How do you change your mind's eye?

are you standing up straight? That might help. you could also look at pictures of how you used to look and compare to now. look at yourself in the mirror and try to think of 5 or 10 things that you like about yourself - even if it's things that you prefer compared to your previous weight but still want to work on. it may be that you're just not happy because you're not at your goal yet. you're doing well though - good luck for the rest of your goal

Start by loving yourself. You are great and you will succeed.

If you want to get all psychological then lets go there.

Take a piece of paper. On it draw a circle. In the middle draw another smaller circle. On the outside circle draw 3 circles. Try to space them out evenly. Picture a ferris wheel. In the middle circle write who you think you are right now. Be honest. Don't make things up. This is about picking your subconscious mind. It is your subconscious mind that gives your your daily answers thru your conscious. It controls every step that your take in life.

Example. Use your cell phone. What is the first thought that comes to you mind. That is the dominant thought that is given to your conscious and you act upon it. Now, what else is it. Describe it. The more you describe the cell phone, you draw from your subconscious the lesser and lesser idea, emotion, concept or perseption about the cell phone. The first thought that you have is most likely the dominant thought and the controlling thought. I say most likely because sometime instinct come to play. That's a whole other can of worms. So do you get this. The dominant thought controls, and the lesser thought is there to play second and so on. These are there for random variables.

Now, take your drawing and in the middle put your problem. In the outer circles put what you think about your problem, idea or goal. Draw as many circles that you need in the outer cirlcle. After you have done that. Put a posative or negative sign next to or in what ever works for you. After you are done look at the pos and neg of the subconscious psych map.

The posatives are your strengths and the negatives are your weaknesses. You want to strengthen your weeknesses. If the chart is full of negatives you will have to make a chart for every negative that you have. The "Complex" of ideas can only change if you view each negative in each of your circles. Yes it may take many pieces of paper. But, you will understand the root of the problem. Knowing were to begin is the start of change.

Take the singled out negative map an look at your negative word. What is the opposite of that negative word or what would you like to replace that with. Once you have replaced it with the word you want, embelesh on that. visualize the change. Feel the change. Take your time. Your negative dominant thought will want to come out. Know and remember this. Your negative thought has been comming out for so long that it has become dominant. The lesser thoughts are rarely thought of. That is why they don't come up as often, if at all.

Imagine that you can change your perspective on life in an instant. If you smoked and you had a heart attack, your mindset is almost clarified to the perspective of quitting. It's the dominant thought that will come back with the help of addiction. But, the heart attack put quitting smoking as a dominant thought and only after time does the new dominant thought become the lesser.

This is the memory resination process.

Invest in your future, invest in youself.

Any Questions?

Someone told me that our brains are six months behind our bodies. So it takes us 6 months to see what we have accomplished at all. I know how you feel though. Look at it this way...our bodies are going to be smoking by the time our brain catches up! )

Great thread,

Adross - I will have a go at this tomorrow (it's late in the UK now) looks interesting thanks, I posted a similar thought in my blog today about body image and self confidence.

One thing that can help be a physical representation is sticking a large sheet of paper on the wall and outlining your current body size, or having someone you know do that, all the way around starting at the feet going around the outside of the body, tracing your shape, in between legs, arms out tracing those etc.

Then putting a date on it, Then after losing a certain amount maybe 30 lbs or whatever you choose, putting it up on the wall again and having them re-trace.

Taking pictures of you full bodied, making sure you note the date on it, that helped me showing different progress points.

Taking measurements of the body.

Nice Visual

I was similar to you. I couldnt really see any difference, as my mind is one of those that refuses to acknowledge good things are happening. All my clothes are elasticated, so that didnt help. Measurements, id just think i was sucking my stomach in more than when i first measured, etc.

Then i found my old work trousers, and i vividly remember them really cutting into my belly, especially on Mondays. They are the only "fixed" waist thing i have. I put them on...and they fell straight down. There was a clear 8-10 inches of room now, when they used to cut into me. That was a real eye opener for me!

Bump

This has been something that I have been dealing with on an ongoing basis. I think it is also important to have a trusted loved one (maybe more than one) who is willing to be very honest with you. My mind is definitely lagging behind my progress, just as it did on the way up in my weight. It took a while before I realized how large I truly was and I'm still not grasping how much smaller I am. The plus of having loved ones who will help is that they can see a truer picture.

From the beginning, my goal has been to reach a normal BMI. For me that will happen at 147.7 pounds. That's just an awkward number, so I set my goal at 145! LOL I am very close to that now, at 151. I see my naked body and all the imperfections that are still there. My mind is struggling to wrap around the transition from a size 34W to a size 6. It would be frighteningly easy for me to slip into an unhealthy slide and continue to lose weight.

I have given my husband and three dear friends permission to tell me when to stop, after I reach 147.7. That number for me is non-negotiable. I want to be normal. After that, it will be up to their discretion. That way, I won't keep going into an unhealthy range while I am waiting for my mind to catch up.

In the meantime, while you are still in process, pictures are awesome! They help much more than the mirror does. Try finding a before picture and taking one now in the same pose or in the same place. That has helped me enormously. Then you are comparing 'apples to apples' and it makes more sense to your mind.

Hope this helps - and keep going on your journey!!