Americans are the most over weight people in the world. Despite all the hot new diets and miracle slimming products on the market, Americans just keep getting fatter and fatter.
Two out of three adults in the U.S. are overweight and obesity is now a severe problem with U.S. children as well.
It is estimated that 65% of the adult U.S. population is overweight, which is a significant increase from 46% in 1980.
Weight related illnesses such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and kidney problems now rival smoking in taking years off lives. An estimated 300,000 Americans die of complications of obesity annually, according to the American Obesity Association.
Why are Americans getting fatter? A large part or the answer is, of course, we are moving less because we are watching more TV or spending more time at our computers.
A recent study by the Angell Research Group in Chicago stated that the most common thing for people to do while watching TV is to eat. We are eating larger portions and snacking more often on foods that make us fat and exercising less.
60% of Americans say they aren’t active regularly and 25% say they aren’t active at all. Most of us know this, but why do we continue this behavior?
We all see very thin people in magazines, on TV and in the movies who encompass a media standard for physical appearance. In addition, the fashion industry tells us that beauty relates directly to being extremely thin. We are then primed for anxiety and self-criticism when we don’t match those unrealistic standards. Too much anxiety overloads our stress quotient, causing the production and release of cortisol, a hormone that makes us fat.
Cortisol is one of the main reasons we crave junk food and have increased appetites during times of stress. Scientists now believe the reason for this stems from the primal flight or fight response. Our ancient ancestors were often in survival mode and needed to either flee or fight. They required a lot more energy during these times so their bodies released cortisol to inspire the consumption of carbohydrates and fats.
Our hormonal systems evolved so that we became very good at running fast for short distances. We evolved into sprinters and into people who can meet deadlines within hours. With deadlines looming, we can easily create pictures of future failures or calamities in our mind’s eye. These pictures, inspired by present fears of not succeeding, activate emotional centers in the brain dedicated to dealing with emergencies.
These poor outcome pictures set off an alarm system in the brain and the brain turns on the fight or flight response. This is anxiety. It is a future fear. Nothing bad is happening now, but our system is responding as though the future we created in our mind is real and present. When we have to meet those deadlines hour after hour, day after day, the system breaks down and produces much more cortisol than is needed in response to constant emotional stress.
Today, we expend much more energy in response to emotional stress than we do in fleeing for short distances. However, our bodies have not learned the difference between stress, anxiety and real physical threat so they still respond by producing cortisol and other stress hormones. Think about it this way. Do you ever crave a piece of broiled chicken when you feel anxious or stressed? My guess would be, that wouldn’t be your first choice.
My point is we need to control our stress levels to lose weight and keep it off successfully. Of course stress is to some degree inevitable. So while we may not be able to eliminate it completely, we can do much to decrease or neutralize it. One way to decrease or neutralize stress is to practice some type of relaxation technique every day.
The Missing Link for Successful Weight Loss provides a simple and pleasant way to help you relieve stress and therefore reduce the amount of cortisol your body produces. Since there are many factors involved in gaining and losing weight, The Missing Link will address, in a very respectful way, such concerns as emotional eating, belief systems, self-image, unconscious dynamics related to weight loss, and much more.
On some level we all know that fad diets don’t work. People who do lose weight on these types of diets most often gain the weight back and then some. Extreme diets can activate a starvation response, which causes metabolism to slow down and more fat to be stored.
The same thing goes for diet products that contain stimulants like ephedra, guarana and kola nut. These products may produce short-term weight loss but the weight will rapidly return when the products are no longer used or as soon as the body acclimates to them. The harmful side effects of these stimulants also needs to be considered.
Most overweight people are overweight because they decide when to eat and how much to eat by emotional cues like stress, nervousness, anxiety or depression. Other eating cues may involve circumstances such as social encounters or holiday expectations. Just knowing your personal cues and understanding ways to alter those cues can go a long way in helping with weight loss.
Many studies have shown that thin people seem to eat only when they are hungry and stop eating when they are satisfied. These fortunate or wise folks seem to have an internal control system that automatically helps them control portion sizes. When we are overweight we need to reeducate our bodies and minds about portion sizes and knowing when we are really hungry.
The average person with a weight problem thinks like an overweight person. Losing weight with diet alone will do nothing to alter that person’s thinking patterns. If permanent weight loss is to be achieved it will be important to restructure the entire mental process that caused the problem in the first place. Changing attitudes and problem behavior needs to have the unconscious beliefs match those that you are consciously trying to change.
Unfortunately there are no magic bullets! The way to lose weight is to eat less food and burn more calories. The good news is, however, you don’t have to starve yourself or become a fitness fanatic to lose weight and get healthy. The Missing Link to Successful Weight Loss is the part the mind plays in losing weight and keeping it off.
Success is more likely if you concentrate on adopting new, healthier habits gradually and then maintain them. This book and CD will work with your unconscious process to help you reach your goal.
Remember that everything worth having takes some intention, discipline and desire. Consider the very likely possibility that you will actually enjoy achieving your weight loss goal day to day. It really doesn’t need to be painful. Think how much better you will feel about yourself and how much healthier you will be when you lose those extra pounds and keep them off.
Yes, indeed, people who have seen you go on one diet after another will say, or think; “oh there you go again”. But you need to keep in mind that this time you have found The Missing Link and you will be able to end the so called yo-yo dieting. Experts say that yo-yo dieting, or losing and gaining weight repeatedly, causes the thyroid gland to become sluggish and also causes seratonin levels to seesaw. The constant fluctuations in these hormonal levels will result in people gaining back more weight than they lose and also making future weight loss efforts more difficult.
You need a plan that will work for you for life, not just one that will get you into a particular outfit for a special occasion, or ready for a cruise or high school reunion.
Unless you intend to make this a lasting change, I would suggest that you wait to begin the program until your unconscious and your conscious mind are in agreement that the time is right. Instructions about how to communicate with the unconscious mind are given in Chapter 2.
In The Missing Link for Successful Weight Loss, you will learn how to question your unconscious mind to discover answers to such questions as:
1. Am I really hungry for food or is something else motivating me to eat right now?
2 What obstacles are in the way of achieving my goal?
3. How do I recognize the difference between real hunger and a comfortably empty stomach?
Some of the missing links explored in this book and CD include:
