Top 5 psychological obstacles to weight loss, according to people in the trenches.

(NaturalNews) What's the number one most difficult obstacle to losing weight?

The hardest part - the real kicker - is sticking to your plan, right? 

It's the patience, perseverance and self-discipline. It's the wanting and the commitment to losing weight and becoming as healthy as you know you can be. For most people, losing the proper amount of weight will take weeks, months or even years.

What will keep you going?

The AHA Weight Loss Coaching group has discovered that when we address one or more of five psychological obstacles - all other obstacles can be brought into alignment.

If we fail to address the following issues where applicable, then losing weight may remain forever out of reach.

What prevents that all-systems-go desire and discipline to get fit and healthy?

AHA Weight Loss Group members have shared the following:

1. Fear of being thin

Some group members have reported that as they begin to lose weight, they become afraid. What will happen? How will people react to me? Do I want all the attention?

This is a common experience. To resolve it, we need to acknowledge and express the fear. Then, we must adapt. If being fit and slender is scary for you, then you need to develop the skills to manage situations as they arise. This can only be done by addressing the fear.

2. Emotional bondage to friends and family

Interestingly, some of us feel bonded to our heavy weight because of ties to family and friends. One group member summed it up this way:

In my life, every time I have lost weight, my mother distances herself from me. When I am overweight like her, she accepts me. She's obviously not comfortable with me when I am healthy, due to her own issues. But my conflict is that if I lose weight, I lose my relationship with my mother.

This is powerful. Relationships often have to be reset when one person changes. This must be done with thoughtfulness and care.

3. Self-sabotage

There an infinite ways we can sabotage ourselves. If you've had a hard time losing weight due to lack of discipline, then self-sabotage is surely in the mix.

Self-sabotage occurs when you do the opposite of what makes you happy and healthy. It may be the universal human weakness, as millions of people are unhappy and unhealthy, even though they have other options.

The hardest part of about self-sabotage is recognizing it.

4. "Ah, Screw It!"

Big one here. Nearly every member of the AHA group has this tendency. We say screw it to our health and fitness. It's like we have an inner rebel that just wants to defy expectations and break the rules.

When we give ourselves a structured plan, the Rebel can only take so much before launching a massive inner protest.

This inner Rebel is powerful and must be reckoned with. Interestingly, most people are only vulnerable to the Rebel at certain points during the day.

5. Anticipated failure

Futility. A sense of despair and futility can be a powerful self-fulfilling prophecy. Those with this issue report that even as they set their weight loss goals, they "know" it is all pointless. They have failed time and time again.

Why would this time be any different?

Because this time they are dealing with their inner futility. They are confronting it, learning about it and developing skills and support to move beyond it.

Mike Bundrant is the author.

I hope this may help a lot of people out there!
We need to keep a positive mind that we will succeed.

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Weight Loss Motivation and Attaining the Right Mindset for Success

I talked about this powerful secret to achieving almost anything you desire in life a few months back, but just today, my friend Tom Venuto sent an email and did an amazing job explaining the exact methods on how to use this secret to successfully attain your goals... whether these goals pertain to your dream body or anything else for that matter.
Tom's incredible article is below. For those of you that don't know of Tom yet, he's the author of one of the most popular fitness ebooks in the history of the internet - Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle.

Metaphysics & Brain science merge and prove that positive thinking and goal setting literally create your body and your entire life experience by Tom Venuto
Last week on a special edition of CNN's Larry King Live, Mr. King interviewed a panel of "mind experts" about how the thoughts you think literally turn into the events you experience, the material things you possess... AND even the health of your body.
For years, "positive thinking" and goal-setting were often criticized as "pollyanna" and "the law of attraction" was relegated into the category of "new age" fluff
On last week's show, panel experts Bob Proctor, John Assaraf and others who were featured in the movie 'The Secret' explained that recent breakthroughs in neuroscience along with understanding mental laws, reveals why goal setting, the "law of attraction" and "positive thinking" all work, regardless of whether you look at them from a metaphysical or a scientific perspective.
Scientists have even identified specific parts of the brain, such as the reticular activating system (RAS), which works with the visual parts of our brain to call our conscious attention to things that are important to reaching our goals and to filter out those things that are unimportant.
The RAS is activated by "programming" goals into our sub-conscious minds. 

Our sub concscious mind is the "power center" and THIS is the mechanism that explains why goal setting and positive thinking are now being accepted as scientific methods for change.
We are discovering that our brain is cybernetic in nature, which means that it is literally like a computer, waiting for a program to be installed.
Here's the kicker - the subconcsious is completely neutral and impartial - it will carry out any instructions you give it.

Unfortunately, many of us are still running negative programs we picked up from others as children when our non-conscious minds were totally open and impressionable, or which we developed over the years as a result of repetition of our own negative thinking.
As it turns out, our own thoughts, repeated daily, are one of the primary ways that our "mental computer" is programmed on a sub-conscious level, which is the level of beliefs, habits and automatic behavior.
To change your results, you must overwrite old negative programming and install positive new programming into your subconscious.
This can be achived through such techniques as written goal setting, positive self-talk (affirmations), and mental imagery (visualization).

In the 1970's, the Soviets and East Germans were the first to formally use structured mental rehearsal, and at that time, they dominated in several olympic sports. 
Today, virtually all elite athletes use visualization extensively, as we now know that the brain cannot differentiate between real practice and practice that is vividly imagined.
If you are getting more of the same negative results in your life - such as the same health problems, or the same body fat continues to return even after you lose it, then you have probably been un-consciously running old negative programs and re-inforcing them with negative thought patterns.

You can begin the positive mental reprogramming process by writing down your goals, changing your internal dialogue and taking a few minutes to relax, quiet your mind and perform a session of visualization or mental rehearsal every day (seeing yourself in your "mind's eye" not as you currently are, but as you ideally would like to be).
These methods, repeated often enough, will begin to program the non-conscious portion of the mind, which is the same part of the mind that controls your heart beat, digestion and new cell production, all on "automatic pilot."

In the last decade, neuroscientists discovered that you have the capacity to create an almost infinite number of new neural connections in your brain when you run new thought patterns.
The Old neural pathways are like grooves in a record, and if you are struggling with your health related behaviors or behaviors in any other area of your life, you have been playing the "old records" over and over again.
If you were to carve a new groove into that record, it would never play the same way again. the old pattern would weaken and the new one would take over. 
Brand new, positive thoughts, feelings and images begin to create new neural patterns.
Psychologists estimate that it takes 21 to 30 days to establish a new pattern in your brain. During this time, the focus on sticking with your practice and repeating your new thought patterns is critical.
Is this easy? For most people, no it's not. In fact, controlling your thinking and keeping it constructive may be one of the most difficult challenges you have ever faced. 

 Fortunately, writing goals and reading affirmations can help get you started.
You can take some of the pressure off yourself by simply accepting that negative thoughts and self criticisms will pop up from time to time. Just observe them, without mulling over them or adding to them, and change the polarity of the thought by quickly repeating one of your positive affirmations or by changing your mental pictures.
So is there something to this whole "positive thinking" thing?
The philosophers and theologians have been saying yes for the entire span of recorded history:  "As you think, so shall you be." Variations on this proverb can be found in every spiritual and philosophical tradition.
But... if you are the left-brained, "prove-it-to-me" type, you dont have to go on faith anymore. Scientists are beginning to prove more and more convincingly that thoughts are powerful things. Even Larry King seemed impressed with what his panel of "mind mentors" had to say. 
In fact, I just found out that Larry will be airing part two of this "Power of positive thinking" show next week.
So how soon are you going to begin your mental training right alongside your physical training? When are you going to learn how to harness this power locked up inside your mind?
Guess what? You're already using this force every day because you cannot turn it off. Whatever you are thinking and picturing in your mind repeatedly on a daily basis is on it's way to you already, so it's simply a matter of HOW you are using it, not IF you are using it.

What do you say to yourself every day? Do you say, "I am becoming leaner, healthier and more muscular every day?"... or do you say "I am a fat person - Ive tried everything, nothing ever works?"

The fact is - you can think yourself thin and healthy or you can think yourself obese and ill. Maybe not in the literal sense...but most certainly as the critical part in the chain of causation...
You see, there's a lot of talk these days in the personal improvement world about law of attraction, manifesting, intention, visualization and of course, positive thinking
Without understanding that there is an orderly, scientific basis underneath all of this, many people will simply remain skeptics, while on the opposite extreme, others may get the idea that you can sit around meditating and visualizing, then expect a mystical "law of attraction" to kick in and then "poof!" a great body materializes out of thin air... along with the perfect relationship, a nice bank account and career success.
What really happens is "Positive thinking" and related methods quite literally re-program your brain, which in turn creates new behaviors that move you physically toward whatever you have been thinking about and focusing on.
So success is achieved through positive thinking + positive doing... attraction + action. There are two sides to the coin. Without paying attention to both, you may continue to struggle... often against nothing but yourself.
If you want to transform your body or any other aspect of your life, then you have to change on the inside (the mind) first and then everything else will follow.


Train hard and expect success,
Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS
Author, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle
PS This process of *scientific* goal setting and mental reconditioning through emotionally charged mental imagery (visualization) and internal mental dialogue (affirmations) is the very first thing I have always taught my clients and the first thing I wrote about in my book, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle You can learn all of these techniques in detail in chapter 1.  Learn more about the psychology of body transormation inside the Burn The Fat ebook:

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Thank you Tom for your insights and sharing this enlightening article. I couldn't have said it all better myself. I think the most important point to take from all of this is that no matter what your goals, dreams, and aspirations are in life, everything starts first with your mindset. Nothing is achieved without first attaining the proper mindset for success. Hopefully this article has given you motivation to take action with your weight loss or whatever your fitness goals may be, as well as other areas of your life that you would like to get a handle on.
If you enjoyed this motivational subject today, please feel free to email this link to any of your friends, family, or coworkers who would enjoy it.

Hope you're having a great day!
Ally Goldsmith
www.losebellyfatforlife.com

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Body Part Isolation vs. Complex Movements in Strength Training

What you need to know about Weight Training for a strong lean body that both looks good and is injury resistant

by Mike Geary - Certified Nutrition Specialist, Certified Personal Trainer

Working as a personal trainer & fitness professional, there is one type of question I get all the time that shows that many people are missing the big picture regarding the benefits of strength training. This popular question usually goes something like this:
“What exercise can I do to isolate my _______ (insert your muscle of choice – abs, quads, biceps, triceps, etc)?”
It doesn’t matter which muscle someone is asking about, they always seem to be asking how to ‘isolate’ it. My first response to this question is always – “Why in the world would you want to isolate it?”
The first thing I try to teach my clients is that the body does not work well in muscle isolation. Rather, it works better in movements along a kinetic chain; that is, large portions of the body assist other portions of the body in completing a complex movement. In fact, there really is no such thing as true muscle isolation. There is almost always a nearby muscle group that will assist in some way with whatever movement you are doing. However, this article compares attempting to ‘isolate’ body parts via single-joint exercises to the much more effective strategy of performing multi-joint complex movements.
When you attempt to ‘isolate’ muscles by performing single-joint exercises, you are actually creating a body that is non-functional and will be more prone to injury. Essentially, you are creating a body that is a compilation of body parts, instead of a powerful, functional unit that works together.
Now if you really want to end up hobbling around in a body bandaged up with joint problems, tendonitis, and excess body fat, then by all means, continue trying to ‘isolate’ body parts. On the other hand, if you would rather have a lean, muscular, injury-free, functional body that works as a complete powerful unit to perform complex movements (in athletics or even everyday tasks), then you need to shift your focus away from muscle isolation.
Believe me, focusing on how well your body functions will give you the side effect of a body that looks even better than it would have if you focused on muscle isolation. For example, take a look at the physiques of any NFL running backs, wide receivers, or even world class sprinters. Trust me when I say that these guys pretty much NEVER train for muscle isolation (their strength coaches wouldn’t be crazy enough to let them), yet they are absolutely ripped to shreds! Just look at guys like Maurice Green or Terrell Owens and tell me who wouldn’t want a physique like those guys.
Another benefit to moving away from the ‘muscle isolation’ mindset in weight training to a more ‘complex movement’ mindset is that you will find it much easier to lose body fat. The reason is that by focusing more on multi-joint complex movements as opposed to single-joint muscle isolation lifts, you not only burn a lot more calories during each workout, but you also increase your metabolic rate, and stimulate production of more fat burning and muscle building hormones such as growth hormone and testosterone.
Let’s look at an example. The machine leg extension is a single joint exercise that works mainly the quadriceps, can potentially cause knee joint instability in the long run, and doesn’t even burn that many calories. On the other hand, exercises like squats, lunges, step-ups, and deadlifts are all multi-joint complex movements that work hundreds of muscles in the body (including the quadriceps) as a functional unit, create more stable and strong joints in the long run (when done properly), and also burn massive quantities of calories compared to the single-joint exercises. 
Now although I do feel that multi-joint exercises should comprise the majority of your weight training workouts, I also think that there can be some benefits with just minor inclusions of single-joint exercises for variety, etc.  I choose to build my training programs with about 90-95% multi-joint exercises and about 5-10% single-joint exercises at most.
If you’re interested in discovering more ways to create a body that looks as good as it functions, pick up a copy of my innovative book The Truth About Six Pack Abs

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