In the medical community, "obesity" is generally said to be present in women with more than 30% body fat and men with more than 25% body fat. "Morbid obesity," a more serious condition still, occurs when a person is 50-100% or 100 pounds above his or her ideal body weight or has more than 39% body fat. Medical problems commonly associated with morbid obesity include diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, stroke, certain cancers (including breast and colon cancer), depression, and osteoarthritis. Obesity among the American population is a serious epidemic. The results of a 1999-2000 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey indicate that an estimated 64% of U.S. adults are either overweight or obese. Millions of people approach weight control, focusing on the symptom. The symptom being the weight itself. These people put all their energy into baking it off, working it off, starving it off, or all kinds of fad diets. They all experience the ups and downs on the weight charts and scale. This makes for a lot of upset and depressed people who think that they will never solve the problem of eliminating, permanently, those excess pounds and inches. The only time that anyone has to be concerned with weight control is when they are eating. The fact of the matter is that people are concerned with weight before they eat and they beat themselves up after they eat. While people are eating there is no concern. We spend a small amount of time each day eating and that is the only time that people have to increase their conscious awareness and focus on developing proper eating habits. If you are overweight, you may be so because you formed a habit of eating improperly. By re-educating your eating habits, you will find that you still enjoy eating and for much more positive reasons. You'll eliminate weight -- and you won't regain it. The plan is very basic, simple, and easy. Every week, for a period of six weeks, you are going to practice a new and different mental exercise to help you change your eating habits. WEEK ONE: Sit down to eat and drink. Even if it's only a piece of gum or a sip of water, sit down! This will help eliminate the unconscious snacking that is so much a part of being overweight. This also eliminates tasting foods for those who cook. WEEK TWO: Relax! Take a minute to breathe comfortably and be thankful for the food in front of you. This will help you become aware of the foods that you eat and the way in which you eat them. WEEK THREE: Chew your food well. Sip your drinks. Take small bites. Depending on what you are eating, chew from 25 to 40 times with each mouthful. By consuming small portions and eating more slowly, your taste buds will have a chance to get the full and wonderful flavor from the nutritious foods you are eating. Your stomach will have a chance to tell your mind that you are full and satisfied and that you require a smaller amount of food than before. It can take the same amount of time to eat a small amount of food as it does to eat a large amount. WEEK FOUR: Get rid of bad emotions and frustrations. if you have a problem or transaction that you are working on, clear your mind before you eat. Eating out of frustration is a very common bad habit. WEEK FIVE: Think about the food you eat, especially the flavor. WEEK SIX: Leave something on your plate (besides your fork). Were conditioned to clean everything from our plates and programmed to believe that cleaning our plates will help starving children elsewhere in the world or that its a sin to waste food. OTHER ATTITUDES TO CONSIDER 1. Refer to diets as menus. 2. Refer to losing weight as eliminating weight permanently. 3. Use smaller plates and glasses. 4. Serve yourself smaller portions. 5. Use one room in the house in which to eat, perhaps even one chair. 6. Keep a diary of the food you eat. In addition to these exercises, it is important that you utilize the techniques learned in altered- states (hypnosis) to effect habit change and visualize exactly the way you want to look. Imagine yourself standing on your bathroom scale and looking down at the weight you want to be. Some sample weight control suggestions: 1. I weigh ___ pounds and am slim, healthy, and attractive. 2. I eat only those healthful, nutritious foods that allow me to maintain my weight at ___ pounds. 3. I eat my meals slowly and enjoy every bite. I taste and savor my food better than ever before. 4. The desire to eliminate fat from my body is stronger than ever before. I am, on a daily basis, eating less and enjoying food more, and the desire to eliminate weight is stronger than the desire to eat. 5. I see myself as being slim, trim, firm and solid. I think thin. 6. I am staying satisfied for longer periods of time. The desire to eliminate unnatural fat from my body is stronger than my desire to eat. I see fattening eating behavior and I have no desire to indulge in such behavior. I enjoy being slim, trim, thin and slender. By utilizing these behavior modification suggestions you will completely re-educate your eating habits and will have formed a successful pattern for creating and maintaining a slim, trim, permanent new shape. |
