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Weight Loss Advice from Management Class at Work! February 10, 2012

Posted by Optifast Blogger in Maintenance.
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I attended a half-day class at work this week on management, team building, communication, etc. I zoned out almost immediately as I often do, unfortunately, in this type of class. But I had barely started to doodle mindlessly on my notepad when my ears perked up at what I was hearing. It was like I was at our weight loss support group – downright eerie! Here are some of the things the instructor said. Don’t they sound familiar, or at least resonate with the weight loss journey? Verbatim:

  • This program is about choices, and awareness
  • It’s easy to forget plans and resolutions when you are busy, stressed and self-absorbed
  • You may not be responsible for what happens around you, but you are responsible for how you respond
  • You have the power to be the person you want to be
  • You don’t have to like every situation that comes into your life, but it is important to like yourself in that situation
  • It takes 3-6 weeks to make a behavior change become a habit
  • Do one thing differently today
  • Visualize the results you would like to see happen

Seriously, does this not sound appropriate for all of us on this weight loss/fitness journey?

Regarding that last one, the instructor talked about a study on visualization done at the University of Chicago by a Dr. Blaslotto. Maybe others have heard of it, but I hadn’t, and it was pretty amazing. Here’s how it worked – they took a group of people and tested them for basketball free-throw accuracy. Then they divided the group into thirds. One third was the control. One third practiced an hour a day for some amount of weeks throwing at the hoop. The last third spent that same hour only visualizing themselves making a basket.

The researchers retested the whole group. The control group scored the same. The group who practiced made a 24% improvement. But the group with no practice but who had visualized the results they wanted, improved by 23%, nearly the same amount! The power of the mind?

In any case, no harm done in harnessing the potential power of visualization and spending some time each day  thinking about our goals, and where we want our bodies, our health, and our lives to be, in the days, months and years ahead.

Visualization – Picturing the End of the Optifast Journey June 13, 2011

Posted by Optifast Blogger in Early Days on Optifast.
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I mentioned in my “Preparing for the Program” blog entry  that the week before starting the program I had a trip to San Diego. I spent some time on Coronado Island, and promised myself a trip back after I’d finished the program, and hopefully could fit into smaller, cuter beachwear.

Del Coronado Hotel, pool and beachSo part of my self-motivation for this low-cal journey is to visualize myself, maybe in slim white linen slacks and a fitting, flattering summer top, lounging on the Del Coronado Hotel deck sipping my Diet Coke, strolling through the upscale “Del” shops, or (if I can ever afford to stay there, maybe even cavorting in the pool with my 3-year-old granddaughter. (The pool is gorgeous, as you can see.)

It’s a pretty powerful visualization. Like all visualizations, it helps to try to make it multi-sensory:  hearing the waves on the beach at the fringe of the hotel, the clink of glasses on the deck or outdoor restaurant patio, the children laughing and playing in the pool; smelling the sea breeze, the pool smells (chlorine and sunscreen), the restaurant food, the flowers that grow all over the hotel grounds; feeling the sun on my skin, the ocean breeze in my hair, fingering the expensive shoes, jewelry and other items for sale in the shops. 😉

And of course, visualizing the slim (or slimmer), healthy, energetic me, enjoying all this!

Next post will be weigh-in, end of Optifast Week 4 (25% done with 16-week program…)