Functional Solutions for Living

If you are like most people with a weight problem, you already know the answer. (Consuming more calories than you burn).

And you probably know exactly what you have to do in order to lose it.

Am I right?  You have probably read multiple books or are familiar with multiple diets that all work.

Then why aren’t you doing it?

Most people will tell you that all you need is more, “will power”.

I am here to tell you that they couldn’t be more wrong!

Here is why…

According to the latest scientific research, “will power” is a limited resource.

I’m not a scientist, but based on my own personal experience in regards to growth and change and my observations of friends, family and clients over the years, I wholeheartedly agree.

When you “will” yourself to stay away from bad foods (or anything else for that matter), it takes away your ability to concentrate on even the simplest of day to day activities.

For example, when subjects were told not to eat chocolate chip cookies, their persistence in puzzle solving deteriorated. And when they were told to suppress an emotional reaction to a movie, they had problems solving a simple anagram.

In short, any act of suppression is virtually unsustainable…

This is why once you start having to think about other stuff, it becomes almost impossible for you to stay away from the cookies, the burgers, the tacos, the beer, the chips, and the soda.

Even worse, whatever habits you have developed around eating lie deep in your unconscious mind. This dictates your “default” eating choices, and any changes to this using “will power” are met with massive resistance.

And this is a battle you don’t want to fight, because the unconscious mind always wins.

So if you want to get trim, you have to change your unconscious “default” eating choices. It is the only real way to get results that stick – and it is a whole lot easier…

How do you work with the unconscious mind, you ask?

Sometimes repetition works, and establishing rituals (even rituals require much willpower for the first 30 days or so) can help…

But the only method that is validated by current science and mainstream organizations like The American Medical Association is called medical hypnosis.

Hypnosis is basically the study of creating unconscious changes. Over 80 years of clinical research have demonstrated that with the aid of hypnosis, people are able to have control where they had none before.

Get this: at the University of Iowa they are doing MRI studies where you actually see the brain shutting off feelings of pain in the brain. . . all under hypnosis.

If hypnosis can teach you to block pain, it certainly can help you change your eating habits.

But make sure you get the real thing. You don’t want help from a ”stage hypnotist” – you want to find someone with a proven clinical track record.  And finding somebody in person with a proven track record for weight loss is extremely difficult.

This is why it is sometimes better to find a home-use program. And the program with the best track record in the industry was created by Dr. Roberta Temes (author of a hypnosis textbook used in medical schools).

I have helped many people lose weight over the years but unfortunately, I have also seen the many of them gain it back within a few months to a few years due to underlying fears and unconscious issues.

That is why when I (and many doctors and other health professionals) now work with clients who desire to lose weight and/or fat, I recommend Dr. Temes program.

It goes in deep to address the roots of the problem, which by the way is not food!

Simply put, it works and it works well…

Over 50,000 people have now used this program, and the satisfaction rate is 92%.

This means that over 9 out of 10 people are able to change their eating behaviors and get the slim body they deserve
using her hypnosis sessions.

This program is like no other in that it works with any eating plan or “diet”.

The publisher provides you with a year to try the program, and they even let you sample it for 28 days by just paying shipping. So if you struggle with, “will power” – then this program is truly a, “no brainer”.

Click the link below to find out more…

http://www.hypnosisnetwork.com/hypnosis/ewl/special?hn=2182

Kind Regards,

Anthony

P.S. Here are some stories from some users of this program:

“I am now down 20 pounds and still have not had any problems with stress eating (my lifetime habit is to overeat). I am into a size 16 from a 20/22 and people are finally beginning to notice. I personally thank you for your program even though I don’t understand how it works. I amstarting to like who I see in the mirror.”

Syndi Ellison
Advertising & Finance Manager
Washington State Magazine

“I had an addiction to sugar and my weight problems were so severe I was thinking of bypass surgery. I tried hypnosis programs in the past. Some programs made me tense and uncomfortable; the power of others seemed

to fade away. Within the first week I was getting obvious results. Since I started the program I’ve lost 30 pounds and I keep dropping them. My addiction to sugar is pretty much gone and decisions to turn down foods
are easy.”

Cynthia Roderick
Photographer
South Deerfield, Massachusetts

http://www.hypnosisnetwork.com/hypnosis/ewl/special?hn=2182

You have issues!

Me?

Yes, you!

Well, don’t we all have issues?  I mean everyone does.  Right?

Yes, but how about for now we just focus on ourselves and leave everyone else out of the equation.

Most of us don’t realize it, but when we say things like, “Don’t we all?” or some other all inclusive type statement, we are minimizing, rationalizing and stepping away from true ownership of and responsibility for our “stuff” and the work we could be doing to awaken and move to the next level of our development.  It’s a very clever and subtle cop out!

Today, I’d like to share a quick exercise meant to pull up and identify some of these issues.

It’s an exercise meant to show us how we project our strengths and weaknesses onto others.

You will need a piece of paper and something to write with.

I’ll wait right here.

Your back.  Good!

Okay, let’s get right into it…

1.  Make a list of the people you dislike or who give you the most difficulty in life.

2.  Make a list of the traits or the things about them that you dislike the most.

3.  Now make a list of all the people you look up to or admire in some way.

4.  Make a list of the traits about these people that you like the most.

5.  Now take the list of the characteristics you hate and take a good look at it.

6.  Take the list of the characteristics you love and look at it.

Do you realize that you are essentially looking into a mirror?

That all people are essentially mirrors that are reflecting ourselves back to us?

The traits you dislike the most about another person or people are likely the ones you dislike the most about yourself.

You may not be able to see it because we often disown these things, deeming them bad or unacceptable.  Truth is, they are part of us and when we try to deny them, they go underground become unrecognizable and cause us problems.

Likewise, the traits or characteristics that you admire about others have also been disowned and you are not allowing yourself to be your best by getting in touch with and cultivating these great qualities.

I used the phrase, “disowned” but another way we could say it is that we are “out of touch” with these traits in ourselves and seeing them in others.

As an example, I know a woman who is very paranoid, angry and controlling who is constantly at odds with all the “mean and angry control freaks” who are always trying to get over on her that she just seems to runs into all the time.

They’re everywhere!  The clerk at the store.  The waiter, waitress or bartender.  The vet.  You get the point!

I have seen her in action.  I have seen her create enemy after enemy out of some very caring, open and honest people.

She is also a good example of the converse.  She meets certain people, quickly sings their praises and puts them on a pedestal before ever getting to know them.

I have seen her idealize some pretty silly people who were very underdeveloped.

So what is the point of all of this?  What is the moral of the story?

The point is this:  Wake up!  Stop projecting these things about yourself onto others and take responsibility for them and yourself.

It is never about them…good or bad.

It is about you!

There is much power in really seeing that and integrating it into yourself.  It will help you see things more accurately and it gives you more of a choice about the quality of “you” that you create and share with world.

It will help you step up your game, so to speak.

And that to me is good news!

Until next time…

Kind Regards,

A

Greetings everyone!

Todays post is going to be a short and quick one…

The sun is smiling, the ocean is calling and after the two challenging days I’ve just had, I need to practice some self-care and hit the beach for some much needed rejuvenation.

So let’s get down to it…

Although it is much more involved and complex than “just doing it”, we really only need to do two simple things to achieve optimal health.

When I refer to health, I include the mental, physical, emotional and spiritual dimensions of ourselves and our lives.

These dimensions cannot be separated and encompass the totality of who we are and ultimately determine the quality of our experience on this planet.

Imbalance in one will, sooner or later, subvert the whole system.

For example, you could eat right, exercise, sleep well and have a clean bill of health from your doctor (physical) but be disconnected from your values and any kind of purpose in your life (spiritual), have no real relationships of depth or conflict with your wife, lover, kids (emotional) and be a very unhappy, unsatisfied or lonely person.

Or…

You could have an amazing spouse or lover in your life, lots of friends, a great job, but be completely out of shape or physically unhealthy and unable to fully enjoy these hard earned blessings.

Or…

Have a deep and rich spiritual life with a clear and powerful sense of purpose and mission but not have the energy to effectively share your gifts with the world.

It’s about balance…

So it is important to attend to the emotional and spiritual as well as the mental and physical.

So what are these two things?

Drum roll please…

1. Out with the bad – remove or improve the bad things in your life.
2. In with the good – add good things to your life.

“What!”  ”That’s it?”  ”I want my money back chump!”

Yep, that’s it!

Would you like me to be a little more specific?

Removing or improving the Bad

When I say bad, I am referring to anything that causes any kind of burden on the four categories of your health. These can include but are not limited to:

• Unnecessary stress
• A nutrient deficient, processed diet
• Allergens
• Toxins in your body, home or at work
• Infections
• Unresolved conflicts with others that are ongoing
• No sense of direction of purpose
• No clear idea of what is TRULY important to you
• Unhealthy relationships

This list can obviously go on and on but it is important to identify and eventually remove or improve everything.

We just can’t take out a thing or two but most of us can’t do it all at once either.

Take on too much too soon and you will likely fail.

Adding the good

The next thing to do is to put in the good things.

These include:

• High quality, whole foods
• Good, clean, PH balanced water
• Exercise and movement
• Love
• Healthy relationships
• A sense of purpose and direction
• Relaxation
• Meditation
• Good stress (things that challenge us and help us grow by testing us, pushing our unseen buttons, exposing our blind spots and raising the bar of what we can handle)

Obviously, this list could go on and on as well but when we add these good things our bodies and Life itself will take over and do the rest.

That is it!

This seems like common sense and is so simple but we often don’t do so good with simple.  Note that I didn’t say easy?

Change is not what we are trying for, change is something that is continually happening and does not need our help.

What we are ultimately moving towards is transformation and that is an ongoing process.

It bears repeating over and over that there are many things that are good for all of us, but we must also remember that each person has a unique biology and biography and therefore their own particular triggers and needs.

What harms me drastically or holds me back from being my best may not harm you at all.  In fact it may help you!

Again, this is an intentionally short post and there is so much more to this.

In the coming weeks, I am going to go into more detail and do a post on each of the four aspects of health – physical, mental, emotional and spiritual and how we can understand how they specifically support and feedback on one another.

That way we can learn to leverage them in the service of living a happy and authentic life.

Until next time…

Kind regards,

Anthony

Greetings everyone!

Please excuse the mess.  I am in the process of remodeling the entire site but still wanted to respond to an important question I received via email the other day.

A reader was a bit upset about the price of organic food in her area and was wondering exactly which foods were the the dirtiest and therefore an absolute must to eat organic and which ones were safe to buy in their commercial, less expensive form.

I can completely relate!  I just had this conversation with my girlfriend at Wholefoods yesterday while briefly holding and then setting down a small bunch of organic asparagus that cost about seven dollars!

Obviously, growing your own is ideal, but many of us cannot or do not for various reasons.

So, for those of us who cannot or do not grow our our own, here is a list of the dirtiest commercial foods that should only be eaten in their organic forms when possible.

The dirtiest foods that should always be purchased organic:

• Strawberries – At 302 lbs of pesticide per acre, they are the worst fruit.
• Peaches
• Dates
• Pears
• Cherries
• Cabbage
• Lemons
• Apples
• Cucumbers
• Cantaloupe
• Celery
• Spinach
• Peppers of all kinds
• Root vegetables of all kinds
• All meat -Beef should be grass-fed; chicken and eggs should be organic and free-range; fish should be wild-caught; pork and lunch meat should be completely avoided.
• Dairy – Those of you who know me, know I am not down with dairy.  If you want to know why then click  here.  If you are going to consume dairy, make sure it is raw, unpasteurized and comes from grass-fed cows that are not treated with hormones and antibiotics.  Finding raw cheese from grass-fed cows is not difficult but finding the milk may be somewhat of a challenge depending on where you live.

For some of us, going organic seems hard to fit into the budget and I completely understand.  However, I would also say that our health should be our most important investment.

Without our health we have nothing!

That being said, there is surely some way to adjust the budget in order to add more clean and healthy foods to our diet and increase the quality of our lives.

Seriously… many of us don’t think twice about spending money on frivolous things or on things that are not necessary, useful or important.

Think cable TV, eating out, expensive vacations when we have all these amazing state parks, driving your car when you can walk or take public transportation.

We also just flat out waste our money.  Think leaving lights or other appliances on while not at home or in the room (MLO would bust me on that!) or blasting heat when we can put on an extra layer of clothing or the air conditioning when a fan will do or windows can be opened.

I’d even take things a step further and venture to say that many of us spend our money on things that are flat out harmful.  Think fast food, junk food, cola, alcohol, cigarettes, gambling, tanning beds…

Hell, I’m currently in South Florida and see people every day who spend thousands on plastic surgery to look better but turn around and party, eat garbage food and get fake tans!

It’s really a matter of examining and getting back in touch with our deeper values and adjusting our priorities…

Do you consider your health to be the largest piece of your wealth?

I’d love your feedback on this one so please leave a comment!

Be on the lookout in the next couple of days for a list of the foods that are the cleanest and okay to eat in their non-organic, commercial form.

Until then…

Kind Regards,

A