5 Visualisation Tips to Get Slimmer
I’m reading an amazing book at the moment. It’s the incredible story of a man called Anthony Ray Hinton who spent 30 years on death row for crimes he didn’t commit. They got the wrong guy – simply because he was black and had little money to hire proper legal representation.
Why is it relevant to you on your weight loss journey? Because it’s the story about how Hinton kept his hope alive. He had a strong religious faith, as well as an inspiring ability to let go of anger and hate but, besides that, he also developed a remarkable ability to ‘travel in his head’.
Hinton could, “…smell the salt water of the Pacific Ocean’, he flew in a private jet to meet the queen in Buckingham palace and enjoyed simple pleasures that he missed so painfully, such as ‘…sheets [that] smelled like freshly mowed lawns and magnolia blossoms.”
How Visualisation Works
We can all learn from Hinton’s ability to keep hope alive. Thankfully, he was exonerated and released in 2015. But it’s specifically the visualisation component to his story that is most interesting in the context of the power of the brain.
Visualisation is a meditative technique used by athletes, celebrities and regular members of the public to improve performance, and achieve personal and career goals. Visualisation helps people to stay positive, but also to thrive in their lives. I started practising visualisation during my own weight loss journey a few years ago.
When I started to spend time seeing and feeling my body lighter and fitter, I noticed a subtle shift in the choices I was making. I started to actually crave healthier foods and I wanted to be more active, rather than just thinking I ‘should’ be. By shifting my brain, everything started to change.
5 Top Tips On How To Use Visualisation For Weight Loss
1. Use all your senses – put yourself in your ideal scenario (such as on a beach with your loved ones, or at a celebration) and see yourself at your goal weight. How does your body feel? What are the sounds and smells surrounding you? Can you put your hand on your slimmer waist and your flatter stomach? How does it feel?
2. Think big – although it can seem almost ridiculous right now, it’s important you don’t hold back with the image you create. Regardless of whether you have ten or two stone to lose, travel all the way in your head to the end goal. Give yourself permission to see yourself as your ideal weight and feel how great that feels today. See and feel your toned muscles, a lighter body and a flatter stomach.
3. Be as vivid as possible – the research shows that our brains become primed for suggestion and that, if we spend time on this, your choices will likely align with your goals if you spend time ‘seeing’ yourself succeed every day. If you struggle with seeing a slimmer you, there are weight loss visualizer apps that let you upload a photo and see what you would look like if you lost weight.
4. See sugar or junk food in a new way – it’s actually possible to turn yourself ‘off’ foods that contribute to your weight problem. Spend time seeing your ‘favourite’ junk foods as something different; for example, visualize chocolate as foul-smelling mud or jellies as chemical-filled toxins that are poisonous. It doesn’t matter how ludicrous your ideas are; if they’re vivid, they’ll work in switching off your addiction.
5. Finish with an affirmation – devise an affirmation to finish your visualisation session with. Affirmations are positive statements that can help you to challenge and overcome self-sabotaging and negative thoughts. When you repeat them often, and believe in them, you can start to make positive changes. See our blog on affirmations here.
