Positive Health Online

Most people know what they need to do to lose weight …. eat less, eat healthily and exercise more.  All weight loss articles, except this one, tend to be variations on this theme. It isn’t rocket science - so why do so many people fail to reach their goal or, having reached it, simply regain the weight they lost?

Psychologist Graham W Price, developer of Body Mind Training’s ‘Get Slim Guaranteed’ programme, suggests that for most people who want to lose weight and keep it off, there isn’t anything like enough focus on the psychology involved. He says most weight loss programmes completely ignore the psychology. So even those who manage to lose some weight usually put it on again. Other programmes based on meal substitutes have a built-in psychological challenge that almost guarantees any weight lost will be regained, when the substitutes cease to be used, as eventually they must be. 

“Why do film stars and other celebrities achieve and sustain their goals?” asks Price. Because, he says, they’re highly motivated, can afford personal trainers, don’t use meal substitutes and get professional advice including, most importantly, advice on the psychology of achieving and sustaining weight loss goals.

There are many reasons why we don’t maintain healthy eating and fitness programmes, says Price. The most common is a lack of motivation, self control and resilience. All these attributes, he says, can be acquired. Motivation comes from being clear about one’s values and the benefits of achieving and sustaining a goal.

Weight loss has clear benefits around health and looking attractive, says Price. Proven health risks of being overweight include heart disease, diabetes, and others too numerous to mention. At the risk of offending libertarians, if anyone doubts that most people are more attracted to a slim figure, they should ask why the powerful or wealthy, or those otherwise in a position to choose, nearly always choose slim partners. But Price believes health and attractiveness are not the only benefits

Another is the sense of control it can generate over your whole life, with the consequent impact on confidence and self-esteem. If we can gain control over our weight, we can gain control over other aspects of our lives, says Price. And knowing that we’re healthier, fitter and more attractive can itself boost confidence and self-esteem.

Price allows his clients to experience these benefits using visualization techniques such as time-line processes. He won’t embark on a weight loss programme until he’s convinced the client is sufficiently motivated to succeed.

Peter Hall, a Get Slim Guaranteed client, was three stone above his target weight. He wanted to lose weight to feel and look better, and because he wanted a better image to support his catering business … ‘Food Matters’. He says: “After hearing Price speak, I was confident the Get Slim Guaranteed approach was what I was looking for. The one year money-back guarantee also convinced me of the programme managers’ confidence and I found the prospect of gaining more control of my life and business appealing. Once I’d signed up for the programme, the tools and techniques used made me increasingly motivated to achieve my weight goal.”

The next attribute needed, says Price, is self control. Motivation isn’t enough to get us through the challenging times, such as when we’re tempted to break our new eating patterns or skip training. He gives his clients a range of tools, including how to deal with ‘trigger points’ (predictable challenging situations). He then takes them through a commitment process, to enhance self-control. Trying to achieve and sustain a weight-loss goal without commitment is like expecting a relationship to survive challenging times without a commitment to our partner, he says. ‘Trying’ to succeed just isn’t good enough. We need to commit to doing whatever it takes.

Peter Hall made such a commitment early in the Get Slim Guaranteed programme. He says: “It immediately started to make a difference. I could no longer stop off at the pub on the way home. I had to cut down on my dinking, stop eating crisps and change a string of other behaviours to keep to my commitment.“

Price says the third attribute needed is resilience. This is the ability to deal with uncomfortable experiences. And the most powerful tool to boost resilience is ‘accepting what is’. This means an ability to accept what’s happening right now, different from the usual meaning of ‘acceptance’ which is future-oriented, illustrated by the popular wisdom about ‘accepting the things we cannot change’.

One example of ‘accepting what is’ is accepting how we are right now, at the same time as choosing to change ourselves in the future. Being unhappy about how we are, an example of ‘resisting what is’, might be thought to be motivating. In fact, says Price, it’s generally demotivating and debilitating and is nearly always unhelpful. Knowing how we want to be, being clear on the benefits and being confident we can achieve it, are generally much more effective motivators. 

Another example of ‘accepting what is’ involves dealing with uncomfortable feelings such as anxiety or feeling low. Price points out that many people overeat because they use food to control uncomfortable feelings, often called ‘comfort eating’. To successfully lose weight they need to learn more productive ways of dealing with such feelings. And that’s about learning how to accept them. This means accepting it’s OK to have them right now, rather than accepting that it’s OK for them to remain.

What is, is the Power of Positive Acceptance

Price uses the same tools to deal with his clients’ cravings or excessive desires for food. Accepting uncomfortable feelings or desires is one of the most powerful psychological tools anyone can learn, says Price. Acceptance nearly always diminishes the feeling or desire but, more importantly, it allows us to act in ways not determined by the feeling or desire, such as ceasing comfort eating or simply not acceding to a desire or craving for food. Furthermore, these tools quickly unwind the unconscious programming that’s driving the feelings, cravings and excessive desires.

Price’s tuition on acceptance begins in the shower – on your own at home he’s quick to add. He encourages his clients to turn down the hot water just enough so they start feeling uncomfortable. They then take themselves through an acceptance process which, once learned, can be applied to any uncomfortable feeling or desire. It’s something anyone can quickly learn, with huge benefits impacting many aspects of their lives, says Price.

Peter Hall applied Price’s acceptance-based techniques to all his limiting feelings, desires, cravings, thoughts and behaviours. “Not only did I quickly get my eating under control and start taking more exercise,” he says, “these techniques eliminated stress, anxiety, feeling low and worry from my life. At the same time I found myself gaining in confidence and self-esteem. I lost two stone in twelve weeks. The best I’d ever achieved on other programmes was one stone. I’m confident I’m on my way to achieving my goal and that this time, I’ll sustain it.”

The Get Slim Guaranteed programme, developed by Price, includes nutritional advice and fitness advice and training, provided by expert nutritionists and trainers. Fitness training not only contributes to weight loss, says Price, it also helps to establish the mind-set needed to maintain nutritional and fitness commitments, and so achieving and sustaining weight loss goals.

Price and his associates are so confident in the success of the programme, they offer a unique guarantee for achieving and sustaining the goal. Says Peter Hall, the guarantee may have been influential in my decision to sign up for the programme, as it demonstrated the programme managers’ confidence, but it soon became clear I wouldn’t need it.

Body Mind Training offers a free booklet at www.get-slim-guaranteed.com   to get you started, followed by a seminar costing £10.00 that provides further tools. Antony Clegg of Scales Porter Financial Services, another Get Slim Guaranteed client, lost a stone following the seminar.

Says Price, our training isn’t just about achieving and sustaining weight loss goals. It aims to change people’s lives by providing powerful tools that can be used in every aspect of life.