About a month ago, I decided to make a major change in my daily diet. I cut way back on coffee drinks. No more homemade iced mochas or weekend Starbucks Frappuccinos. No more chai or black tea. No more soda. Just one cup of plain old coffee per day.

Before I made the choice, I’d been thinking about it (ignoring it) for quite some time. It seemed like an obvious move in the right direction—delete anxiety, muscle tension and insomnia, and put an extra five bucks in my wallet every day.

But I had a case of the “what-ifs.”

So I had to pour a few less cups of coffee? Big deal, you’re thinking. Well, it may not seem revolutionary to you—and I know most AFC readers are making much fitness bigger changes—but it was a big deal for me. We’re talking reversing a 10-year habit. I was scared. When I made my first post about it (to lock myself into the goal), I wasn’t 100% sure I’d actually do it. After all, what if I gained weight? Got headaches? Developed narcolepsy? Died?

You might be facing some of your own what-ifs about making a big change. Maybe you’re dreaming about running a marathon or applying for a new job. Maybe you want to start lifting weights or doing yoga but you don’t feel fit enough to enter a gym.

“When starting something new or something you haven’t done in awhile, it can be scary,” says fitness blogger Jessica, who recently battled her own what-ifs when she started the P90X program. “We can make up a ton of excuses and doubts to hold us back from reaching our goals.”

But we shouldn’t let fear and silly excuses hold us back from achieving what we want. For those with a special talent for creating what-if scenarios (like me), hypnosis is a godsend. Sometimes we just need to be reminded that we’re not a slave to habit, self-sabotage or cravings, and that we can handle whatever challenge comes our way. You can achieve similar grounding with meditation, but since I have a hard time talking to myself I went with the guided option.

It’s ironic, perhaps, that in turning to hypnosis to banish my coffee-curbing what-ifs, I came up with a whole new batch of them: what if hypnosis puts me to sleep? What if it’s weird or doesn’t work? What if it does work?

Thankfully, despite my apprehension, I tried it anyway. After doing a little research, hypnotherapy sounded more sensible to me: it’s essentially just guided visualization, a form of talk therapy, that you can do with a hypnotherapist in person or via CD. A certified hypnotherapist will help you visualize your goals and the deep-rooted obstacles holding you back. (At no point does anyone appear in a cape and spin a pinwheel in your face.)

The hypnosis CD I tried was Mastering the Mind, which, though geared toward weight loss, is essentially to help you get in tune with your body and in control of your mind. The principles are universal. Hypnosis can help you move past all the what-ifs and set up a game plan. It can also help you remember that you’ve actually set a goal (that repetition and positive reinforcement come in handy when you’re prone to forgetting.)

While locking myself into a commitment by going public got me over the initial hurdle, it didn’t give me much confidence about putting my new resolution into practice. Hypnosis helped me realize that my goals are easily achievable—not just cutting coffee, but all my fitness and health goals.

Jessica’s fitness advice: kick those what-ifs straight to the curb. “You can go years and years caged by them when you could have just taken some baby steps right over the cage and into good health.”

Hypnosis can help you turn those first steps into strides.

Cue Your Brain to Lose Weight

To Master Cravings, Hear the Truth

How to Erase Fast Food from Your Diet

It wasn’t 10 minutes after I’d gone public with my goal yesterday that I was tested: someone trailed across my path with a frosty bottle of Coke.

Mmm…

As you may’ve read, I started a new goal yesterday: to cut my caffeine intake down from about 5 cups a day to one. Why? I want to see if it improves my energy and how my body feels. I really want to get to the bottom of the question:

Is one cup of caffeine the perfect amount — all the benefits, no drawbacks?

I suppose I’m also cutting back to boost my confidence. I want to prove that I’m the boss of my food, not the other way around.

This morning, as I sat drinking my One and Only cup (in bed, less than 60 seconds after waking up), I promptly began searching for loopholes in the new plan. If I make a large cup of coffee, have half in the morning and save the second half for later, does that still count as one cup? Can I drink decaf for the rest of the day? And really, since I haven’t even gotten out of bed yet, wouldn’t my first cup really be more like a “pre-cup”?

That last one seemed promising, but friends have squashed this line of reasoning.

So, while Day 1 brought a few small challenges, like temptation, Day 2 has delivered a great big challenge: reality. While the loophole-hunting was (mostly) in jest, there have been a number of times in the last 24 hours when I’ve walked around all puffed over with my noble new project, only to realize I was about to go brew some coffee.

I need to figure out how to merge my goal with what I’m actually doing. And rewriting automatic habits is hard. It takes 100% focus. Operate on autopilot for just 30 seconds and you could find the fridge door flung open and coffee dripping out the sides of your mouth.

This is my fear, anyway. It’s clear that I need all factions of my mind on board. (Wristband, strategically-placed Post-Its: check.) And I need an extra pair of eyes on me at all times. (Check? This is where you come in.)

The truth of my commitment is beginning to sink in: this is more than a one-week challenge. I’ve made the first move, and if I learn that I’m happier and healthier without caffeine, I will have no choice but to sustain the change for life.

I may even have to cut out my One Cup.

Am I ready for that?

<<One Cup, Day One: Embarking on the Challenge

One Cup, Day Six: Alternative Energy-Boosters!>>

Do you ever feel like your cravings are running the show?

It’s tough to break the wily alliance between junk food and the brain’s pleasure center. You want to look like the hot bikinied background extras on Burn Notice. But junk food tastes so good.

With summer fast-approaching, how can you tackle your love of food to get in shape?

The first step: understand where your cravings come from.

The Trigger

Willpower expert Kelly McGonigal, PhD, has an explanation for why we love trouble foods so much:

“It seems too clever, too diabolic to be true. A recent study shows that foods high in saturated fat—ice cream, cheese, red meat—cause your brain to secrete chemicals that tell the body to ignore biological signals of fullness (like leptin and insulin).”

The result, she says: “You don’t ‘feel’ full, and you keep eating.”

That’s why when you “cave” a little, you often end up caving a lot.

But can’t we control how much we eat? If we know the food is fattening, can’t we cut ourselves off at half-portion, even if we still feel hungry?

Cravings Get More Complicated

In response to a new policy working its way into the fast food industry, Wellsphere author Bruce Friedman asked this question: “Will posting calorie counts in fast food restaurants help curb obesity?”

Friedman went on to answer it: “Fast-food addicts gravitate to these restaurants because of convenience, price, and because the food tastes good to them. I seriously doubt that posting calorie information in fast-food restaurants goes to the root of the problem.”

Indeed, seeing the numbers might motivate some to scale back their orders, the New York Times explains. But so far, results have been unimpressive. Starbucks’ calorie-posting stint whipped up only a small change: customers cut calories back by about 6%.

So, they ordered a low-fat muffin or no food at all, but stuck with their Venti Caramel Frappuccinos.

(Speaking from past experience, Starbucks coffee is really, really addictive.)

Is it really enough to know that fast food is loaded with fat, salt and sugar? They’re our old friends, after all. We stand by them despite their flaws, and no matter what nasty things other people have said about them. Like Friedman says, fast food is easy, cheap, tasty and we’re addicted.

Why Dieting is a Double-edged Sword

Maybe you’ve managed to tame your cravings, saying good bye to old friends sugar, fat and salt. But how long can you hold out?

“Bad news for yo-yo dieters,” McGonigal warns. “According to a recent study, cycles of feast and famine can create fast-food junkies—at least in rodents.”

I don’t think we need to look at a lab rat experiment to know this is true. Almost everyone knows this familiar scenario: we resolve to eat right and get off to a strident start. No more ice cream! Then one wrong turn—we have a cone—and it’s all over. Bummed about indulging in the forbidden dessert, we stress out, get mad at ourselves, and seek solace in another scoop. Now we’re hooked, even more than before.

“Binge eating is a seductive beast,” writes Scale Junkie, who uses her blog to talk candidly about her weight loss challenge. She has experienced the vicious feast/famine cycle, saying: “The one element of this journey that I haven’t been able to reach the root of is why I self sabotage my diet time and time again.”

Getting to the Root of the Problem

Okay, okay, you already know that cravings are evil and self-sabotage seems inevitable. But I wanted to drive home the reasons why adopting a healthy diet is so hard. It’s not simply a matter of rational decisions based on facts. If it were, we’d all look like Gabrielle Anwar.

The elusive “root” of cravings, addiction and self-sabotage lies deep in our subconscious. It’s hard to see or consciously control the workings of the unconscious mind. Hence, we often feel prey to—not in control of—our cravings.

So how can we skip fast food joints, when the truth about what we’re eating doesn’t matter? And how can we start eating healthier for good, rather than bouncing back and forth?

It is possible to make lasting positive changes to your diet. But you need to delve into your subconscious mind to make the adjustment. Ready to master your mind? Try this.

IdealShape reveals the truth behind America’s Biggest Addiction

More tips to curb your fast food addiction

Resveratrol: where can you find this surprising nutrient that promotes weight loss?

The brain plays a big role in weight loss—bigger than you might think. People who haven’t tried a weight loss program rarely understand this, and you’ve probably heard:

“If someone is overweight it’s their own fault.”

or

“How hard can it be to get in shape? Just stop eating and start exercising.”

In fact, many who struggle with weight management have done both… only to discover that these alone were not the solution.

Knowing Is Half the Battle… Or Is It?

While it’s important to pinpoint the factors in weight gain, and to unearth the reasons previous weight loss attempts have failed, it only gets you so far. If knowing is half the battle, it’s definitely the easier half. In fact, most of us already have an idea of what’s holding us back. We just don’t know how to change it.

Talk therapy has become an increasingly popular way for individuals to change their mindset and take control of their weight. Of all the talk therapy methods, hypnosis has taken center stage. While it sounds a little new agey, hypnosis—or hypnotherapy—is a treatment technique used by weight loss clinics and health practitioners alike, because it has proved to be extremely effective. With hypnosis for weight loss, the results often occur quicker and last longer than psychoanalysis and computer-based therapy.

So What Exactly Is This Mysterious Tool for Change?

Hypnosis is a unique approach because its focus is more on the positive than negative. While most methods of psychoanalysis dig up the reasons underlying your weight challenge, hypnosis bypasses and replaces those obstacles, creating a direct, rapid path to weight loss.

Hypnosis has the ability to rewrite the thoughts and behaviors going on in your mind, both consciously and unconsciously. Here’s how it works:

Hypnosis uses repetition and reinforcement:

Hypnosis for weight loss sessions usually consist of 20-30 minutes of guided meditation, repeated each day. Believe it or not, 30 consecutive days is all the brain needs to fully adopt a new habit or thought pattern. The brain absorbs everything it sees and hears, often through multiple levels of awareness. When we hear something, it usually goes into a short-term memory “waiting room.” With repetition, this short-term data gradually becomes a permanent stamp on our minds, resulting in a new belief or habit.

A typical hypnosis for weight loss program, like Ideal Shape’s Mastering the Mind series, involves a series of stages. After one month—30 days—of your first stage, you’ll move onto the next. Instead of forgetting the feelings and ideas you got from early sessions, they are woven into each new stage of the program. The brain responds amazingly to this type of reinforcement.

Hypnosis creates relaxed receptivity:

A hypnotherapist has the ability, either in person or on a CD, to create a conversation channel with your deeper levels of consciousness. Words are woven together to soothe and ground your thoughts, putting your mind in a receptive state and wiping out external distractions. At the same time, these words go deeper, bypassing internal distractions like procrastination, guilt, indulgence and low self-confidence.

Because it’s so powerful, listeners must fully engage with their session. No multitasking here! In our fast-paced, technology-driven lives, our brains are overloaded and it’s hard to bring in new ideas. Hypnotherapy helps create a clear, positive space in which to fully understand and embrace our desired lifestyle and goals.

Many even listen to hypnosis CDs at night before they go to bed. As they drift off to sleep, the brain continues to process the messages it is receiving on a subconscious level. Yes, you can actually condition your brain to work toward your weight loss goals while you’re sleeping!

Weight Loss and Your Mind

We’ve often seen the iceberg picture used to represent the complexity of the human mind. Most of our thoughts and habits take shape below the surface, out of sight.

Knowing that, think about all the forces pulling the strings in your weight management efforts. Maybe you can consciously change 10% of them, but what about the other 90%?

Anyone who has embarked on a weight loss program will testify that it isn’t easy. In fact, it’s often much harder than we thought it would be. We get discouraged, stop and start, try one program after the next, or get tired and give up altogether—all because something was missing from our approach.

Listen Your Way to Success

The only way to be successful with weight loss and fitness long-term is to get down below the surface of our minds, where the biggest obstacles are lurking. You can see why weight loss hypnotherapy, one of the few approaches that creates change on a subconscious level, is so powerful.

And hypnosis isn’t just for weight loss. You can use it for fitness and nutrition goals, to improve self-confidence or time management, even to prepare for a new career challenge. It’s amazing what we can accomplish with a little more positivity!

3 steps to tackling your weight loss “control center”

Fizzled fitness results? Bring some Zen to your approach

Green tea will help me lose weight—fact or fiction?

Q: OK so I have been running 4-6 miles on the stair-master, cross-trainer or treadmill 4-5 times a week. And taking one hour classes (weight training, cycling,  kickboxing, or machines) about 4 times a week. I eat my normal diet, that hasn’t changed much, but I am a vegetarian and it is semi healthy…  with a little oil, sufficient carbs and lots of greens.

I have been doing this for the last 5 months. Initially, I lost some weight, but lately the scale says that I gained weight. I assume that could be muscle, however, my inches are no longer going down, nor does it seem like my body is losing anything anywhere anymore…

I just finished medical school (I know, I should be able to answer my own question then =) ). So my life outside of the gym consists of stress and sitting in front of the books for 14 hours studying for the boards… Obviously I was initially doing something right so my diet cannot be the sole reason. So what am I doing wrong and what should I do differently? – Megha

A: Kudos for finding the time to work out so diligently and for being determined in your goals. Don’t get discouraged! There are many factors involved in fitness. That means we’re required to try lots of things as we get to know our bodies and discover what will create optimal results for us.

Weight loss plateaus are common, too: the body is so smart that it adapts quickly in order to conserve energy. But to lose excess fat, we want it to burn energy. The key is to keep the body off balance. So while you may not be doing anything wrong, it’s probably time to switch up your routine.

Let’s first look at what you’re eating, and then we’ll point you to some great resources on this site for maximizing fitness results.

WHAT TO EAT (AND WHAT NOT TO!)

Essentially, you should be eating plentiful fruits and vegetables, calcium-rich low-fat dairy, whole grains, and—in your case, as a vegetarian—ample non-meat sources of protein. Make sure to incorporate a variety of foods in your diet. Here are some basic guidelines for the three major dietary nutrients:

Protein

Protein is fundamental for keeping—and building—lean muscle mass. It will increase your metabolism as well as make your workouts more effective, so you’ll burn more fat. (By the way, you are right to ask whether your increased weight could be muscle gain. Don’t put too much emphasis on what the scale says.) While trying to gain muscle, you should eat more than the average RDI. Whey protein and soy protein (which can be found in powder form) are great sources of protein, as are nuts and eggs. You can also time your protein and carb intake to maximize workout results.

Carbohydrates

By reducing your carbohydrate intake, your body will turn to fat for fuel and start burning it up. But don’t cut carbs completely; it’s still needed for extra energy, and you don’t want your body to go after your muscle instead. So, on the days that you do high-intensity workouts, include more carbohydrates in your diet. On your steady state cardio days, have a low carb intake. And on your days off—those all-important recovery days—skip carbs completely.

Many of your non-meat (plant) protein sources also have extra carbohydrate content (lentils, beans), which is something to be aware of. Still, these are a better source of carbs than starchy carbohydrates without any protein, such as pasta, bread and rice.

Fats

Believe it or not, you won’t want to cut fat completely out of your diet. It, too, supplies your body with needed energy. You will of course want to stick to the healthy, fat-containing foods: low-fat milk products, legumes, and oils (canola, corn, soy bean and olive). Some good sources of unsaturated fat: avocados, nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, pecans) and seeds (flax, sesame, pumpkin).

Weight Loss Villains

Avoid these ingredients in your diet:

• Sodium
• Caloric sweeteners (added sugar and artificial sweeteners)
• Saturated fat (whole milk, cheese, ice cream)
• Trans fat (cookies, crackers, chips and other commercial baked goods)

WHEN TO EAT

This is almost as important as what you eat! We recommend eating 5-6 small nutritious meals throughout the day, as opposed to 2-3 large meals. This will do three things:

1. Speed up your metabolism
2. Supply your body with ample energy throughout the day
3. Keep you from overeating. Many people only have one big meal, often at the end of the day. Starving, they overeat, and then plop down on the couch or head for bed. This is a recipe for sluggish metabolism and fat gain!

HOW MUCH TO EAT

In order to lose excess body fat, you also need to lower your caloric intake (while still meeting your body’s nutrient needs). Find a calculator that can tell you what your caloric needs are, and then subtract 300-500. Your body will turn to fat stores for energy, allowing you to burn up that excess fat throughout your body.

Remember that it’s going to be about more than eating, say, 1700 calories, if this is your target. It’s even more important to focus on eating a lower-carb diet than on lowering your caloric intake. After all, more calories in a healthier diet will always be better for you than having fewer calories, but less healthy foods. The most effective approach to losing weight would be a low calorie, low carb diet.

WHAT ARE YOU DRINKING?

Poring over the books for extended periods of time can cause lead us to caffeinated beverages and not enough water. If you’re propping your eyelids open with soda, red bull, and vanilla lattes, don’t! Caffeine is fine in moderation, and can even give your metabolism a little boost while suppressing your appetite (that’s why many weight loss supplements include a small amount). But skip the sugar, creamer and flavoring. And after your first cup or two, switch to green tea, which has caffeine plus incredible weight loss and health benefits. Or, have an apple or a protein shake for energy. And we’ll say it again: drink more water!

ARE YOU SUPPLEMENTING?

Taking a supplement is important for everyone, but critical for those trying to lose weight. Dietary supplements are an easy way to give your body the vitamins, minerals and other nutrients it needs that you can’t get from food alone. Go for a multivitamin for overall health. A metabolism booster like Green Tea Extract is good, too. Weight loss support supplements like ResveraShape can be a boon when you’re trying to lose excess fat. The right ones will combine essential nutrients with metabolism-boosting (green tea, kelp, grapefruit extract) and appetite-suppressing ingredients (resveratrol, caffeine).

KEEP A HEALTH LOG

We bet we don’t need to tell a medical school graduate this, but just in case: it’s really important to keep a daily exercise and nutrition log. Not only will this give you a clear picture of your habits and patterns, so you can see what works and what doesn’t; but it will also keep your goals in focus. Without a visible record, it’s easy to miscount how many “just this once” indulgences we give in to!

Keep a note, too, of your weight and measurements. Don’t compare them from day to day, or you won’t notice much difference, and you may get discouraged. Compare every other week, or at the end of the month, however, and you’ll see the difference.

Getting others involved in your journal is even more effective, and fun, too. Don’t believe us? Just ask weight loss bloggers Cara and Ryan, who have tracked their way to incredible results.

MASTERING THE MIND

Finally, don’t discount the role your mental state plays in weight loss. Are you getting enough sleep? Not only is adequate rest necessary for overall health and performance, but it’s also necessary if you want to get anything out of your exercise routine. It’s during sleep that your body recovers from your workouts and builds muscle. It’s also important to keep stress and depression at bay, as they can make weight management hard. Many people find that achieving balance and focus is ultimately the most important step in their weight loss journey.

MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR GYM TIME

Your weight training and resistance exercises (like stair-climbing), along with high intensity cardio (kick boxing), are great! Just make sure to progressively add resistance and repetitions, and switch up the activity type every so often. You can skip the machines, which only deliver isolated exercises, unless you are honing in on one specific area. Otherwise, compound movements that work multiple muscle groups are best. Make sure you aren’t working the same muscle group every day, or your body won’t have time to recover and progress. Steady state cardio on the bike or treadmill will allow your muscles a rest between intense training days.

For the full scoop, check out these posts:

Interval Training vs. Steady State Cardio

Which first: cardio or strength training?

So you want to build muscle, but not bulk up?

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