Visualization is a great way to effect any type of body or lifestyle change, including weight loss. There’s how it works – you maintain a clear picture in your head of how you want your body to look, and that sets an unconscious process in motion. You will be more geared toward losing weight, and you will meet your weight loss goals much more quickly.
This is a method that is gaining increased acceptance nowadays, even though mainstream science does not totally understand it yet. It does seem to be a fact, however, that what you concentrate on in your mind seems to ‘come true’ in terms of your body. In fact, it has been proven that people who ‘think about’ exercising a certain part of their bodies, even if they don’t do anything to actually exercise, succeed in strengthening that part of the body that much faster! Somehow, the thought becomes the reality. This is the principle of visualization, too.
Visualization means that you hold and concentrate on a picture in your mind of how you would like something to be, and it becomes your reality. To visualize losing weight, hold a picture in your mind of your ideal body. If you like, you can use an old photograph, or a magazine picture, to help you visualize. The clearer the picture, the more successful you will be.
Then, spend some time each day thinking of yourself as already having embodied this image – this new, improved you. Over time, this will bring you closer to your weight loss goals by working on your subconscious mind to achieve the desired results. Suddenly, desserts will seem less tempting, and long walks will seem more fun, because of what is in line with the ‘set point’ you are visualizing.
Interestingly, this process seems to work even for people who are very skeptical of it – and who wouldn’t be, at least at the beginning? The fact is, it’s very hard to believe that what we think can affect reality in any way. Thoughts and concrete reality seem very different from one another. Yet, in every study of visualization that has been done, the results are pretty clear – what you visualize has a greater possibility of happening, and the more detailed your visualization is, the greater your chances of success in this and other ventures. The truth is, though, that no one is sure exactly why this works – it just does. It may be that visualization sends a message to your subconscious mind, in much the same way that meditation or hypnosis does. It is this message that has all the power – it can make us succeed of fail in anything that we are attempting.
So the thing to do, once you’ve come up with a clear vision (from a picture, or just in your mind) of you at your desired weight, is to tell yourself that this is the body you already have, today, right now. Always phrase affirmations and visualization in the present tense: “I am” rather than “I will”. The subconscious mind only understand the present. The more that you repeat this message (out loud is best), the better it will work. Again, it doesn’t even matter whether you believe it or whether you just say it and visualize it. Eventually, the success of the visualization becomes its own proof.
Of course, visualization will in no way make up for actually doing the steps necessary to lose weight. In other words, you can visualize all day long, but if you refuse to give up or limit the ice cream and chips, it will not do you much good. On the other hand, visualization does put you in the right frame of mind so that you can more easily take the right steps toward weight loss. If you visualize, all of those seemingly difficult sacrifices may suddenly become a lot easier. You are clear about what you want, and how to get it.
And if you find that visualization did help you lose weight, you are ready to try it in other areas, as well. Many people have found that visualization has helped them transform their work life, for example, or gain financial independence. The possibilities really are endless!
http://www.add-articles.com/Article/Using-Visualization-for-Weight-Loss/10108
