WHAT YOU THINK HAS
CHEMICAL CONSEQUENCES
Many people still doubt the power of the mind to negatively affect the body. In Chapter 7 I discuss scientific literature on the role of stress as a major contributing factor in many degenerative diseases. Stress is defined as "bodily or mental tension produced by physical, chemical, or emotional stimuli." (Basic and Clinical Endocrinology, Francis S. Greenspan, MD, Appleton & Lange, p. 47). On pages 62-65 I explain how stressful conditions can actually increase the circulating levels of critical hormones that can directly affect your immune system. In Chapter 7 I discuss how certain hormones released by the adrenal glands are a natural part of maintaining normal body functioning in response to various stimuli, including stress. When these substances are present in the body in normal amounts, it is actually beneficial for weight loss because they have a lipolytic effect. In other words, they increase the release of fatty acids from your fat cells. In fact, when you exercise these substances contribute to the release of fatty acids from the fat cells into your bloodstream. However, in Chapter 7 you learn that when there is an excess of of these substances, as occurs under continuing stress and with certain drugs, one of the side effects is increased deposits of fatty acids in the fat cells, which results in unwanted weight gain. You will also learn that other side effects of excessive amounts of these substances are decreased absorption of calcium, easy bruising, poor wound healing, loss of collagen and connective tissue, and wasting of muscle tissue. In Chapter 7 I also discuss that one of the common characteristics among overweight people is a feeling of helplessness. After trying every sort of remedy to lose weight and finding that nothing works, there is a prevailing feeling that "I will be fat for life." This is a natural consequence of repeated failures with diets, weight-loss clinics, and various "magic bullet" pills and gimmicks. The logical result of helplessness is depression. On top of that, most overweight people know that the medical community does not have the answer to permanent weight loss. There literally is nowhere to turn for help. You are trapped. Chapter 7 is about learning how not to feel depressed and trapped. My primary objective in Chapter 7 is to help you understand the ability of your mind to affect the physical state of your body. Emotional stress is often ignored as a contributing factor to poor health or being overweight. If you are making it through each day, smiling and covering up feelings of frustration and helplessness, you are reluctant to see yourself as a depressed person. However, being overweight and feeling there is no way to achieve permanent weight loss is in fact a very depressing state of mind. When I lost 100 pounds in 1980, I developed certain mental techniques designed to reduce stress and create a mental environment that positively affected the balance of chemicals in my body. I didn't use willpower; I practiced using my knowledge and imagination to produce powerful images of the "thin Lynn" I knew I could become. In Chapter 7 I show you how to make "knowing" a permanent part of your subconscious thoughts. Then, your subconscious mind can support your conscious thoughts instead of always offering up doubts. It took me four months to recondition my unconscious mind using the mental techniques I discuss in Chapter 7. Power thinking is neither complicated nor time-consuming, but to work you need to make Power Thinking part of your daily routine! Allowing your negative subconscious images to go unchecked can keep you in a constant cycle of failure, cause the release of chemicals that cause weight gain, or inhibit the release of certain hormones that could help you lose weight. Power Thinking is designed to counter and then eliminate the influence of negative subconscious thoughts so that you can more easily achieve permanent weight loss.
TALKING BACK
POWER STATEMENTS
MENTAL SNAPSHOTS
BACK TO: POWER THINKING - ACTION STEP 4
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