PJ's Fitness Blog – Page 30 – A blog about a fitter you. Come find out what is on the cutting edge of fitness science and be a part of the ongoing conversation.

Think Thin to Get Thin (part one)

When I originally finished this post in its entirely, it was quite a monster. To make it easier to digest, I decided to break it up into smaller sections. Here is part one and the following parts will be posted every few days. That way, you will not only be able to understand the concepts better, but you will be able to put them into practice more easily by applying the principles one by one, letting them build on one another.

This concept is one that is very important to learn, because it is the key to permanent fitness and fat loss. The process of rewiring your brain for permanent fitness is easy when it is done in metered doses, but releasing all the information at once would be disservice and would make it seem like more of a challenge than it really is.

My upcoming lecture will make this all very easy to understand and implement, but since I only have the written word as a vehicle for the message here, it needs to be delivered it in metered doses.

I have written previously on how our identity shapes our decisions, actions and results. It warrants revisiting, with a new twist of course, because it’s all about how we see ourselves, or in other words, our “mind’s eye.” This term is interchangeable with “identity” because they really are the same thing.

The strongest force that guides your actions is the need to remain consistent with your mind’s eye. This will dictate your actions, habits and patterns. This is very important because these actions, habits and patterns create who you are.

If you see yourself as a conservative person, but want to “cut loose” and have a “wild and crazy time,” you may be able to do that for a short while, but you will soon revert back to your usual conservative lifestyle.

The same goes for your body. If you think of yourself as a fat person, you may be able to change your patterns with exercise and diet for a short time (maybe even long enough to lose all the weight you want to) but if your mind’s eye doesn’t change, you will go right back to the way you were.

This is why people yo-yo diet. Their body changes, but their brain doesn’t. It’s a shame so few people are talking about this, but it is the fundamental reason 97% of dieters fail to keep the weight off. If trainers Jillian and Bob from the Biggest Loser TV show knew this principle, they could change their students forever, instead of just throwing them under the weight loss yo-yo bus like all the other trainers.

Have conservative people become wild and stayed that way? Have fat people lost their weight and kept it off? Of course, and in every case, they changed their mind’s eye to make the change permanent. 100% of the 3% who do succeed in staying thin have trained their brains along with their body. This process must happen for permanent success. There are no exceptions.

Your mind’s eye is housed in your subconscious brain. You may not even know that you think of yourself the way you really do, because your conscious brain isn’t always on the same page as your subconscious brain. The ONLY way to find out what is housed inside your subconscious brain is to look at your actions and the results of those actions.

Have you ever done something or said something and immediately thought, “Where the heck did that come from?” That action or language certainly isn’t you, or is it? We all have “brain farts” where we make stupid mistakes and sometimes they are just that, but most of the time it’s your subconscious brain taking over and keeping you consistent with who it thinks you are.

Do you know someone who always has to be right, no matter what, even when they themselves know they are wrong? Many of us have had bosses like that, haven’t we? That’s what your subconscious brain is like. It’s “the boss” and it always has to be right. Whatever it believes you are is the way it will make you act. It’s the way we are wired and whether you like it or not, that is what you have to work with.

What if the mind’s eye is not the one you want? Well, the good news is “the boss” is easy to reprogram. In fact, it’s even easier to reprogram than your conscious mind, and it can be done by faithfully following the 7 steps I will lay out for you through this blog.

To be continued in part two…

Changing your mind’s eye and personal identity might seem like a daunting task at first, and this blog has limitations due to the fact that it is only one form of communication, but if you would like to learn easy and specific strategies on how to apply these principles and work with me live, then come to my next seminar, because this is the subject matter I will be speaking about with much more detail than can be delivered through this medium. Click here for more details…

Is it Your Willpower or Your Brain?

I got this message in an email from Michael Lovitch, Co founder of the Hypnosis Network . I found it so interesting, I just had to post it. I have told people over and over that willpower isn’t a matter of personal strength, but more an issue of how much re-wiring needs to be done in their brain. Michael offers a great explanation on how willpower plays into how the brain works.

Will Power is not a “Character” Issue

Most of us assume that a lack of will power is a personality defect, and that if we had a better constitution we would meet our resolutions (stop overeating, stop drinking too much, quit smoking, get more done, create and follow a budget, etc…)

But the research is now clear that our brains simply aren’t designed for willpower – because willpower is a limited resource.

A series of experiments has clearly demonstrated that the part of the brain responsible for self control, the prefrontal cortex, simply can’t maintain the act of self control for an extended period of time.

Baba Shiv, a marketing Professor at Stanford University, conducted a really interesting experiment that I think really drives the point home:

Cake or Salad?

Baba Shiv’s team assembled two groups. Group One was tasked with remembering a

How much weight can you lose in a week?

I was recently asked about a current Biggest Loser TV episode, where a contestant lost 34 pounds in one week! Is this really possible?

A dietitian would calculate that someone would have to burn 119,000 more calories than they are eating to lose 34 pounds. To do this in one week, that would require burning 17,000 calories per day, or 708 calories per hour, if you stayed up for 24 hours and never went to bed the whole week. Oh yeah, and that’s just the burn rate above what you eat, so you would have to fast the whole week too.

To burn 708 calories per hour, you would have to run at a pace of about 7 mph, 24 hours per day, for 7 days straight. That would be 168 miles per day, or 1176 miles for the week (while fasting of course).

The guy that lost 34 pounds in one week weighed over 500 pounds, and even though he would certainly be

Keep Your New Year’s Resolution by Forming a New Identity

I received this email message from coach Devlyn Steele and thought is was so good, I felt the need to reprint parts of it here. I will start with some of his thoughts and then close with some of mine, which will help you achieve your New Year’s resolutions once and for all!

Devlyn: Year after year we go through the same routine of closing out one year and bringing in a New Year. As we do so, we wipe the slate clean and start the New Year with a fresh outlook. We say that this is the year that we are going to create certain changes in our life. We state these changes in what is commonly referred to as New Year resolutions. Psychologically, the idea of a new beginning gives us a sense of optimism and hope. That’s a great way to approach your life and the start of a New Year, with hope and belief that things can change.

Even though we go through this routine, more often than not we do not follow through with the actions and behaviors for a long enough period to produce the results we want. Our initial enthusiasm gets worn down by the routines and patterns that we have established in our life. As the years progress we have in fact reinforced the notion that it’s okay not to follow through. We have grown accustomed to our behavior and don’t hold ourselves accountable. We, in fact, know that for the most part we will not follow through with our resolutions.

Further, we are so aware of our patterns of behavior that we might even stop making

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