[cabezon]

Originally Posted by bellavus

So I stepped on the scale at work today, and I am now 160! I've lost two pounds this week!

thanks. I was so excited seeing the number on the scale :).

Got back on the scale, and I'm back up to 160. Fuck.

the only thing that has changed is your perspective. I heard something yesterday that the problem with long term weight loss is that when people first start they put in a lot of hard work and they see results, then when they get close to the goal, they stop putting in the same hard work as they did in the beginning.

you can do it!

I got this email, maybe it will help clarify my point:

1. This Week's Jumpstart
Are you aware of how the FBI trains its agents to spot counterfeit bills? The FBI schools agents by training them to see all of the characteristics of bills printed by the U.S. Treasury – they deal only with genuine money. An FBI agent learns to recognize authentic ones, fives, tens, twenties, fifties and hundred dollar notes until his or her appraisal of them becomes second nature. An agent studies a bill, both sides of it, until he or she learns every feature that makes it a genuine issue of legal tender.

That way, when FBI agents see counterfeit bills, they immediately recognize them as such. Their minds aren't cluttered with what "might be wrong" or "what usually is left off" or "mistakes that are commonly made." They know what they're looking for. They are specialists in the real thing. False bills seem glaringly obvious to them.

If you allow yourself to think about the penalties of failure or all the things that could go wrong, you're far more likely to infuse your performance with those penalties and mistakes. Continually tell yourself what to do. Don't concentrate on what not to do.

The mind has a fascinating capability. What you think about most is generally what you do most readily. A mistake most people make is to set goals in negative terms. A tennis player may set a goal of not double-faulting a certain number of times during a match. An employee may set a goal of not being late so often. Goals to lose weight, not talk so loud and fast, and not get upset so often are goals framed in negative terms. We need to stay away from negative goal setting.

Understand this about the mind: A fear is a goal in reverse. The mind can't focus on the reverse of an idea. The term double fault reminds the tennis player of the condition her or she wants to avoid. Being late reminds the employee of the problem, not the solution. When we think we need to lose weight, our minds store the self-image of being overweight. We need the image of the desired weight we want to attain, not the pounds of fat we want to discard. It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to concentrate on not being upset.

It's the same thing as saying, "Don't make mistakes." Or worse yet, to a tight rope walker, with no net, "Windy day, don't fall!" The mind always moves you toward your current dominant thought.

We should say, "First serve in," for the tennis player. "I'm a punctual, on-time person." ... ... ... "I'm reaching my desired weight." ... ... "I speak slowly, clearly and confidently." ... ... ... "I remain calm and relaxed under pressure." These are all positive goal statements, which are called images of achievement, that pull us in the direction of the desired behavior rather than away from the undesired habit.

This week, stop looking at your life through the rear-view mirror, instead focus on where you want to go!
Denis Waitley