Get Inspired:Success Stories and Free Events

EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT ON THE SHIFT WEIGHT MASTERY PROCESS
SEPTEMBER 21, 2013 KICK OFF ALL DAY HYPNOSIS BASED SEMINARhttp://www.shiftweightmastery.com/ShiftSeminar.html
call 323 988 4574 for consultation

Hi there--
Did you know that August is one of the toughest months of the year for weight management?  Almost as tough as December?  The last month of the summer brings lots of events, vacations and by the end of the summer we are a little worn down by all that summer is.  Sometimes we can find it hard to stay focused on eating healthfully, staying within our calorie budget, and being consistent with exercise. 

So I am here to inspire you with some wonderful stories of weight release success.  I hope that you find within them the insights and inspiration you need to stay focused or get focused for a fabulous summer finish!

(See below events announcement-- Michelle, Anastasia, and Amy's success stories.  Each of these ladies' journey's to weight mastery have created a connection to that powerful part within themselves that can guide them to long term weight mastery--what we in SHIFT call THE INNER COACH.)

Also here are some *FREE* Shift Events Coming Up so save the date!!

STUCK? BREAK YOUR WEIGHT PLATEAU
Sherman Oaks Galleria Community Room
Sunday August 25th from 3-5pm
Why have you been staying at the same weight when it seems like you have been trying so hard to release?  Have you been needing to lose those last 10 pound for awhile. Often our conscious mind may want one thing while our unconscious mind has another idea altogether.  Discover the resistance to thin within and then learn how to dissolve it in order to finally move forward.

Invite family and friends to this en"light"ening event. Hypnosis will be discussed and used.
To sign up hit "reply" and say "I'm in for Sunday"

Learn Self Hypnosis to achieve goals and improve your life
When: Wednesday August 28th from 10am-1130am

Where: Beach Cities Health District--exact location TBD

Cost: None

Want to learn to use your mind more effectively to achieve goals and relaxation? Come to a free 90 minute seminar to learn about the power of hypnosis.

Get on the list by hitting "reply" "I'm in for Wednesday"

Shift Success Stories

Anastasia, a breast cancer survivor, reached her ideal weight and connected powerfully with her body and learned a new level of live for exercise.
www.shiftweightmastery.com/Anastasia.mp3

Michelle N. gives some powerful insights to what it took to release 58lbs and enjoyed the whole process--the key was changing the relationship with herself.
www.shiftweightmastery.com/MichelleN.mp3

Amy D. has released over 100lbs with the Shift-in-a-Box (it was 88 at the time of the interview) by learning to tune out the voice that kept her struggling and found a powerful voice that kept her SHIFTING even being in the midst of Hurricane Sandy.

www.shiftweightmastery.com/AmyDubeinterview.mp3




 

Shift Monthly:Stuck? Get Unstuck!

August 2013 Shift Monthly Shift Monthly is a monthly coaching session written by clinical hypnotherapist and cognitive weight expert Rita Black dedicated to exploring how to implement “thin thinking” in order to achieve long term permanent Weight Mastery. Each month we focus on a different theme of Weight Mastery.  www.shiftweightmastery.com   August Theme: Leveling up your eating and weighing in experiences.

MICHELLE HAS RELEASED 55lbs. SINCE LAST SEPTEMBER’S SHIFT WEIGHT MASTERY PROCESS

Click the link to hear Michelle’s inspiring story and insights www.shiftweightmastery.com/MichelleN.mp3
The next Shift Weight Mastery Process begins September 21^st—click link below to find out more and sign up for a free phone consultation.   http://www.shiftweightmastery.com/ShiftSeminar.html

SHIFT MONTHLY: STUCK? GET UNSTUCK : Weight Mastery coaching for breaking a plateau

Weight loss plateaus, like death, taxes and men leaving dirty socks on the floor (no offense guys—said with love), are pretty much guaranteed.  During the many years of my practice as a clinical hypnotherapist specializing in long term permanent weight “release” and helping thousands of clients in that time period I can pretty assure you that most everyone hits a plateau at some point during their journey to their ideal weight.  The difference in who is successful breaking through this perceived barrier and who is not is based entirely upon how the person deals with it mentally, physically and environmentally. 

As Shifters we want to look at plateaus in a way that gives us power rather than takes it away from us.  This month I am going to focus on the mental game of mastering and busting a plateau—because once your mind can SHIFT around and through a plateau your body will follow.

UNSTICK THE “STUCK”

First of all, let’s be clear on what our definition of a weight loss plateau is.

Definition: A weight loss plateau is a period of time where your weight does not change.

Hmm, a period of time where our weight does not change?  Well that seems innocent enough.  So why do those three strike such fear, anger and frustration in the heart of many??? 

Let’s look at our FAT THINKING around weight loss plateaus.

-I don’t deserve this (plateau)

-This is unfair

-My body is broken

-I will be fat forever

-I am working so hard and nothing is happening

-Nothing works

-Plateaus suck

-Plateaus are hard

-If I was better, smarter, richer, prettier, this wouldn’t be happening

BTW, “Fat Thinking” is the term we use at Shift to define the all or nothing, good or bad, on or off a diet thinking that we get into when trying to LOSE weight.  Fat Thinking includes the negative beliefs that keep us stuck in our struggle with weight.  When we SHIFT we are Shifting our mind into “Thin Thinking” which comes from a vision of what we want to achieve, which is not only weight “release” (because we never want to find that weight again) but a vision of finding a way of connecting and communicating with ourselves in this area of our lives that allows us to feel nourished, vibrant and masterful. 

As a dieter stuck in Fat Thinking we hate and fear plateaus because they keep us from our main dieter goal—seeing results on the scale. 

Diets focus us on the external—the results on the scale—following the diet “plan” perfectly-- but usually never focus us on making the changes internally that keep us struggling with weight in the first place. So plateaus form a huge threat to a dieter because all the positive feedback they are receiving for restricting themselves on the diet is gone. 

When we start a diet there is a daily loss on the scale.  It’s great!  It’s fun!  It’s glamorous and cool—sexy!!  But what happens when the scale stops dropping and there is no more positive reinforcement on the outside—only the diet plan and restriction with no apparent pay off? 

AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

We start to get upset.  Our inner mindset which has not been altered at all by the diet and which is still stuck in fat thinking begins to come back full force. Our Inner Critic who has been lying dormant while the scale dropped now wakes up and begins to analyze the scenario—

“What’s wrong with you?  Why aren’t you losing?  You are doing something wrong!  You picked the wrong diet.  The scale should be lower now.  Your body is broken. Your head is broken.  This plateau equals failure.  You are a failure.”   Yikes—not so fun now –right?

As the days pass and the Inner Critic continues the rant about the flat line scale we feel another Fat thinking part of us kick in.  Yes—it’s our friend the Inner Rebel.

“Weeeeelll since you aren’t losing any weight maybe you can just eat that cookie.  This diet sucks, obviously.  You worked so hard, let’s just take a break—maybe we can start another diet—the best diet—next week?”

The Inner Critic and the Inner Rebel—those parts of us that drive our Fat Thinking-- love to come out and play during a plateau and usually what happens is we give up, we become a victim of our limiting beliefs about the plateau, sabotage the diet, abandon the plan, and with no internal Shift having occurred, gain the weight back.

SHIFTING INTO THIN THINKING THROUGH PLATEAUS

When we Shift we make the decision to begin to use our mind differently about how we approach our weight.  We recognize that the mental thought systems and strategies that we operate from will need to be “Shifted” in order to have lasting, long term permanent weight release.  Success comes not from a diet on the outside but from engaging the Inner Coach within you, (and at Shift we use hypnosis and cognitive techniques to help us) to unravel the faulty wiring that keeps us struggling and to re-wire ourselves with a powerful mental foundation that supports our living our life at our ideal weight.

So a weight release plateau to a Shifter is not so threatening because we understand the physics side of weight release and we also know that a plateau can be an opportunity to connect with our Inner Coach and grow from the experience.  Just because there is no movement on the scale externally, does not mean there can be no movement internally. 

Often many a Weight release Master will say that their biggest mental breakthroughs came during their weight release journey plateaus—because they were forced to turn within—to learn to stretch themselves past where their current thinking was stopping them (which was being reflected on the scale).

The best coaches create a powerful vision and ask powerful questions that help keep one focused on moving forward.  Your Inner Coach can now do the same with your own journey towards weight mastery, rather than becoming a victim of the “perceived” plateau on the scale. (Often plateaus are not real but just the scales waiting for water release weight to catch up to real fat release weight)

If you are experiencing a weight release plateau right now try engaging your Inner Coach and ask yourself these questions.

1) Is my vision of what I want to achieve with my weight release journey as powerful and visceral as it was when I began?  If not, how can I up the stakes and power of what I want to achieve until I feel reinvigorated and engaged again?

2) Do I really believe I am going to be successful?  If not, what are the limiting beliefs that keep me from feeling 100% certain?  I can begin to get conscious that these beliefs are a block and need to be Shifted and move towards that—(seek support, hypnosis CDs, reframe the belief in a positive way)

3) Do I need to focus my efforts externally? Am I being accurate in my tracking?  Are my portions bigger than I am accounting for?

4) Am I at a mental plateau? Do I need to shift my thoughts more—are there thoughts that are holding me back such as:

 “I am afraid to be seen or be seen as attractive to others”

“I am afraid to feel vulnerable and small”

 “I am not willing to exercise more or focus on calories, or write down my food.”

--there are many other thoughts or beliefs that may be mentally keeping you at a plateau—can you get curious about them and then begin to get conscious about them and then begin to Shift them?

With the dieter Fat Thinking, mindset when a plateau occurs we assume something is wrong and this DISCONNECTS YOU FROM YOURSELF and takes your power away.

When you SHIFT and a plateau occurs, you still may feel a bit bummed but you can keep your power and still move forward (even though the scale may not be)—and STAY CONNECTED to yourself by engaging your Inner Coach and turning within.

 

Please use the following mind exercise to get you Shift forward within.

Mental Exercise for Plateau Busting:

1)    Create a vivid representation of the way you are right now in your plateau (your present state) with all of the challenges the plateau represents.

2)    See yourself the way you would want to be when you get through all of the challenges.  Be clear on the specifics—how you would be behaving, how much would you be eating and exercising, what do you look like, how do you feel??

3)    Place one image in each of your hands outstretched in front of you with a space separating them.  This space represents the unexplored territory and unspecified steps that lie between the plateau state and the plateau busted state.

4)    Begin to make a series of images or movies of the logical steps from one state to another, adjusting each frame until each is a fully representational stage of the process of change.

5)    When you have between 5-8 stages in front of you, begin slowly to close your hands, collapsing all of the stages into a single process.

6)    Bring your clasped hands toward your body and pull the new state into your body, making a new feeling that represents action and success—PLATEAU BUSTING!

7)    Spin that feeling faster and faster. Intensifying it and allowing it to spread throughout your body so that it saturated every muscle, every organ, every nerve, every cell.  As you do this, look at what you need to do (or think) first. Then see yourself taking the second step and then the third etc. and keep spinning and intensifying that feeling until you feel excited and energized and ready to make the mental and/or physical adjustments and go bust that plateau!

Have a great UNSTUCK month!!

Oxox Rita

MICHELLE HAS RELEASED 55lbs.  SINCE LAST SEPTEMBER’S SHIFT WEIGHT MASTERY PROCESSClick the link to hear Michelle’s inspiring story and insights www.shiftweightmastery.com/MichelleN.mp3

The next Shift Weight Mastery Process begins September 21^st—click link below to find out more and sign up for a free phone consultation.   http://www.shiftweightmastery.com/ShiftSeminar.html

 

Shift Monthly: Downton FLABBY

July 2013 Shift Monthly Shift Monthly is a monthly coaching session written by clinical hypnotherapist and cognitive weight expert Rita Black dedicated to exploring how to implement “thin thinking” in order to achieve long term permanent Weight Mastery. Each month we focus on a different theme of Weight Mastery.  www.shiftweightmastery.com   July’s Theme: Slimming into Summer

DOWNTON FLABBY (or How to Avoid Midsummer Weight Gain Blues)

Have you ever tried to lose weight living on an English country estate?  Well if you haven’t, let me tell you from personal experience, it can be quite a challenge. 

Many fans of the Masterpiece Theatre series “Downton Abbey”, based on the lives of both the aristocrats and the servants who live in an English country estate at the turn of century, watch the series and marvel at the amazing costumes and set design, or the romance and the historical storyline.  I watch the series and marvel at how those women with the 18 inch waistlines can eat 7 course meals every night and not gain weight. 

One summer, while I was living in England, over 20 years ago, I spent the summer living at a 16^th century estate and gained one pound for each century within an eight week time.  Talk about period drama!

How did I gain 16 pounds so quickly and, more importantly, how can you avoid the pitfalls of the mid-summer weight gain blues?  Read on and get some coaching on how to Shift from Fat Thinking to thin thinking this summer.

THE INVITATION

It was the summer of 1991 and my husband and I had been living in London for about 2 years.  I had been struggling with my weight while living in London and for over 10 years before that.  Struggling with weight in England is pretty much the same as in the states except you weigh in stones instead of pounds.  There are 14 pounds in a stone so the one good piece of news is that you weigh a lot less number wise on the scale!

In the Spring of ‘91 a friend of ours asked if we would like to come and take care of his dad’s estate out in the countryside east of London.  His father, who was a wealthy businessman owned a 16^th century home with 10 bedrooms and 8 bathrooms set on over 20 acres of picturesque and pastoral land, needed someone to “house sit” Hall Court (the name of the estate) while the caretakers were away. 

Our friend assured us it would be easy and that his dad only visited from London on the weekends every once in awhile so we would mostly have the vast place to ourselves to pretend we were lord and lady of the manor.  Well yes, we did have to clean up a bit and keep the grounds tidy a bit but that nothing, assured our friend.

The winter before in England had been grim.  The Gulf War had been raging, London was experiencing record cold and snow, and my husband and I were longing for a change from the dreary flat we were living in.  So we said yes!! 

I also secretly was happy because I had gained a bit of weight during the winter and needed to lose it.  What better way to lose weight than to go to the country—my thinking was it could be a kind of Fat Farm where, since I was on break from work, I could eat healthy food and exercise by running through the country fields every day.  Losing weight this summer will be a cinch I thought as we boarded the train and left London behind.  Little did I know what weight gain horrors awaited me and that those innocent beliefs were the beginning of a summer of Fat Thinking with a British accent.

THE ARRIVAL

Things started going south the minute we arrived at Hall Court.  As the caretakers showed us around the placed and filled us in on our “duties” it quickly became clear that the expectations of the chores we were supposed to do around the estate on a daily basis were a lot more than what our friend had told us to expect.  Its great living at an estate with 10 bedrooms and 8 bathrooms until someone expects you to clear them all once a week!  And as for the stately grounds—have you ever tried taking a run-of-the-mill lawnmower to them?  In addition to those tasks I was expected to cook when our friend’s father arrived on the weekends.

My husband and looked at each other and considered fleeing but we had given up our flat and had told all of our friends to come and stay over the course of the summer.  We called our friend whose father owned the place and he told us to “do our best” and not to worry, it probably seemed like a lot but he assured us it wasn’t.

THE STAY
So we decided to stay and make an adventure of it anyway.  I took up the house duties and my husband became the gardener.  Instead of my luxurious days spent running through the fields and then luxuriating in the gazebo with a good book I spent my days scrubbing toilets and endlessly dusting and polishing the endless amounts of priceless antiques.  Grrrrrrr. 

In my mind I had been working so hard and cleaning so many hours of the day that I surely should have been burning bucketfuls of calories.  But alas every day I stepped onto the scale that was in one of the 8 bathrooms and found I had not only been NOT losing but I had been gaining weight.  How could this be?  I was working my butt off.  I was taking into account that I would get so frustrated with the cleaning that I would go down to the huge kitchen and emotionally eat as a break, shoving in cookies I had found in the larder along with a new addiction I found in there—orange marmalade. 

That’s it I am going on a diet—I had to lose weight this summer, who gains weight in the summer?  Summer is supposed to be the easy time to lose weight.  What was wrong with me?  What was wrong with my body?

So I went on a diet that was very restrictive, only allowing for fruits and vegetables.  Things went well for a few days but then I got a little bored.  In my fat thinking mind I decided that orange marmalade was a fruit and started adding that into my diet regime. 

Pretty soon I had gone through all of the 10 jars of marmalade that had lined the larder.  Oh and in the evenings I decided that gin and tonics fit into the diet too.  Heck, gin is made from juniper berries right? And tonic water, that hardly counts for anything and don’t forget there is a lime wedge in a gin and tonic and that, my friend, definitely falls into the category of fruit!  My husband wasn’t so sure of my reasoning and he told me I was a jam-a-holic and that perhaps I should find a local 12-step group that specialized in spreadable fruit.  I told him he to go mow some more grass and mind his own business.

Well, do I need to even tell you that this daffy diet plan led not to more weight loss but weight GAIN.  Not only did my jam-a-holism and gin-and-tonicism lead me off my weight loss plans but so did entertaining and weekends.

Soon every week I was on a different diet and every weekend I was falling off it.  Between our friends father coming to stay and our friends coming in from London it was party central at Hall Court.  We would sit down in the large dining room reminiscent of the one in Downton Abbey and have amazing spreads of food and it became very hard to stick to my restrictive diet. 

First there was the social pressure, “Why on earth are you on a diet?  Nonsense, you Americans love to diet and you are fatter than all of us who don’t.  Just enjoy food in moderation and you will be fine.”  Then there was the feeling that I had worked so hard on cooking the food and cleaning the house that I should be rewarded for my efforts.  I would give in and eat, but unfortunately I didn’t know what “moderation’ meant, especially after starving myself all week and I would eat so much that I filled in any calorie deficit that I had created during the week.

Every Monday morning I would swear this would be the week I would start running every day and not eat anything and every Sunday night I went to bed filling so full that I was going to burst.  Thank god I didn’t have to wear a corset.

THE EXIT

By the time the eight week stay at Court had come to a close I was desperate to get back to London, back to real life, real structure and relax from my summer “holiday”.  As I got on the train and headed back to the city 16 pounds heavier than when I came I looked back and wondered what went wrong?  What could I have done differently to Shift my summer of weight gain into a summer of weight mastery?

Having now SHIFTED my thinking and released the weight and maintained it over many summers—please let me share some coaching on the Fat Thinking to avid and the Thin Thinking you can Shift in to instead.

SLIMMER SUMMER SHIFT COACHING

Fat Thinking#1: Assuming it’s going to be easy to lose weight this summer.

Many people believe that summer time is an easier time to lose weight and in a way their reasoning is correct.  During the summer there are lighter foods available, the days are longer, giving us the chance to exercise more.  BUT because summer is full of holidays and travel and kids being off from school the structure of the year gives way to a more free for all feeling.

The Fat Thinking is ASSUMING anything is going to be easy.  Weight release doesn’t just happen, there is an initial focus that is needed and a commitment to show up for yourself that is essential. If you don’t think things through and set a roadmap for success with a vision to guide you it is almost impossible to find sustained success just “winging it”.

The mind doesn’t “wing it” to lose weight.  The unconscious wants things to stay as they are so if you are struggling with weight you need to focus on Shifting out of habits.

THIN THINKING: Reverse engineer your summer and start with the end in mind.  Where do you want to be by September in your weight release and work backwards creating an overall vision and defined milestones with goals.  Don’t overwhelm yourself.  Keep it simple but the structure of your goals will keep you on track.  Use your hypnosis CDS.  It is important for the unconscious mind, that wants things to stay the same, to be exposed to consistent strategies for weight release.

Fat thinking #2: Food is a reward

Our culture immerses us pretty heavily in beliefs that do not serve our waistline.  Our minds are wired from a pretty early age to hit the snack cupboard when we are stressed or want to treat ourselves for a job well done.

The problem is over eating may “calm” us or “treat” us in the moment but in the long run over eating stresses us out and makes us feel out of control and bad about ourselves.

THIN THINKING

Begin cultivating ways of calming yourself or rewarding yourself for getting tasks done instead of reaching for food this summer.  Keep your new “self care” strategies posted in the kitchen until you have made them habits.  Make sure you plan breaks into your day to re-boot your brain and your energy levels this will keep you out of the stress zone and the kitchen.

My Favorite Rewards:

-taking a 10 minute nap

-sitting outside and just letting myself do nothing for 10 minutes but stare at the sky

-laying on the floor with my eyes closed listening to music

-reading People Magazine

Fat Thinking #3: All I have to do is find the right diet and be perfect on it.

Life is never going to line up for us to do perfectly on a diet—especially during the summer!  With holidays and travel and looser schedules and all the socializing with friends and family being on a restrictive regime is going to lead to the “on or off” dieting mentality which leads to binge eating and “starting over” on Monday.

THIN THINKING:

Stop beating yourself up and putting yourself on restrictive plans. Instead of taking away food make a commitment to creating a healthy eating plan based on your needs.  Think about flavors and light food that you really enjoy and make a point to have those around.  Focus on eating protein which helps stabilize your blood sugar and keep you out of the jam jar and helps you feel full longer.  Add in more fruits and vegetables which are around this summer—challenge yourself to eating 7 servings a day and try to find some fun recipes to create new ways of eating them.

 

You don’t have to be a victim of Downton Flabby this summer.  You can show up for yourself and create the summer of your dreams—

1)    Create a Vision and specific milestones defined by time and goals.

2)    Create a daily break plan so you have a structure and plans to reward yourself in ways other than food.

3)    Evolve a way of eating that includes lots of healthy foods but allows for fun and flavor—and definitely protein to stabilize hunger.

Have a great 4^th of July and enjoy your freedom from Fat Thinking!!!oxoxRita

SUMMER SHIFT—SHIFT FROM HOME OR YOUR VACATION
Want to keep focusing on weight release through the summer?  The Shift-in-a-Box Home Study Process is available at a discount now through July 4th—want to find out what it’s all about?
Click Here http://www.shiftweightmastery.com/shiftboxinfo.htm

Shift Monthly: Fat Thinking Flush!

 June 2013 Shift Monthly Shift Monthly is a monthly coaching session written by clinical hypnotherapist and cognitive weight expert Rita Black dedicated to exploring how to implement “thin thinking” in order to achieve long term permanent Weight Mastery. Each month we focus on a different theme of Weight Mastery.  www.shiftweightmastery.com

June’s Theme: Show Up for Yourself: The Fat Thinking Flush

(great interview with Amy Dube who has released 88lbs below)

Welcome to June!  Month of graduations, weddings, birthdays and get the “get skinny quick” diet detox!

It seems like everyone who is anyone is fasting, cleansing, juicing and shaking in order to get those extra pounds off fast. I watched one of those “news” shows online last night and there was Gwyneth Paltrow touting her current detox, “I feel fabulous!” she said.  Hmm didn’t she say the same thing while tucking into a huge bowl of pasta on tour in Italy with chef Mario Batali during their tour of Europe’s restaurants??  There was also Kirsti Alley saying her latest diet, (which happens to be sponsoring her) is “like taking a chainsaw to the excess weight”.  I dunno, am I crazy but I think I need a detox from all of these stars harping on about their detoxes!

Detox diets claim to be good for your health and waistline, offering you a quick fix to get bathing suit ready for the summer. However fast and “easy” they may not be so “easy” for your head in the long run since any extreme dieting ultimately sets us up for “Fat Thinking” (that on or off, good or bad, all or nothing way of thinking) that ultimately keeps us stuck in the weight struggle.

FLUSH AWAY!!!
June’s theme is about “Flushing” our Fat Thinking and “showing up for ourselves” with powerful beliefs that allow us long term weight release instead!    So much of long term weight release success is about shifting out of our limited thinking and “cleansing” ourselves of the beliefs that hold us back from really showing up for ourselves with consistent behaviors that allow us long term success.

Here are some beliefs that may be “weighing” you down.

“I don’t have time to exercise.”

“Planning ahead is too hard—I can’t do it.”

“I look horrible! I have to lose 20 pounds by July.”

“I love food too much and don’t want to give it up!”

“I am so social it’s hard to lose weight when I am eating out all the time.”

“My family/friends don’t support me”

“I am just going to fail so why should I bother?”

When we begin to recognize and Shift off the layers of doubt, resignation and fear, we find underneath a mind and spirit who want desperately to be free, healthy, and more confident in control. 

I challenge you for the month of June to begin to show up for yourself by Flushing your Fat Thinking. To inspire you on this Weight Mastery project I have included a recent interview that I had with Amy Dube.

AMY RELEASED 88 lbs OF FAT THINKING IN 9 MONTHS
Gwyneth and Kirsty MOVE OVER because here comes Amy Dube of Connecticut! In this interview Amy discusses how all of the crazy diets that she went on in the years that she struggled with her weight contributed to her Fat Thinking.  www.shiftweightmastery.com/AmyDubeinterview.mp3

 When Amy began her SHIFT to weight mastery with the Shift-in-a-Box Home Study Process she was able to hear the old “Fat Thinking” as useless nonsense and finally learned to “show up for herself” by learning to tap into the powerful Inner Coach that she found inside of herself.  Amy's Fat Thinking was flushed away when she began listening to the coaching and hypnosis.  Amy so flushed the Fat Thinking that she even kept SHIFTING through Hurricane Sandy when it knocked out all of the electricity in her town and she lost all the food in her fridge.  Nothing was going to stop her from achieving her vision of weight mastery!!

Listen to her inspiring story here: www.shiftweightmastery.com/AmyDubeinterview.mp3

Here is a quick and easy way to FLUSH Fat Thinking.

1)      Turn up the volume on the Fat Thinking and listen to the negative thoughts and limiting beliefs that you have around your weight and your ability to lose weight.

2)      Separate out the limiting Fat Thinking from you by labeling the thought as a thought and not reality “Oh, there’s that Fat Thinking thought that I don’t have time to exercise."

3)      Once separated out you can dissipate its power and FLUSH it out and replace it with a Thin Thinking thought. “Stop—I don’t say I don’t have time to exercise anymore—I say I am moving in the direction of finding time to exercise."

By saying this simple phrase “moving in the direction of” you’re literally turning your unconscious mind on to coming up with some time solutions.

Can you see how Fat thinking turns our powerful mind off and Thin Thinking turns it on?  Can you see how you can create a much more powerful relationship with yourself with one simple “flush”?

SOME MORE FAT THINKING FLUSHING EXAMPLES
“Planning ahead is too hard—I can’t do it.”  FLUSH “I am moving in the direction of planning ahead.  It may take some extra minutes out of my day but actually I save time because I am more organized and I feel more in control of my day.”

“I look horrible! I have to lose 20 pounds by July.” FLUSH “I am moving in the direction of releasing weight at a reasonable rate.  I can accept and love my body where it right now and begin being healthy and truly taking the weight off for good.”

 “I love food too much and don’t want to give it up” FLUSH “I am moving in the direction of letting go of the dieting mentality.  I can love the food I eat within my body’s energy needs for weight release.”

 “I am just going to fail so why should I bother” FLUSH “I am moving in the direction of showing up for myself no matter what.  What may have seemed like failure in the past is now an opportunity to learn something about myself and grow from the experience.

Try this exercise a few times a day.  The more you do it the more adept you become at separating the Fat Thinking out from Thin Thinking that can allow you to move towards your weight mastery.  Give it a chance to work—I know you can do it!!

I hope that this new FLUSHING FAT THINKING DETOX PLAN serves you.  it is a busy month ahead so please, make a commitment and show up for yourself and keep on SHIFTING!!
oxox Rita
SUMMER SHIFT—SHIFT FROM HOME OR YOUR VACATION
Want to keep focusing on weight release through the summer?  We begin a Shift-in-a-Box 30 Day Home Study Group on July 8th—want to find out what it’s all about?
Click Here http://www.shiftweightmastery.com/shiftboxinfo.htm

Shift Monthly:May: D.U.I.

May 2013 Shift Monthly Shift Monthly is a monthly coaching session written by clinical hypnotherapist and cognitive weight expert  Rita Black dedicated to exploring how to implement “thin thinking” in order to achieve long term permanent Weight Mastery. 

May’s Theme: The Inner Game of Social Eating:
May is here! We have made it through the winter hibernation season, tax season and now it’s time to enjoy the flowers of spring and the promise of summer.  May also marks the beginning of social eating season which can be a challenge when we are trying to get in shape for the summer. 
 
Research shows that often we nearly double our consumption of calories while in social situations.  Social Eating is a huge part of life and especially in the warm summer months when weddings, graduations, weekend BBQs, picnics and group restaurant events abound.  I know that I have some sort of social event happening every weekend between now and July 4^th!

That is why I have explored in this month’s weight mastery coaching session some key thinking and behavioral strategies to navigate these social scenarios with mastery so that you can continue your weight release.

D.U.I. (Dining Under the Influence of Thin Thinking)
Fat Thinking Crime Report:

It all seemed so innocent in the beginning.  Mary got invited to a friend’s Memorial Day BBQ and was excited.  She had been losing some weight and hoped to keep going in preparation for the summer.  In her mind she briefly thought about the party and the impact that it might have on her “diet”.  “Oh, I’ve been so good recently” she thought, “it will be easy to be good at the BBQ—I’ll just have some chicken and a little salad and that will be that.”

Mary stopped at the store to pick the cupcakes for her friend Nancy, the hostess who had asked that she bring a dessert. “I won’t eat any of these, but I am sure other people will like them,” she said to herself as she walked in the front door of Nancy’s home.

Mary headed into the backyard where the BBQ gathering was going full blast.  Nancy’s husband Jim immediately handed Mary a cocktail.  Mary tells Jim, "no thanks" but Jim insists, “C’mon Mary I made up the recipe—try it!”  Mary, not wanting to let Jim down tried a sip.  Even though it really wasn’t her type of drink and even though she didn’t plan to drink anything Mary continued to drink it, “I’ll just have this drink and some chicken and salad and that will be that.”

Pretty soon the sugar and the alcohol in the cocktail began hitting Mary’s empty stomach and did two things to Mary. 

1)    It makes her all of a sudden very hungry as her blood sugar spiked and then dropped.

2)    Because of the sugar on her empty stomach she also wants “something more” more sugars—more carbs—the little carb monster has been awakened and of a sudden Mary is a little more interested in all the food that is on the buffet table—all of it except the chicken and salad, that is. 

Mary now heads over to where her friends are standing by the chips and guacamole.  As they chatted Mary is compelled to munch the chips along with her pals.  She mindlessly eats quite a few and realizes what she has done.  Now a voice goes off in her head, “you blew it Mary!  This party is a write off so you may as well hit the buffet and have at it.”--which she does.

Two hours later Mary has been through the buffet table twice and has eaten her fair share of some pies and cookies from the dessert table.  She had to try that lemon meringue—her friend Sue insisted-- and the cookies, well they just ended up in her mouth somehow...Mary’s intentions of just eating that chicken and salad plan was now a faint memory in her distant past.  Her head was spinning as she left Nancy’s house.  Nancy manages to hand Mary the leftover cupcakes that she brought as she heads out the door.  Nancy says, “you take them Mary, I’ll just eat them if they stay here.”

Mary headed home ready to crash , feeling mad at herself for not being good.  So mad at herself she managed to eat a few of the cupcakes from the party as she stood at the kitchen sink thinking about her behavior.

She headed to bed, feeling like a failure and knowing that she will never be thin.  It’s an all too familiar crime scene—dining under the influence of fat thinking and one that can simply avoided if Mary had just SHIFTED into some thin thinking instead.

How to SHIFT into THIN Thinking in Social Situations

Mary was guilty of a number of fat thinking misdemeanors in the story above.  Let’s break the social eating crime scene down and offer some Thin Thinking Alternatives.

THE POWER OF PLANNING AHEAD

In the story above Mary did very little planning before the party.  Because she was on a “diet” she assumed that she was going to be “good” and eat only a salad and chicken.  Her lack of preparing both mentally and physically was the main reason that she ended up losing control and overeating. 

Planning ahead is the cornerstone of weight mastery.  Why—thinking the day through allows your brain to recognize potential challenges and practice strategies beforehand before you find yourself in the overwhelming stimulation of an event and all the social pressures that go with it.

Here are some things you can do to prepare to succeed at a social event:

1-Create a vision: Know what you want to feel like at the end of the event— what you want to feel like in your body, in your clothes, and in your mind.  Create a specific picture—make it so real you can feel it and get excited about it.  This engages your brain in going to work with you to achieve your vision.

-Bank (save up) calories ahead of time for the event or exercise before the event and burn some extra calories.  This way you have some room in your calorie budget to eat more than just chicken and salad which is more realistic and enjoyable.

-Bring a salad or vegetable instead of a dessert—even if no one else wants it or eats it –you can!

-Practice responses to food pushers ahead of time.  It’s hard to say no to zealous hosts, but sometimes you have to in order to achieve your desired outcome. (here are some good responses below)

“No thank you.”‘I am already full, but thanks.  You did a great job with this party…(change the subject fast).”

“No more please, but hey let me help you clean up a bit”

“I have a metabolic condition and that keeps me from eating that.  Sorry, but it looks delicious!”

“I have noticed that sugar and flour causes blood sugar issues for me so I am going to pass.”

“I am allergic but sorry that looks great!”

“Wow that looks tasty but I am sugar sensitive and if I overindulge I feel awful the next day (you don’t have to tell them awful means guilty or regretful).

“That looks amazing—did you make that?  Wow.  I am going to pass but thanks for offering!”

MASTERING THE SOCIAL EVENT

Mary got to the event and immediately fell prey to external circumstances.  Because you will have prepared you will do much better but here are some more strategies to employ while at the party itself.

-Focus on people and not on food:  Have a goal to speak to 5 people at the party or to help out the hostess.  If you do not have a plan, the world has one for you and it probably means overeating—so ask yourself what is your people mission for the party and carry it out—allow the food to be in the background of the event.

-Steer clear of the buffet table and have conversation away from food.

-Have a plan if you plan to drink and keep it light—drinking water in between and never drink on an empty stomach!

-Move: help out the hostess, get a game of ball going with the kids, ask some people there if they want to go for a walk before or after eating.

-Scope out the buffet table before eating and focus on the greens and lean proteins and fruits.  For the more densely caloric comfort foods –use the 3-bite rule of thumb—especially at the dessert table.

-After eating help clean up—it’s a great way to help your hosts and to mingle—and you will be too busy to go back for seconds.

AFTER THE PARTY

Mary also failed to take care of herself when she came home and ended up eating even more.  Here are some tips on the post-party head game.

-Do not bring food home:  Hostesses love to give out dessert to take home—don’t take it!  Better it ends up in the trash than in your mouth.

-Plan you coming home strategy so it doesn’t end up being you in front of the fridge.  Many people eat after social events not out of hunger but because it’s an automatic response to rewinding from social stress.

-Record what you ate at the party to keep yourself out of the “I blew it head” chances are you  didn’t go over your calories and if you did, you can now strategize a way to compensate or to be okay with going over (which is not the end of the world).

-Review: learn from the event—what worked well for you—what didn’t and what solutions can you create for next time?  See this as a learning curve that you will master.

Now you are set and ready for the social season!  I hope you have a fabulous May and don’t forget your Dining under the influence of Thin Thinking skills---and your white shoes come Memorial day of course!

Oxox Rita
www.shiftweightmastery.com