So Are You Committed To Do What It Takes?

In the first weight loss session I give clients a written homework assignment called My Slender For Life™ Commitment. I ask that they first read chapter 3 of Becoming Slender For Life and then watch Remember When before beginning to answer the questions. I ask that the client bring their Commitment with them to their second hypnosis weight loss session. My Slender For Life™ Commitment is this weeks reading from Becoming Slender For Life.

If you haven’t already written your commitment, I urge you to do so. If you have yours completed, get it out and update it. This is a commitment that you are making to yourself. The more heart and soul that you put into your commitment, the more power and impact it will have for you. For example: Goals for 10 years: “Travel“. OK, that’s nice. But a one word response like that doesn’t have much heart and soul – its not very motivating. Here is a response that someone recently wrote that has heart and soul and is much more motivating: “I travel several times each year to warm and sunny locations. I feel confident wearing shorts or a swim suit walking sanding beaches or even in shops in coastal communities. I love it that I can walk for hours or even rent a bike.” This response draws you in and you can imagine being their on the beach. For all you know about the first response, the travel might be to Walmart.

Abraham Lincoln said that commitment is what transforms a promise into reality. So, what is it about being at your goal weight that is so important to you that you are willing to go exercise? What is it about being at your goal weight that is so important to you that you are willing to eat plant-based food? What is it about being at your goal weight that is so important to you that you are willing to skip the muffins at Starbucks or the hotdog at Costco?

So are you committed to do what it takes?

Unfortunately, many weight-loss clients are not committed to making any real changes in their eating and exercise habits. It seems that most are looking to hypnosis as a magic pill to lose weight while maintaining their unhealthy eating habits and lack of exercise. This attitude is not a commitment: Let me drink the Slim Fast, get this weight off, and then I can go back to McDonald’s and my ol’ buddies Ben and Jerry. I describe true commitment as: I see this as a lifelong change in my relationship to myself and my relationship with food.

In the first weight loss session, I hand out the following written homework assignment called My Slender For Life™ Commitment. I ask that clients complete their Commitment over the week, make a copy for themselves and bring it to their second session. These questions are specifically ordered so that you start with ten years from now and work your way back to the present. I urge you to put your heart into completing this commitment that you are making to yourself. Put time and effort into this, do not rush through it.

You can download a printable version from www.slenderforlife.com.

Before beginning, go to www.slenderforlife.com or www.hypnosishealthinfo.com. On the right side of the page you will find a short video titled Remember When. Watch this video prior to completing your Commitment.

If you are working with a Slender For Life™ licensed weight loss coach, be sure that you make a copy of your Commitment. Keep one copy for yourself and keep it updated. Take the other copy to your second session. If you are reading this book on your own, feel free to email me your commitment (roger@hypnosishealthinfo.com) and I will be happy to read it. Remember, this is a COMMITMENT you are making to yourself.

My Slender For Life™ Commitment

Please write your health and wellness goals on separate paper or on your computer. Keep a copy for yourself and bring these goals with you to your second session. There is not enough room on this paper to answer these questions. Put some time and thought into your responses. Your goal is to live the rest of your life at your ideal weight. What will your life be like at your ideal weight? How will you feel about yourself? What physical activities will you be doing that you can not do now or how will your physical activities improve? Make sure that you sign and date your commitment.

Goals for Ten Years
Goals for Six Years
Goals for Three Years
Goals for One Year
Goals for Six Months
Goals for Two Months
Goals for One Month
Goals for One Week (What is it that I am willing to do to release at least two pounds this next week)

What are my obstacles?

Things That I Have Been Unable to Start
Things That I Have Been Unable to Change
Things That I Have Been Unable to Stop
Healthy Things That I Am Unwilling To Do To Meet My Weight Release Goal
What My Life Will Be Like In Ten Years If I Reach My Goal
What My Life Will Be Like In Ten Years If I Do Not Reach/ Maintain My Goal

Write out 52 Reasons for being at your goal weight. Post one
each week for the next year. (Bring a copy of this as well.)

Here are some examples of what clients have written:

Michael wrote: Goals for Three Years: “In three years I will be 60 years old, slender and physically fit. I will be in good enough shape to train and climb Mt. Rainier. I may decide that I don’t want to climb Mt. Rainier, but then it will be my choice. Right now, I do not have a choice; I am too fat to climb.”

Joann wrote: Goals for Ten Years: “I have weighed 135 lbs. with ease for almost ten years. I have no physical problems. My joints feel like I am in my 20s or 30s. I take numerous trips every year that center around physical activity, such as hiking, biking, skiing, walking. People mistake me for a woman much younger in years. Overeating, eating more than is good for me or more than my body needs, food cravings for sweets—these are habits from the distant past that I haven’t felt in years and years. It’s almost like that was another person who felt and acted that way. If people describe me to someone, they call me ‘that slim woman who loves to exercise.’ My ability to reach and maintain my weight has spilled over into other parts of my life. I have abundant energy and confidence. I pursue activities with gusto. I have the kind of body where my clothes look elegant, no matter what I have on. I can be dressed in jeans and a tee shirt, but they look chic on me.”

Joan continued on: Goals for Six Years: “I have weighed 135 for almost six years. I still remember that it was 2006 when I first made the commitment with Slender For Life™. Now it’s 2012. Some days it seems like just a very short time ago that I was worried about my weight, overeating, suffering from food cravings. Other days it’s hard to imagine that I was ever that way. I still catch my reflection in a mirror or window and marvel that it’s me. I think to myself: Hey, I’m not walking along worrying that I look too fat and wanting to make my self invisible.”

More from Joan: Goals for One Year: “I reached my goal of 135 lbs. Many friends and my husband kept thinking this was just a phase I was going through and soon I would begin eating fish and steaks again. I try to explain to them that it is not hard, that I feel so good that I don’t even think about eating any other way.”

What my life will be like in ten years if I reach my goal: “I will look much younger than my age. I will feel fantastic and vibrant and active and sexy. I will be healthy physically and mentally. I will have a life that includes a lot of physical activity. I will feel that I can go anywhere, do anything without feeling shy or inhibited by anything. I will have assumed the identity of a vibrant, good looking, active person. It will feel natural to me. I won’t even think about living any other way.”

What my life will be like in ten years if I do not reach my goal: “I will probably have health and joint problems, unable to get around so well. I will be grumpy because I won’t like the way I look and feel. That will make me angry, and I will not love myself. I will look older and not feel very sexy. I will feel inhibited in trying new things in life. I will feel self-conscious about my body. I will limit things that I do, like visiting our friends in Hawaii, because I might have to appear in a bathing suit. I will feel like I failed.”

Sonya wrote: Goals for six years: “I am turning 50 in the best shape of my life. I run, hike, participate in athletic events, keep up with my husband and am generally active every day.”

Sonya added: Goals for three years: “I have kept my weight off and am strong and fit. I can take on hikes with steep elevation gain and celebrate the view at the top. I have completely redone my wardrobe with hip, stylish clothes, size 8. I can shop in New York with my husband for the latest trends, knowing I will find clothes to fit. My husband can buy clothes for me…something he has wanted to do since we met.”

More from Sonya: Goals for one year: “I HAVE REACHED MY GOAL: For the first time in my life, on New Years Eve, I don’t make a resolution to lose weight. I am where I want to be. I am fit and strong. Exercise is no longer a should but something I look forward to. My relationship with food is healthy: food is a fuel and the most important tool to ensure I don’t get heart disease and die young. My body is fit and strong, and I am wearing a sexy black dress that drives my husband wild!”

Sonya added: Goals for six months: “I no longer feel deprived when I pass up rich or fattening food. I feel good knowing that I am fueling my body with what I need to live a long life. It has gotten a lot easier to have the right food on hand. It is summer and I am wearing shorts and swimsuits, hiking and swimming and have had enough weight loss to believe that I really can reach my goal.”

Lynn wrote: Goals for ten years: “I’m the coolest 62- year old grandmother. I weigh 125 pounds.” Goals for three years: “I have maintained my ideal weight. What a success! Food has totally ceased to be an obsession. Nutrition, exercise, self-hypnosis are automatic daily routines. Medication for hypertension is minimized or unnecessary.”

Lynn added: Goals for one year: “Almost there. My goal is in sight. I look and feel great. I’m motivated to continue to my goal. I’m proud of what I am accomplishing. I am no longer pre-diabetic. My doctor is impressed.” Goals for two months: “My eating patterns have become second nature. I enjoy my food choices and my exercise routine. I sleep well and expand self-hypnosis to help relive stress.”

What my life will be like in ten years if I reach my goal: I will be healthy, slim, happy, looking and feeling great, not old and creaky; I will have broken the family history cycle of adult onset diabetes and heart disease.”

Lynn summed it up like this. What my life will be like in ten years if I do not reach my goal: “I may not be here. I will have diabetes and heart disease.”

I discovered the following quote on my cup one day while enjoying a cup of coffee: “The irony of commitment is that it’s deeply liberating—in word, in play, in love. The act frees you from the tyranny of your internal critic, from the fear that likes to dress itself up and parade around as rational hesitation. To commit is to remove your head as the barrier to your life.” ~Anne Morriss (on a Starbucks cup)

Consider your Slender For Life™ Commitment to be a work in progress. Keep your head out of your way and stay focused on what you say is really important in your life. Periodically, revisit your Commitment and update it. Remember, it is your motivation that will propel you to be slender for the rest of your life.

Becoming Slender For Life, updated second edition,
pages 90 – 95

Are you committed to achieving your ideal weight? Are you willing to do what it takes? Is it really worth it to you? Remember, health is not a motivator. It’s what will you be doing with better health that will motivate you. Think about it: What is more motivating? “”I have better health,” or, “I am strong and healthy and I am excited to take my grandkids to Disneyland. I have the energy and physical ability to keep up with them.”

Make the commitment to yourself to transform your dream of living at your ideal weight into your reality.

Check out Slender For Life™ and call (206) 903-1232 or email for your free consultation.

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