See Yourself Thinner Instantly

It’s fun to alter photos, and here’s one for helping your face (or your friends’ faces?). Look younger, see how you’d look after that face lift you’ve been wanting. lose some fat cheeks? Sure, just in a photo, but hey, it’s a start. Check out Real Allusion. Note: The model they use is hardly 20-years-old so it’s not a huge change.

Here’s a tutorial on using Photoshop to alter photos (Hint: this is what they do to magazine photos which is why everyone looks so perfect).

Someone sent me a link to a web site that can alter pics to make you look thinner. Now I can’t find that link, so if you know of anyone doing this, please send me a note or comment below and let me know! Here is one I found on my own (maybe it’s the same, I’m not sure) Fit Pics.com, for just $19.95 they’ll alter the photo you send to make you look as you would if you lost some weight. This can a be a great way to visualize yourself thinner and also to get emotionally over that hump (the “who will I be without my weight issue hump). The price is much less than trying to learn to do this yourself, but if you already have Photoshop there are lots of tutorials out there, just search Google or your fav search engine for “photographs instant weight loss” or something similar.

Best Time to Start a Weight Loss Program?

When is the Right Time to Get Started?

Most people start a new “plan” on a Monday. This is to give themselves the chance to get ready, as if they are starting a race. Think instead of starting a new eating plan as beginning a hike or climb – you are going to take one step. It can be today, it can be tomorrow, it can be in the middle of the day (new concept!). You’re taking just one step, not the whole trip.

That first step isn’t so difficult unless you’ve decided you are going to make drastic changes, especially if you are trying to avoid all the things you like the most. That plan won’t work for the long-haul, and can be part of the reason you find it difficult to get started, or you keep “getting started” over and over.

If I’m trying to convince myself I’m never going to do something ever again, I know it’s a lie, and it will be much harder to make the real commitment. Instead take it easier and just choose one habit you’d like to change, one food, one day of the week. Think in terms of small changes; eating three pieces of fudge instead of the whole pan for instance.

But What About the Holidays?

Are you sitting in the fence because the holidays are approaching? “I don’t want to be dieting at Thanksgiving.” “I can’t diet now, I have cookies to bake.” Oh, the excuses. They run so fast this time of year, don’t they? Just chase them right out of the room. Excuses are like asses, we all have one, just some are bigger than others.

There’s no better time than right now to get started on the path to lifelong freedom from a weight problem. I enjoy the holidays, I love to bake, I eat all the goodies, and I don’t gain weight. Read how I made the mind-shift one Thanksgiving Day and lost weight without dieting. That was the turning point for me, and all I did was decide I was going to eat until I was satisfied, not gorge myself but eat all I wanted, eating slowly, enjoying every bite.

I was going to make a point to taste what I was eating. The turkey wasn’t going to jump up and run away, I didn’t have to rush and get it over with. I wanted to enjoy the meal and the company fully, instead of groaning in pain a half hour later.

Have you ever been so full you thought you’d burst and just then someone says, “Who wants pie?” “I do!,” most of us say, thankful we wore an elastic waistband. Deciding to enjoy but not overdoing it means when that question arises you know if you want dessert now or would rather wait a bit. It’s not a crime to wait 30 minutes or an hour. The pie is not going to float away, and if you are worried it will be gone, then you’re eating out of a fear of scarcity, which at my house just is not a problem. We generally have about half a pie per person, easily, not counting all the other goodies.

That one Thanksgiving dinner changed my life. I still remember how awestruck I was when I realized I felt wonderful, satisfied, full, and I’d eaten everything I wanted. I waited until I felt hungry again (hunger returns, yes it does), and then I ate again, and I’ve eaten tens of thousands of times since then including many more Thanksgiving dinners.

The holidays are a great time of year – this year let’s enjoy them more fully.

EFT suggestions for the Holidays

The holidays can be a time of year fraught with emotional ties. If being with your family distresses you, start now to lessen the emotional intensity and you’ll breeze through the holidays this year. If you know certain people will push your buttons, practice now.

“Even though I hate the holidays, I deeply and completely accept myself.”

“Even though my family makes me crazy, I deeply and completely accept myself.”

“Even though last year Aunt Edna said I looked fat and why didn’t I stop eating, I deeply and completely accept myself”

“Even though I know my husband’s wife Big Bertha is going to give me ugly looks and say mean things and I just wish I could stuff a big sock in her mouth, I deeply and completely accept myself.”

Don’t worry if you have tag-on thoughts while you are tapping. I often do. Things like, “Aunt Edna is a cow,” come to mind. Sometimes things you might think but would never say in polite company are quite appropriate while doing the tapping. These thoughts may make you smile, even laugh out loud, and that’s a good thing. It’s okay.

Keep Your Issue In Mind

The main thing is to keep your issue in mind while you tap (that’s why you keep repeating the reminder word or statement). If the emotional intensity is present (even though it may be muted) while you are tapping, then you will release the intensity of the emotion and interrupt that well worn pathway (the path is the regular routine of upset; how just thinking of an event can make you upset for instance). Don’t be afraid to bring up the issue you want to release.
That’s how EFT works.

(These are general ideas – if you can plug in specific names, places, events, it works all the better.)

Now is the right time – start now. Use EFT on your holiday issues. If you need ideas, send me a note. Have fun with it, give it a go and let me know what happens.

My Scale of Woe: Adventures in Weight Loss

The Scale Is Not My Friend

I got a surprise when I stepped on and found I’d gained over five pounds. In one week! Now how does that happen? I don’t know all the answers but I do know I haven’t done anything unusual so there’s no logical reason. Because of that I’m not going to knock myself around or say, “I’m gonna start a diet on Monday,” since it’s most likely water weight that’ll come off all by itself when my body’s ready to let it go.

It’s quite unusual to wake up and suddenly be heavier, so if you quickly gain five or more pounds in a week with no obvious reason (I’m not talking about the five pounds you gain because you’re eating everything in sight but when it comes out of the blue, unexpectedly–you know the difference) and it doesn’t disappear on its own.

Looking for clues. Have you changed or started any new medications? Eaten any foods you don’t usually eat? Water retention can be a side effect or reaction to other things you’ve ingested so be a detective.

Notify your doctor if rapid weight gain continues as it can be a sign of illness or drug reaction. Generally it’s nothing to get worked up about and if you’re eating a reasonable amount of healthy foods it’ll fall back off all by itself. Don’t go all crazy and jump on the latest fad diet andwagon. Just Relax. Have a cup of tea. You will be fine.

If you know EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) use it on your anxiety: “Even though I’m huge, I deeply and completely accept myself.” If you don’t know EFT, it costs nothing to learn and you have everything to gain in learning how to lose weight for good. Get The Daily Bites, Little Lessons in Losing Weight the Easy Way

Be Annoying Go To Jail?

Word on the street is its illegal to annoy on the Internet if you do it anonymously, but perfectly fine if you do it with your real name. That’s not quite correct. Here’s the best explanation by The Volokh Conspiracy in A Skeptical Look at “Create an E-annoyance, Go to Jail.”

The text in question is within H.R. 3402, the “Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005” which added the following:

“Whoever… utilizes any device or software that can be used to originate telecommunications or other types of communications that are transmitted, in whole or in part, by the Internet… without disclosing his identity and with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten, or harass any person who receives the communications… shall be fined under title 18 or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.”

Read in part this seems pretty stiff, two years for being annoying? But this only part of a larger text, so without reading in its entirety, you cannot interpret the language at all. Frankly, interpreting law isn’t an easy task. That’s why we leave it to the lawyers.

That said, the word annoy is pretty ambiguouss and certainly isn’t on a par with abuse, threaten or harass, but hey, that didn’t seem to come up in debate. Maybe next amendment.

Meanwhile if politics gets you crazed and wanting a snack, remember to use EFT: “Even though I hate _________ (insert political affiliation here), I deeply and completely accept myself.”

You can talk yourself back down when a snack attack hits, if you are pro-active, meaning, just do it. Before you start to munch, try EFT. Just for fun. See what happens. Worst case scenario it won’t do anything, and best case it’ll make you see what’s happening. Then you can decide, do I really want to eat this? It’s fine to eat, but try to stop eating in a trance and watch the pounds disappear.

Help for Children with Diabetes

If you or your children suffer from diabetes, you need to know about Bios Life 2

Clinically proven to reduce cholesterol and now blood pressure, but even more exciting is what it can do for someone with diabetes. David Allen, Ph.D sent me the following explanation about why Bios Life 2 would be recommended for anyone with diabetes:

“Bios Life 2 is a natural way to help diabetics reclaim safe, stabilized blood glucose levels, while at the same time controlling their insulin production. It does this by decreasing the rate at which food is absorbed, consequently helping blood sugar to remain steady throughout the day. This effect helps to prevent both high and low blood sugar, or hypoglycemia.

“If diabetics increase their daily intake of soluble fiber, they can better control their disease by decreasing their typical glucose and insulin spike caused by high-carbohydrate food, stress, and “tired” pancreatic cells. Taken before a meal, Bios Life 2 can significantly “flatten” these spikes and allow the body to digest nutrients more evenly.

“Controlling insulin spikes may not only regulate a diabetic condition, it also may promote weight loss, increase mental acuity, and supply more energy. In a clinical trial conducted by the Certified Diabetes Educators of Diabetes Control, Bios Life 2 showed itself to be an extremely effective natural substance in the fight against diabetes. This independent study showed that diabetics using Bios Life 2 had a reduction of HbA1c, triglycerides, cholesterol, and fasting blood glucose levels.”

That’s awesome, and frankly, everyone should be using Bios Life 2. If you aren’t getting enough fiber (are you?), you need Bios Life 2. It’s a powder you mix in water and drink five or 10 minutes before you eat, but what I’ve noticed is I almost have to remember to eat because it seems to affect my appetite.

So think about it. Do your kids get enough fiber? Do they eat any vegetables at all? Fruit? Hardly. Mostly they eat chips and junk, no matter what you pack in their lunch. Kids have vending machines and food courts at school now. They drink soft drinks all day and munch candy along the way, so fiber may be the primary missing ingredient. It certainly cannot hurt to try a non-drug approach and see what happens.

If you’re in the Portland/Vancouver area, call me to drop in for a sample of Bios Life 2 or the Lean Control System for weight loss and I can demonstrate EFT for you as well! More on the products is available at Unicity’s Make Life Better site. Use my Associate ID No. 98006201 when you order. If you want to know more just call or e-mail me for more info.