For the whole of human history, physical activity occurred unconsciously and incidentally for most people. Traditionally, at a society wide level, people have not had to actively think about ‘adding exercise into their lives’ until the last 30 or 40 years. As a society wide situation, this is a new phenomenon!
Oh sure, there have always been people that wanted to be athletes or have thought about the benefits of being physically active. The roman poet Juvenal coined the famous phrase healthy mind, healthy body over 2000 years ago, the Greeks had the Olympic games, the Romans also had Roman Army training, and various royals throughout the 18th and 19th centuries have had fitness trainers and associated health assistants.
But not everybody wants to join the army or be a Greek athlete, and the vast majority of people who have inhabited the earth over the past few thousand years have grown up being active as part of their daily lives, having to work on the land, walk to the shops, hand wash their clothing and materials, cut their own firewood, physically move files around the office or stack shelves and so on and so forth.
For many centuries obesity was not a major problem in western society. But in the past 100 years the world has changed dramatically. Firstly, with the industrial revolution, automated mass manufacture has drastically changed the way many people work and move. The rise of the motor car and the changes in urban design to accommodate this has changed the way people travel and move.
More recently with the technological revolution, the development of the computer has drastically changed the way people interact and move around at work, globalisation of the working environment and growth of the ‘working family’ also means that many more people now work full time in paid employment, again drastically changing many different social dynamics.
Old office vs New office
Obesity has been on the rise! Not because of discriminatory accusations like ‘fat people are lazy!’ or because of ‘genetic dispositions’. Obesity is on the rise because western society has changed dramatically over the past 50 years!
For his song ‘Burn to Shine’, the folk singer Ben Harper wrote the lyrics:
Funny things you learn from your mama,
like the way to throw your head back when your swallowing pills
Funny things you learn from your papa
like when you’re talking you just can’t keep your hands still
But that was now and this is then, It never lasts for long
How I miss the good old days; but I’m so glad they’re gone
If you do want to change your change your lifestyle, want to add more physical activity into your week and are trying to figure out why you may have had trouble trying in the past, I think its important to firstly realise that some of the things you learnt to do at a younger age, that may have served you well then, might now be out of date. The world is changing. Thomas Edison once said famously ‘its not the strongest of the species that survives, but the one most able to adapt to new environments’.
You may have learnt certain beliefs or behaviours regarding exercise from your parents or as a child at school or for one of many different reasons. There was probably a good reason for learning them at the time, although you may not remember it now. But its important to realise that what ever the reason was, it is now in the past. It is gone and all that is left is a learnt pattern of behaviour. And if you learnt one behaviour, its entirely possible that you can learn new behaviours too...we’ll explore more that a bit later on.
Its important to realise that you are not alone – many people are attempting to change their lifestyles across the whole of western society, including many incredibly intelligent, high achieving and resourceful people! It is also important to realise that you are not lazy and you do not ‘deserve to be obese’. Instead I would like to simply suggest that you have not yet found....
Some people who have been stuck with old unwanted habits or behaviours for a long time start to believe that they have no control over their emotions or actions. Certain behaviours become so habitual that they believe their mind is like a bouncer who has put them on the black list. As a result they have no control, and are prevented them from getting what they want.
Fortunately a researcher by the name of Dr Libit, did an experiment based around free will & free want. His research is famous and looks at the relationship between our thoughts and our resulting actions. In short he proved that when we think about taking an action, after 0.3 of a second there is a desire to move but it is the mind that decides in the final 0.2 of a second whether or not it will.
This moment in time is what he refers to as VETO POWER. The desire to move does not determine that you have to move – your mind decides whether to listen and act. What he showed scientifically was that everybody has the Free Will to ultimately choose their own destiny. We have no power over the thoughts that enter our mind (the initial short term messages our brain sends out) but we do have veto power about what we do or don’t act on.
YOU HAVE VETO POWER TO TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR ACTIONS!
Dr Jeffrey Schwartz is another scientist, a neuropsychiatric specialist who has done extensive research into how the mind influences the brain. His research is also very interesting and was into having awareness about awareness. For most of us we don’t stop to think how we are thinking but it is this very action that will enhance our ability to engage in new ways of thinking, which will allow us to attempt new behaviours and as a result change our lifestyles.
The act of wilfully reframing a situation or ‘imagining an alternative outcome’ completely changes the way our brain responds to external stimulus. His research follows on from Libit to show that if we want to change habits and change the way we think, by using the power of our imagination in the right way, we can decrease our connection to the negative emotion we feel around a situation and increase our cognition or connection with our preferred alternative action. He showed that when you repeatedly think of a situation in the same way, you strengthen the neurological pathways favouring that pattern of thought. This is kind of like wearing a new path through long grass. Each time you walk through the path it becomes more accessable, and easier to come back to next time.
WHAT YOU PAY ATTENTION TO YOU GET MORE OF
But conversely, he showed that when you learn to think about an old situation in a new way, you utilise entirely different neural pathways in a different part of your brain (the cerebral cortex as opposed to the emotional ‘limbic’ centre. Because the cerebral cortex is partially separate from the limbic system, using this style of thinking actually decreases the amount of emotional stimulation. Its is possible to pay attention to an old situation in a new way to separate from the old emotional attachment.
WHAT YOU PAY ATTENTION TO DETERMINES WHAT YOU MISS!!
To find oout how to make sustainable lifestyle change or enhance performance as an executive visit www.sparkexecutive.com.au
Spark - Better ways of working that spark our collective intelligence
Monday, June 15, 2009
Thursday, January 15, 2009
RESEARCH PROVES LONG TERM LIFESTYLE IMPROVEMENT CAN CHANGE YOUR GENETICS
(AND WHY SHORT TERM DIETS DO NOT WORK!!)
In the Herald Sun, January 16, 2009, there was an article written, based on new research about genetics, diets and weight management. As it was a news story, the article had a one sided spin and was designed to shock. So i’ve taken the report and rewritten it in a more balanced way to highlight some very important points! Read on to find out more.....
The Article started: Melbourne scientists have proved for the first time that damage done by unhealthy eating is "remembered" in genetic controls - epigenetics - and turns off good genes needed to prevent diabetes, heart disease and other complications, the Herald Sun reports.
Lead researcher Assoc Prof Assam El-Osta, from the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute team, proved that a single sugar hit, such as eating a chocolate bar, damaged the controls regulating the genes for two weeks.
This sounds shocking, and the article continued: The scientists said this meant that eating a chocolate would not only go straight to your hips, but also sit on your DNA. "It is this idea that you are what you eat, and perhaps that is a reflection of what your parents ate, and perhaps what your grandparents ate," he said.
Prof El-Osta warned that regular poor eating meant the damage would last for months or years, and the real problems caused by an unhealthy diet were deferred until later life.
Now this doom and gloom reporting carried on for a few hundred words when they should have mentioned that Prof El-Osta also said
"We think there is [ALSO] good epigenetic memory as well for individuals who have a good diet, not only for themselves but potentially for future generations”.
"If you have had five years [or a family history] of unhealthy control, where health enducing genes are switched off and ‘health damaging’ genes switched on, changing that for a couple of months to a good diet may not have a tremendous impact. "But going back to a good diet would have some effect 10 years later.
For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction!
A poor diet could lead to very serious changes that are remembered for many months, or even years BUT conversely a good diet will also lead to some SERIOUSLY GOOD changes that will also be remembered for years. A person with a family history of weight problems and poor eating has the power to reprogram their DNA to break the cycle.
The discovery explains why artery damage persists in diabetics even after they have long periods of therapy....AND it also explains that even people with a family history of problems has the power to overcome their genetic disposition....whether it is ‘good or bad’!
This is evidenced by Ann Mennan. Having experienced the problems of obesity, Ann Mennan, 44, and her son Tom, 18, are working to break the genetic cycle. Last year Ms Mennan was Weight Watchers Slimmer of the Year when she dropped from a morbidly obese 105kg to 71kg, while Tom shed 20kg after seeing his grandmother suffer diabetes, heart disease and then a stroke.
"It's really hard to tell if it is nature versus nurture," she said. "My mother had diabetes, her mother had diabetes and I ended up being diagnosed with diabetes much younger than they did, so I think there is a genetic predisposition.
"To hear that I can, by eating well, actually physiologically improve myself so I keep improving over time is really good to hear."
The Herald Sun article lead with the line ‘FAT parents are condemning their children to obesity and disease. Fat people reprogram controls over their DNA and pass on fatness and disease not only to their children, but to future generations’.
But this article is not providing a fair representation of the research. The idea of ‘condemming’ assumes that children would be unable to also reprogram their DNA. The truth is actually that they can.
What the research does prove is that: Dieting doesn't work because what you ate two months or two years ago is going to be reflected now through your DNA."
BUT that making a sustained long term lifestyle change has the power to change your genetic programming and overcome the habits of your parents and even your even your grandparents!
Ultimately, short term crash diets will never work!
But you’re in control of your DNA, and can even change your genetics!
The findings were reported in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.
To make sustainable lifestyle change visit www.sparkexecutive.com.au
In the Herald Sun, January 16, 2009, there was an article written, based on new research about genetics, diets and weight management. As it was a news story, the article had a one sided spin and was designed to shock. So i’ve taken the report and rewritten it in a more balanced way to highlight some very important points! Read on to find out more.....
The Article started: Melbourne scientists have proved for the first time that damage done by unhealthy eating is "remembered" in genetic controls - epigenetics - and turns off good genes needed to prevent diabetes, heart disease and other complications, the Herald Sun reports.
Lead researcher Assoc Prof Assam El-Osta, from the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute team, proved that a single sugar hit, such as eating a chocolate bar, damaged the controls regulating the genes for two weeks.
This sounds shocking, and the article continued: The scientists said this meant that eating a chocolate would not only go straight to your hips, but also sit on your DNA. "It is this idea that you are what you eat, and perhaps that is a reflection of what your parents ate, and perhaps what your grandparents ate," he said.
Prof El-Osta warned that regular poor eating meant the damage would last for months or years, and the real problems caused by an unhealthy diet were deferred until later life.
Now this doom and gloom reporting carried on for a few hundred words when they should have mentioned that Prof El-Osta also said
"We think there is [ALSO] good epigenetic memory as well for individuals who have a good diet, not only for themselves but potentially for future generations”.
"If you have had five years [or a family history] of unhealthy control, where health enducing genes are switched off and ‘health damaging’ genes switched on, changing that for a couple of months to a good diet may not have a tremendous impact. "But going back to a good diet would have some effect 10 years later.
For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction!
A poor diet could lead to very serious changes that are remembered for many months, or even years BUT conversely a good diet will also lead to some SERIOUSLY GOOD changes that will also be remembered for years. A person with a family history of weight problems and poor eating has the power to reprogram their DNA to break the cycle.
The discovery explains why artery damage persists in diabetics even after they have long periods of therapy....AND it also explains that even people with a family history of problems has the power to overcome their genetic disposition....whether it is ‘good or bad’!
This is evidenced by Ann Mennan. Having experienced the problems of obesity, Ann Mennan, 44, and her son Tom, 18, are working to break the genetic cycle. Last year Ms Mennan was Weight Watchers Slimmer of the Year when she dropped from a morbidly obese 105kg to 71kg, while Tom shed 20kg after seeing his grandmother suffer diabetes, heart disease and then a stroke.
"It's really hard to tell if it is nature versus nurture," she said. "My mother had diabetes, her mother had diabetes and I ended up being diagnosed with diabetes much younger than they did, so I think there is a genetic predisposition.
"To hear that I can, by eating well, actually physiologically improve myself so I keep improving over time is really good to hear."
The Herald Sun article lead with the line ‘FAT parents are condemning their children to obesity and disease. Fat people reprogram controls over their DNA and pass on fatness and disease not only to their children, but to future generations’.
But this article is not providing a fair representation of the research. The idea of ‘condemming’ assumes that children would be unable to also reprogram their DNA. The truth is actually that they can.
What the research does prove is that: Dieting doesn't work because what you ate two months or two years ago is going to be reflected now through your DNA."
BUT that making a sustained long term lifestyle change has the power to change your genetic programming and overcome the habits of your parents and even your even your grandparents!
Ultimately, short term crash diets will never work!
But you’re in control of your DNA, and can even change your genetics!
The findings were reported in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.
To make sustainable lifestyle change visit www.sparkexecutive.com.au
Spinning DNA plasticity into a story
An article in todays Herald Sun wrote:
Fatness can be genetic, say scientists (January 16, 2009)
FAT parents are condemning their children to obesity and disease.
Fat people reprogram controls over their DNA and pass on fatness and disease not only to their children, but to future generations.
Melbourne scientists have proved for the first time that damage done by unhealthy eating is "remembered" in genetic controls - epigenetics - and turns off good genes needed to prevent diabetes, heart disease and other complications, the Herald Sun reports.
Lead researcher Assoc Prof Assam El-Osta, from the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute team, said this meant that eating a chocolate would not only go straight to your hips, but also sit on your DNA. "It is this idea that you are what you eat, and perhaps that is a reflection of what your parents ate, and perhaps what your grandparents ate," he said.
HOLD YOUR HORSES!!! yes we all know that these articles are written to shock readers and create a drama so more people will buy papers....but arnt they missing the point? That DNA are actually mouldable and changable IN ALL DIRECTIONS.
Scientists have recently discovered that our brains have the quality of neuro-plasticity (meaning that we can learn new habits and develop new brain funtions and skills even if parts of the brain is damaged). Is it not possible that DNA are actually mouldable and change in response to a persons habit throughout their lifetime? So, yes this does mean that a person will pass on their habits through their DNA to future generations BUT that this will include the good (a very subjective word) ones as well as the bad (again very subjective) AND that the next generation will have the ability to also mould their DNA in a different and new direction or back in the direction from whence it came.
Geno-plasticity
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,24919825-421,00.html
And so, later on in the article Prof explains
Prof El-Osta said: "This is not all doom and gloom . . . we think there is good epigenetic memory as well for individuals who have a good diet, not only for themselves but potentially for future generations.
"If you have had five years of bad control, where good genes are switched off and bad genes switched on, changing that for a couple of months to a good diet may not have a tremendous impact.
"But going back to a good diet would have some effect 10 years later. Dieting doesn't work because what you ate two months or two years ago is going to be reflected now."
SO IN CONCLUSION
The title of the article was "you can blame you mum and dad if you're fat", when in reality it could and should have been - "scientist proves that short term dieting doesn't work"
Chris
For sustainable ideas and options about lifestyle change and wellbeing visit www.sparkexecutive.com.au
Fatness can be genetic, say scientists (January 16, 2009)
FAT parents are condemning their children to obesity and disease.
Fat people reprogram controls over their DNA and pass on fatness and disease not only to their children, but to future generations.
Melbourne scientists have proved for the first time that damage done by unhealthy eating is "remembered" in genetic controls - epigenetics - and turns off good genes needed to prevent diabetes, heart disease and other complications, the Herald Sun reports.
Lead researcher Assoc Prof Assam El-Osta, from the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute team, said this meant that eating a chocolate would not only go straight to your hips, but also sit on your DNA. "It is this idea that you are what you eat, and perhaps that is a reflection of what your parents ate, and perhaps what your grandparents ate," he said.
HOLD YOUR HORSES!!! yes we all know that these articles are written to shock readers and create a drama so more people will buy papers....but arnt they missing the point? That DNA are actually mouldable and changable IN ALL DIRECTIONS.
Scientists have recently discovered that our brains have the quality of neuro-plasticity (meaning that we can learn new habits and develop new brain funtions and skills even if parts of the brain is damaged). Is it not possible that DNA are actually mouldable and change in response to a persons habit throughout their lifetime? So, yes this does mean that a person will pass on their habits through their DNA to future generations BUT that this will include the good (a very subjective word) ones as well as the bad (again very subjective) AND that the next generation will have the ability to also mould their DNA in a different and new direction or back in the direction from whence it came.
Geno-plasticity
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,24919825-421,00.html
And so, later on in the article Prof explains
Prof El-Osta said: "This is not all doom and gloom . . . we think there is good epigenetic memory as well for individuals who have a good diet, not only for themselves but potentially for future generations.
"If you have had five years of bad control, where good genes are switched off and bad genes switched on, changing that for a couple of months to a good diet may not have a tremendous impact.
"But going back to a good diet would have some effect 10 years later. Dieting doesn't work because what you ate two months or two years ago is going to be reflected now."
SO IN CONCLUSION
The title of the article was "you can blame you mum and dad if you're fat", when in reality it could and should have been - "scientist proves that short term dieting doesn't work"
Chris
For sustainable ideas and options about lifestyle change and wellbeing visit www.sparkexecutive.com.au
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Meditation may protect your brain
Many forms of exercise incorporate the qualities of meditation. Focusing on your breathing as you lift weights is meditation in action. As is feeling the cool breeze against your body or the sand under your feet as you run along the beach. Well with this in mind it turns out that meditation may even affect your brain.
For thousands of years, Buddhist meditators have claimed that the simple act of sitting down and following their breath while letting go of intrusive thoughts can free one from the entanglements of neurotic suffering.
Now, scientists are using cutting-edge scanning technology to watch the meditating mind at work. They are finding that regular meditation has a measurable effect on a variety of brain structures related to attention — an example of what is known as neuroplasticity, where the brain physically changes in response to an intentional exercise.
To read more about this fascinating article follow the link:
http://zephyr.cariblogger.com/2008/11/24/meditation-may-protect-your-brain/
For sustainable ways to improve wellbeing and enhance energy visit www.sparkexecutive.com.au
For thousands of years, Buddhist meditators have claimed that the simple act of sitting down and following their breath while letting go of intrusive thoughts can free one from the entanglements of neurotic suffering.
Now, scientists are using cutting-edge scanning technology to watch the meditating mind at work. They are finding that regular meditation has a measurable effect on a variety of brain structures related to attention — an example of what is known as neuroplasticity, where the brain physically changes in response to an intentional exercise.
To read more about this fascinating article follow the link:
http://zephyr.cariblogger.com/2008/11/24/meditation-may-protect-your-brain/
For sustainable ways to improve wellbeing and enhance energy visit www.sparkexecutive.com.au
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Surviving & Thriving @ Christmas (Chris's latest article - this one for the MJCC newsletter
These days Christmas can appear to be more about stress, lack of sleep and over-indulgence! So here are some great ideas to help you get the most out of Christmas.
Be an A list picky partier – Everybody knows the smart A list Hollywood celebrities only attend a few of the parties on offer to them. Give it a try yourself! You’ll get alot more sleep and might enjoy the parties you do attend more.
Bring back the Christmas calm – With end of year deadlines and mad mobs of shoppers at Myers - Christmas can create chaos for some. If that’s you...give these a go:
1. Feel tense? Just STOP, think of something that makes you smile and take 5 slow deep breaths.
2. Get out of the office and go for a walk. Move and let your mind wander for 10 - 15 mins. People often get their best ideas this way.
3. Don’t feel guilty about eating lots over the Christmas break. Instead try looking forward to it, and when the day comes slow down and enjoy it! Funny thing is that if you eat more slowly you feel fuller faster!
By Christopher Eastham
Health coach, exercise physiologist & corporate wellness consultant
The Open Door Wellness Company
www.theopendoor.com.au
ph 0420 532 522
Be an A list picky partier – Everybody knows the smart A list Hollywood celebrities only attend a few of the parties on offer to them. Give it a try yourself! You’ll get alot more sleep and might enjoy the parties you do attend more.
Bring back the Christmas calm – With end of year deadlines and mad mobs of shoppers at Myers - Christmas can create chaos for some. If that’s you...give these a go:
1. Feel tense? Just STOP, think of something that makes you smile and take 5 slow deep breaths.
2. Get out of the office and go for a walk. Move and let your mind wander for 10 - 15 mins. People often get their best ideas this way.
3. Don’t feel guilty about eating lots over the Christmas break. Instead try looking forward to it, and when the day comes slow down and enjoy it! Funny thing is that if you eat more slowly you feel fuller faster!
By Christopher Eastham
Health coach, exercise physiologist & corporate wellness consultant
The Open Door Wellness Company
www.theopendoor.com.au
ph 0420 532 522
Sunday, October 12, 2008
First with the head, then with the heart!
‘First with the head, then with the heart’. This is the mantra offered by the heavyweight champion of south Africa to PK, the young boy in Bryce Courtney’ bestselling book The Power of One, who then went on to greatness. But how does this apply to me? You ask.
Maybe you want to lose weight, exercise more, eat less, enjoy life more, drink less or change your lifestyle in some way. An action is only the physical result of a corresponding thought. If people were simply machines designed to perform predefined tasks then maybe we could simply change the action and that would be the end of that.
But we are not and in fact these days even machines and new cars have computer chip brains. Little computers built into them to control their function. So to change the action we have to also go to the source of the action and change the thoughts that cause the action!
It’s not a new idea. In the 17th century the renowned philosopher Rene Descartes (1596 – 1650) coined the famous phrase: 'I think therefore I am'. And over 1500 years earlier the roman poet Juvenal uttered the words:
‘Healthy mind, healthy body’
Yes people have been talking about the relationship between thoughts and actions for quite some time. But how does this relate to weight loss, or lifestyle change? Well if you want to start a new exercise regime or change eating habits (actions) then it makes sense to assume that you will also have to change the way you think about things!
WHY reasons dig you deeper into habitual holes
Habits only become a problem when we want to change them. Have you ever noticed that with an old habit, you will have 100 different reasons or justifications for sticking with it? Now, I’m a simple man and so I need to simplify things as much as possible. Sometimes I like to think that we have two modes of operation and the first is reason mode (or WHY mode..as in why am I doing this or thinking that…). ‘Why mode’ allows us to dig ourselves deeper into our habit. For example I like basketball and I could give you 100 reasons why basketball is a fun game to play! This is a really useful mindset if we have a habit we want to continue with like eating carrots or driving on the correct side of the road or being hospitable to our house guests, the problem with this mindset occurs only when we want to change a habit. If we have spent years justifying our actions and building up a list of reasons (or excuses) for doing it…they will all effectively act as barriers to change. So how do we get around the barriers?
HOW options can dig you out of the habitual hole
Well if you have a barrier in front of you and you keep staring at it...all you will see is the barrier….not how to get around it. To get around it, you might like to step back so you get a different perspective, or move the side so you can see past it. Ask yourself, what habit do you want to change? When you notice yourself thinking about this habit, are you thinking about reasons, barriers and excuses? If you want to get a different result you have to start thinking differently about the situation. You need new options!!
Maybe you have spent years justifying why things have not been working, or ignoring things or talking about why the barriers are in your way….Well its good to know that whenever the time is right and whenever you choose to you can stop concentrating on the barriers and to start thinking about new options, thinking about how you will plan your lifestyle change and good your life will be in a years time when you are doing more of the things you want. Its about discovering new OPTIONS!
Mahatma Gandhi (1869 - 1948) was no weight loss guru but his approach to change resulted in the one of the biggest changes in the modern world. One of his best ideas is so simple it’s almost magical.
“Be the change you want to see in the world.”
If you want to be healthy, or slim, or to be exercising regularly and eating a balanced diet, it makes sense to start thinking like that successful version of yourself.
Maybe you could try this idea…Imagine yourself in two years time, living the life you desire. Maybe you are playing a sport, jogging or walking in nature, or involved in some activity you enjoy doing. If a problem arose would you immediately worry about it and get emotional? Or would you think about a solution. If you were going to motivate yourself to do a new activity would you stare in the mirror and put yourself down or would you tell yourself something encouraging? Your thoughts can dig you deeper into a hole or dig you out. So it’s good to know that ultimately it is you that is in control of the spade.
This is really important stuff! I know some people will scoff and question the relevance of Gandhi and dead Roman philosophers to weight loss, and that’s ok. But I have seen too many people join up at gyms and start on diet plans only to quit 4 weeks later on the 1st of February. So often we spend our time thinking about a result we want like losing weight and forget to think about the action required to get there and the thoughts and the best mindset to start & complete the action. I also personally know how good it is when you can live the healthy lifestyle you are aiming for. I love living the lifestyle of my choosing....it’s great! In fact it’s so good that I want other people to experience it too.
Our goals are all different. For some it’s all about achieving high performance and being in good shape so you can work hard and play hard, for others it’s more about getting a better work-life harmony. What-ever your goals and whatever you want to be eating, drinking and doing differently in a year’s time. Thinking about the way you are thinking, and learning how to control your mindset are powerful tools to have at your disposal. It’s good to think about problems briefly, because this balances up all the positive thoughts. But unless you want to, there’s no need to spend too much time worrying about or analyzing where you are at the moment If you want to make some sort of change. Thinking like that all the time will just dig you deeper into your existing habits. Worry & guilt create more worry & guilt.
Maybe, just to humor yourself for the rest of the day you could start thinking as if you were already comfortably on the road to achieving your desired goals. Go on, give it a try…I dare you! It’s just like riding a bike…you should be careful at the beginning and might come off the first couple of time if you try to go too fast…but take is slowly and after a few goes your balance and control improve…then before long you have another fun way to get to where you want to go faster!
So now we know we want to think more effectively, and why it will help…how do we start? There are many ways to tap into your inner resourcefulness. Personally I find mindset coaching works really well for clients and myself. But now you understand the idea, there are many alternatives you can explore...who knows… maybe you’ve already started.
For sustainable ways to improve wellbeing and enhance energy visit www.sparkexecutive.com.au
Maybe you want to lose weight, exercise more, eat less, enjoy life more, drink less or change your lifestyle in some way. An action is only the physical result of a corresponding thought. If people were simply machines designed to perform predefined tasks then maybe we could simply change the action and that would be the end of that.
But we are not and in fact these days even machines and new cars have computer chip brains. Little computers built into them to control their function. So to change the action we have to also go to the source of the action and change the thoughts that cause the action!
It’s not a new idea. In the 17th century the renowned philosopher Rene Descartes (1596 – 1650) coined the famous phrase: 'I think therefore I am'. And over 1500 years earlier the roman poet Juvenal uttered the words:
‘Healthy mind, healthy body’
Yes people have been talking about the relationship between thoughts and actions for quite some time. But how does this relate to weight loss, or lifestyle change? Well if you want to start a new exercise regime or change eating habits (actions) then it makes sense to assume that you will also have to change the way you think about things!
WHY reasons dig you deeper into habitual holes
Habits only become a problem when we want to change them. Have you ever noticed that with an old habit, you will have 100 different reasons or justifications for sticking with it? Now, I’m a simple man and so I need to simplify things as much as possible. Sometimes I like to think that we have two modes of operation and the first is reason mode (or WHY mode..as in why am I doing this or thinking that…). ‘Why mode’ allows us to dig ourselves deeper into our habit. For example I like basketball and I could give you 100 reasons why basketball is a fun game to play! This is a really useful mindset if we have a habit we want to continue with like eating carrots or driving on the correct side of the road or being hospitable to our house guests, the problem with this mindset occurs only when we want to change a habit. If we have spent years justifying our actions and building up a list of reasons (or excuses) for doing it…they will all effectively act as barriers to change. So how do we get around the barriers?
HOW options can dig you out of the habitual hole
Well if you have a barrier in front of you and you keep staring at it...all you will see is the barrier….not how to get around it. To get around it, you might like to step back so you get a different perspective, or move the side so you can see past it. Ask yourself, what habit do you want to change? When you notice yourself thinking about this habit, are you thinking about reasons, barriers and excuses? If you want to get a different result you have to start thinking differently about the situation. You need new options!!
Maybe you have spent years justifying why things have not been working, or ignoring things or talking about why the barriers are in your way….Well its good to know that whenever the time is right and whenever you choose to you can stop concentrating on the barriers and to start thinking about new options, thinking about how you will plan your lifestyle change and good your life will be in a years time when you are doing more of the things you want. Its about discovering new OPTIONS!
Mahatma Gandhi (1869 - 1948) was no weight loss guru but his approach to change resulted in the one of the biggest changes in the modern world. One of his best ideas is so simple it’s almost magical.
“Be the change you want to see in the world.”
If you want to be healthy, or slim, or to be exercising regularly and eating a balanced diet, it makes sense to start thinking like that successful version of yourself.
Maybe you could try this idea…Imagine yourself in two years time, living the life you desire. Maybe you are playing a sport, jogging or walking in nature, or involved in some activity you enjoy doing. If a problem arose would you immediately worry about it and get emotional? Or would you think about a solution. If you were going to motivate yourself to do a new activity would you stare in the mirror and put yourself down or would you tell yourself something encouraging? Your thoughts can dig you deeper into a hole or dig you out. So it’s good to know that ultimately it is you that is in control of the spade.
This is really important stuff! I know some people will scoff and question the relevance of Gandhi and dead Roman philosophers to weight loss, and that’s ok. But I have seen too many people join up at gyms and start on diet plans only to quit 4 weeks later on the 1st of February. So often we spend our time thinking about a result we want like losing weight and forget to think about the action required to get there and the thoughts and the best mindset to start & complete the action. I also personally know how good it is when you can live the healthy lifestyle you are aiming for. I love living the lifestyle of my choosing....it’s great! In fact it’s so good that I want other people to experience it too.
Our goals are all different. For some it’s all about achieving high performance and being in good shape so you can work hard and play hard, for others it’s more about getting a better work-life harmony. What-ever your goals and whatever you want to be eating, drinking and doing differently in a year’s time. Thinking about the way you are thinking, and learning how to control your mindset are powerful tools to have at your disposal. It’s good to think about problems briefly, because this balances up all the positive thoughts. But unless you want to, there’s no need to spend too much time worrying about or analyzing where you are at the moment If you want to make some sort of change. Thinking like that all the time will just dig you deeper into your existing habits. Worry & guilt create more worry & guilt.
Maybe, just to humor yourself for the rest of the day you could start thinking as if you were already comfortably on the road to achieving your desired goals. Go on, give it a try…I dare you! It’s just like riding a bike…you should be careful at the beginning and might come off the first couple of time if you try to go too fast…but take is slowly and after a few goes your balance and control improve…then before long you have another fun way to get to where you want to go faster!
So now we know we want to think more effectively, and why it will help…how do we start? There are many ways to tap into your inner resourcefulness. Personally I find mindset coaching works really well for clients and myself. But now you understand the idea, there are many alternatives you can explore...who knows… maybe you’ve already started.
For sustainable ways to improve wellbeing and enhance energy visit www.sparkexecutive.com.au
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Improving performance and quality of life through sustainable sources of energy
Many Personal Trainers and lifestyle change programs achieve their success by building hype involving animated displays of motivation. Clients are encouraged and motivated by the trainer who is full of energy. Their energy is infectious or it 'rubs off' on us.
Now this is great in some situations but the limitation is that the energy comes from the program or from the trainer. Like a 5.7l V8 Holden that constantly requires filling up with petrol. You use the energy up throughout the week and are not able to maintain it, so have to keep returning, week after week, to fill up at the source.
Sustainability is a really big topic at the moment, its everywhere in the news - And for good reason! Imagine if your aim was not to become just motivated but to inspire the creation of your own sustainable energy source.
And therein lies the difference between motivation & inspiration...
* Motivation - The energy comes from a non-renewable source which is unsustainable
* Inspiration - The energy comes from your own renewable source and is sustainable.
Motivation and the ability to generate hype are very useful tools, and you only have to go to see your favourite band live to experience the benefits and euphoria first hand. But just imagine for a minute how it might feel to have the opportunity to discover what drives you and genuinely inspires you.
Motivation and hype can be like a clock on the wall that is no longer with you when you leave the room, hype can be superficial because like motivation it is a product of somebody else's energy. True inspiration goes much deeper; it is internally driven and is like a wristwatch that is always with you.
Inspiration taps you into your own natural sources of energy & power. Like a pair of jumper leads to connect you on all levels with your internal solar panels and windmills so you can generate your own energy in a sustainable way 24/7. You will definitely still fill up with motivating activities when you want to - but you do them because you want to, not because you need to.
Improve performance and gain a new source of power
Jumpstart your lifestyle and achieve sustainability
For sustainable ways to improve wellbeing and enhance energy visit www.sparkexecutive.com.au
Now this is great in some situations but the limitation is that the energy comes from the program or from the trainer. Like a 5.7l V8 Holden that constantly requires filling up with petrol. You use the energy up throughout the week and are not able to maintain it, so have to keep returning, week after week, to fill up at the source.
Sustainability is a really big topic at the moment, its everywhere in the news - And for good reason! Imagine if your aim was not to become just motivated but to inspire the creation of your own sustainable energy source.
And therein lies the difference between motivation & inspiration...
* Motivation - The energy comes from a non-renewable source which is unsustainable
* Inspiration - The energy comes from your own renewable source and is sustainable.
Motivation and the ability to generate hype are very useful tools, and you only have to go to see your favourite band live to experience the benefits and euphoria first hand. But just imagine for a minute how it might feel to have the opportunity to discover what drives you and genuinely inspires you.
Motivation and hype can be like a clock on the wall that is no longer with you when you leave the room, hype can be superficial because like motivation it is a product of somebody else's energy. True inspiration goes much deeper; it is internally driven and is like a wristwatch that is always with you.
Inspiration taps you into your own natural sources of energy & power. Like a pair of jumper leads to connect you on all levels with your internal solar panels and windmills so you can generate your own energy in a sustainable way 24/7. You will definitely still fill up with motivating activities when you want to - but you do them because you want to, not because you need to.
Improve performance and gain a new source of power
Jumpstart your lifestyle and achieve sustainability
For sustainable ways to improve wellbeing and enhance energy visit www.sparkexecutive.com.au
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