Tag Archive for: positive thinking

Getting out of the All or Nothing mentality

by

Do you find yourself swinging back and forth between good and bad days? One day you do everything “perfect” and the next day is a complete disaster? When you’re doing good, everything is easy and you’re making the right food choices, exercising and feeling great. When you’re doing bad, all the comfort foods sneak back in, the exercise goes out the window and the guilt and self-loathing starts creeping in. It’s a dangerous and slippery slope. Maybe you’ve even had good and bad weeks or good and bad months. The all-or-nothing game is not only unhealthy but it’s exhausting and it will never, ever work. Read that again: the all-or-nothing mentality does not work. Aren’t you ready to try a new approach and get out of the feeling of being trapped?

You can achieve your goals!

Why all-or-nothing doesn’t work

If you’ve started identifying certain foods as “good” or “bad,” then you’ve already assigned a negative energy to the “bad” foods. That means if YOU eat that food, you are also bad (in your subconscious mind that is). After all, anyone who is good will only eat good foods, right? If you’ve tried this road before, you already know the way it goes. No one can eat perfectly “good” all the time. So when you’re in the “good” phase and you eat a “bad” food, you’re already beating yourself up before you even clean up the plate. Then, the guilt, shame and negative self-talk starts. Why did I do that? Why did I mess up? Now I feel bad.  Well, since I messed up a little, I might as all go for it. What other “bad” food do I want? And before you know it, you’re out of control and back in the “bad” day, week or month phase.

It’s a viscous cycle that will never be broken unless you start looking at your food and yourself in a different way.  Because really, it’s not even about the food. It’s about you!

Stop the old thinking

Remember, the thoughts you have now are creating your future. Telling yourself that you’re not good enough hasn’t worked for years and will only set you up for a future of not feeling good enough. What if you are good enough right now? Get out of the negative self-talk.  It will never serve your greater good and it will never help you feel better.

If you catch yourself slipping down the self-loathing slope, STOP your thought. Replace it with a more positive thought. Try these positive affirmations. Repeat over and over until you start to feel better:

  • I am who I am and who I am is okay!
  • Today is a new day and a new beginning, a chance to be whomever I want to be.
  • I let go of old limitations. I am at peace with myself. I am motivated!
  • I forgive those who have harmed me in my past and peacefully detach from them.
  • I am in the process of making positive changes in all areas of my life.

Law of Attraction

Reward yourself (yes, it’s okay!)

This goes completely against where you were before so brace yourself. See your “good” foods as the nutrient-dense and health-filled choices you make every day to support your journey towards better health. Then, look at your “bad” foods as a reward food or comfort food to treat yourself for all the great work you’ve done all week.

Start with a “treat day” once a week. Choose one favorite drink and one favorite food. (No, you can’t fill your cart with a week’s worth of junk and gorge yourself all day. It doesn’t work like that!) Get the best quality and most expensive version of your favorite food because you deserve the very best. Eat that food with pride and joy.

Whoah!  Stop right there! That’s a real head spinner if you’ve been beating yourself up for eating that “bad” food all these years. How can you suddenly be rewarded for something you always thought saw as your weakness or a mistake?

You’re only 100% human. No one is asking you to be 100% perfect. Do you know anyone who has never made a mistake? Forgive yourself for any and all mistakes you made in the past. You are worthy! The future is where your power lies. You’re doing the very best you can, and when you know more, you will do better! Changing the way you look at yourself will help you to change the way you look at your food, and that will also help you to change the way you look at yourself. Get it? 😉 Good!

You only get a treat day if you’ve done good all week. That’s how it works.

After 1 month, spread out your “treat day” to once every 2 weeks. You can also use your reward day for a party, wedding or special occasion, but in general it’s best to choose to same day, say Friday or Saturday. After 3 months, you’re ready to have just one treat day per month. Life is quite comfortable and joyful when you still occasionally get to indulge.

Remember, one treat day per month means that 353 days per year you are eating well. 12 days per year you’re rewarding yourself for a job well done. Over the course of your life, can you see where the power lies? You’re doing SO MUCH GOOD for your body and your health! Inhale, exhale. You can do this!

(Here’s the real secret: Over time, you won’t have to count your reward days because you will naturally make the right choices and eventually you won’t even want those reward foods anymore. It happens organically and easily when you change the way you think!)

4-hour or 4-minute or 4-second diets will never work because they keep you in the instant result mindset. Think healthy habits for a long and happy life instead!

How to stop the cycle

If you need a good reminder & support, print out the next section and put it on your fridge or vision board:

  1. One Green Smoothie a day is better than none.
  2. 20 minutes of exercise is better than none.
  3. One raw food meal (salad, green juice or smoothie) per day is better than none.
  4. You can’t get results if you don’t start. Sooner is better than later.
  5. Never give up. Always try your best. If you get off track, go back to #1.

You can break the cycle of the all or nothing mentality. No one is born an expert. Everyone has to work hard to get results. But, you have to do the work and you have to work at it every day.  It’s okay to reward yourself for a job well done. You are the master of your destiny. You have the power to create the life you want. Start by loving yourself …..and watch as the transformation unfolds.

For more on how to achieve your health goals and actually start feeling great, book a private health consult with me via Skype.

How to Book Your Health & Nutritional Coaching Session:

1. Take photos of your eyes with a digital camera.
2. Email the photos to me for approval.
3. We schedule a time to meet via phone or Skype!

More on Manifestation:

More on Motivation:

Getting out of the All or Nothing mentality

by

Do you find yourself swinging back and forth between good and bad days? One day you do everything “perfect” and the next day is a complete disaster? When you’re doing good, everything is easy and you’re making the right food choices, exercising and feeling great. When you’re doing bad, all the comfort foods sneak back in, the exercise goes out the window and the guilt and self-loathing starts creeping in. It’s a dangerous and slippery slope. Maybe you’ve even had good and bad weeks or good and bad months. The all-or-nothing game is not only unhealthy but it’s exhausting and it will never, ever work. Read that again: the all-or-nothing mentality does not work. Aren’t you ready to try a new approach and get out of the feeling of being trapped?

You can achieve your goals!

Why all-or-nothing doesn’t work

If you’ve started identifying certain foods as “good” or “bad,” then you’ve already assigned a negative energy to the “bad” foods. That means if YOU eat that food, you are also bad (in your subconscious mind that is). After all, anyone who is good will only eat good foods, right? If you’ve tried this road before, you already know the way it goes. No one can eat perfectly “good” all the time. So when you’re in the “good” phase and you eat a “bad” food, you’re already beating yourself up before you even clean up the plate. Then, the guilt, shame and negative self-talk starts. Why did I do that? Why did I mess up? Now I feel bad.  Well, since I messed up a little, I might as all go for it. What other “bad” food do I want? And before you know it, you’re out of control and back in the “bad” day, week or month phase.

It’s a viscous cycle that will never be broken unless you start looking at your food and yourself in a different way.  Because really, it’s not even about the food. It’s about you!

Stop the old thinking

Remember, the thoughts you have now are creating your future. Telling yourself that you’re not good enough hasn’t worked for years and will only set you up for a future of not feeling good enough. What if you are good enough right now? Get out of the negative self-talk.  It will never serve your greater good and it will never help you feel better.

If you catch yourself slipping down the self-loathing slope, STOP your thought. Replace it with a more positive thought. Try these positive affirmations. Repeat over and over until you start to feel better:

  • I am who I am and who I am is okay!
  • Today is a new day and a new beginning, a chance to be whomever I want to be.
  • I let go of old limitations. I am at peace with myself. I am motivated!
  • I forgive those who have harmed me in my past and peacefully detach from them.
  • I am in the process of making positive changes in all areas of my life.

Law of Attraction

Reward yourself (yes, it’s okay!)

This goes completely against where you were before so brace yourself. See your “good” foods as the nutrient-dense and health-filled choices you make every day to support your journey towards better health. Then, look at your “bad” foods as a reward food or comfort food to treat yourself for all the great work you’ve done all week.

Start with a “treat day” once a week. Choose one favorite drink and one favorite food. (No, you can’t fill your cart with a week’s worth of junk and gorge yourself all day. It doesn’t work like that!) Get the best quality and most expensive version of your favorite food because you deserve the very best. Eat that food with pride and joy.

Whoah!  Stop right there! That’s a real head spinner if you’ve been beating yourself up for eating that “bad” food all these years. How can you suddenly be rewarded for something you always thought saw as your weakness or a mistake?

You’re only 100% human. No one is asking you to be 100% perfect. Do you know anyone who has never made a mistake? Forgive yourself for any and all mistakes you made in the past. You are worthy! The future is where your power lies. You’re doing the very best you can, and when you know more, you will do better! Changing the way you look at yourself will help you to change the way you look at your food, and that will also help you to change the way you look at yourself. Get it? 😉 Good!

You only get a treat day if you’ve done good all week. That’s how it works.

After 1 month, spread out your “treat day” to once every 2 weeks. You can also use your reward day for a party, wedding or special occasion, but in general it’s best to choose to same day, say Friday or Saturday. After 3 months, you’re ready to have just one treat day per month. Life is quite comfortable and joyful when you still occasionally get to indulge.

Remember, one treat day per month means that 353 days per year you are eating well. 12 days per year you’re rewarding yourself for a job well done. Over the course of your life, can you see where the power lies? You’re doing SO MUCH GOOD for your body and your health! Inhale, exhale. You can do this!

(Here’s the real secret: Over time, you won’t have to count your reward days because you will naturally make the right choices and eventually you won’t even want those reward foods anymore. It happens organically and easily when you change the way you think!)

4-hour or 4-minute or 4-second diets will never work because they keep you in the instant result mindset. Think healthy habits for a long and happy life instead!

How to stop the cycle

If you need a good reminder & support, print out the next section and put it on your fridge or vision board:

  1. One Green Smoothie a day is better than none.
  2. 20 minutes of exercise is better than none.
  3. One raw food meal (salad, green juice or smoothie) per day is better than none.
  4. You can’t get results if you don’t start. Sooner is better than later.
  5. Never give up. Always try your best. If you get off track, go back to #1.

You can break the cycle of the all or nothing mentality. No one is born an expert. Everyone has to work hard to get results. But, you have to do the work and you have to work at it every day.  It’s okay to reward yourself for a job well done. You are the master of your destiny. You have the power to create the life you want. Start by loving yourself …..and watch as the transformation unfolds.

For more on how to achieve your health goals and actually start feeling great, book a private health consult with me via Skype.

How to Book Your Health & Nutritional Coaching Session:

1. Take photos of your eyes with a digital camera.
2. Email the photos to me for approval.
3. We schedule a time to meet via phone or Skype!

More on Manifestation:

More on Motivation:

Why you shouldn’t weigh yourself during a detox

by

Have you started your detox, finally (hooray!)…but find yourself checking the scale twice or more daily? Are you feeling disappointed that the numbers are not dropping as fast as you expected? Read on to find out why you should NOT weight yourself during your detox. And don’t worry, you’ll still get the results you want by the end!

All information in this article is for educational purposes only.
It is not for the diagnosis, treatment, prescription or cure of any disease or health condition.
If you're checking the scale too much during your detox, it's time to get yourself in check!

If you’re checking the scale too much during your detox,
it’s time to get yourself in check!

I’ve literally worked with thousands of men and woman doing different types of detox programs over the years – from juice fasting to boot camp style detox to raw food cleanses to vegan cooked food to smoothie & superfood detox programs. And I can tell you the biggest mistake that nearly every first-time (and sometimes second and third-time too) faster does: they weight themselves constantly during their detox. After a bowel movement? Check the scale. Morning enema? Weight check. Afternoon yoga class? Better see if those downward dogs dropped any extra kilo, just in case! Evening meditation? Maybe quantum physics works for weight loss too…? Do you find yourself constantly weighing yourself, hoping for a certain number to reveal itself as the days advance on your program?

Why you shouldn’t weigh yourself during a detox

It’s totally normal to want to see how much weight you’ve lost while you’re fasting or cleansing, so don’t feel bad! But actually, that’s exactly the problem that you set yourself up for if you do start weighing yourself too much and that is that you can really feel bad IF you are not losing as much weight as you think you should, and especially if you find yourself comparing to what other fasters are losing. “Man, that guy in Room 8 lost 10 KILOS already and I only lost 3 – what is wrong with me?!” Sounds familiar?

What happens during a detox

You should lose weight on your program if you follow the instructions. See more on that below. But, here’s the deal: when you detox, you might retain water for a day or two as your body creates inflammation during a healing crisis or cleansing reaction. During that time, the scale might “appear” to not move, but suddenly on the 4th day, you will see that you lost 3 or 4 pounds in one day as the water is released. There are also times when you simply retain water from an enema so you can actually “appear” to gain weight, but the following day (or later that night) your kidneys will pee all the excess fluid out. From Day 1 to Day 7 or Day 14 or Day Beautiful (however long you fast), you will see that you’ve lost weight, even if the scale goes up and down in between.

The danger of weighing yourself too much

What number you see on the scale should never define you and it should definitely not distract you from enjoying the wonderful experience of feeling your body get cleaner during a detox. If you focus too much on the scales, you can start to feel bad. Really bad. You might start to doubt your intentions, or feel guilty that you aren’t losing as much as someone else, or feel overwhelmed with disappointment that you won’t hit the number you want by the end. Feeling bad can make you lose focus, and even become tempted to cheat or give up. It also splits your energy. Instead of focusing your mind of the fantastic pure and perfect person that you are, you start thinking less-than-perfect thoughts of yourself. Remember, your thoughts create an energy that your physical body will follow. Can you imagine what will happen if you are stuck on a thought like, “I’m too fat,” or “I’m not losing weight?”

More than ever, detox time is a time to think only loving and positive thoughts of yourself. Spend your time visualizing yourself in the perfect weight and health that you want. Can you see how much more power you give yourself to make long-lasting change with thoughts like, “I am beautiful” and “I feel good with my body”?

When to weigh yourself

If you want to check the scales, weigh yourself on Day 1 and on the last day of your program (so that means 2 times total) and that’s it! What happens in between is as much of an emotional and spiritual journey as it is physical. Open yourself to the process and experience your program to the fullest. Doing a detox is the best gift you can give yourself! Congratulate yourself of taking the time out and for putting yourself as a priority in your life. You will benefit from the experience for the rest of your life!

Stick to the program

If your main goal is to lose weight, then it’s really important to follow the instructions for your detox program. That means if your detox says “1 carrot juice per day,” you can have 1 carrot juice per day, not 3 carrot juices per day. If it says, “last meal or drink at 8pm,” you shouldn’t be having your last meal or drink at 11pm. This sounds pretty logical but you would be surprised how many times someone came to me and said, “This program doesn’t work,” only to find that they were not actually following the instructions and adding a few extras in on their own. I’ve even had people tell me that they added a bit of food to their program, because they like it or feel better that way. Well that’s okay with me really. Just remember, don’t blame the scale!

Detox Tip: If you find yourself feeling really hungry on your detox, then drink water with fresh-squeezed lemon juice or a bit of raw apple cider vinegar. It helps to cut the hunger, keeps your pH alkaline and is low in calories too – a win for your detox goals and for you weight loss goals too!

Inhale, exhale …look up to the sky and FEEL the love and gratitude for your detox time!

Inhale, exhale …look up to the sky and FEEL the love and gratitude for your detox time!

Stay focused!

I work a lot with my clients and fasters during all types of detox programs to use the power of their mind to stay focused during their cleanse. Why? If you can control your thoughts, stay focused and feel positive during your detox, you are much more likely to continue your success and keep the weight off after your detox. If your mind is scattered and you’re thinking negative thoughts, then you set yourself up for going back to all your bad habits when you start eating again. Take advantage of your detox time, and make a mental “reset or reboot.” Visualize yourself making the very best foods choices and feeling healthy and beautiful. Set your intentions and use the power of affirmations to create the reality you want in life. Combining a physical cleanse with mental focus gives you amazing results. Here’s to a healthy, gorgeous you!

For more on how to start a raw food diet, how to do a detox at home or what minerals you may specifically be deficient in, book a private health consult with me via Skype.

How to Book Your Health & Nutritional Coaching Session:

1. Take photos of your eyes with a digital camera.
2. Email the photos to me for approval.
3. We schedule a time to meet via phone or Skype!

More on Manifestation and Weight Loss:

How I got a Book Deal using the Law of Attraction

by

Have you seen the movie The Secret? By now, everyone has watched it, it’s old news and the “Law of Attraction” has already come and gone as a passing fad. But wait! It actually does work and I’m going to share an amazing story which will hopefully lift your spirits and keep you thinking about setting your goals and intentions for this life.

Power of Positive Thinking, Affirmations, Manifestation – that’s The Secret!

The Law of Attraction works like this: Focus your mind on what you want instead of what you don’t want, and watch the universe actually start to fill your mental orders. Suddenly it’s easier to meet the people you need to meet and to be at the right place at the right time to find what you were looking for and on and on it goes…creating the life that you want with the very power of your thoughts. Manifesting, setting goals and intentions, visualization and guided meditation all are ways to use the Law of Attraction. Since most people are too busy thinking about what they don’t want in life, they simply attract more of what they don’t want: bad relationships, money problems, dead-end jobs, and daily struggles. As Esther Hicks says in the film, “what you put your mind to becomes a reality.” Change the way you think, and your life will change.

The Secret DVD

How did it work for me? I first watched The Secret 7 years ago when I was living in a bungalow on the beach in Thailand. Someone brought me the original movie from the USA before it become mainstream and said, “Jennifer, you have to watch this…it’s amazing!” I looked at the cover with this special writing and I was excited to find out what was the secret! I watched the stories of creating vision boards and seeing years later as things came true, and I thought, “Wow, I want to try that!” It sounded so cool, and after all, I had nothing to lose!

The next step was to decide, well what do I want? That can be a hard question actually! Do you focus on small things, big things…where do you begin? And I remembered the story from the Chicken Soup for the Soul guy and he dreamed of getting his first big paycheck. I think he even wrote a fake check to himself just to hang on the wall. So I thought ok, I can do something like that. And this is what I did:

After watching The Secret, I created this Best Seller List for my vision board

Yes, this New York Times Bestseller list is FAKE. I made it for my vision board! I decided to put myself at the #1 spot on the chart as a way to motivate myself to write a book, and of course become a successful author too! I simply went online and found a current bestseller list, and with a quick print screen and change in photoshop, I instantly got to the top of the book charts. Well, in my mind! I have to laugh at myself because I even put a fake date on it – I decided to hit the bestseller list on the day before my birthday as a gift to myself…I gave myself a few years to complete the project and picked the year 2011.

Remember: According to The Secret, you don’t have to know how you are going to do something or when you are going to get something, you just have to know that it will happen.

So here’s the amazing thing. I printed this bestseller jpg and I hung it on my wall in my office/bungalow/house. Every day when I sat at my desk I would see my name and my book with the red circle around it and take a minute to visualize my success. Clients and friends who came to my house would sometimes notice it and say, “Wow, Jennifer I didn’t know you wrote a book!” I used to laugh and say, “Well…not yet. That’s part of my vision board.”

Over time, the paper started to get dirty and worn. I lived right on the beach so it was hard to keep things looking clean. About 2 years later I took the picture down, but I kept it in my files. And honestly, I totally and completely forgot about it.

Fast-forward to present day, another 5 years later, and my best friend is now totally into The Secret, watching it all the time. She’s putting signs in her house that say “We got another check!” and “We made another sale!” and her online sales have been going through the roof (she sells stuff on ebay and amazon). Every few days, she tells me another success story from her positive affirmations. And I laugh.. It’s fun! But still, I had totally forgotten my little vision board that I created years before.

Then, the unexpected happened. Or the expected…depending on which camp you are in! I arrived to Israel after many months of traveling through Central and South America with no real plan for work besides my Skype consultations and eBook sales, moving to one of the most expensive cities in the world – Tel Aviv – thinking “what am I going to do here?” Yeah, I know…I am an existential stream-of-consciousness type of being. Not many people can live like me!

Within 5 days of arriving to Israel, I received an email from a publisher in New York, USA. Out of the blue! The email said: “We want to talk to you about writing a book on Green Smoothies. Let’s meet ASAP.” Well, Ok! We had a phone meeting and several emails went back and forth, then I proposed a Table of Contents and a Partial Sample Chapter, and 3 months later I received the contracts in the mail to sign with Wiley Publishers for my first book deal ever, with an advance!

A book on the same exact subject I entered in that New Your Times Bestseller list: Green Smoothies!!!!

What you focus your mind on becomes reality…that’s the power of the Secret!

Even at that point, I still had forgotten about my old vision board. It wasn’t until I was in the middle of a conversation with my friend about all of her manifested ebay sales when I thought, “WAIT!” I think I made something about writing a book! I had to dig through my old computer backup files since the computer I used had long since passed away, but sure enough, I found the New York Times jpg! What you see is exactly what I made 7 years ago.

I hadn’t seen that jpg in years, but there it was….and I really had to say “Thank You!” to myself for creating such a clear and strong vision and for having the faith to take a leap and put the power of creating in my mind. Wow!

So, do I fail if I do not make it to #1 on the NYT bestseller list? I don’t think so and I hope you don’t think so either! It’s like the Chicken Soup guy…I think his first check was a few thousand below what he visualized, but was he upset? No way! He was over the moon to see his dreams realized! And I am too! The only way to explain what and why this happened is from that original seed that I planted in my mind. And if not, well, it’s a good story to tell and share!

I’ve now gotta write a 288 page book and I’m nervous and excited but I know that my mind is the key to get this job completed on time and to write something that will help others in their journey to enjoying Green Smoothies and better health and well-being as a result.

And yes, I am now working on a new vision board to create some new and exciting manifestations ahead!!

You can create your own vision board at home. First, think about what you want to achieve or how you want to feel. Really allow yourself to feel that you have already achieved that goal. Start by cutting out pictures or printing out sayings and add them to your board. Put the board in a place that you can see it for at least a few minutes every day. When you look at your board, align your thoughts with the images or words and allow yourself to feel the feeling of accomplishment. Soon, you will be celebrating your success too!

And here’s the book: Green Smoothie for Dummies

Literally, I "wrote the book" on Green Smoothies!

I “wrote the book” on Green Smoothies, literally!

Sip your way to ultimate nutrition and feel better than ever!

Whether you’re looking to detox, lose weight, or just add more veggies to your diet, green smoothies are the way to go. Easy to prepare, portable, and endlessly customizable, green smoothies are the trendy new beverage in everyone’s cup. Green smoothies are the easiest, most painless way to add more nutrients to your diet, so you can feel better than ever before.

Green Smoothies For Dummies is your beginner’s guide to the world of drinkable greens. Author and international smoothie guru Jennifer Thompson explains the benefits of green smoothies, and provides over 100 recipes that will make you start craving your vegetables. You’ll get to know the flavors and properties of each ingredient, and how to combine ingredients for complete nutrition. Available on amazon.com or the iTunes store.

Other good books on the Law of Attraction are by Napoleon Hill, Wallace Wattles and Esther Hicks:

Do you have a good Law of Attraction success story? I look forward to reading your comments below!

More on Manifestation: