SWEET AND SKINNY SUGGESTIONS FROM MARISSA CHURCHILL
BAKING YOUR WAY TO A SLIMMER YOU
__________________________________________
THREE HOME STAGING TECHNIQUES THAT CAN HELP YOU TRANSFORM YOUR BODY
by Diane Orwig
I don’t catch a lot of TV these days, but when I do, I love watching a show on HGTV called “Designed to Sell” – a program that shows how staging a home can make it more appealing to buyers and, ultimately, get it sold quicker and at the desired price.
During each show, a team made up of the home owners, a few carpenters, and a professional home stager, tackle and troubleshoot a listed property that has been sitting on the market for too long. The goal is to get the problem home “Open House” ready and, hopefully, sold, using a very small budget and not a lot of time. In just a few days they reposition, repurpose, and redecorate, and the results are almost always jaw-dropping.
The best part of the show, of course, is the big “before and after” reveal, and during a recent episode, I was struck by the parallels between getting a home ready to sell and getting the body into the great shape.
In fact, there are 3 main rules of home staging – what the insiders call the 3 D’s – Disassociate / De-clutter / Depersonalize – and these apply perfectly to fitness. Here’s how:
Disassociate
The first rule of thumb when trying to sell a house is to begin acting as though your home is no longer yours. This requires moving past your physical and emotional connection to it, as well as changing the way you live in it while you are waiting to move to a better place.
The first step in the disassociating process (whether it’s your house or your physical appearance) is to get it looking as new and fresh as you possibly can RIGHT NOW. Then, make a vow to keep it looking nice as you make the transition between the old and the new.
Buy a new set of workout clothes or try out a new hair style. Get a new pair of tennis shoes or go ahead and buy that new outfit – the one that fits NOW. Too often, in the process of changing, we take a “wait until I’ve reached my goal” attitude and this can actually slow the process of reaching your goal!
Feeling and looking your best as you get fit is one of the most frequently missed elements of making a successful physical transformation.
De-clutter
Nothing saps the energy of a space, or the people in it, like clutter. Unfortunately, when you are accustomed to living with piles of papers, unfolded laundry, and dirty dishes in the sink, it is very easy not to notice how it affects everything else around you. Sure, it seems silly to think that the reason you haven’t made it to the gym the past 4 weeks is due, in part, to the fact that your car needs to be cleaned out, but, I can assure you, there is a connection.
Mark my word, whether you want to change your body or change your address, one of the smartest things you can do is get organized, put things in their place, and make some visual room so you can think straight.
Organize your linen closet, clean out your pantry, cut your collection of glass elephants back to your three favorites. As you de-clutter, it might surprise you how many areas of your life begin to improve!
Depersonalize
Most people get stuck where they are (whether it’s in a house they can’t sell or a body they can’t change) because they insist on telling it “like it is.”
“This is who I am… “ they’ll say, or “I know myself and this is how it’s going to stay.”
When we insist on telling the “who I am” story rather than the “who I’m becoming” story, it tends to lock us to all our old habits, thoughts and actions – the very ones that got us stuck in the first place.
Breaking free sometimes requires stepping outside ourselves and looking at our lives, our homes, and our bodies through an impartial lens. Home stagers do this by encouraging homeowners to decorate and arrange their homes in a way that appeals to a larger population.
From a fitness perspective, when it comes to changing the body, a good place to start is by telling a softer, happier story, one more people would like to hear, including you.
For instance, if you’ve always told the story of how you absolutely hate doing cardio, try changing your story to, “I look forward to a time when cardio is something I really enjoy.“
The key is to look forward and tell the story of the new you!
About The Author:
Dianne Orwig is a success coach, motivational speaker, fitness trainer, and founder of LivingFit Online(TM), a fitness program that has helped thousands of men and women completely transform their bodies and live healthier, happier lives though her less-is-better approach.
For more information on how you can get better results in less time and with less effort than you ever thought possible, visit http://www.lovelivingfit.com.
Get Firm On Your Commitment – Join The Law Firm FREE!
Have some fun and join the LivingFit Law Firm – get daily (M-F) “quick-tip” snippets of motivational information that will teach you how to harness the Secret Laws of Weight Loss Success and Firm up your commitment and your body! Sign up today at http://www.lovelivingfit.com/The_Law_Firm.html.
It’s free, quick and fun!
(c) Copyright – Dianne Orwig. All Rights Reserved Worldwide
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dianne_Orwig
______________________________________
FIVE LEGITIMATE REASONS YOU CAN LOSE WEIGHT IF YOU QUIT DIETING
Guest Article by Laurie Beebe, MS, RD, LD :
So you’ve been on a number of diets but the weight never stays off? Here are five ways that diets sabotage your weight loss efforts and you can’t lose weight.
1. Going on a diet implies you will go off it some day, right? You get this strict meal plan that outlines what you can eat, what you can’t eat, and what times and how much. You resolve to stick to it strictly to get off a number of pounds for some special event coming up. And then, you can’t wait to go off the diet! How is this going to help you keep the weight off? You’re just going to be looking for another diet in a few months when you have to fit into a nice dress for another occasion. Plus, if you eat something that wasn’t allowed while you are in this “on a diet” mentality, you now see yourself as being “off the diet”. So you go and eat whatever you want until it’s Monday, or some other appointed time to go back on the diet. See a pattern here?
2. Associating your self-worth with your diet adherance: When I hear people talk about missteps on their diet they sound like they are beating themselves up! “I really blew it this weekend” they say, or “I was so bad last night” or “I totally cheated when we went out”. They are not pointing out that one choice was not good, or if they could do it over they would make a different decision. No, they are saying “I was a bad person” or “I failed at what I was trying to do”. This just makes you feel worse and often people who are overweight turn to food to comfort themselves when they feel bad about themself. Not exactly helpful when trying to lose weight!
3. Feelings of Deprivation: How much do you want ice cream when you’re on a diet that does not allow any? Pretty much, right?! As you plod along on your strict weight loss regimen, most of your focus is on foods you can’t have: no cookies, no chocolate, no potato chips. On some diets it’s even worse–maybe no pasta or other carbs or maybe it’s no more than a few hundred calories per meal, leaving you hungry most of your waking hours. How long can a person be expected to stay on an eating plan that keeps them craving foods they are used to eating and that they love to eat? Not very long. So it’s off the diet again and back to your old habits–habits that put the weight on in the first place.
4. Rewards of food: People who are overweight sometimes have the habit of using food for comfort, or a reward system, or a celebration. Heck, food is good for any emotion, isn’t it?! Let’s say you are going along, following a diet really well for a week and losing weight. Time to reward yourself and break out the cookies! Ooops, that doesn’t help the weight loss plan. What if you “cheated” and “blew” your diet and ate what you weren’t supposed to so you feel bad about it? I suppose eating some ice cream will make you feel better. Using food to soothe or celebrate may be what put some of the weight on in the first place, and until this changes, a long term weight loss will not be successful.
5. You can’t live on a diet forever: The fact is, you can lose weight on a diet. For as long as you take in fewer calories than you burn, the weight will come off. But you can’t stay on most diets for long. Eliminating food groups, counting daily calories, or eating pre-packaged meals isn’t realistic to do on a daily basis in the long term. What works is establishing new habits, learning to eat lower calorie choices every time you eat, and working a healthy lifestyle into your every day life.
Dieting may get the weight off while you can adhere to a strict plan, but once you go off the diet the weight will return. Stop dieting and start living! Get into a healthy routine as a way of life, lose weight, and keep it off for life.
|
Get control of your eating! Change your habits and eat healthy every day. Find out how with the diet coach at http://www.mycoachlaurie.com for one-on-one coaching or do-it-yourself programs. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Laurie_Beebe |
Dont forget to add yourself to the Thinking Skinny Fan Page on Facebook. There you have the opportunity to interact with other TSK fans.
Recent Comments