Life is Mental: Think Thin to Live Thin

Life is Mental Favorite Carrot Cake Cupcakes!

2011-05-11T08:21:00.000-07:00

I am a huge fan of dessert. If you are familiar with the Life is Mental training, you already know that I do not believe in deprivation...so...let everyone eat cake! (In moderation)

Since I am confessing, I need to also share that I am a horrible cook; which means that I am a connoisseur of purchased foods. This is what makes this article so interesting. I found a recipe for healthy carrot cake cupcakes that I have baked successfully several times. I served these to the cast and crew during the filming of the Thinking Thin Reality Show sizzle reel and they were a huge hit. Everyone even knew I made them and still loved them!

Sometimes we have to decide to eat things that taste a little wonky when we opt for a healthy alternative version of our favorite foods. Not this time. These cupcakes are the bomb. In fact, I like these better than the store bought (full of butter) cupcakes.

I found this recipe on ToneItUp.com. The Tone It Up Girls are personal trainers with some great videos to get you motivated to work out. I found the cupcake recipe and a bikini body toning routine that I used immediately. Tone It Up Girls...You Rock!

If you are a dessert person like me, you have to try this recipe in your kitchen!

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Combine dry ingredients:

1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup vanilla protein powder (Tone It Up Girls recommend organic)
1/4 cup shredded coconut flakes, no sugar added
1 tbsp ground cinnamon (I added a little more)
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg (I added a little more)
Small pinch of cloves (I used two pinches)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup organic sugar (I replaced this will Truvia)
2 tbs natural stevia powder...or 6 packets of stevia natural sweetener

Add one at a time to dry mix while mixing...

2 egg whites
1 whole egg
1/4 cup canola oil (I used Smart Balance Omega Oil)
1/2 cup nonfat plain organic Greek yogurt or Vegans can add 1/2 cup applesauce (this adds moisture)
3 tsp vanilla extract

Mix well and add 2 cups grated carrots and 1/4 cup chopped pecans and walnuts mixed

Fill cups about 3/4 full since these do not rise a lot. Bake anywhere from 10-15 minutes depending on whether you are using a mini or regular cupcake pan

What about the frosting? Glad you asked...this is amazing!

Whip together...

1 cup light cream cheese
1/2 cup plain, low fat Greek yogurt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup organic powdered sugar (I added this a little at a time to my taste and did not use a full cup)

The Tone It Up Girls suggested adding vanilla protein powder to the frosting mix also. Protein powder in the cupcakes make them a lower glycemic index.

The Tone It Up Girls do not have the calorie count on their website and I did not hear back from my inquiry to them about this before writing this article, however, you can see by the ingredients that this is a healthy version of one of my favorite desserts. Enjoy these cupcakes as a guilt free dessert or as breakfast muffins also!

Connect with me on facebook and let me know how you liked them after you test the recipe out in your kitchen.

Healthy Eating!
Kelly

Kelly Stallings, MS, LPC
http://www.lifeismental.com/
www.facebook.com/lifeismental
www.twitter.com/lifeismental

5 Easy Ways to Lose Weight this Holiday Season While Enjoying Holiday Foods

2010-12-11T12:10:00.000-08:00

1. Use your salad plate for your meal. This will naturally cut at least 200 calories…especially since the salad plates we use now are super-sized. You can fill your plate without guilt since it is a smaller size. Because humans are visual eaters, you will naturally feel that this 'full' plate will fill you up and satisfy you.

2. Take a brisk walk every day. Whether you take a walk alone to center your thoughts and prepare for your day or you walk with family and friends to socialize, make sure you walk everyday to get physical activity that will burn calories. Don’t think you have time for walking? Yes, you do…build it into your day by taking the stairs instead of the elevator and park farther from the door. Every step counts!

3. Focus on the social aspect of the holidays instead of the food. If you are more excited about seeing your family and friends than you are about eating Grandma's pumpkin pie, you will not eat as much since that is not the focus. Trust me this works.

4. Eat whatever you choose in moderation. Do not restrict yourself from your favorite holiday foods. That is a set up for a binge. Your will power to not eat these foods will only last a certain length of time and then you will switch into rationalization mode. Rationalizing food typically leads to over indulgence. So eat a small amount of whatever you want and enjoy every bite!

5. Wear fitted clothes during the holidays as a constant motivator to make good food decisions and maintain your figure. If you feel good in your little black dress, you will not be as tempted to eat everything on the dessert tray and bust the zipper!

Happy Holidays!

Kelly Stallings, MS, LPC
http://www.lifeismental.com/
www.twitter.com/lifeismental
Don't miss my weekly weight loss training in 2011 on Life is Mental Mondays on my fan page!
www.facebook.com/lifeismental

Restaurant eating is making us fat!

2010-10-20T06:48:00.000-07:00

Portion sizes are making you fat. The easy solution…reduce your portion sizes! Don’t roll your eyes at me…this works. Let me explain how.

I am a horrible cook so I eat out a lot. Eating out is one of the biggest challenges for most people when controlling portion sizes. Most people seem to feel uncomfortable sharing meals or simply eating only half the food on their plate. I am totally comfortable strategically ordering food for myself and for everyone at my table.

A recent example of a restaurant experience was a week ago with two of my girlfriends. We went to a cute little restaurant to eat after a meeting together. As we perused the menu, I suggested we might share something. The conversation went from two of us sharing a meal to the three of us sharing one appetizer and one entrée. Eyes rolled at me across the table as my friends telepathically shared with each other that I was crazy and they would be left hungry if they agreed to my ‘three share a meal’ suggestion. Because they are my good friends and I am quite persuasive stating that we could share one dessert this way, they agreed. I am certain it was the dessert option that convinced them!

We ordered a great ceviche dish with fresh fish and vegetables. It was so good and there was so much of it, we talked about how the dish was very filling. Next the lightly breaded chicken parmesan on a bed of linguini with cilantro sauce, mushrooms, broccoli, cheese, and fresh tomatoes. This entrée was actually served on a platter dish. This dish was the same size platter dish that my grandmother used to serve her meatloaf during family meals. (Nanny’s meatloaf was awesome!) So the plate used to serve my extended family an entire meat loaf was now put on our table to serve one entrée to the three of us. This was the same size platter dish sitting in front of every other individual at the tables around us. No one seemed to realize the family size entrée they were eating was a bit on the large size. And most people were cleaning their plates. No one else was sharing a meal.

As my girlfriends and I divided up our entrée portions to our small salad size plates; we ate, talked, laughed and got very full! We finished off the most amazing version of chick parm I have ever eaten and felt so content that we had no room for dessert. No room for dessert…shocking right? It’s true.

So the moral of this story is:
• Recognize that restaurants use huge dishes with double and triple size portions.
• Don’t allow other people’s negative comments (stemming from poor self restraint or concern for what others in the restaurant will think) affect your decision to cut calories.
• Share your meal or ask the waiter to box up half the entrée before bringing it to the table.

To some people we might have looked like poor girls sharing one entrée. Good thing we didn’t care what anyone thought because we felt like smart girls who did not leave the table with any extra weight!

Make my experience personal. Reduce you portion sizes for a few weeks and let me know how it affects your waistline.

Post on the Life is Mental Facebook Fanpage to let me know how this is working for you. I look forward to hearing from you!

To your healthy eating,

Kelly Stallings, MS, LPC
www.LifeIsMental.com
www.Facebook.com/lifeismental
www.twitter.com/lifeismental

Convince Yourself of ANYTHING!

2010-07-25T20:02:00.000-07:00

I love talk radio…happy talk radio. I walk my talk about being happy and monitor what I allow into my brain. Since I drive a lot during the day, I am a regular listener of the Rosie O’Donnell Show on Sirius/XM radio. Rosie's show is positive and funny most of the time; there are the occasional sad or emotional topics but never negative. Last week I was listening to Rosie and the gang talk about food, weight management and general health. (Wish I could tell you what show this was…but, hey I was driving and it was a rerun.) The conversation went back and forth at one point about eating in moderation without restriction and avoiding certain unhealthy foods. If you have read my book, taken my training or heard me speak…you know I do not believe in deprivation.

As the conversation continued about eating desserts or not eating desserts, Janette Barber offered profound wisdom by saying, ‘is it really deprivation if you are avoiding food that is poison?’ Sugar and bad fats being the poison. This is the essence of the Life is Mental training wisdom.

Yes, you can convince yourself of ANYTHING! If you choose to believe that desserts are your birthright, then you will most likely eat desserts forever. You deserve them right? However, if you choose to believe that desserts are bad for your body and health, then you will have an easier time passing on the extra dress size coupled with diabetes dressed up like a piece of chocolate cake. No back talk…it is what it is!

So my friends, what are you convincing yourself about sugary sweets?

Convince yourself of healthy beliefs,

Kelly Stallings, MS, LPC

www.LifeIsMental.com
www.Facebook.com/kelly.stallings
www.twitter.com/lifeismental

Believing Comes Before Achieving

2010-06-14T19:22:00.000-07:00

Self imposed limitations are established by our beliefs. These limiting beliefs hold us back. They keep us from reaching our full potential and experiencing true joy.

In the movie, Facing the Giants, there is a scene where a high school football coach is attempting to show his players that they are not playing to their full ability and believing in themselves. The team has had a poor football record for several years. The coach asks one of the respected players to stand up and death crawl (crawling on his hands and feet) down the field from one end zone while carrying another player on his back. The coach asks the player how far he can make it. This player says that he can only make it to the 35 yard line while carrying another player and maybe to the 50 with no one his back. The coach says that he believes the player can make it to the 50 yard line with a player on his back and proceeds to blindfold this defense player for the exercise. The player stammers and denies his ability but ultimately positions himself to take the challenge. As the player moves down the field the camera focuses tightly on the coach encouraging him to keep going as the player says he is tired. Soon the camera pans the players on the sidelines standing up and becoming attentive to watch the progress on the field. The coach tells the player to keep going and use up every ounce of will power he has and just keep going. Finally the player falls to his stomach red faced and out of breath apologizing for stopping. The coach takes off his blind fold to reveal that he went the entire length of the field.

This is a great example of the limitations that we set on ourselves and the limitations that others set on us that we accept as true. The blindfold kept the player going beyond his own expectations and judgments of his ability. He amazed himself and his team mates.

Please think about how you have judged yourself. Think about how you may have accepted other people’s judgments of you. Identify these limitations and release yourself from them today. Start expecting to succeed and feel happy. Just like the anticipation of your limitations held you back, your expectancy of a positive future will propel you forward.

Your limiting beliefs are a choice, not the truth about you. You can choose to change your beliefs and your thinking which will change your life. You have a choice to improve yourself no matter how small the improvements are when you get started. Just get started.

You can do it!

Release your limiting beliefs and become your best self!

Romans 12:2

Kelly Stallings, MS, LPC
www.LifeIsMental.com
www.Facebook.com/kelly.stallings
www.twitter.com/lifeismental

GUEST BLOG from Kevin Graham of Empower Me Photo

2010-05-06T08:29:00.000-07:00

The Power of Visualization

The power of visualization is well known yet many people do not associate it with weight loss. The reality though is that the power of visualization is an amazing tool to help improve one’s look, weight loss and overall confidence. If you want to get to a healthier weight, you should be visualizing your future self on a daily basis.

I am not talking about endless yoga sessions or a full day of chanting. Is all that it takes is a few moments a day, preferably as you are just waking up or just about to fall asleep as those are the times when our mind is most relaxed and our subconscious is open to suggestion.

Can you really visualize your future? Yes, you can. OK, I’ll admit that it is virtually impossible to be able to control your future – there are simply way too many dynamics and variables in the world right? Wrong. OK, I’ll admit that you cannot control every aspect of your future; nor can you decide as to which aspects you specifically want to control.

What I am saying is that you hold the power to dramatically impact your future and how the world opens up to.

Remember when you first got a certain type of car and you started to see those same models at every corner. Remember when you learned something new and all of a sudden you saw the same concept applying to various areas of your life – even though it was really only relative to one aspect at the time you learned it.

Those are examples of situations where you placed focus on something – allowing its possibilities into your world. And then the world opened up to you consistent with your focus.

If you think about the power that goes untapped in most of our minds – the challenge is there. Try something for me (for your benefit as well). Think about an old classmate or work colleague. Think about them several times over the next 3-4 days. Write their name on your calendar a few days from now. Continue to think about them. I bet you that something about them shows up in your life. It could be seeing them on the street or online. It could be that someone else connects with you where you have a mutual connection with your former friend. There are endless possibilities but you controlled the events because you put focus on something.

Imagine if weight loss were that easy. You know what? It is. Grab a compelling vision of your future self – and Let The Vision Empower You!

Kevin Graham
http://www.EmpowerMePhoto.com

Tips for the Busy Professional to Stay Fit

2010-03-22T14:55:00.000-07:00

Working 60+ hours a week does not leave much time for fitness. You might feel tired, moody, and sluggish from long hours or sedentary work. If you cannot reduce your workload, try these easy techniques to boost your energy, lose weight and increase your fitness level.

Add Spontaneous Exercise into your day. Spontaneous exercise is the physical activity you experience daily like walking from your car to the office. Walk as much as you can everyday to stay fit. A mile is roughly 2000 steps. Track your steps with a pedometer and be creative to squeeze a few extra steps into each day. Park farther away from the door, take the stairs, and use your breaks as an opportunity to walk around your office. You will be walking more than a few miles each day in no time.

Cut calories without noticing by eating slowly. Eating slowly gives your brain time to realize you are full. Put your utensils down while chewing to slow your pace. Eating fast allows an average of 200+ extra calories at a meal. Slow down, cut calories, and feel full. It is that easy!

Focus on what you want to eat, not what you don’t want to eat. You will naturally eliminate or greatly reduce the junk food from your diet by focusing on what foods you want to be sure to include daily. Your attention to healthy food options will distract your attention from bad foods. When you feel full on your healthy food options, you won’t have room for the bad food.

Keep a healthy work space. Eliminate candy, snack foods and sodas from your work area. We typically eat what is easily accessible. Keep only a very small selection of healthy snack options like fresh fruit, nuts and water easily accessible from your office. If you really want a soda, make yourself work to get it. This gives you time to rethink how badly you want it and possibly make a different decision after boosting your energy with a few steps from your desk down to the soda machine.

Keep a healthy snack in your car. Busy people are typical work long hours. Keep a healthy snack in your car for those times when you are running late for lunch or dinner. The healthy snack will give you a small amount of calories and energy so that you do not overeat when you are able to enjoy your real meal.

Add these practices into your daily routine immediately to enjoy the benefits of weight loss, increased energy and improved fitness!

To your health,

Kelly

Kelly Stallings, MS, LPC

www.LifeisMental.com

www.facebook.com/kelly.stallings

www.twitter.com/lifeismental

Commit your goals to paper and make them happen!

2009-12-29T14:10:00.000-08:00

January is the perfect time to make resolutions and set personal goals for the year. While this is a common practice, apparently less than 2% of us will stick with these newly established resolutions and goals past January. Why is it challenging for folks to keep focused on goals? One reason may be that goals are not revisited after they are created…or worse, maybe these goals were not written down to be revisited.Writing your goals on paper is the important first step to accomplish a desired change. Without identified written goals, there is no easy way to track achievement. Write out your goals in a journal that will be easy to keep track of throughout the year. Include easy to reach short term goals as well as the larger long term goals. Both are important. Be sure to create many short term goals that support the achievement of each long term goal.

Long term goals represent a final destination. An example of this could be achieving your optimal weight. Long term goals may require a commitment for months or years to accomplish. Commitment and patience is required for reaching long term goals.

Short term goals are crucial to the successful achievement of long term goals. These small goals support the big goals. Short term goals give you a sense of accomplishment and motivation as you work toward your long term goals. Short term goals may be items like reducing a size in your clothing or walking for thirty minutes four days a week.

Think of short term goals as the individual steps in a staircase. As you achieve each short term goal, you step up one step at a time toward your long term goal of reaching the top of the staircase. You can get excited and celebrate your progress as you achieve each short term goal that propels you further up the staircase to your long term goal. Looking back at how many steps you have climbed will give you the motivation to keep going when you feel tired of climbing.

Your goals journal is a tool. Use a highlighter to highlight each goal as you achieve it. Since you will make a lot of small easy to accomplish goals, you will be highlighting a lot in your journal. Make a habit of highlighting achieved goals weekly. This keeps you rereading and mindful of your goals. As you update your goals journal, you will feel continually motivated by the growing number of highlights. Thinking of the highlighted goals in your journal and staying mindful of the upcoming goals that you will be highlighting soon could very well help you decide the chocolate cake offered at lunch is not as good as it first looked and easily avoid eating it.

Many people are accustomed to thinking that weight loss is hard, so they proceed in fulfilling that prophecy through negative thinking, self criticism and bad choices. This year, decide that weight loss is easy. Keep it simple and use this technique for organizing your goals this year and accomplish amazing weight loss results!

To your thin body,
Kelly

Kelly Stallings, MS, LPC
www.LifeIsMental.com
www.facebook.com/kelly.stallings
www.twitter.com/lifeismental

Release Limiting Beliefs for Weight Loss

2009-06-08T19:10:00.000-07:00

Many of us live with self imposed limiting beliefs. These limiting beliefs hold us back. They keep us from reaching our full potential and our optimal healthy body.

Up to this point, you most likely have not given your weight loss goals all you’ve got. It is easy to make attempts, get sidetracked by your limiting beliefs and then make excuses. These limits are self imposed negative thoughts and beliefs. You might believe that people in your family are heavy or it is difficult for you to lose weight. Whether these limiting thoughts are your voice or someone else’s, it is time they stop and you are freed!

In the movie, Facing the Giants, there is a scene where a high school football coach is attempting to show his players that they are not playing to their full ability and believing in themselves. The team has had a poor football record for several years. The coach asks one of the defensive players to stand up and death crawl (crawling on his hands and feet) down the field from one end zone while carrying another player on his back. The coach asks the player how far he can make it. This defense guy says that he can only make it to the 35 yard line while carrying another player and maybe to the 50 with no one his back. The coach says that he believes the player can make it to the 50 yard line with a player on his back and proceeds to blindfold this defense player for the exercise. The player stammers and denies his ability but ultimately positions himself to take the challenge. As the player moves down the field the camera focuses tightly on the coach encouraging him to keep going as the player says he is tired. Soon the camera pans the players on the sidelines standing up and becoming attentive to watch the progress on the field. The coach tells the player to keep going and use up every ounce of will power he has and just keep going. Finally the player falls to his stomach red faced and out of breath apologizing for stopping. The coach takes off his blind fold to reveal the he went the entire length of the field.

This is a great example of the limitations that we set on ourselves and the limitations that others set on us that we accept as true. The blindfold kept the defense player going beyond his own expectations and judgments of his ability. He amazed himself and his team mates.

Please think about how you have judged yourself. Think about how you may have accepted other people’s judgments of you concerning your weight and your ability to lose weight. Picture yourself five years from now. What do you look like in five years? Are you at your perfect weight or are you overweight? This is a significant question for you to really think about. If you picture yourself overweight in your future, do you really believe that you can lose weight?

This belief is directly tied to your thinking. Picturing yourself overweight in the future is not thin thinking. You may not have many thin thoughts. You may have a long history of holding limiting beliefs. These limiting beliefs are a choice, not the truth about you. You can choose to change your beliefs and your thinking which will change your life. You have a choice to improve yourself no matter how small the improvements are when you get started.

Release your limiting beliefs and become your best self!

You can do it!

Kelly Stallings
www.LifeIsMental.com
www.twitter.com/lifeismental
http://profile.to/kellystallings/

Detox Your Brain for Weight Loss & Success

2009-04-27T11:23:00.000-07:00

Do you want to increase your success with weight loss and other goals? Detox your brain. In a world where wellness is a billion dollar industry, it should be safe to say the importance of detoxing your body is common knowledge. There are so many options for detoxifying your body; special diets, fasting, and supplement use to name a few. Detoxing your mind is just as important and as easy as cleansing your body.

Toxins in our foods can collect in our bodies like negative toxic thoughts can collect in our brains. It is crucial to cleanse your mind of self criticism and negative thinking. Our thoughts and personal beliefs represent the core foundation of our health and general life experience. Flushing a poor self image and negative thoughts cleanses our mind for optimal health. Self critical thoughts diminish our motivation toward success. Repetitive thoughts like, ‘I am always going to be fat,’ or ‘I am never going to be thin,’ help to create a self fulfilling prophecy that affects our daily decisions and motivation to make healthy choices. Negative self beliefs result in poor food choices resulting in a thicker waist fulfilling the critical self belief. Does this sound like a familiar personal experience?

Eliminating negative thoughts is easy to accomplish. The key to success is giving yourself enough time to achieve the goal. It took time to develop negativity; it will take time to create positivity. Be patient and stay the course. I have yet to meet a person who suddenly woke up one day with negative and self critical thinking. In fact, we are all born with a blank slate. The negativity is conditioned for us as we grow and develop. Do not blame your family; negativity bombards us from many environmental sources. Think about the last time you saw an upbeat breaking news feature. I am betting that you cannot think of even one example. Recondition your thinking and detox your brain with three easy techniques.

Repetitively use these easy techniques to change your thinking, change your life!

Detox your mind of negative self talk. Eliminate negative and self critical thinking by converting negative thoughts into positive thoughts. This might feel weird as you get started, especially if you have been self critical for years. Continue the practice regardless of how you feel. Repetition creates comfort with the process and comfort accepting that you are successful, healthy, smart, thin, etc.

Continue the mental cleanse by protecting your brain. Avoid negative environmental influences that create toxic thoughts and roadblocks toward success. Television, radio, print media and social settings can represent a negative influence on your thinking. Removing negative information allows your positivity to take root. Minimize time with negative people. Be rigid with this technique during the vulnerable first days and weeks of this new process of protecting your positivity. Daily use of this technique can quickly create a new successful and happy habit if simply stick with the plan.

Grow your positivity and success with positive influence. Adopt a new mantra of ‘good things in, good things out.’ Put good things in your mind daily that will keep you on track and motivated toward your goals. Read positive and success oriented books or stories, watch positive videos, and most important spend time with positive people. Seek out positive people to influence and grow your positive mindset. A positive minded person will talk you out of eating that afternoon sugary snack and influence you with other tasty options that support your physical fitness goals. Positive relationships act as a support system to help keep you on track during stressful times.

Make these changes and stick to them even if they feel foreign or silly. You will see a significant boost to your mood, self esteem, and successful goal achievement with repetitive long term use. Thoughts affect action. Actions create reality. Utilize these skills and think thin to live thin.

Kelly Stallings
www.LifeIsMental.com
http://twitter.com/lifeismental

Managing Stress and Your Weight

2009-04-07T18:58:00.000-07:00

As women, most of us are really good about taking care of our outside appearance. We are good about doing things to enhance our outer health. It is important that we realize the need to spend just as much time and effort on the inside for a healthy mind and mood both of which relate to a healthy body. Unnecessary eating and emotional eating can develop from stressful situations. Managing your stress can significantly assist weight goals. In a world where most women work outside of the home as hard as they work inside the home, mental stress is at an all time high. Do you recognize the stress in your life?

Stress comes in four forms: environmental, social, physiological, and personal thoughts. While you can control some of these sources to minimize stress, everyone has to learn to live with some level of stress as a part of being human. Some physical signs of stress include: weight gain or loss, muscle tension, negative mood, hair loss, sleep disturbance, high blood pressure, shallow breathing leading to anxiety, and digestive problems.

Regardless of where your stress is coming from, work, family, self induced perfectionism…here are three easy cogntive techniques to manage stress effectively and maintain a healthy body.

1. Laughter and positivity. These are the most important stress releases you can use. Both are easy to use and offer immediate relief. Laughter has been found to release natural ‘feel good’ endorphins in our brains. When stress levels are high, think of a really funny memory or movie that will make you giggle. Let yourself laugh out loud. This breaks the tension of the moment and creates cognitive dissidence (a psychological term meaning that you cannot experience two opposing feelings at one time). Maintain positive thinking at all times and surround yourself with positive minded people. When you notice negative or critical thinking creeping into your mind…turn it around to improve your mood and coping skills. The majority of our experiences are manifestation of our thoughts and expectations. Keep positive expectations to improve your reactions to life events. If you doubt this idea…you are probably in a negative rut…test the theory for yourself.

2. Deep Breathing. This is the easiest and most overlooked stress management technique. Do not let the simplicity of this technique fool you…deep breathing powerful and very effective. Again this skill is portable and can go unnoticed when used in public. Practice in private to get proficient with the skill. Breathe deeply so that your stomach moves instead of your upper chest. If only your upper chest moves, you are breathing shallowly which increases anxiety. Practice breathing deeply and take 3-4 slow deep breathes before, during or after a stressful situation to keep yourself calm and in control. Keep control and avoid mindless eating.

3. Drink and Eat. Stress directly relates to physical health and weight. A major symptom of stress is over or under eating. If your weight or body image cause you stress, you might be tempted to reduce your calories to an unrealistic level. Hunger and dehydration are unnecessary physical stressors that affect our behavior and reactions to life situations. Maintain a healthy balanced diet drinking plenty of water daily. Staying hydrated and satiated keep your thinking and behavior leveled in stressful situations.

Manage your stress and maintain your healthy body!

To your thin thoughts,
Kelly

http://www.lifeismental.com/
http://twitter.com/lifeismental

Self-esteem, Body Image & Weight Issues

2009-03-08T09:30:00.000-07:00

In honor of Women’s History Month, let’s change our personal histories by releasing all issues of body image and poor self-esteem. The awesome side effect of this change is weight loss and thin thinking.

Most women are self critical of their bodies and unfortunately critical of other women’s bodies as well. Studies and surveys are not necessary to prove this to be true. Just think about what you said to yourself as you looked in the mirror this morning. Did you say, ‘you beautiful thing,’ or ‘my face looks fat’? Self criticism leads to poor self-esteem and negative body image that creates weight issues like eating disorders or perpetual yo-yo dieting. If you are unhappy with your body, you may decide to take a drastic dieting measure to lose weight as fast as you can to feel better quickly. The drastic measure is typically not a good plan and you will probably self criticize more harshly when it fails. You may respond to this by eating everything thing in site since you ‘blew the diet’ and the yo-yo cycle starts over.

The ramifications of this negative behavior reach far beyond our bathroom mirrors. It is affecting future women. Studies have shown that young girls start dieting as early as the fourth grade. These girls are listening to the statements women of influence make about their bodies. Does your daughter hear your self criticisms? Does your niece hear you tell yourself that you are going to diet because you look fat? As women, we are helping to perpetuate this issue. This self critical behavior is a choice that we can control. We can make a different choice and change the future for our selves, our daughters, granddaughters and nieces.

Media also plays a part in our self assessment as well as our daughters’ and nieces’ self assessments. We can control the effects of media by not purchasing the magazines or watching the television shows that negatively affect our body image and self esteem. Media needs our support to thrive. If fast food restaurants are now offering sliced apples as an alternative to fries in response to America’s weight issues, I believe that we can affect positive changes in the media for the same reason.

Here are three simple ways to effect change and release weight issues.

1. Love your body as-is. Love your best qualities as well as your perceived flaws. Verbalize this love for your body in place of verbalizing the self criticisms. Feel the love for yourself as you look in the mirror. Practice this exercise daily until it feels normal. It will begin to feel comfortable with practice. Positive feelings create positive choices to support your best body.

2. Compliment daily. Eliminate all self critical thoughts and statements as you recognize them in daily life. Do this for yourself and other women. Compliment yourself multiple times daily on your look and positive actions. Boost other women by complimenting them also. Give compliments to your female friends as well as women you do not know. This creates a new habit of women supporting women feeling good about themselves.

3. Avoid media that portrays women as unrealistically thin. Change the television station. Do not buy the magazines or the movie tickets. Support media and programming that portrays realistic looking women as smart and competent. Media will adjust their focus to capture our dollars.

Improving your self-esteem and body image perception will naturally lead to weight loss. When we feel good, we make better choices about food and exercise. When we feel bad, good choices are replaced with comfort foods, inactivity and more self criticisms. Teach other women to implement these simple strategies into their life. Women are hardwired to help and support others. Use this information to help and support your sisters, mothers, grandmothers, and girlfriends.

Boost your self-esteem and reduce your waistline!

Happy Women’s History Month,

Kelly

http://www.lifeismental.com/
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Love Yourself First!

2009-02-08T14:43:00.000-08:00

If you think loving yourself is a silly concept to relate to weight loss, you have been living under a rock with no connection to the real world. This concept of loving yourself has been reinforced by even the conservative medical community at this point. Loving the totality of yourself eases the emotional issues of weight management. I am referring here to an unconditional love for yourself which includes loving all the imperfections and quirky traits that make you unique. If you are self critical or mean to yourself, this should be a red flag indicating difficulty with the unconditional self love concept.

Unconditional love is easy. Accept you for who you are...the good and the bad. Live with a positive intent to do and think good about yourself. Love and accept your amazing body just as it is today. Focus an intense self love on any body part that you have historically criticized. As you practice this, you will notice an increase in self esteem and overall mood that affects your eating habits. I am not suggesting that learning to love yourself will help you drop a few pant sizes in a week or so; however, it will make a positive impact on your waistline over a healthy period of time if you truly love your body curves and all!

Don't take my word for it...test the theory!

To your thin self,
Kelly

http://www.lifeismental.com/
http://twitter.com/lifeismental

Achieving Goals with Mental Rehearsal

2009-01-26T11:24:00.000-08:00

It is the end of January and if you have not created your goals for the year...there is still time. In fact, there is always time to create goals. Once you identify what you want to acheive, there are three easy steps to make them your reality: write them down, use visual representations and mentally rehearse goals as if they are achieved. I have already explained an easy way to effectively use written goals and how to incorporate a daily visual of your goals in my two past posts. The third step to goal achievement is mental rehearsal.

Mental rehearsal is my personal favorite technique for achieving goals. I have seen mental rehearsal make a major difference in people’s lives. Mental rehearsal can keep you motivated toward your goal and boost your mood anywhere, anytime. The Life is Mental: Think Thin to Live Thin Guided Visualization CD was created to make this easy to use technique effortless. I recommend that folks new to mental rehearsal and visualization practice this right before falling asleep while comfortable in bed. This is a great way to relax your body for sleep and positive dreams.

Here is the 'how to': Make yourself comfortable in bed with your body straight and uncrossed arms/legs. Relax your body as you slow your breathing to a relaxing pace. Create a vivid picture or visualization in your mind of you at your goal weight. Create a visualization using all of your senses. See this picture including the environment or activity that you will be engaged, hear the sounds you will hear, smell the smells you will smell, and feel the textures you will feel in this picture. The more detailed and robust your visualization, the easier it is to think and behave in ways that create this visualization as your reality. This is an easy technique that offers a huge benefit.

Elite athletes have used the mental rehearsal technique for decades to improve their already elite skills. They repeatedly visualize and mentally rehearse perfect execution of their skill in vivid detail. This mental practice creates the same neural experience that physical practice creates which is why it is so effective. Think of it as reprogramming your subconscious to automatically behave in ways that support your vision. The famous pro golfer, Jack Nicklaus, has been quoted as stating that he never takes a shot at a golf ball without vividly visualizing the swing and perfect execution first. This technique is no longer reserved for the elite. Start visualizing your perfect body wearing the clothes you will wear and doing the activities you will be doing to start thinking and acting in ways necessary to make this visualization a reality. You will amaze yourself at how effective this practice is for goal achievement.

The simplicity of these techniques may be a reason that many people do not make these techniques a habit for goal achievement. If you are one of those people who think that weight loss is hard, you will fulfill that prophecy. This year, decide that weight loss is easy. Write down your short and long term goals, post pictures representing your goals, and mentally rehearse being your goal weight. Use these easy techniques this month to create your weight goals and accomplish amazing weight loss results in 2009!

2009 is your Best Year!
Kelly

http://www.lifeismental.com/
http://twitter.com/lifeismental

Resolutions & Goals for a New Year-New You

2009-01-14T18:32:00.000-08:00

It is still January and is the perfect time to make resolutions and set personal goals for the year. If you have not already gotten started with this task, there is no time like the present.

There are three easy ways to make certain that your 2009 resolutions and goals are effective this year, write them down, use visual representations and mentally rehearse goals as if they are achieved. I have already explained an easy way to effectively use written goals. Now incorporate a daily visual of your goals.

Visual representations of goals maintain your constant awareness of these goals. You are more likely to act in ways that move you toward your goals if these goals stay in your awareness. Create a vision board with pictures, symbols and text that represent your goals. Use poster board or a cork board for your vision board. Hang this vision board in a private area that you will see daily. This may be an area of your closet or personal bathroom. It is important that you keep this private to avoid any opportunity for criticism or judgment by others that may affect your motivation or self confidence. Use pictures and text of all kinds representing your goals as achieved. Looking at your board should elicit positive thoughts and feelings of what your life will be like when these goals are achieved. You might include pictures of activities you will be enjoying at your goal weight or clothing with the size tag showing of the clothing size you will be at your goal weight. Be creative so that your board creates a detailed visual picture and elicits feelings you will feel at your goal weight. Look at your vision board each morning as you get dressed or brush your teeth and enjoy the feelings and thoughts these pictures elicit. This allows you to maintain daily awareness of your goals. Keeping in mind the picture of your thin self in your skinny bathing suit, could very well serve as motivation to avoid eating that donut at work or eating a late night snack.

Remember that self fulfilling prophecy idea…believe and expect the best about your weight loss adventure. If you are going to have a self fulfilling prophecy, why not make it a good one in 2009?

To your thin body,
Kelly
http://www.lifeismental.com/

Resolutions & Goals that Work

2009-01-04T09:03:00.000-08:00

January is the perfect time to make resolutions and set personal goals for the year. While this is a common practice, apparently less than 2% of us will stick with these newly established resolutions and goals past January. Why is it challenging for folks to keep focused on goals? One reason may be that goals are not revisited after they are created…or worse, maybe these goals were not written down to be revisited.

There are three easy ways to make certain that your 2009 resolutions and goals are effective this year. Goals need to be written, visually represented and mentally rehearsed. These techniques are simple and easy to incorporate as new habits into your daily schedule. Commit to these three simple new habits to see amazing results this year.

Writing your goals on paper is the important first step to accomplish a desired change. Without identified written goals, there is no use for the remaining two techniques. Write out your goals in a journal that will be easy to keep track of throughout the year. The Life is Mental: Think Thin to Live Thin Goals Journal is a great option for a journal. Include both easy to reach short term goals as well as the larger long term goals. Long term goals represent a final destination. An example of this could be achieving your optimal weight. Long term goals may require a commitment for months or years to accomplish. Commitment and patience is required for reaching long term goals. Short term goals are crucial to the successful achievement of long term goals. These small goals support the big goals. Short term goals give you a sense of accomplishment and motivation as you work toward your long term goals. Think of short term goals as the individual steps in a staircase. As you achieve each short term goal, you step up one step at a time toward your long term goal of reaching the top of the staircase. You can get excited and celebrate your progress as you achieve each short term goal that propels you further up the staircase to your long term goal. Looking back at how many steps you have climbed will give you the motivation to keep going when you feel tired of climbing. Your journal is a tool. Use a highlighter to highlight each goal as you achieve it. Since you will make a lot of small easy to accomplish goals, you will be highlighting a lot in your journal. Make a habit of highlighting achieved goals weekly or monthly. This keeps you rereading and staying mindful of your goals. As you update your journal, you will feel continually motivated by the growing number of highlights. Thinking of the highlighted goals in your journal and staying mindful of the upcoming goals that you will be highlighting soon could very well help you decide the chocolate cake offered at lunch is not as good as it first looked and easily avoid eating it.

Keep reading my future blogs to learn more about the simplicity of visually representing and mentally rehearsing goals for achievement as well as easy ways to incorporate these techniques into your daily routine.

Many people are accustomed to thinking that weight loss is hard, so they proceed in fulfilling that prophecy through negative thinking, self criticism and bad choices. This year, decide that weight loss is easy. Keep it simple and use these easy techniques. Write down your short and long term goals, post pictures representing your goals, and mentally rehearse being your goal weight. Use these easy techniques this month to create your health/weight goals and accomplish amazing weight loss results in 2009!

To your thin body,
Kelly
http://www.lifeismental.com/

Enjoy Holiday Meals!

2008-12-03T18:59:00.000-08:00

The holiday season can be a detriment to our waistlines. Here are a few tips to help you enjoy holiday food without packing on the pounds.

--Eat a small healthy snack before that big family dinner to avoid a feeling of strong hunger that leads to overeating. You can still have a piece of pie for dessert, but a few almonds before dinner might mean that you will be satisfied with a small slice of pie versus the whole pie.
--Use small plates for the meal. Large plates make healthy portions look like Barbie food. You will convince yourself that the Barbie food is not enough to satisfy you before you even get started eating. Smaller, healthier portions will look satisfying.
--Put your utensils down between bites and eat slowly to give your stomach time to register the full signal. Make certain to sit next to someone you like at dinner so that you can talk and enjoy the company as you eat SLOWLY. This technique can be a bit challenging if you sit by someone you are not really fond of.
--STOP eating when you begin to feel full. The minute you start feeling full...you are done eating. Put your plate in the sink and enjoy the company. Holiday dinners typically take a few days to finish off. Remind yourself that you can eat another healthy portion of turkey again for your next meal when you feel hungry again. You do not need to eat the whole bird at one meal.

Mind your mind and enjoy the holidays!
Kelly

Introducting the Think Thin Program for Weight Loss

2008-11-30T15:55:00.000-08:00

Cognitive Training to Train Your Brain to Think Thin!

It’s time to lose weight for life. In my new book, Life is Mental: Think Thin to Live Thin, I teach easy to adopt cognitive strategies to Think yourself Thin. I have successfully used these techniques personally through multiple child births and a diagnosis of hypothyroidism developed after the birth of my second son. As I turn 40, I am a great example of ‘Thin Thinking.’ Over the past 12 years, I have taught these same techniques to the thousands of clients served in my private psychotherapy practice.

Now you can learn these easy to use techniques to Think Thin to Live Thin! This book will change the way you think about eating, exercise and your body. Thinking thin is no mystery; it has simply been overlooked in the presence of the food pyramid and exercise recommendations. Weight loss is easy if you want it to be. If you are ready to lose weight for life, read my book to learn how to start Thinking Thin!

The book will teach you to…
Eat what you choose and lose weight
Eat consciously
Identify and change ineffective thinking
Feel good about your body
Increase the exercise you are already doing everyday
Utilize peak performance skills to acheive your healthy body

Looking for quick weight loss? I endorse the Arbonne weight loss products to give you a boost the first few weeks of the training. These natural products are safe for even diabetic folks. Ingredient lists are available on my website.

I look forward to sharing tips and information in this blog to help you adopt healthy ways of losing and managing your weight. I hope you keep reading my monthly entries and enjoy living thin!

To your health,
Kelly
http://www.lifeismental.com/