Healthy Thinking Rather Than Nutrition

Programming yourself for success is the key. "Programming involves making small, deliberate modifications in the way you live your life, and it has everything to do with developing a lifestyle that creates healthier behavior," he explains.

The seven steps to weight loss freedom:

1. Right Thinking: Get rid of self-defeating thought patterns, believe that you will succeed, and you will have mastered the first key necessary to overcoming your struggles with your weight.

2. Healing Feelings: Make choices that stop the cycle of emotional eating that has perpetuated your weight problem. Don't let stress, anxiety, or depression lead you to self-medicate with food. Change your emotional response to life's problems, and the unwanted eating behaviors that flow from it, and you can change. He instructs readers in how to identify the "payoff" you get from overeating and addressing those negative feelings -- getting emotional closure, so you stop self-defeating habits, says Dr. Phil.

3. A No-Fail Environment: You must program your environment in every possible way to avoid binge foods and reminders to eat.

4. Mastery Over Food and Impulse Eating: "Did you binge or overeat for one reason, such as a betrayal, a job loss, an illness, some personal tragedy, and you've kept on doing it as a matter of habit? Your pounds came on quickly, but the trouble is, they stayed because you are overeating habitually, whether you are hungry or not," writes Dr. Phil.

5. High-Response Cost, High-Yield Foods: This is Dr. Phil's way of saying, "eat high-fiber and other nutritious and filling foods - whole grains, lean protein, fresh fruits and vegetables, dried beans." It also implies eating foods that take time and effort to fix, require lots of chewing, and aren't fast food or other convenience foods.

6. Intentional Exercise: "Regular, intentional exercise is a big deal, a huge deal," writes Dr. Phil. "It unlocks the door to body control - a state of fitness in which your body is metabolically geared for losing weight and keeping it off, and is flowing with energy and vitality People who successfully manage their weight and stay fit exercise as a matter of habit."

7. Your Circle of Support: "Weight loss is not a do-it-yourself deal," he writes. "If you expect to lose weight and keep it off, you must build and nurture relationships that affirm and uplift you in life-changing ways. There is strength and power in support."

Best known for his tough-talking approach to life, Dr. Phil McGraw decided to take a swing at developing his own diet program. The result is The Ultimate Weight Solution: The 7 Keys to Weight Loss Freedom. Instead of simply handing you a meal plan, Dr. Phil helps readers rectify the behaviors that lead to their obesity to begin with. His goal is to transform people “from the inside out.”

In other words, you’re not going to be able to lose weight until you change your lifestyle: the way you feel, the way you think and the way you react to food. With the 7 keys, you’ll get a healthy dose of self-awareness. His main components include stress: right thinking, healing feelings, a no-fail environment, mastery over food and impulse eating, high-response cost, high-yield nutrition, intentional exercise and a circle of support.

Don’t expect a quick fix. Just as it took time to put on the weight, it’s going to take time to make an attitude adjustment. For starters, replace toxic thoughts with positive affirmations. He goes on to suggest ways to conquer emotional and impulse eating. Of course, exercise must become a priority in order for a person to achieve lasting weight loss.

There’s no carb counting or calorie tallying with the Ultimate Weight Solution. Instead he focuses on Low Response Costs Foods and High Response Cost Foods. According to Dr. Phil, Low Response Foods are those that are wolfed down without chewing or swallowing. Loaded with calories and lacking nutritional value, they bring little to the table as far as health. High Cost Response Foods, on the other hand, are those that require preparation in the kitchen and that take time to eat. He points to raw broccoli, apples and other fiber-rich food as examples.

Dr. Phil wants individuals to consume foods that pack a powerful nutritional punch while also being limited in calories. For example, foods that are high in fiber generally require more effort and time to consume. This prevents people from overeating. The meal plan largely consists of complex carbohydrates, whole grains, fruits, vegetables, lean protein and healthy fats.

Your thoughts................

Write a comment

0 Comments