Dieting is an unending battle that you're never going to win, unless you have the proper weapons to destroy the “diet monster” once and for all. It's a game you will lose without the proper pieces to win. All diets tell you to go and do (workout, eat less, eat more); I tell you to start not in the kitchen, or at the gym, but to start with your inner Self.
There is no one way, no right or wrong way to kill the monster. After over 20 years of working with people from all walks of life, all different tax brackets, and from all ages- from 9 to 90- as well as from my experience of killing that monster, I perfected a method that will work for anyone, anywhere, anyplace- including you.
There are only three things in life that we can control: what we think, eat, and drink. Try to control everything else. It's impossible. With that said, I will teach you a few simple mind exercises, that will set you free forever. I would like to remind you that practice makes perfect. It's not success achieved overnight, but I can certainly promise a 10 day transformation success story. You will cheat, you will fail, you will start over again. I encourage that, because it is all part of this game.
Now that I took that load of guilt off of your shoulders, let me give you the simple weapons needed to take down that monster completely. Total annihilation, ladies.
Meditation: The Temple of Solitude and Surrender
According to “Everyday Grace” by Marianne Williamson: “What's very important to realize, however, is that the mind of someone who regularly practices prayer and meditation is literally a different mind. I know this is true of myself, simply from my own experience. My spiritual practice doesn't just make me feel better; I think it makes me a different woman than I am when I chose not to do it. Everything I'm involved with becomes infused with a peace I do not otherwise carry. It affects the reactions of people I meet, and the outcome of situations I might not even know exist.” How can you argue with that logic?
Picture yourself driving down a lonely road, and a grey, misty fog lays like a thick blanket, smothering the world around you. It's so thick, the way before you is hidden from view. You feel lost to the world around you, and don't know where to go.What meditation does in this metaphorical picture, is that it clears the fog, and allows the brilliant light of day to shine on your path. It elevates your mind to a higher place, and removes the destructive, abusive thoughts that, in the end, becomes your destructive, abusive patterns that eat away at your soul.
How to Meditate: Meditation 101
There is no one right way to meditate. There is a temple deep inside of you, it's your sacred place, a place where your meditation helps you to connect your mind, body, and soul to the energy of life, and detox the negative forces that trap your soul in its suffocating grip.
Picture yourself sitting in your favorite spot in your home. Sit comfortably, take a deep breath- in & out, let and go- that's it. This is your sacred place, your Temple of Solitude and Surrender, no one can get in and take it from you. Maybe, if you're like me, you'll light some candles, and play your soothing music. Keep your eyes closed to the world, and push away any destructive thoughts from your heart and core of your being. Now, with your mind's eyes, picture a golden light surrounding each and every pore of your body, starting from your head, all the way down to your painted toes. Imagine God pouring down his pure light to soak you completely in indescribable peace. Stay there for 5 minutes, and work yourself up to an hour. I bet, with time, even an hour won't be enough. Repeat this practice first thing in the morning, and last thing before you go to bed. Meditation will change how you eat, think, and drink, hands down, guaranteed. Don't you dare tell me that you don't have the time; meditation doesn't take away time, it gives you time.
Mantra Chanting
I know what comes to mind when you hear the word “chanting.” Instantly a picture of painted Indians chanting mumbo jumbo to their spirits and gods while dancing around a fire; the witch doctor shaking his heavily overdecorated “spirit staff” about, tossing some colorful powder into the fire. Not quite like this. I do mine in a simpler manner, minus the mumbo jumbo, but still works like a charm.
Mantra chanting can help you with the physical, emotional, and spiritual struggles and challenges that face you in your everyday life. How does this connect to weight loss? It helps you to make the changes from within you, to allow new habits to thrive and grow into new patterns and a new life.
Let me share with a personal experience of how mantra chanting helped me with getting rid of my sweet tooth. I used to have the world's biggest sweet tooth, and even with a lot of hard work over many years, it was not a habit I could kick out of my life. It clung needily to me, and would not let go easily. Then, I took on the practice of mantra chanting, on top of following my TRANSFORM food plan and workout routine. Chanting allowed me to set an intention for the results that I wanted to achieve, and focus my minds eye on the destiny that I had created for myself- though I hadn't gotten there yet. I concentrated my entire mind's being on one single entity: ridding my life of the craving for sweet things.
We all have blocks in our mind that hold us back from achieving success in our lives- whether work-related or personal emotional issues. Chanting helped me in removing the blockage that was stubbornly refusing to move out- rather like an unwanted tenant. You know what I mean. Mantra chanting will help you to subconsciously go to the places where you are scared to go, break the destructive patterns, and boot out that immovable tenant that just refuses to go. Not only for losing weight, or getting physically healthy, mantra chanting can help you benefit from every element of your life.
Prayer
Have you ever gone to the point of no return? Have you come to the end of the line? After all the hundreds of diets, fasts, detoxes, workouts, diet “food” products, diet pills, and expensive gym memberships, nothing has worked out the way you have hoped in your journey to weight loss. On the point of giving it all up because the cravings only multiply instead of decrease, and exhausting every diet and most of your hard earned cash on things that don't work? Believe me, I have been there, and done that, many times than I can keep count.
It's funny how prayer is the very last thing we come to when we are down on our luck, and not the first thing. It would definitely save us many hours- and piles of Kleenex- of crying in hopeless desperation because the numbers on our scales tell us that we have gained pounds rather than lost them. The power of prayer is is rooted deep in our faith, and the understanding that we need to surrender, let go, and ask for help. When we recognize that we can't do it alone, that's where the true power lies in prayer. It makes us humble, open, and connects us to a higher level.
I don't care if it you believe in God, the Universe, Buddha, Jesus, or the man with the white beard and white gown. It doesn't matter, because when you pray, you let go of the limited you, and become an open vessel to receive the answer to your prayers, the solution to your problems, and the power to achieve it. Before we came to this world, God placed the answers to each and every question deep within us. Prayers help us reveal them, no matter how deep you think they're buried.
I used to feel embarrassed about prayer, and the thought that I needed to pray to make me stronger made me believe that I was weak. Now that I think about it, it makes me realize how naive I was about how much prayer has done for me regarding my food addiction and body image. It was my lifesaver, and for that, I am eternally grateful.
No matter where you are reading this book, I encourage you to give prayer a chance. It will not only change your body, but it will also change your life. How to pray, do you ask? Just say the words in your heart, whatever scares you the most, whatever you desire the most, whatever you need the most, and stay open to hear, see, or feel the answer. I promise the answer will be revealed to you.
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