Chrissie Webber works as a writer, business coach and motivation/ leadership trainer and is Managing Director of Life-Shapers Ltd, an online weight-loss motivation company. With over 20 years experience in the field of business and people development she has an expertise in the area of motivation for permanent weight loss.
Following a lifetime of weight issues - at her heaviest, over 21 stone and a massive size 30 – she has personal experience of diets and their devastating effect on size and psyche. With a background in nursing, psychology and business coaching, coupled with a lifetime of dieting, she developed and successfully used a series of models and tools that enhance weight loss motivation. Now over 5 dress sizes smaller and having sustained her weight loss for several years, Chrissie continues her passionate drive to change the mindsets of people away from a ‘Scarcity’ dieting mindset – where food is demonised as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ – to an ‘Abundance’ mindset where mind, body and spirit work hand in hand with food and nature.
Have you ever noticed the effect your mindset has on your eating? I know that the more my mind ruminates with negative thoughts, the greater my comfort eating. The more I have found myself stuck in these patterns of negative thinking, over the years, the harder it has become to break them and get back into a mindset that aids my weight loss.
Research is now showing that physiological changes occur in the brain, linking thoughts and emotions together, as we habitually focus on the negative. The more time we spend in thoughts of guilt, shame and self-judgement, the stronger these physiological links become.
Affirmations and focussing on the positive have definitely helped me get back on track but all too often I slip back into old destructive thoughts and emotions that quickly lead to my comfort eating again. That was until I began to learn the art of ‘Mindful’ meditation.
It has long been recognised that meditation aids stress reduction but now research is showing that it also alters the physiology of the brain. The more you meditate, the more the links between thoughts and emotions in the brain are separated. This reduces stress, depression and aids in the development of new, more positive thoughts and actions.
Armed with this information I decided to take myself off on a course in ‘Mindful’ Meditation. Already after two weeks of daily practice I am seeing the effects…
J I now regularly leave food on my plate. (Something I rarely did before)
J There is no longer a battle in my head about what I want to eat and what would suit my body best.
J I have stopped thinking about food, especially in the evenings and therefore my comfort eating has disappeared.
J My body is feeling lighter and I am more consciously aware of its feelings throughout the day.
J I feel in a place of contentment and peace most of the time, even through the stresses and stains of the day. Form more information on ‘Mindfulness’ go to…
And the final remarkable thing is that there has been a bar of chocolate in my fridge for the past two weeks and I haven’t even thought about it, craved or wanted it!
