It’s the official beginning of the holidays! Yay!

It is also the beginning of the onslaught of highly tempting food and drinks…Yikes!

Here in our Thin Thinking community, I personally do not want all of you to fall into those holiday traps and lose in your weight mastery journey. I want you, this holiday season, to enjoy yourself and your time with your family and friends without getting off track with your weight management.

In episode 37 of Thin Thinking, I am bringing you Thin thinking Holiday dos and don’ts to stay on track this season.

Join me and let’s get this healthy holiday season all wrapped up with a big Weight Mastery bow.

Also, I want to remind you about our Black Friday Special 30% off all weight loss hypnosis downloads in our Shift Store: https://shop.shiftweightmastery.com –please use the coupon code SLIMFRIDAY upon checking out and enjoy a slimming holiday season!

You can also have a smoking-free holiday when you grab my Smokefree123 Hypnosis-Based Smoking Cessation Program which is 50% off this Black Friday. Visit https://www.smokefree123.com/regularly-priced-program and use the coupon code: 123Savings to enroll in this wonderful online program that you can do from the safety of your own home in your own time frame.

In This Episode, You'll Learn:

Subscribe and Review

Have you subscribed to the podcast yet? If not, go ahead and click the ‘subscribe’ button for your favorite podcast platform! You don’t want to miss a single episode.

If you enjoyed this episode, it would be very helpful to us if you would leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. This review helps people who are on the same weight loss journey as you to find us and soak up all the wonderful insights and lessons I have to offer.

If you aren’t sure how to leave a review in Apple Podcasts/iTunes, view our tutorial by clicking here.

Subscribe and Never Miss an Episode

Transcription

Rita Black: If weight loss is your goal, the holidays can be a difficult time. Am I right? But it doesn't have to be that way. In this episode of Thin Thinking, I am bringing you Thin Thinking Holiday do's and don'ts to stay on track this holiday season. So come join me and let's get this healthy holiday season all wrapped up.

Rita Black: Did you know that our struggle with weight doesn't start with the food on your plate or get fixed in the gym? 80% of our weight struggle is mental. That's right, the key to unlocking long-term weight release and management begins in your mind. Hi there, I'm Rita Black. I'm a clinical hypnotherapist, weight loss expert, best-selling author, and the creator of the Shift Weight Mastery Process. And not only have I helped thousands of people over the past 20 years achieve long-term weight mastery, I am also a former weight struggler, carb addict, and binge eater. And after two decades of failed diets and fad weight loss programs, I lost 40 pounds with the help of hypnosis. Not only did I release all that weight, I have kept it off for 25 years. Enter the Thin Thinking Podcast where you too will learn how to remove the mental roadblocks that keep you struggling. I'll give you the thin thinking tools, skills, and insights to help you develop the mindset you need. Not only to achieve your ideal weight, but to stay there long-term and live your best life. Sound good? Let's get started.

Rita Black: Hi everyone. Hey, Hey. Hey, ho, ho, ho. We are starting the official beginning of the holidays. So, how has your spirits so far? Are you excited or are you more of a Grinch type? Or are you just tired? Can I say, I think the holidays this year are just going to fly by so fast. I mean, if there are anything like last year, I know I work hard at self-care and I coach my members to really focus on their self self-care inside my community. But even with all that mindfulness about self-care, we can fall into traps.

Rita Black: A lot of people start the holiday season with great intentions. I'm going to be really healthy this holiday season. But then we get caught up in the business of the holidays and then there's all the food. And then, oh man, I blew it and I'm going to start again in the new year. So I'll just going to let loose. And the problem is with that is that, you know, really, it might seem easier like, oh, why bother? Why stay so focused? I'm so overwhelmed with everything else. I'm just not going to think about it. And I will think about it in the new year, but the problem is when you are feeling stuffed, when you're feeling that imbalance with all the extra carbs and you're gaining weight, it's really hard to truly enjoy yourself. Let's face it. I mean, we feel bad about ourselves. Our head is like 24/7 critical negative self-talk. So, that's why we need a good dose of thin thinking with a little tensile sprinkled on top. Remember the tensile. Do you remember tensile? I mean, when did, I don't even remember when they took it off the market and I'm sure there was very good reasons to take it off the market, but it was so cool. You know, you could throw it up at the tree and it would come down and you'd be all shimmery, but it also was annoying. I would find those silver strands behind the couch for months and months after the holidays. Oh, there's that piece of tensile. So, that's a real throwback. So today is a double-headed coaching session. I blended two coaching sessions into one to give you the best way to make it through the holiday seasons, really with a powerful mindset.

Rita Black: And also if you are listening to this, the week of Thanksgiving of 2021, until the week, till the Friday after, we do have a black Friday special going on, I just wanted to alert you to that. It's awesome special. It's 30% all the downloads in the Shift Shop, and there's a lots of great downloads that are weight management tools, hypnosis sessions. Some of them also have coaching sessions accompanying them. So go on in, an, there in the show notes is the link and it also has the coupon that you want to use, the coupon code, to get the reduction in price. There's also 50% off my online self-studies hypnosis based smoking cessation program called Smokefree123 and there's a coupon code especially for that for 50% off. So just see the links and the coupon codes in the show notes and okay, lets sleigh ride over the river and through the woods to today's coaching session.

Rita Black: Hey there everyone and happy holiday season. I'm wearing my ugly holiday sweater and I am here also to just give you some mind techniques to help elevate your commitment and your tenacity with your weight management, your weight mastery during the holiday season. My guess is that you want to maintain your weight or release weight over the holiday season. You don't want to go through the holiday season gaining weight. So, I'm going to give you these three tips that I just think are key, having helped people manage their weight for over 20 years. I think these are three of the best tools that you can use to have a happy holiday season, really enjoy yourself at the same time, stay consistent.

Rita Black: One. I think one of the, before we get into this one, the biggest challenges is that we disconnect from ourselves over the holiday season when we start overeating. We'll start overeating, we'll start feeling bad about ourselves. And then we'll just kind of throw in the towel and say, oh, I blew it. I'm just going to start again January 1st. But the problem with that is that then you lose the holiday season, right? Because then you're feeling bad about yourself. You're sort of disconnected and you, and the best feeling in the world is that feeling of connection with yourself. When you're in line with yourself, when you're in line with everybody around you, you can be connected to everybody around you because you are connected in a powerful way to yourself. And I really believe that weight management, the key, the heart and soul of weight management, isn't about being good. It isn't about being disciplined, but it's about powerfully communicating with yourself. So having said that, let's jump into our three slim holiday habits. Shall we?

Rita Black: So, the first holiday habit I would say is to move every day. That's right. Move every day. Why? Well, there's a few reasons and not just the obvious reasons of like burning calories, which yes, of course moving does burn calories. But, but it elevates your mood, it's it. And, and when we're exercising, it is one of the best times to strategize and problem solve. So we want you to take that 10 minutes, that 15 minutes, that hour, that half hour to exercise. And when I say move everyday, I don't mean you have to go to the gym and workout for an hour. I mean, go for a 10-minute walk. I mean, get outside or do something where you're just moving your body where your mind and body are connected, because this is the best way to stay connected to yourself and a problem solving solution see. It's also often a meditative time when we exercise. It gives us that time to sort of get away from everybody and everything, all the hubbub of the holiday and just, and just think things through, to process things. So, give yourself that time to move everyday, not just for the exercise, but for what it does for your mind-body connection and how it connects you powerfully to yourself.

Rita Black: The next one, and this is one of my favorites, is the pre-party huddle. Now what I mean by that? And if any of you have been in my weight mastery community or done the shift, any of the processes that I do, you know the concept of our inner coach. And so I say the pre-party huddle because it gives you a chance to sit down with your inner coach, the part of you that wants you to leave that party, having, you know, enjoyed yourself, eaten in a way and whatever, you know, if you drink alcohol in a way that it didn't take you overboard, but it allowed you to stay consistently moving forward. So, any time that you go to a party, the challenge that's coming up is when we go into a party situation, it's a very stimulating environment. And when our brains are super stimulated, often what we'll do is we'll get overwhelmed. And when we're overwhelmed, our willpower really diminishes greatly.

Rita Black: So, they've done research and they've seen that when when we're being social or out in party situations, we, on eat average 250 to 500 extra calories at those events, or even more. So, what you want to do is sit down with yourself before the party and have really imagined yourself leaving that party, feeling light, feeling good. Like you stayed in line with your, your, your goals and objectives for that party. And hopefully, you aren't just going to the party to eat. Hopefully you have a higher level objective, which is to connect with family and friends and to share and have a good time, maybe dance, sing songs and carols, or what have you. I know I certainly love singing Christmas carols and wearing silly holiday clothes. So, so really think through, and, and really think about your vulnerability in that party. Like when you've gone to parties in the past, you know, what a coach will do is say, well, where are you going to fall short? You know, so that we can think this through ahead of time, we can practice that moment. So, if you're somebody who maybe has a drink, but then is prone to having a few more drinks after that, maybe think through with your inner coach, how are you going to have one drink and then maybe have non-alcoholic options after, and really think through that moment of where your brain's going to say, well, should we have another drink? And you're saying, no, ahead time to yourself in a way that isn't about saying, no, you can't have it, but no, remember we want to leave this party feeling good about ourselves, right?

Rita Black: And the same thing with food, or if you're going into a party where maybe the hostess likes to force food on you, you know, there's a lot of people forcing food on us over the holiday season. Practice saying no, or no thank you. Or, oh, that looks really great. I'll hit that later and then not hitting it later. So, really practice those moments ahead of time, think them through, because when you practice it ahead of time, it really does create a little pathway in your brain that helps you when you're in that very stimulated environment to navigate through it.

Rita Black: Okay. And then the last one is practicing stimulus control all through the holiday seasons. And stimulus control, for those of you, again, who are unfamiliar with me and the skills of weight mastery is one of the most powerful skills because, I mean, almost 60 or 70% of weight management is contingent upon stimulus control. If it's not in your environment, your brain isn't tempted by it. Our brain, what, a lot of what drives cravings is dopamine. Our brain will see a food that is like a trigger food or a food that it perceives like, Ooh, that's yummy. And that looks like a reward and it will start to get excited. It will start to, you know, go, I want that. I want that. I want that. I want that. And will give you that sort of agitated feeling. And it becomes very hard to resist once that brain has really engaged with that food, whether it's in a cupboard or in it, and on the counter. So really think through your strategy about how you're going to keep your trigger foods out of your home. Like, if you're a peppermint bark person or, you know, all these multitudes of foods that are around holiday season, if it is attempting food for you, do your best to keep it out of your house, or at least keep it out of your eyesight during the holiday season. And, and to that degree, stimulus control, making sure you have healthy foods in your environment that you can reach for instead healthy treats and snacks that you know, that aren't gonna take you off the rails, but keep you consistent with your weight management goals.

Rita Black: So let's go through now, the three, the three habits that are fattening so that you can avoid those. And I'm going to give you a little tip to not only avoid them, but what to do instead so that you can really get the most out of these next couple of weeks and stay connected and present, and have a fantastic holiday season and get to the new year and be ready for a fabulous new year.

Rita Black: So fattening habit, number one, we're hoping and trying to be good during the holiday season. Now, if you haven't noticed, hoping and trying when it comes to our brain, our brain does not understand hope or try. It really basically when we're hoping or trying to be good, we're basically telling our brain blah-blah-blah blah-blah-blah-blah. You remember those old Charlie brown cartoons where the teacher, all the kids heard was blah-blah-blah-blah-blah? Well, that's kind of what also happens when it comes to managing our weight and hoping and trying to be good in the holiday season. It just means blah-blah-blah. So, you want to have a plan. So, even if your plan is, I am maintaining my weight through the holiday season, or I am exercising and making healthy choices every single day during the holiday season. If I'm releasing weight during the holiday season, I'm releasing a pound per week for the holiday season. You want to have a clear, specific goal, and you want to be committed to that goal. You want to commit and not hope or try. I'm committed to making healthy food choices at every meal. I'm committed to exercising four days a week. I'm committed to maintaining my weight through the holiday season. Anything, the more specific the directions are putting in this wonderful thing we call up here, our brain, the more the brain is going to serve you and work for you and not against you. Because hoping and trying is just basically dialing in the exact same thing. That's happened every single holiday season. So, don't hope or try, have a plan. Okay.

Rita Black: The next thing, people pleasing, oh my goodness. This is the time of year where everybody is feeling loving and we want to people-please all over the place. Here is the thing, if you do not have a plan, the world has one for you. And, we need to plan first to please ourselves, to take care of ourselves. And I'm not meaning in a selfish way, but I mean, when we take care of ourselves, then we can actually connect to other people and be of more service to them instead of sitting in our own funk, when we're not feeling connected to ourselves, but this is a time of year when we're super busy, right? We're buying presents and we're seeing people and our brains get really, really overwhelmed at this time of year. So, so instead of worrying about everything and everyone else, we need to start from our center. We need to start with our needs, which is taking care of ourselves, making sure we have healthy food, and that we have the plan for exercise so that we are not falling at the mercy of everybody else, except ourselves. Take care of yourself first. And then everything else will fall into place. But I assure you you're of no use to anybody else if you're not healthy, if you're not taking care of yourself. And, it's easy to go to parties and please a hostess by eating the holiday stuff she's putting in your face, or he's putting in your face. Go with a plan, go with an intention. And you know, to the people pleasers, thank them so much for their generosity. And if they're trying to feed you say, you know what, I'll have that later, or, oh, that looks great. But you know what I'm really, I've noticed when I'm eating a lot of sugar, it doesn't make me feel good. So that looks delicious. Thank you so much for the offer, but I'm going to say no for right now. Just let them know how much appreciate them and appreciate their generosity because that's really what they want. They just want to be appreciated more than you're actually eating the food that they're offering them. So, make a big fuss about it, say how lovely it looks and how delicious it looks, but move on. And don't be a people pleaser, please yourself first. And the rest will fall into place. Okay.

Rita Black: Do not, fattening number three, the most fattening, starting over January 1st. That is basically giving your mind the permission to just eat everything in sight and to just disconnect completely. A long-term permanent weight mastery is not about starting over. If you break one habit with struggling with your weight, break the start over tomorrow habit, that is the most fattening habit that you can have. If you, if you eat something or binge, or have an episode where you're overeating, forgive yourself, get clear on what just happened. Okay. Own it. You know, I own the fact that I just ate that whole fruit cake or buy on the fact that I went to that party and I ate way more than I planned to, but I'm getting right back on track with my healthy plan, not the hope and try, healthy plan. The next meal, not the next day, the next meal. Go for a walk. Connect with yourself again. Do not start over on January 1st. I assure you, if you just use this holiday season to stay consistent and to keep taking yourself back, instead of starting over, you will be far ahead for the new year. All right?

Rita Black: So don't hope in, try have a plan. Don't people, please. If you're going to people, please, the first person you please is yourself, have a plan, take care of yourself, and you'll be taking care of everybody else because you'll be happy. You'll be connected to yourself. Then you can connect to them and don't start over January 1st.

Rita Black: All right. So there are a few do's and don'ts, and I hoped those served you, and I hope they continue to serve you through the holiday season. And don't worry. I have lots of thin thinking being served up this holiday season, more podcasts to come. That was just an appetizer, so to speak. And don't forget that the, there is that Black Friday special. So check the show notes below 30% off, all hypnosis downloads for weight management, and then 50% off the smoking cessation program, for those of you who would like to become a non-smoker for the holidays or after the holidays, the program itself, you know, once you enroll in it, there is free for you for life. So check it out. And don't forget that you are powerful. You are strong, you can create the best holiday season ever, and please have an amazing week. And remember that the key and probably the only key to unlocking the door, the weight struggle is inside you. So keep listening and find it.

Rita Black: Thanks for listening to the thin thinking podcast. Did that episode go by way too fast for you? If so, and do you want to dive deeper into the mindset of long-term weight release? Head on over to www.shiftweightmastery.com where you'll find numerous tools and resources to help you unlock your mind for permanent weight release, tips, strategies, and more, and be sure to check the show notes to learn more about my book From Fat to Thin Thinking: Unlock Your Mind For Permanent Weight Loss, and to learn how to subscribe to the podcast so that you never miss an episode.