How To Crush A Plateau

by Al Coon

 

You started off with a bang! The pounds seemed to be falling off of their own weight. Each week the scale gave more good news as you made your way towards your goal. You could feel the word "success" written right on your forehead for all to see. You told yourself, "This weight loss stuff is easy!"

Then all at once your scale turns on you. Your weight does not change for a whole week. Then it's two weeks. The scale may even show a pound gain when you expected to see a loss. Disappointment stabs you in the heart, and fear of failure grips your throat. You haven't changed anything. You haven't done anything wrong. Why are you being punished this way?

When your body does not do what you expect, it may not be your body's fault. Perhaps it is not receiving the proper inputs. If you eat too many calories, or use up too few calories, your body will store the excess calories for later use. Where does it store those extra calories? In fat tissue.

It is critical that you know how much to eat, or else how can you plan your menus correctly? How do you know what is the right number of calories to consume? Coming up with a rough estimate is easy. If you are over 40, just multiply your weight in pounds by the number 10. This gives you a ballpark figure to work with. Not everyone is going to be right on that number. Some people have a faster metabolism, and will require more calories, to maintain their current weight. Some have a slower metabolism, and may require less. Someone who is running 5 miles a day may require 20 times his weight in calories to maintain where he is. (For those who are following Weight Watchers, they are given a range of point values that they should eat within to maintain their weight.)

Note: It is always best to work with your doctor in determining a correct nutritional choice when you are contemplating a major decrease in caloric intake.

Now you have a rough estimate on how many calories or points you should be eating, how do you fine tune it to find the exact value? If you have been eating a certain number of calories a day, and you have not changed your workout habits, and your weight has hit a plateau, your calories coming in, are probably too high. Or you could look at it that your calories going out are too low, meaning that your exercise regime is too light. Either way, your body feels that your calories in and your calories out are about balanced.

Let's take a moment and play with the numbers. Say you are 200 pounds today, and you are eating 1900 calories a day. Taking your current weight and multiplying by 10 you get 2000 calories. That means, if your metabolism is about average, that you are eating 100 calories a day less than you require to maintain your weight at 200 pounds. How fast will you lose a pound? A pound of fat holds 3500 calories. That means it will take 35 days at this rate to drop one pound. For a whole month it will look like you are sitting on a plateau. You will actually still be losing weight but very slowly.

Through the years I have watched Dotti struggle with her weight. She has gone through diets where her weight would start to fall and then she would hit a plateau. After a time, her weight began to fall again. Next thing you know another plateau would come along. Finally, she would hit a stubborn plateau and it would be too much for her. She would stagnate, and finally just give up. Her weight would climb back up to where it was originally and even beyond. Later on she would try it again, with no better results.

On other attempts she would hit the exercise really hard for a while. She used the New Jane Fonda Workout 4 or 5 times a week and her weight would come down. In 1986, when we were in Virginia Beach, she made it all the way down to 150 pounds doing that workout, but for one reason or another the process fizzled out, and back up went the weight. Up and down, hitting plateaus, and ultimately falling into failure was the standard routine. This happened over and over again. It was heartbreaking to watch. Nothing seemed to help permanently.

Later, when we lived in Massachusetts, Dotti started Weight Watchers and she dropped about 50 pounds, but then she ran into a plateau, and never went any farther down. She kept going to meetings but she just stopped losing weight. In fact her weight started going back up. There is nothing so frustrating in the world than to be completely dissatisfied with the way you look, trying as hard as you know how to lose weight, but it just won't go down. The scale stays the same or even goes up. You look up at the ceiling and say, "Why me? What did I do to deserve this?"

Remember, you didn't do anything to deserve this! But when you have conquered the mountain, you will deserve every bit of praise you receive for having overcome the challenge that was handed to you. When you were born, you did not know how to talk but you learned. You did not know how to walk. You learned. Now you are learning how to be thin, and it will be something that is going to go with you all the rest of your lighter and happier life! How can I be so sure? I watched it happen with Dotti. Dotti was a complete failure in her weight. She was miserable and unhappy with her weight. She hated to have her picture taken and nothing could put her into tears quicker than someone commenting on her weight. She struggled and failed, over and over. I am telling you that if Dotti could come through all of that, and then reach up and grasp the gold ring of successful weight loss and weight maintenance, you can too. Even if it seems unbelievable right now, just push the "I Believe Button" for now and get on with your new found success.

One thing that amazes people who look at Dotti's weight loss chart is that there are no plateaus on it. Hmmm. That seems strange. Every time she had attempted to lose weight in the past, those plateaus were there. As her weight was dropping this time, she and I commented several times on the "fact" that a plateau was just around the corner. But it never materialized. Why was that? What was different this time? She had exercised before, and she had even done Weight Watchers before. What happened differently this time?

Looking back over the events that led to Dotti's success, this time the changes in diet were ingrained deeply into her habits. She just ate differently than she ever did before. She removed "red light" foods from the house. She always counted everything religiously. She mastered the points system, and when I tested her, she could tell me the point value of almost any food item I held up for her inspection. She ordered everything "on the side" when we went to restaurants. (E.g. she never got a salad with the salad dressing already on it. The dressing came in a little cup on the side and she would dip her fork tongs into it and then would take some salad on the fork. When she was finished with the salad, nearly all of the dressing was still in the cup.) She only used a small portion of anything high in calories. She started leaving food on her plate when she finished eating. At home she set up plastic baggies with 1 or 2 point snacks that she could grab at any time if she needed something to eat. She was never caught flatfooted, where she was dying for something to eat, with no good options for something safe to grab. There were no holes in her eating plan. Everything that went into her mouth was in the program and within her points. She had an ice cream cone if she wanted it, but she then cut out other things to keep the points in line. If she blew it one day, she made up for it the next few days. While some days were blown, there were no weeks where her overall points were outside of her target range.

Being fully organized and in control of what she ate gave Dotti an edge that she had never had before. She had journaled before, but somehow things sneaked by the inventory. Somehow she ate things that were not properly counted. Your mind will deceive you and play you dirty if you let it. Everything counts! Everything has an impact on your scale. On any given day, you may fail, but do not ever cheat. By that I mean you may have days where you eat over your points limit, but never ever fool yourself about it. If you ate 30 points, don't write down 29. Always be honest with yourself, and that means making sure you know what you are doing. Ignorance is no excuse with the traffic cop who pulls you over, and it is no excuse when you climb on the scale. What you eat, will surely tell its tale, but the only way you are in control of the results, is if you know what that tale is beforehand. Closing your eyes, or rationalization will only kill your weight loss success. Yes, that one bite may be very important. Count it.

Here is another "secret" which worked for Dotti: she chose to eat in the range of points assigned for her goal weight, not for her current weight. Her reasoning for this was: She was going to have to eat in that range of points for the rest of her life to maintain her desired weight, and so it would be good to get used to it as soon as possible. Also, her body would grow accustomed to a regular intake of calories, and that process would let her body know that it should set up for the proper weight for that number of calories. She started eating in that range in January 1998 and has been eating there ever since. It was like a quarterback throwing a pass to a fast receiver by sending the ball out to where that receiver would be when the ball arrived, rather than where he is right now. Dotti just "led" her body into the proper weight range.

Is this the right choice for everyone? I am not a doctor and so I cannot answer that question. See what your doctor says, it may be right for you, or it may not. All I can say for sure is that it worked very well for Dotti.

Author's Note (October 2006):

Since writing this article in 2001, I have received some negative comments from this point, and I would like to point out that Dotti ate 25 points per day throughout her weight loss in 1998, and while that was within the point range for her goal weight, it was ONLY ONE POINT below the lower limit of her assigned point range. It WAS NOT a case of eating far less than she would have been eating if she ate in her assigned range. During my own weight loss journey, I focused upon eating within my target range every day, and that worked well for me. Today, I would recommend eating in your range, and not being in a hurry. Patience is perhaps the greatest virtue in the matter of weight loss.

Another thing that was different for Dotti this time around was that she got up at 4:30 in the morning 3 times a week religiously and went to the gym. On some weeks she even went 4 times. At the gym she did an exceptionally vigorous workout. It was a full hour of heavy aerobic exercise, on the cross-trainer and the treadmill. She worked her way up to the most strenuous settings on whichever machine she was on and then went at it hard for the full hour. I was usually just getting up when she returned home, and I always noted that she was soaked in sweat, her cheeks were flushed, and she was invigorated for the entire day.

As time went by, I was amazed to see that I had my old Dotti back from our younger days. She was no longer lethargic, and sleeping her free time away. She had a spring in her step, and she was filled with energy. She literally acted and felt years younger. And there were no plateaus. We both were amazed!

Of course no one should jump into a vigorous exercise program without first getting the okay from his doctor. When you are very overweight, your heart is already working very hard, and it is dangerous to push it. If you have been very sedentary, your heart, lungs, circulatory system, as well as your muscles are not ready for maximum overdrive. They must be brought up to it slowly. There may even be a latent problem that is hidden because you have not been pushing your heart very much. However, it may just jump up and bite you, if you start exercising too much at first. So, get a check up and a doctor's okay, and then start out slowly. It did not happen overnight that you got out of shape, there is no reason to rush getting into shape. Your whole life is stretching out before you. Take it easy and remember the story of the tortoise and the hare. Being fast may not win the race. What matters is crossing the finish line!

No two people are exactly alike. Also, as Dotti showed in her weight loss attempts, even the same person may have a completely different journey at different times. There is a concept in electronics called resonance. It is what allows a radio to select one single radio station out of the myriad of frequencies hitting it at the same time. Resonance is the quality a particular type of circuit has where one single frequency and only that one frequency will set it ringing. It will respond correctly only to that one frequency. You can see the same type of thing where a singer can shatter a crystal glass by hitting a particular note. That note is at the resonant frequency of the glass and the entire glass will vibrate especially strong for that one note. Each person has a resonance. Each person is unique and he must find his own combination of eating, exercise, motivation, and lifestyle where resonance is achieved: where the special event of being thin, healthy and happy is produced. Dotti's "resonant frequency" may not be yours. That is just fine. In order to find your own frequency, you must experiment and try things.

If you hit a plateau, then it is clear that you have something that is slightly out of resonance. Your body thinks that you are right where you should be as far as weight is concerned. It has balanced the calories in and out, and is happy. Naturally you do not share your body's contentment. In fact, you are frustrated and angry. You wanted to lose another pound.

Now, it may be that you just lost 4 or 5 pounds last week and this week you expected to do the same. That is not a plateau. If you come in at the same weight as last week, after you just had a large loss, it is nothing but a correction. It is not possible to safely lose 4 or 5 pounds every week, and you should not even want to do that. Health is so precious, you do not want to throw it away by unsafe weight loss. Anytime you have an abnormally large weight loss one week, it is normal to have a smaller one the week after. Your body is adjusting itself. It is trying to reach a stable situation. Perhaps last week you dropped a large amount of water weight, only to have it creep back this week. Again, that is not a problem and should be ignored.

If on the other hand you have been struggling for weeks without any loss at all, you are definitely on a plateau. It is hard to remember that the reason you are at a plateau is because you are doing something right. Remember where you were before you started your journey? Perhaps you weighed 20 pounds more than today. Maybe it was 50 or more pounds ago that you started out. Today you are feeling down because you did not lose, but before anything else, take a moment and think back to where you started out. What would you have given then to be where you are now? Thank yourself for all of the effort you have already put in to get to this plateau. Pat yourself on the back. You deserve it.

Once you have things in perspective, then it is time to reevaluate your situation. Your basic equation is balanced today. Your calories in and your calories out are equal. Your body says that your current weight is the correct weight for your current lifestyle as it exists today.

You may be saying at this time, "I am not eating more than my program allows!" While you honestly feel that is the case, it still may not be true. Let us look at the possibilities:

*** You may be eating more than you realize. Perhaps there is something that you are regularly eating that is not being properly counted. Are you sampling from the stove as you cook? Maybe that restaurant you visited has used a high calorie ingredient that you missed, or that serving size you assumed was 1 serving is actually 1.5 or 2 servings. Dotti recently went through just such a situation with cotton candy. The bag said it had a certain number of ounces in it but when Dotti actually weighed it, there were 3 times as many ounces as the bag claimed! Something like that in your diet will cripple your weight loss attempts.

NOTE: Keep in mind that it does not take much of an error in your counting to produce unhappy results. If you eat 100 calories a day more than you need, which are provided by something as small as 10 potato chips, you will gain 10 pounds over a year's time. That is why accuracy in measuring is so critical.

A solution to this is: do not estimate, but measure. If there is any estimating going on, estimate high, not low. When on a plateau, focus very closely on measuring exactly what you are eating.

*** Your metabolism may be slow. You just may need less calories to run your machinery than most other people do. That is why Weight Watchers gives you a range of values for the amount you can eat. Some people need to be on the low end of that range. If that is you, and you are eating on the high end, or maybe even the middle of the range, you will not lose weight. You might even gain weight!

The solution for this problem is to do some testing. Try dropping the maximum amount that you are eating per day by a point (50 calories) or so. Try it for a week. If that doesn't help, take it down another notch. Keep doing that until your weight starts to drop, or you hit the bottom of your eating range. Since one of the benefits you are trying to receive by losing weight is to increase your health, it would be very unwise to drop your calories too low. If you reach the bottom of your range, and still are not losing weight, go see your doctor and see if he can suggest a correct calorie level that you should be eating at. For most people, if they are correctly counting their points or calories, they will not be able to eat at the bottom of their range and still hold on to their current weight. Most folks will see the scale start to drop well before they run into the bottom of their range.

Another fix for this problem is to increase the amount of exercise that you do. If you are walking one mile a day in 20 or 25 minutes, see if you can increase your pace slightly and add some additional distance. Work your way up to 2 miles or even 3. A good goal for most people is a good one hour workout, at least 3 times a week. Again, always clear any exercise program with your doctor first.

And keep in mind that even if you were not focused on weight loss, a certain amount of exercise is necessary for good health. A 20 minute walk in the cool of the evening can add years to your life.

The human body is a complex machine. It struggles to maintain equilibrium. It seems to want to avoid change. A plateau is nothing but a stable point and that seems like a good thing to your body. To let it know that the plateau is not going to be your final stopping point, you must send it a message. That means you must either send it less calories to work with, or make it work harder and burn up the calories it has. If you do that, it will have to listen.

The one thing that will never work, is giving up. No one ever reached their goal by quitting. It is a cliché but it is true. Nothing destroys success like discouragement. It pushes people onto the slippery slope of sadness, self-pity, frustration, fear of failure, desperation and finally surrender to what is perceived as unavoidable failure. Giving up leads to putting back on all the weight that was lost, plus a few more, or maybe many more, pounds. When you feel yourself approaching that slide, it is time then and there to tell your inner voice, "Don't even think of going there!" You have a much better solution than that nasty, unhappy slide into failure. You CAN choose success.

At times like these a great skill to develop is to be able to take a step back from the emotions. Think about how it is in a crisis. Say, a large fire in the building you are in. Who do you want fighting the fire? Someone who is running around with their hands in the air yelling, "We are all doomed!" Or would you rather have someone with a cool head who is logically thinking about the options and taking positive steps? It is the very same thing with a weight loss plateau, or any other crisis in your life. If you keep a cool head, think logically about it, and take positive steps to solve the problem, you will succeed. If you give up, you fail. It is all up to you.

A plateau looks like it is formidable. It looks like it is bigger and tougher than you are. But it is not. It is bound, hand and foot by the laws of physics. If you do not give that plateau enough calories to sustain itself, it will collapse!

Doesn't that make you feel stronger? You hold the life of that plateau completely in your own hands. You just have to think of it logically. Test and observe. Take calories away, and add exercise until the aggravating plateau is gone and you are back moving along nicely on your path to the top of the mountain, whistling a merry tune.

Entry for Monday, July 30

Woman Loses 143 Pounds With Weight Watchers

Name | Rhonda
Age | 44
Height | 5’7”
Was | 300 lbs
Lost | 143.4 lbs*
Weight | 156.6 lbs

I started gaining weight when I got out of high school. I got married and my weight went up, then I had two kids and it went up again. It just kept going up! And I didn’t do anything about it until I was over 300 pounds. I tried countless diets but nothing ever worked.

I finally went to my first Weight Watchers Meeting in September 1999; a friend called one day and talked me into it. I decided I’d give it one week. But after that one week, which wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be, I had lost almost 10 pounds!* I thought, “Maybe I’ll give it two weeks…”

By June 2001, I had lost 143.4 pounds*. The Plan was so easy to follow! My biggest motivator was that scale in the Meetings room. It made me accountable for what I had eaten every week.

 
In general, Meetings were a big help. It was important to know that there are other people out there who need to lose weight, too. And my Leader helped me break it down into smaller steps.

When I encountered a plateau that lasted four months, I was really discouraged, but I hung in there and got through it. What finally did it for me was getting serious about portion sizes. A couple extra ounces or bites here and there made a big difference! When I figured that out, the scale finally started moving again.

It would be impossible to truly describe how much my life has changed. First of all, I have a lot more confidence. I was offered a wonderful promotion that I probably wouldn’t have been confident enough to even interview for before. It used to be that every time I’d walk into a room I’d think, “Yep, I’m the biggest one here.” I was so self-conscious. Now I feel better about myself.

I have so much more energy, too. I go on long bike rides with my husband — I never would have done that before. And I love to go walking. I’m active and busy all the time, whereas before I never wanted to do anything. I went to an amusement park recently and actually fit on the roller coaster. That was so exciting!

Post for Monday July 16 .. I'm off at camp, but I've posted a week's worth all at once before I left!! Have a great week!

Andrea Overstreet from The Biggest Loser talks about weight loss

Hairdresser, 29, married with two kids, Nicholas and Cassidy, Placentia, CA

Height: 5’ 6”
Starting weight: 220
Lbs lost so far: 36
Goal weight: 140

When did your weight get out of control?
When I was pregnant with my daughter, I gained 100 pounds. I lost some but then regained it and more. I’ve always played sports--soccer, softball, and most recently, hockey--but I stopped because when the gear doesn’t fit and you can’t move, it’s just not that fun.

What scared you most about going on the show?
Leaving my family for 10 weeks. My daughter was only 3 1/2, so she didn’t really understand. She’d say, “Mommy’s leaving us to get healthy.” I was doing it for her--for all of us. I was chubby as an adolescent, and I didn’t want her to have that experience. I knew if I could change, my whole family would benefit.

How do you plan to use what you’ve learned at home?
I’ve been cooking for my family for years, so I have it easy compared with the girls who didn’t even know how to cook. All I have to do is change my taste buds a bit. For instance, I never liked diet soda before the show. Now I can’t stand the real thing. I plan to use Pam instead of butter and make turkey burgers instead of beef burgers. I also never knew how much sugar is in condiments. The Bull’s Eye BBQ sauce we slather on our meat has 30 calories per tablespoon.

What’s the first thing you’re going to cook at home?
My favorite dish on the show: grilled tilapia and steamed broccoli topped with I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter and fat-free Parmesan cheese. (Go to http://www.prevention.com/TBLrecipes for recipes for Andrea, Suzy, and Shannon’s favorite dinners at the ranch.)

How would you advise a friend who wants to lose weight?
Don’t avoid competition. It’s a great incentive because it’s natural to want to win. I don’t mean Division I sports--I mean joining the neighborhood softball team. There’s nothing wrong with a little weight loss competition with a girlfriend or an office mate. It should be something friendly and fun, not negative or derogatory.

You won the stair challenge despite fighting shin splints. How did you keep yourself motivated?
I used my children. With one stair I thought, This is for Nicholas, and with the next, This is for Cassidy. That’s how I got up and down 2,280 steps.

Did you ever want to quit?
Oh, yeah. There’s always a camera in your face--even when you’re coming out of the shower. There’s no such thing as a good night’s sleep, and you can’t even cry in private! My brothers, my dad, and my husband were in the Marine Corps and that’s what it felt like. I would think, When is my body ever going to stop hurting? and I’d think about my daughter, and my son’s upcoming birthday, and the mounting pressure on my husband, and wonder, Why am I here? But I guess I was selected out of more than 100,000 candidates for a reason. I’m not a quitter.

Some of you were seriously injured while exercising. Was that something you worried about?
Totally. They asked for huge physical exertion even though we were extremely out of shape and overweight. I mean, “Hello...do they realize we’re still fat?” Working out while I had shin splints was more painful than giving birth, but you learn that your body can heal itself. It made all of us truly appreciate what we’re capable of.

Were you shocked when they brought your husband on the show?
Astonished. He said, “Look at you,” and I said, “No. Look at you!” He’d lost 38 pounds while working, running the house, and playing single dad. But his motivation was simply thinking, I can’t have my wife come home hot and skinny and still be overweight, while there was more I needed to figure out than just weight. I had my son at 18; then I got married. I was convinced I’d missed out on life. Being away helped me appreciate what I have. Now I know I’m in the right place.

Weight Loss Tool Kit
A calorie-counting guide
To be as successful as The Biggest Losers, track your calories. For calorie counts, visit our Daily Calorie Calculator. Tip: To lose a pound a week, you need to cut 500 calories a day.

Food scale and measuring cups
A must for measuring the food you eat because portions--and people--are getting bigger. In a recent study, dieters who decreased portion size were 40% more likely to lose than those who cut fat or exercised more.

A little black book
People who record their food intake tend to succeed at weight loss more than those who don’t. The reason: Writing it down makes you accountable, aware, and less susceptible to impulse eating.

A scale that measures weight and body fat
To track both, get a bioelectrical impedance scale (such as HoMedics Tri-Fitness HealthStation, $100). Body fat at 20 to 32% is healthy for women.

The Weigh “I” Was…by Kat Carney

January 7, 1994 (Journal entry) “Quiet day. Slightly depressed. Lately I feel uneasy around people. Didn’t work out today. Ate SIX cheeseburgers. Where is my motivation? Why am I depressed?”

January 15, 2000! It’s hard to believe that those are my words from just a few years ago! For those of us who become successful at weight loss it’s hard to recall “The Weigh We Were.”

Kathryn “Kat” Carney knows first-hand the difficulties of weight management, “As far back as I can remember, I was overweight. People never really called me “fat” to my face; “big-boned” was what they used to say.”
Thanks to a loving and supportive family, she generally considers her childhood a happy one, but it is also filled with memories of taunts about her size from others, “My dad was in the military, so we moved every year or two. It was hard because I was always the “new kid” in class, and being chubby didn’t help – at all.”

Kat recalls how she couldn’t wear “kid’s size” boots because they wouldn’t fit over her calves. She also remembers the little boy who told her to imagine “there was food at the finish line” as she struggled to run laps in gym class. And dating – forget about it.

By the time she graduated from high school, Kat tipped the scales at 180lbs. All through college, she tried one diet after another, in typical yo-yo fashion. But weight was the least of her problems; by the time she was 22, Kat was in the early stages of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS).

“I knew that something was wrong with me, but I just chose to ignore the symptoms.” Symptoms that included depression, hair loss, and additional weight gain! By the age of 26, she had become so ill that she was unable to continue working.

“My weight had gotten out of control at close to 240 lbs, and the PCOS was wreaking havoc on my system. Not to mention the fact that I could barely move because of severe back problems – my body couldn’t handle any more weight.”

Out of work, and out of money, Kat retreated to Atlanta, Georgia determined to gain control of her health and her life, “Thank God for the Internet! I was able to do extensive research on both of my illnesses – for free!”

This research included the latest nutritional issues, psychological characteristics of people successful at weight loss, traditional and alternative treatments for PCOS, medical journals – you name it, “I wanted to become as informed as I could before I developed my plan of action.”

“Action” is an understatement for what happened next… While “weight” was certainly “an” issue, “health” was the main issue, and in 1997, Kat set out on a personal journey to get healthy. This not only included her research, but joining a gym and actually exercising – for the first time in her life. “To keep me going, I would tear the weight loss success stories out of fitness magazines and hang them on my wall so that I was surrounded by “success.””

Through proper diet, nutritional education, and lots of exercise, Kat shed 90lbs in 14 months, and in 1999, at the age of 29, got a chance to share her own success story when she was hired as a correspondent on cable’s “Fit: Resort and Spa.” Later that same year, she had the honor of working next to weight loss guru Richard Simmons on the nationally syndicated television show “DreamMaker.”

Kat credits reading real-life weight loss success stories of others’ as a major component to her success…
These stories…

PROVE that successful weight loss and management is a possibility for everyone..

INSPIRE people to continue to search for a weight management “path” that works for them…

DEMONSTRATE that you don’t necessarily need expensive diet programs, trainers, and chefs to lose weight – that thinness and health aren’t for the rich and famous… and

ENCOURAGE people through their periods of doubt and frustration that their weight loss goals are attainable.

In January 2000, Kat decided to put all of the weight loss stories that she had collected in one place, http://www.TheWeighWeWere.com, ...the largest online collection of, weight loss success stories from all of the different diet plans.

“I want everyone out there struggling with weight loss to be able to see that it CAN be done!”

She also sends out free “Daily InspirWeighTional” quotes via email to thousands of people who are still “On Their Weigh”!

One last note…miraculously, Kat no longer “suffers” from PCOS. While it is considered incurable, doctors suspect that her attention to health and well being, caused her body to “reverse” the effects of the condition, and this year, Kat was asked to tell her inspiring story on the Discovery Channel’s new “Health” network. 5 months later, she was hired to host their new primetime series “The Body Invaders!”

The car is packed and you're ready to go, your first ever cross-country trip. From the White Mountains of New Hampshire to the rolling hills of San Francisco, you're going to see it all.

You put the car in gear and off you go. First stop, the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

A little while into the trip you need to check the map because you've reached an intersection you're not familiar with. You panic for a moment because you realize you've forgotten your map.

But you say the heck with it because you know where you're going. You take a right, change the radio station and keep on going. Unfortunately, you never reach your destination.

Too many of us treat goal setting the same way. We dream about where we want to go, but we don't have a map to get there.

What is a map? In essence, the written word.

What is the difference between a dream and a goal? Once again, the written word.

Goal setting however is more than simply scribbling down some ideas on a piece of paper. Our goals need to be complete and focused, much like a road map, and that is the purpose behind the rest of this article.

If you follow the 7 goal setting steps I've outlined in this article you will be well on your way to becoming an expert in building the road maps to your goals.

1. Make sure the goal you are working for is something you really want, not just something that sounds good.

I remember when I started taking baseball umpiring more seriously. I began to set my sites on the NCAA Division 1 level. Why? I knew there was no way I could get onto the road to the major leagues, so the next best thing was the highest college level. Pretty cool, right. Wrong.

Sure, when I was talking to people about my umpiring goals it sounded pretty good, and many people were quite impressed. Fortunately I began to see through my own charade.

I have been involved in youth sports for a long time. I've coached, I've been the President of leagues, I've been a treasurer and I'm currently an Assistant State Commissioner for Cal Ripken Baseball. Youth sports is where I belong, it is where my heart belongs, not on some college diamond where the only thing at stake is a high draft spot.

When setting goals it is very important to remember that your goals must be consistent with your values.

2. A goal can not contradict any of your other goals.

For example, you can't buy a $750,000 house if your income goal is only $50,000 per year. This is called non-integrated thinking and will sabotage all of the hard work you put into your goals. Non-integrated thinking can also hamper your everyday thoughts as well. We should continually strive to eliminate contradictory ideas from our thinking.

 

3. Develop goals in the 6 areas of life:

Family and Home               Financial and Career
Spiritual and Ethical           Physical and Health
Social and Cultural             Mental and Educational

Setting goals in each area of life will ensure a more balanced life as you begin to examine and change the fundamentals of everyday living. Setting goals in each area of life also helps in eliminating the non-integrated thinking we talked about in the 2nd step.

4. Write your goal in the positive instead of the negative.

Work for what you want, not for what you want to leave behind. Part of the reason why we write down and examine our goals is to create a set of instructions for our subconscious mind to carry out. Your subconscious mind is a very efficient tool, it can not determine right from wrong and it does not judge. It's only function is to carry out its instructions. The more positive instructions you give it, the more positive results you will get.

Thinking positively in everyday life will also help in your growth as a human being. Don't limit it to goal setting.

5. Write your goal out in complete detail.

Instead of writing "A new home," write "A 4,000 square foot contemporary with 4 bedrooms and 3 baths and a view of the mountain on 20 acres of land.

Once again we are giving the subconscious mind a detailed set of instructions to work on. The more information you give it, the more clear the final outcome becomes. The more precise the outcome, the more efficient the subconscious mind can become.

Can you close your eyes and visualize the home I described above? Walk around the house. Stand on the porch off the master bedroom and see the fog lifting off the mountain. Look down at the garden full of tomatoes, green beans and cucumbers. And off to the right is the other garden full of a mums, carnations and roses. Can you see it? So can your subconscious mind.

6. By all means, make sure your goal is high enough.

Shoot for the moon, if you miss you'll still be in the stars. Earlier I talked about my umpiring goals and how making it to the top level of college umpiring did not mix with my values. Some of you might be saying that I'm not setting my goals high enough. Not so. I still have very high goals for my umpiring career at the youth level. My ultimate goal is to be chosen to umpire a Babe Ruth World Series and to do so as a crew chief. If I never make it, everything I do to reach that goal will make me a better umpire and a better person. If I make it, but don't go as a crew chief, then I am still among the top youth umpires in the nation. Shoot for the moon!

7. This is the most important, write down your goals.

Writing down your goals creates the roadmap to your success. Although just the act of writing them down can set the process in motion, it is also extremely important to review your goals frequently. Remember, the more focused you are on your goals the more likely you are to accomplish them.

Sometimes we realize we have to revise a goal as circumstances and other goals change, much like I did with my umpiring. If you need to change a goal do not consider it a failure, consider it a victory as you had the insight to realize something was different.

  So your goals are written down.

Now what?

First of all, unless someone is critical to helping you achieve your goal(s), do not freely share your goals with others. The negative attitude from friends, family and neighbors can drag you down quickly. It's very important that your self-talk (the thoughts in your head) are positive.

Reviewing your goals daily is a crucial part of your success and must become part of your routine. Each morning when you wake up read your list of goals that are written in the positive. Visualize the completed goal, see the new home, smell the leather seats in your new car, feel the cold hard cash in your hands. Then each night, right before you go to bed, repeat the process. This process will start both your subconscious and conscious mind on working towards the goal. This will also begin to replace any of the negative self-talk you may have and replace it with positive self-talk.

Every time you make a decision during the day, ask yourself this question, "Does it take me closer to, or further from my goal." If the answer is "closer to," then you've made the right decision. If the answer is "further from," well, you know what to do.

If you follow this process everyday you will be on your way to achieving unlimited success in every aspect of your life.

  The difference between a goal
and a dream is the written word.
-Gene Donohue

 

There is a special Force within all of us - within You, my friend. A Force so powerful that many who abuse it lose control of their lives and fall to the darkside. The dark side full of ego, fear, anger and hatred and greed.

But you have a quality, a special quality within you that can create miracles and masterpieces. This Force Within You is so powerful that you can re-direct the course of history when you decide that you want to contribute to the evolution of humanity and this beautiful but fragile planet. Study the great sages and saints who have walked this earth before us and you will notice a common theme that runs through all of them: reverence for Life and Nature.

This magnificent Force within all of us has been used to free slaves, save thousands of lives, enable children to realize their inner potential, and to help people like You to realize thief lifelong Dreams. If you choose to use this Force wisely, you will alter your destiny and the people around you in your world.

What is The Force?
The Force is the God power that runs through all things. It is the Life Force that makes the rivers run, the flowers bloom, the stars twinkle and the Heart beat its rhythm of life. When you stop to consider all the things that go on without our conscious awareness or intervention, you'll have a sense of just how powerful this Force really is. You can also learn how to channel this Force to your benefit.


How can I use the Force?
Great question. Like any skill or discipline, learning the art of The Force takes great patience and time to master. Think about any great teacher or mentor that you've had and you'll notice that almost all are over 50 years old. The reason for this is that it takes time and practice to "see through" the normal veils that society teaches people. It can take years to learn the art of quieting your mind - the first and most vital step in mastering the Force.

The good news is if you have the courage to turn off the noise, the media, and the opinions of other people, the time it takes you to more fully tap this force within you will dramatically decrease. If, on the other hand, if you choose to choose to depend on others for your spiritual or emotional sustenance, it could take you a lifetime to learn the simplicity that runs through all life.

As you learn to quiet your mind, you will begin to notice things that you've never noticed before. Life will begin to take on a new meaning, a new depth and joy.


Why is quieting my mind so important?
Because what you focus on determines what you create - your reality. So, if your mind is a whirlwind of anxiety and unrest, you will create a world of anxiety and unrest. But take the time to slow down, and you'll begin to notice how your anxieties lessen, your breathing becomes slower, your mind and body calmer, and you begin to feel centered again. With a quiet mind, you will form the foundation for building the life of your Dreams. When your mind is overactive, you literally send out waves of doubt, fear and uncertainty that can undermine your health, well-being, and prosperity.

But, when you take the time to slow down, you'll begin to create more with less effort, and in time even less effort than you ever thought imaginable - no matter what the intention - assuming it aligns with your higher self and your truest desires.



How can I learn more about the Force?

• Read The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell
  
• See any of The Star Wars Films
  
• Study any Mentor or Sage that you feel a resonance with.
  

Click here to learn more about how to nurture your Life Force

May the warm sun of your imagination flow easily, effortlessly as you make your Dreams real...

WEIGHT LOSS MOTIVATION

Motivation is one of the most important factors which determines how successful we are at what we do. It is the driving force that gives us the will to accomplish tasks and eventually succeed at reaching an ultimate goal. Motivation levels can vary each day depending on how we feel or how we view certain experiences. For anyone to succeed at slimming motivation will be the most important part to work at, it will provide us with the determination to get up and exercise even if we don't feel up to it. Motivation also drives us to stick to the low fat selections and recipes required to keep our progress moving.

The strength of your motivation will determine how successful you are in your weight loss efforts as the more you progress and lose weight the more difficult it will be to lose more as the body is pushed past its natural set points. Many top conditioning coaching admit that its possible to gain amazing results when the individuals motivation is high, even if the training program is not "scientifically correct".

DEVELOPING WEIGHT LOSS MOTIVATION

Most dieters will have some degree of motivation as they have already decided to take action. The problem for many is keeping the levels high enough to prevent any relapse.

Work through some of the following ideas and see if these can increase your desire for success!

LEARN TO ACCEPT SELF:

The most common reason people lose interest in exercise / dieting is due to unrealistic goals. Some see the images in the media or television and this coveys the message of  how we are supposed to look, adverts enforce these images with false promises that "you too can have a body like this!" and we believe it. When the desired goals aren't reached we're made to believe we have failed.

We need to put these images into prospective and realise that most of the population just do not have the genetic predisposition to look like the models in the magazines, plus most images are now adjusted by computers to look better than they actually are.

Learn to love yourself for who you are, not who you wish to be. Acknowledge that you need to improve your health or weight but believe that you will do what you can to be the best you can possibly be. The constant pressure and stress of trying to turn yourself into someone you physically cannot be will stop and it'll be an enormous weight off the shoulders, you'll be surprised at how good it will make you feel and how this can help drive your motivation to make realistic improvements. When we understand and appreciate our bodies, we are able to work with them, not against them!

FOCUS ON POSITIVES NOT NEGATIVES:

Many of us have a tendency to look at our bad points, however once you start to accept yourself it will be easier to focus on the positive side more. To make it easier try writing a list of all the good things in what you've done or what you like about your physical self. Practice running these positives through your mind regularly, it may take time but its surprising what you can believe if it is said enough times - remember the past believe that you could look like the models if you obtain the right diet!

• if you don't reach a goal when you want, just focus on the fact that you will get there in time

• remember how far you've got not how far you need to go

• if you miss a workout one day don't worry just go back with more vigour to improve

• remind yourself that a worthwhile pay-off lies ahead in an improved you

• remember the exercise is improving your health and fitness and will help increase longevity

• remember exercise has many psychological benefits including renewed confidence and self esteem

• any type of action always drives motivation

To boost motivation some dieters need to development of a different "mind set". For some people hypnotherapy has work really well to help gain more control over the mind!

SET GOALS:

Setting goals has the advantage of focusing on what you intend to achieve.  A goal acts as a form of mental contract with yourself and your degree of motivation will drive you to complete that contract. If the goal is too hard to achieve it can affect your success. The subconscious mind does not distinguish between big or little, it only knows success or failure. If you set a goal of four training sessions each week but only complete three then the mind sees this as a failure. For this reason you must set realistic and easily reachable goals. When you attain each goal it gives momentum to increase the level of motivation further.

Try these tips:

• write down your goals

• set easy goals often so you create a habit of success in the mind

• set measurable goals - I will lose 1 pound each week. This gives you something to go for

• tell friends and family about your goals for motivational support

• make any routine fun and exciting to help maintain interest

• try new challenging goals to stop your normal routine from becoming a chore

• reward your success on reaching a goal

• think positively, replace thoughts like "I can't" with "I can and I will"

• don't set goals that are too much too soon

A Select Collection of Quotes for Weight Loss Motivation

Name:Christine

Comments: I am 31 years old and have been overweight since my son was born 11 years ago.I started my diet last August.I started counting calories and exercising at the gym and with the Slim in 6 video.I weighed 214lbs and wore a size 20.Today a year later I am 154lbs and wear a size 10.I feel like a new person.I thank my family and God for giving me the strength to achieve my goals.I still have about 15lbs to go to meet my goal.I can't wait to meet that goal.Always believe in yourself and you will achieve your goals.