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Blessings & Success,

Jennifer Rundall

www.ThinspirationCoaching.com

How Do I Insure I Stay Motivated, Have a Positive Mindset to Reach My Weight Loss Goal?

I connect with many people via Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn & Tagged (social networks on the web) and I have been asked this very question more than once.  I have put together a list of steps I believe will be of help to answer this question.

Step 1:
Make a list of all the reasons why you want to lose the weight and also a separate list of all the benefits (phyiscal, emotional and spiritual) you will recieve once you reach your goal.  When you write the benefit list lets say for example one of the benefits you will receive will be being healthy, or being fit, or having a thin body. Take those statements and write your list like this:  "I am in the process of becoming HEALTHY",  "I am in the process of becoming more FIT", I am in the process of designing a THIN body" This way you are writing a statement that is believable for you that you are IN THE PROCESS towards that benefit.  Be sure to write them down and post them on your fridge or mirror and also keep a copy of the list with you at all times (place it in your purse or wallet).  You want to insure you are reviewing these lists DAILY and saying them out loud to yourself.  This helps reinforce the reasons why you are on your journey and to help you imagine all the benefits you will receive once you do reach your goal.

Step 2: Have faith and belief in yourself.  Having faith in you is a decision.  Many of us battle with this, we don't believe we can lose the weight, curb the cravings or make it past the fridge alive!  But faith is the foundation of behavior and it is a decision you can make.

Believieng in yourself or rather making the decision to believe in yourself can be one of the simplest things you do and be one of the most helpful in overcoming your cravings and losing weight.  This mindset will bring about the results you want & will lay the foundation for positive outcomes.

What ever you do, don't wait until all the doubt, unbelief and unanswered questions have been taken care of before you decide to put your trust in yourself.  Face it with confidence that YOU CAN DO IT! :)

Step 3:
Stick with it, even if you slip up here and there.  We are human we make mistakes and it is OK! :)
A craving creates tunnel vision in the mindset of a craving all that matters in the world at that very moment.  You need to step back and ask yourself, am I hungry, do I need this or do I simply want it?  An important part of sticking to your nutritional food plan is to allow for failure or slip-ups.  Failures are building blocks for success. 

Step 4:
Renew with a daily decision that you will not give up NO MATTER WHAT!
When you wake up in the morning and lift your head off the pillow, grab that piece of paper and read through your lists of the reasons why you want to lose weight and imagine all the incredible benefits you will recieve once you reach your goal. Read through your decision and believe in them. Reaffirm that you will be successful today and towards reaching your goal.  Be positive about the decision you have made for yourself and the future NEW YOU & Don't EVER GIVE UP!!!  :)

To Your Weight Loss Success!

Jennifer Rundall
www.ThinspirationCoaching.com

Causes of Stress

By: Trevor Dumbleton

In order to eliminate or at least control stress, it is vital to know and understand the causes of stress. Of course, there are many causes of stress and they are as varied as the people who suffer from stress, but there are a few places to look first.

And by learning about these causes of stress, you can figure out where stress is entering your life. One of the most common, and most complained about, causes of stress is work.

However, it is not only the day-to-day tasks and routine pressures of work that can lead to stress. In fact, the mere concern about keeping a job can be a source of stress. Unfortunately, the combined stress of both work itself and the possibility of losing it creates a sort of double-stress in which people feel they have to work even harder in order to keep their jobs, making the stress that much worse. As well, for those who have not entered the working world yet, school can be a great source of stress.

The constant pressure of schoolwork, friends, teachers, tests, quizzes, papers, and everything else can be enough to make anyone feel like they are in trapped in a vice. In addition, the deadlines are all immoveable, so students are constantly under time pressure. And, to make matters worse, there are often several deadlines overlapping each other, intensifying the demands on time. Then, once final exams arrive, there is a lot to re-learn and students need to spend so much time studying that they can barely sleep.

Needless to say, losing sleep does not help people who are under stress. Thus, students need to manage stress just as much as people who work. Another cause of stress is simple family life. Unfortunately, though we hope that our home lives can be sources of relief from daily stress, they can often be sources of stress all their own. For childen as well as parents and spouses, the home can often be its own source of pressure. For parents, stress can often come from simply worrying about their children. After all, seeing a child grow up, make mistakes, go through school, go to college, play sports, and often learn things to hard way is enough to make a parent tear their hair out.

Thus, despite the joy that children can bring, they can also be causes of stress and worry. Unfortunately, parents can be causes of stress also. Though they often have their childrens' best interests in mind, they can also put a lot of pressure onto their children, causing them to worry not only about school or life, but also how their parents will react when they hear about some new event, success, or error. It is as though there is no place to turn when things go wrong, creating extra stress. No, it is not easy being a parent, but it isn't always easy being a child or a teenager either, since parents can often be causes of stress as much as sources of comfort from it. On top of that, spouses can also be causes on stress.

Let's face it, husbands and wives often have expectations of their significant others and it is not always easy to live up to those expectations. As well, spouses often spend a lot of time avoiding certain arguments simply because they are trying to avoid stress. However, leaving tension in the air while not resolving it can be a cause of stress.

Money is also a major cause of stress, simply for the fact that there never seems to be enough of it. Thus, as the money keeps going out but it never seems to come in enough, stress just keeps mounting. Unfortunately, spouses, children and sometimes parents can often remind us of our shortfalls and they will often increase the stress. Of course, that is to say nothing of the continual reminders from the mortgage or rent, car payments, credit cards and other bills.

And, furthermore, it is rather difficult to be philosophical about money stress since attempting to put things into perspective only recalls thoughts about the money that always seems to be missing.

Thus, money stress just keeps piling up higher and higher and there never seems to be a way out. Though this is only a partial list of all the possible causes of stress, these are some of the most common sources.

However, no matter where the problem is arising, stress will not make them better. Rather, stress will only make it harder for people to think about their problems and try to solve them. Thus, in order to solve the problems that lead to stress, the best place to start is by managing the stress, then working to solve the problems with a clear and uncluttered mind.

Author Bio

LowerYourStress.com: for everything to do with stress. Get a free ebook to help with your stress levels: www.loweryourstress.com/stress-book.html

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How to Set Your New Year’s Resolution in Motion and Make it Stick

Many of us begin a new year by setting a New Year resolution to lose weight.  However for many of us a weight loss resolution is not something that is new to us; we have attempted it several times and failed.  Failed due to not enough support, lack of accountability or our goals not clearly defined with action steps to insure success. 

When you decide you want to reach a goal there are certain steps that you should follow.  These steps are your action plan and key to weight loss success.

The first step is that you need to define clearly what your goal is.  Example: “I want to lose 55 pounds by September 30, 2010”.

The second step is then writing out different steps you will take to insure you meet your goal:  

Example :

• I will work out 4 x’s per week (30 minutes minimum at a high intensity)
• I will only weigh myself weekly
• I will write down everything I eat in my journal
• Insure I am eating the proper nutrition daily (water, fruits, vegtables, etc)
• Hire a weight loss coach to hold me accountable
• Hire a personal trainer once per week to get pointers and suggestions with my exercise
• Find a workout buddy
• Tell my closest friends/family about your New Year's resolution for support and encouragement

Also by writing your goal down with the specific steps it can enhance the effect and momentum of your goal and overall success.

Thirdly, post your goals somewhere prominent within your home, bathroom mirror, refrigerator, next to your computer monitor in your office/study.  This way you are continuously reading your goals daily over and over and you won’t forget the New Year resolution you set for yourself.

Last but not least….TAKE ACTION by incorporating these steps into your every day life and you will see steady changes within your body and mind.

To Your Weight Loss Success!!