the most important piece of the puzzle. How can you complete the picture if you don’t have all the pieces?

Winning at Slimming gives you the missing piece in the weight loss puzzle.

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The missing piece is neuroplasticity – changing your brain. Reading this book is the beginning of a process that is completed during the Weekend Workshop. At the workshop you will experience neuroplasticity, not merely read about it. This is what makes the definitive difference.

The steps in this book provide the initial instructions that the captain needs to give the crew. There are more steps for you to learn. During the weekend you will discover the deeper workings of your brain and change the chemical and electrical signals between your neurons. Through specific processes and activities you will rewire your thinking for lasting results.

All winners have a coach. No Wimbledon champion has made it without a mentor and trainer. The instruction and support we give you will take your success beyond what you ever imagined possible. We consider it a privilege to guide you on your unique and rewarding adventure.

Attending a live weekend workshop allows you to experience an amazing transformation in just two days. You learn how to crack the code to your lifelong slimming success. Many people describe this as their “Aha!” moment. You walk in on Saturday morning with the brain of an overweight person and you walk out on Sunday afternoon with the brain of a slim person. Your body then simply catches up with your brain.

Take a moment and imagine how your life could be different if you were your ideal healthy body weight. You wake up in the morning knowing you can eat whatever you like without counting calories or restricting food. You have the freedom to wear whatever you want and you look fabulous. You’re confident among your friends and colleagues because you radiate vibrant health, inner strength and boundless vitality. People are inspired by your zest, your energy and your passion for life. You are relaxed and happy because you feel comfortable in your own skin and you know you look great. Your children follow your uplifting healthy example. You know you can do anything because you are the person you have always wanted to be.

This is you – in the near future.

Visit www.winningatslimming.com/workshops to make it happen.

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The Science of Changing your Brain to Change your Body€¦ · body you want for life. This book has been structured to begin programming your brain for slimming success the moment

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