Easy Way to Get And Stay Slim. Mindset For Weight Loss

Insulin resistance is often caused by obesity. Since the adipose tissue exhibits a sufficiently high metabolic activity, the insulin sensitivity of tissues decreases by forty percent when the ideal body weight is exceeded by thirty-five to forty percent.

Heredity and pregnancy

– Many people tend to shift responsibility from their shoulders to genes.

– Habits are transmitted from one generation of the family to another for sure.

– Yes, it’s true. Of course, certain genetic traits indirectly contribute to quicker gaining or losing weight. That does happen.

But the main reason for excess weight gain is the ingress of excess energy with food into the body.

Pregnancy and maternity. When an expecting mother carries a child, she needs to eat more, right?

– Right!

– Of course. A pregnant woman needs to build this small body inside of her. She needs energy. She needs so-called “construction materials”. Expecting mothers eat for two. ☺ Good. Should she eat more when she is breastfeeding?

– Yes.

– She eats more since she has to produce rich, high-quality milk in sufficient quantity. Two years have passed since the woman gave birth to a baby; she has already stopped breastfeeding. What happens to her eating behavior? Everyone says: “I return to food volumes I’ve consumed before.” And she does it. That’s how it usually happens, right?

– No. ☺

– It often doesn’t happen. Women are used to eating more during these two years. The women continue to eat more, including high-calorie foods that they have added to their diet. During maternity leave, women start to eat more high-calorie foods, as their physical and mental needs for nutrition increase significantly. That’s when a false hunger appears, and you feed it with excess food. Why is it considered to be excess? That’s because false hunger does not need food! It needs fellowship, love, solitude, rest, self-development, fun and pleasure, peace, and security.

Just as you said, Nika, when you finished breastfeeding, you started to gain weight. You needed more food before, but now the same amount of food exceeds the needs of your body. But you continue to overeat and, as a result, gain weight.

Endocrine diseases. In this case, it takes more time to lose weight.

For some people, it doesn’t slow down the process. They lose weight as fast as others. So even if you have some endocrine disorders, you shouldn’t worry about it.

As soon as energy balance and eating behavior get back to normal, excess weight will start to decrease.

Metabolism acceleration

– That’s so simple. The metabolic process of overweight people is slowed down and malfunctioned, to a high or lesser degree. That doesn’t mean you’re doomed. We can accelerate it. By the way, your metabolism didn’t use to be slow before. It slows down gradually for a variety of reasons. One of the reasons is irregular meals. Some people have accelerated metabolism. Many people on the planet are thin, they can eat anything, in any quantities, but they never gain excess weight. Even their bellies stay flat.

– It’s just the opposite for us.

– The others have a slower metabolism. You throw an eye on a bun…

– ☺

– …and it sticks to your hips! That’s how it works.

What are we going to do with our metabolic processes? We will boost them.

First of all, I highly recommend walking. Walking outdoors accelerates metabolism. Another great option is various thermal procedures like saunas. But consult your doctor in advance. Breathing techniques! We’ll try a special breathing technique. Then, of course, regular meals are especially important. It’s the main tool for boosting metabolism. And finally, your improper diet should become rational and balanced.

We will learn how to do it in our classes. You’ll have new “slimming” mindsets and information on how to build up your diet. We will do different exercises and apply distinctive methods. That’s what we are going to do.

But the most critical task is to dispel the myths and legends associated with obesity and overweight, adopt the mindsets and behavior of a slim person.

Nikolay Ivanovich Kosenkov, member of Petrovskaya Academy of Sciences and Arts, Ph. D. of medical science

What happens to the metabolism of an obese person? As a result of weight gain, a change in cell metabolism occurs. Metabolism skips from the Krebs cycle, which leads to the formation of lots of energy, to the pentose cycle characterized by low energy release and reduction of oxygen consumption. This type of metabolism leads to the fact that even consumption of water leads to the accumulation of hydrogen in adipose tissue. So, a person can gain weight even when drinking water.

This feature of metabolism is applied in cattle production. They give forty liters of water to pigs for efficient weight gain. If it is necessary to have a layer of meat in fat, then they give to the pig only five liters of water for several days. As you see, it’s possible to gain weight even by drinking water. It occurs because hydrogen contained in water saturates unsaturated fatty acids. We’ve got saturated fatty acids and, as a result, weight gain.

Group session of psychologist

Artyom Andreyevich Ovechkin:

– Imagine your extra pounds as weeds in a vegetable garden. Has anyone of you got cottages with gardens?

– Yes.

– Tell us, Nadezhda, what do you usually do with weeds?

– I pull them.

– What else? If you pull weeds, after a while, they appear again.

– Yes. Then we pull them again!

– Has anyone tried to exterminate weeds? Tell us about it, Anzhelika. What did you use?

– Special chemical agents.

– Do you still have weeds?

– No, I have neither weeds nor vegetable plants now.

– ☺

– You put too much effort into it. OK. ☺

Look, these “weeds” are excess pounds, their “roots” are psychological and social reasons. You used to pull these weeds, mowed them, dug them out, trampled them down, and did all the other things. No matter what you did, they are still here. The “roots” stay in the “ground”. What’s so great about our program?

N.B.! What is the secret of the high efficiency of our approach? We fight against reasons for weight gain and eliminate them by working together. When reasons are eliminated, consequences – your excess pounds – disappear either.

The average rate of weight loss is from four to nine pounds per month. The World Health Organization considers it to be the optimal and safe rate of weight loss. Multiply it by six months. What do we get? From twenty-four to thirty-six pounds! It’s not fast. But this gives your skin time to tighten up and for the spine to redistribute the load.

– In my opinion, it’s not so much.

– You can lose more pounds in the first month than over the next ones. Water gets away, swelling disappears. If you drink properly, everything will be fine. Thus, the problem of losing excess weight is complex.

– Yes, it’s obvious.

– What about the responsibility for the process of weight loss and the results achieved?

You are the only person responsible for your weight loss.

We provide psychological and informational support, and you follow our recommendations.

Please, consult your doctor regularly during our program on the psychological correction of eating habits, mindsets, and behavior.

Olga Vladimirovna Tsyganova, 28, economist, lost 110 lbs I lost sixteen and a half pounds in the first month. I felt triumphant. I followed all the recommendations, walked, and indulged myself. In the next month, I lost another sixteen pounds. When I returned to the University in September after summer vacation, my result was minus thirty-seven and a half pounds.

Imagine how proud I was. My fellow students did not recognize me. They asked what had happened, whether I was sick. I just smiled back. This was such a strong incentive for me to see the surprised faces of those who knew me.

Due to the training, my life became brighter and more enjoyable. It helped me to settle my mental problems. I realized that life is beautiful. All I need to do is to change my habits. The best is yet to come. So, I must not give up.

I have to say that it was essential for me to find allies among my relatives and friends who treated me with understanding, supported my endeavors, and didn’t troll me. My pals did great!

Group session of psychologist

Artyom Andreyevich Ovechkin:

If you follow our recommendations daily, and we help you if necessary, you’ve got the result. Got it?

– Yes!

– Before talking about the rules of the group work, I want to tell you a few words about the ones who don’t lose weight during our training. That’s fair. I am sure some of you thought to themselves: “I knew it would come!”

– ☺

– The inner voice whispers: “It’s about you. Listen attentively!”

– ☺

– Yes? Do you have such thoughts sometimes? So-called victims do not reduce weight.

Describe a person who plays the victim role.

– He blames everyone around.

– Exactly. The person does not want to take any responsibilities. He is upset at everyone; he is not guilty of anything. He always blames others. The victim blames everything and everybody, “these bloody fools”, Government and Martians. “Jupiter in Scorpio turned retrograde when I started to lose weight, that’s why I failed.” And so on. Of course, these people will not take responsibility for implementation of recommendations and weight loss. In fact, they are not ready to do anything. In a month, they come to us and say: “I’ve tried dropping weight, but it didn’t work.” All other participants are content, they all became slimmer, but the victim didn’t! Then I start to ask her: “Did you do it?” – “No!” – “What about it?” – “No.” “Why?” – “I have a family. I go to work every day. I have no time”.

Besides, there are so-called infiltrators.

These are people sent to our class by mothers, husbands, or others. They did not want to work on weight loss. But relatives or friends called a taxi, gave them a contract and sent them here.

– ☺

– Sometimes it happens this way: relatives bring the “infiltrators”, sit by the door…

– ☺ In order to prevent the “infiltrators” from running away…

– Exactly. So, imagine, a mother of an “infiltrator” sits by the door guarding her “prodigal” daughter. She listens attentively, writes down all the recommendations, reads her notes at home, does homework. As a result, a month later, her mother lost excess weight for free, and her daughter is still fat. Because the daughter did not need it!

The third (and the last) category includes so-called headhunters. They even have a kind of “wall of shame” at home with “scalps” of specialists nailed to it. “This is a doctor from St. Petersburg, he was a good person; this is a ‘scalp’ of psychologist from Moscow, he did not help me either. By the way, I was a subject of three PhD dissertations. But I didn’t give up. I’ve got a ‘special’ fat. My metabolism is tricky, so modern medicine is useless”. A man comes to us to prove himself that “modern medicine and psychology are useless, I can’t lose weight here too.” What’s going on with him? He doesn’t lose weight. Then he comes here and demands results. “What’s your name? Artyom Ovechkin? I got you! Come here…”

Rules for the group work

– Organization rules.

We’ll begin classes on time. It is very important. If you’re late, you’ll miss something, and that’s not good.

Your cell phones should be turned off. Even vibration signals are unacceptable. Purses, crawling on the table under vibration, can interrupt important psychological practice at the crucial moment.

Imagine, we are sitting here, concentrated, focused on some moment. Meditative music is playing. Suddenly.

Buzz-z-z-z-z! Someone’s purse is running to us, vibrating like a mad hare! You know, no matter how many times I remind to turn off the phones. Everybody says: “Certainly, we’ll turn them off.” But then we hear phone ringing!

– ☺

– Now let’s talk about safety.

First, there is the “Stop!” rule. If we hit where it hurts you, if you do not want to work at this problem right now, you have a right to say:

“Stop! I don’t want to discuss it!” And we stop talking about it.

There is one more thing: privacy. You can say anything you want about me, about the program, but everything you hear within these walls about each other (and we’ll talk about personal life, work, discuss various issues that you are eager to share with us) must stay here. Can we rely on one another? Everything said by participants about themselves or each other cannot leave this room. It shouldn’t be revealed to anyone else. Promise?

– It goes in one ear and out the other.

– Active involvement. So the first rule is so-called I-statement. Many people use to say all the time “we”, “we believe”, “we think”. “We” is a great cover for hiding thing that allows evading any responsibility. Let’s talk in the first person!

The next point. You can ask any question you want. Every unresolved issue leads to a lack of information, wrong actions, and wrong results.

The next rule is “swapping”. We will change seats after every class.

First, your main task is to sit by Victor for at least once.

– What about me? Will I stay in the same seat?

– ☺

– No, you will change your seat too. They say that those who are sitting closer to the leader of the group lose weight faster. That’s why we need constant swapping. ☺ What for?

We all want to gain results – and to change our life! Big changes start from the little ones.

It is desirable to make some changes in the kitchen too. You can buy new beautiful dishware, tablecloth, table napkins or plastic overlays; put some flowers on the table, hang new curtains. It’s important, as earlier you lead a different life in this kitchen. You had an eating behavior that led you to excess body weight. Now a new life begins!

Andrey Vasilyevich Trenogov, psychologist, psychiatrist:

In one research, scientists studied people who lost excess weight (the focus group included people weighing more than two hundred and sixty pounds who had several weight loss experiences) and maintained achieved weight for at least two years. The researchers tried to understand what all these people had in common. What helped them to lose weight successfully? As it turned out, all the people believed that they would finally achieve their goal this time. Secondly, everyone faced changes in life. Some of them married, divorced or changed career. The others moved or renovated their house. Everybody who lost weight successfully faced not only internal changes but external changes as well.

Group session of psychologist

Artyom Andreyevich Ovechkin:

– Another rule. Let’s speak in turn. When I take the floor, I speak. When you take the floor, you speak. When five people are talking at the same time, no one is listening. We are here not to make noise to wake the dead. Do you accept the rules?

Yes!

Communication with a problematic person

Nikolay Ivanovich Kosenkov, member of Petrovskaya Academy of Sciences and Arts, Ph. D. of medical science

Nonconstructive methods can be used in communication if a person hasn’t got any problems. But this doesn’t occur often. A person often does not realize that he has some kind of problem! He believes that he is always late because of some embarrassing chain of events. If he is overweight, this it’s caused by bad genes. The person has no willpower to reduce food consumption and give up unhealthy habits. He blames the disruption of the endocrine system and anything else – except himself. As usual, this problem does not bother him. But when it affects others, they are trying to the point that to him in every possible way. People begin to use the following communication patterns, which ultimately do not lead to an awareness of the problem. If there is no awareness, then there is no solution, either.

The following are the methods of communication that we use in everyday life.

Nonconstructive methods of communication with a problematic person

1. Pushing a person to the independent solution of the problem:

– order;

– warning, threat;

– preaching;

– advice, proposals, interpretation;

– using logical arguments, lecturing.

2. Underlining of weaknesses and fails:

– criticism, accusation;

– the practice of naming and shaming;

– diagnosis, interpretation.

3. Attempt to improve well-being:

– praise, positive evaluation;

– consolation, encouragement.

4. Wrong questions:

– questions to gather additional information;

– questions to get away from the problem.

There are constructive means of conducting a conversation. They allow us to hear the person and understand his problem. The one who can listen is the best talker. These methods are presented below. We will learn to listen to each other and ourselves during our session.

Constructive methods of communication with a problematic person

1. Passive listening:

– keeping silence;

– empathic approval (“Uh-huh,” “Yeah, I understand,” nodding);

– “Gate-opening” (“Your story was so interesting. Would you mind to tell me something else?”).

2. Active listening:

pronouncing (the interlocutor repeats word for word statement of the partner. However, he can start with introductory phrases:

“From what I understand…”, “In other words…”, “In your opinion…”);

– paraphrasing (the interlocutor reproduces the statement of the partner in short, generalized form, summarizing the most significant things in his words. He can start with introductory phrases: “As I understood, your main ideas are…”, “So…”);

– the interlocutor tries to derive a logical consequence from the statements of the partner or to put forward an assumption regarding the reasons for the statement of the partner. At the same time, he can begin with an introductory phrase (“If we proceed from what you said, then it turns out that…”, “Apparently, you think so because…”).

Olga Vladimirovna Tsyganova, 28, economist, lost 110 lbs I was very lucky with the group. There were only nine of us, as it was a morning group. I felt like a part of the team. There was a pleasant and comfortable atmosphere. The others were very understanding. I was finally able to talk about things that bothered me. I listened to others and realized that I was not the only one in the world facing this problem. We’ve got everything in the class: laughter, tears, and interesting discussions. I went out inspired, charged with a lot of positive energy. That’s when I understood: “I can do it!”

Things leading to eating disorder

– Now we’ll discuss the following topic: “The typical scheme of eating disorder.”

– Should we write it down?

– Yes. You have to write it down. To make the explanation more entertaining, I’ll tell you a fairy-tale. Once good people told me a fairy-tale. Now I tell it from time to time at my sessions. It’s a story about a woman. Would you mind it, Victor?

– Me? No!

– Fine. So, it’s a fairy-tale about a woman. She is not twenty. She is not sixty… How old is she?

– Forty.

– OK. Forty. Fine. Her name was Zina. Has she got a family?

– Of course.

– It’s a nice fairy-tale. Husband and children?

– If the tale is nice, then she’s got all of them.

– Yes, she’s got a husband and children.

– ☺

– Who knows?

– So, Ksenya has got another idea: “Why are you so sure that the fairy-tale is kind-hearted if the woman has got a husband?” You should see Victor’s face now.☺

– ☺

– OK. She’s got a husband. How many children?

– Two.

– A couple of kids. What about pets? Cats or dogs?

– A cat.

– Sure.

– A cat. No dog. Right?

– ☺

– Right.

– No dog. So, the woman has got a cat, two children, and a husband. By the way, he is at the end of the list for some reason.

– ☺

– What does she do for a living?

– She is an accountant.

– Accountant as an option. Let’s generalize it. She works in the office. You know, there is a catchword “manager”, a person that you can find in every office.

– A manager.

– Yes, exactly. “A white-collar worker”. She is a manager. Has she got some excess weight at forty?

– Certainly.

– Of course, she gave birth to two kids.

Once, when the woman was cleaning her apartment, in some far corner, or maybe under a cabinet, she found something. Zina took it out, wiped the dust off. The last time she saw it was six months ago. It was her who pushed it under the cabinet in a fit of temper. A small tool on four legs.

– A weight scale?

– Yes. Zina puts it in front of her, on the floor. She wonders whether her weight has changed for the last six months. Zina feels in her heart that things go wrong.

– …and pushes the scale back under the cabinet…

– No, she doesn’t! She decides to check her weight with the scale.

Zina stands on scales measuring her weight and sees.

– Oh, I can imagine that…

– Just like in the song: “Amber saw the three-figure number”.

– ☺

– Did you watch the official video for the song?

– ☺

– It’s an amazing song. What’s its name? Let me check.

– “She stands on a scale”.

– Yes, precisely. It’s “She stands on a scale” song. If you haven’t watched it yet, search for it on Google. It’s really amazing. It’s a bit obscene, though.

– ☺

– Well, Zina stands on a scale and finds out that she gained twenty pounds. What does she think about it?

– It might be a mistake.

– Certainly! Perhaps the scale is out of order.

It’s dirty, dusty.

– Or she overate yesterday.

– Yeah, exactly! Besides, her clothes may be too heavy, right? Are your clothes heavy usually? Of course. Maybe Zina hasn’t gone for a dump yet.

– ☺

– …or hasn’t washed away all the make-up.

– So, she didn’t gain any weight. ☺

– Yes! Although it’s a bit upsetting, Zina forgot about it soon enough.

Another year passes by.

Zina stands on the scale again and finds out that she has gained another twenty pounds. Forty pounds in total. For illustrative purposes, I’ll demonstrate what it means when you gain forty pounds. Look at the corner of the room, please. Do you see the vessel for a water dispenser? Nineteen liters and a container. It weighs forty pounds or so.

Imagine that it’s not water, but fat plashing there.

The adipose tissue is riddled with blood and lymphatic vessels. The heart is beating, trying to push the blood through these numerous miles of capillary vessels. Your heart, joints, and spine are overloaded. To make it clearer, you carry the load on your shoulders. It is heavy. And this is how Zina walks now. She sleeps with the load, lays with it in the bed. Zina wakes up in the morning, cleans her teeth, takes a shower, goes to the kitchen, feeds her family, does all the chores, and then… Where does she go then? To the office. She works there all day long, running in and out. And the “heavy load” – her excess weight – accompanies her everywhere. She settled all the issues, typed on her computer, talked by phone. Finally, her working day is over. Where does Zina go then?