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Saturday, May 31, 2014

Mental rehearsal will get you through tomorrow!

The first three days of a new eating or exercise regimen are always the roughest.  Here's a sure-fire tip borrowed from Olympic athletes that will help you make it through those first 72 hours and on to a permanent lifestyle change.

It's called "mental rehearsal."  It's a proven fact that your body can achieve whatever the mind can perceive.  Elite athletes don't just spend time training their bodies.  They also spend time training their minds.  They visualize the upcoming event for which they're preparing.  They imagine themselves there, at the venue.  In their minds, they hear the sounds, smell the smells, and see the activity.  They imagine themselves at the start line of a race, and then they see themselves actually in the race itself.  They feel the blood pumping, the surges of adrenaline.  In their minds, they rehearse the same physical actions they've already rehearsed with their bodies.   They see themselves forging ahead of their competition.  They even see themselves crossing the finish line and hearing the crowd cheering.

Athletes will mentally rehearse the scenario over and over.  They're not engaging in "wishful thinking" or daydreaming.  They are actually preparing their bodies to go through the desired motions on the big day of competition.  They're programming themselves.  On Race Day, they're calm and confident because they've practiced, and they know how to successfully get through the event.

You can mentally rehearse the new eating routine you're about to start tomorrow.  Do you expect to be hungry?  Then rehearse it...and rehearse getting through it without overeating.  Visualize yourself hungry, or even fatigued or depressed, and visualize yourself working through those moments of temptation and moving on.  See yourself drinking water when you want something in your mouth.  Visualize yourself going to bed hungry but satisfied because you made it through the day without caving in to your cravings.

Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse.  When tomorrow comes, you won't have to worry about "What if someone brings cookies to work?" or "What if I want two glasses of wine instead of one?"  You will have already run through those scenarios in your head, and you'll be ready to sail past them, just as you mentally practiced.

Need more tips?  Order my book, Bucket List Weight Loss, at Amazon.  It's my personal success story of major and permanent weight loss after age 50!

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