Rita Black: So often when we go to lose weight, the focus isn't so much on where we wanna go, but where we don't wanna be - feeling frustrated and overweight. And yet, the mind works better when it's being called forth towards a powerful vision. Today, we are diving into all the different types of visions that we use to keep our minds focused, motivated, and raring to go on a daily, weekly, and long term weight management basis. So, buckle up and join me today as we test drive some of these powerful vision,

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: Hello. Hello, my friends and how are you? Here we are in the middle of February and, gosh, so much is going on in my life. Taxes. Who's doing their taxes in the middle of February? I am. I try to get them out of the way. It's just like a decor hanging over my head until I get them done. I just have to close my eyes and get them done. And, but also what's going on is my son is now, you know, he's a junior and all of a sudden we are like, oh my God, gosh, you're gonna have to, you know, you're gonna be going away. You're going to college and we have to get you organized. So we're, you know, thinking about colleges, we're getting that all sort of organized going on tours and stuff like that. And it's so bittersweet because I can't tell you like, it was, I have, I think I have a little PTSD from when my daughter applied to colleges because my daughter, you know, applied to like 20 colleges and my daughter is amazing, very ambitious. And my daughter has a clear vision of her life. Right. She's always been like that super organized, very, never had to bother her to do her homework. She was just like on it, you know, valedictorian, all that stuff. Right. And she had a very clear vision, grad, you know, undergrad school, she knew where she wanted to go. She wanted to go to Berkeley from since the ninth grade. That was her dream school and she got in which she was very lucky to and she worked very hard for that. And, you know, but she applied to 20 other schools too, just in case, right. Oh my God.

Rita Black: So anyway, she, yeah, so she, undergrad psychology degree, double major, you know, like in stats, you know, then the graduate school in Europe, she wants to go to Europe cause she is fluent in German. So she wants to go live there, you know, and do that. Then she wants to get her PhD. Like this is her trajectory. I'm like, okay, that's I support you, whatever you do. Now who knows? She might end up, I don't know, becoming a surfer in Hawaii, but, and I, you know, whatever she does, I will love her, but she's very clear on her vision or she has been.

Rita Black: Now my son completely opposite. My son's like, eh, I don't know if I believe in college, you know. He gets pretty good grades, but he's just like, yeah, I don't know. You know, he's completely lacking in a vision. I, I think he knows, you know, he's, he's entrepreneurial. He's got, I mean, he's definitely, I believe in my son. I think he's, he's, he's incredibly smart and he's got, you know, I could see him doing something really interesting. But right now, he just, so what we are doing is trying to help him have a vision, right. We're trying to give him like some ideas and asking him the right questions because lots of times we kind of need to ask ourselves questions to start to instigate the brain thinking about things. You know, the brain's particular activating system is a great filtering system. So when you get your, your mind focused on something, it then kind of like filters away, all the unnecessary things so that you can be focused and, and it helps the subconscious mind, helps like solution, seek solutions and problem solving stuff to just align behind that vision. Right. So having a vision helps, is very, very helpful.

Rita Black: So we've been asking him, you know, what kind of school do you want to go to? Do you want a big school? Do you want a little school? Do you want to, you know, do you want it to be cold? Or, and he cause he hates California. So he's like, I'm not staying in California. I wanna go somewhere where I can, you know, it's cold and it snows. And I was like really every day, you know? So, anyway, he's like, yes, every day I wanted to be cold every day and I wanna wear a jacket every day and you know, this is him. Now, so those of you who live in Minnesota or Wisconsin or Canada or Scotland, or, you know, I you're all like sitting there going, yeah, wait until he's, you know, in the middle of the winter, but yeah, that's his thing. So he's getting clear on his vision. So we've been asking him questions.

Rita Black: So that's what I would like to do with you today is just kind of work on some visions because, you know, I, I do this a lot with my group and one of my members was like, I think you should do a podcast on visions because we work on them so much in our group. And we did something at the very beginning of the year where we did it, we reversed engineered visions instead of going, okay, what do you wanna, where do you wanna be a month from now and a year from now? And we did it backwards. We were like, where do you wanna be five years from now? And then we went backwards and they loved, they were like, oh my God, that was so cool. So I think what, that's what we're gonna do today. I wanna walk you through visions and then I'm, then I'm gonna, I'm gonna, you know, take you through doing some.

Rita Black: But I wanna, I wanna read you a little story and this is a true story but it's easier for my old brain to just read it. This is out of "From Fat to Thin Thinking," my book, and it's the chapter on vision. So, Sandy was stuck in a place that you may have experienced. She was focusing on what she didn't want. I don't wanna be fat. I haven't thought about what my thin life will look like. I can't do anything until I get out of the suit of blabber I'm wearing. I can't look for a better job who would hire me looking like this. I can't date right now, who would want me? Others at the shift weight mastery process nodded with understanding of Sandy's frustration.

Rita Black: Now, I explained to Sandy and the group that not wanting to be fat was not an effective way to use the mind. The mind doesn't process negatives. So by concentrating on what you don't want, you are creating more of it. And when you say, I don't want to be fat, your mind is attending to the words, want and fat. Instead I explained you want to concentrate on what you do want. That way the mind can see it and start to move you in that direction. I asked Sandy to close her eyes and take a deep shift breath. And as she did, I said, imagine that you have achieved your ideal weight. Tell me what you see, where are you? What do you look like? Sandy replied, with her eyes still closed, I can and see myself at a club dancing. I am wearing a cool red dress and I'm confident and enjoying salsa dancing on the dance floor. And I'm even dancing with someone. And she opened her eyes and asked, is that a good vision? Dancing is a great vision because your dancing will also be a great way of maintaining your ideal weight once you achieve it. How does that vision make you feel now? I asked. I'm excited and determined. I love to wear beautiful dresses to be feminine and to dance. I don't let myself do any of those things because I'm ashamed at it myself. I don't think I can have fun until I get skinny. She said. Really that's too bad. So here's my invitation, start dancing now. What? She cried. No way I can't go out when I have 40 pounds to lose argued. Dancing is a great way to bring in calories and guess what? You don't have to go out to a club, start dancing at home. Don't wait until that magical day when you get on the scale, your ideal way to move your body in the free and fabulous way you described. You have to love yourself down the scale. Give yourself permission to live today. The more you enjoy the journey, the more you will wanna keep going.

Rita Black: So Sandy took my advice and during her 30-day thin thinking practice began dancing at home as her daily exercise. And as she danced around her apartment, she was releasing weight in a fun way that was in line with her vision. She released 10 pounds during her 30 days and kept going towards her ideal weight vision. And eventually, she ventured out to dance clubs on the weekends. On one of those weekends, Sandy went with her girlfriends to a local club. She was 20 pounds from her goal on that Saturday night when she met Roger at the free salsa lesson, both beginners. Sandy and Roger became friends and would meet to dance twice a month to practice their moves. They started dating officially and by the time Sandy reached her ideal weight vision, she and Roger had been dating for three months. She celebrated, fulfilling her ideal weight by buying a red dress and dancing with Roger at their favorite club. Sandy has continued dancing into her long term weight mastery for almost three years now.

Rita Black: Well, now this was written a few years ago, so it's even longer, but I just love that vision. And, it's so powerful, you know, when you focus your mind in the right way. So, I would like to go through some of the most important visions that I think will help your reticular activation system help you feel motivated to get through February and March, feeling healthier and lighter. And then, you know, like I said, I'm gonna, I'm gonna talk through them and then, and then we'll try going through them.

Rita Black: So, I'm gonna try that idea of reverse engineering. Sorry, I've got my notes here. And I'm gonna start by talking about your five-year vision. I call this your long-term permanent weight mastery vision. Now this is probably, well, I have a lot of my visions are favorite visions, but this is so cool. So the idea is that, you know, most of us, when we think of a vision for weight management or weight loss, it's like when we get skinny and, and our, you know, when we achieve our ideal weight, right? But why the five-year vision is so powerful for me and why I think it's powerful for your brain is it's the idea of identity that I talk about so often, is that when you've, you know, like if, if, you are out there five years in your future, having maintained your weight for five years, that you, at your ideal weight five years from the time you reach your ideal weight is a different you than that person who has achieved their ideal weight. You follow what I'm saying because you have now kept it off for five years, you are masterful, right? You've, you've kept it off. And who you are, isn't who you were when you first began your, you know, maintenance journey, cause maintenance is a journey. It is a journey in and of itself.

Rita Black: That you, at your ideal way, five years in the future, you know, you have mastery. You are probably, you know, I, I like to create and well, you'll see, because we're gonna work on this one, that you're a leader. You know, you are a leader of health because when you release weight and keep it off long-term, people, not only notice, but they want what you have, right? So you become a leader of sorts because you can't help it, because people wanna know how you've done it. And you start to become a bit of a mentor to people in a way, you know, not necessarily directly, but in many ways. So I always consider that five-year vision is you are a leader in your community of some sort. I mean, you know, not necessarily, but you know, just once I had, I hope this makes sense.

Rita Black: So now next up is your ideal weight vision, which is probably the one that we would all think about the most. But you know, for all of us, ideal weight is an interesting term because many people will get to their, what they perceive their ideal weight and often, and they'll either be like, oh, this isn't what I expected. Maybe I wanna release more. And that releasing more isn't necessarily because they wanna be skinnier, but they feel like I don't feel different yet. You know, like I don't feel like I feel different, I've released my weight, you know, it's and, and why we really focus on loving ourselves down the scale is to so that when we get to our ideal weight, it's not like, oh, I thought the world was gonna complete like, like with Sandy, how I said, you know, you wanna start dancing now because it ain't about when you get skinny. It's like, you wanna love yourself now and start dancing now so that you have a life because it's, it's not like your whole external life is gonna change when you reach your ideal weight.

Rita Black: Now, interestingly for me, I reached my ideal weight. I was there for a while, like my skinnier ideal weight. And then for me, I decided to move my ideal weight up a little bit because I really felt for long-term permanent weight management, what it required to be like my super skinny size or, you know, skinny for me was, it felt like not totally sustainable and loving to myself. Now I am, I have, I consider, like, I love my body and my I'm, you know, at a really good weight, like, you know, a, a great weight. But you know, I had originally thought I should be skinnier because that's what I thought, like, you know, from, I don't know, from magazines and stuff like that. But, so it was a very loving thing for me to alter my ideal weight and many people who achieve their ideal weight, you know, they might go up a little bit or they might go down a little bit. So it's always that ideal weight is not always like, oh, let me put that number on the map and get to it and it's all gonna be perfect. You, you know, you budget a little bit and you figure it out. So, but yeah, we definitely are gonna work on that vision of getting to that place and feeling good like that was a journey. Who you had to become to get to that place wasn't about not eating or being super at exercise, but it was about problem solving, showing up for yourself and creating a powerful communication system within yourself. So it's a, a journey of transformation.

Rita Black: So, I like to do another vision. I don't think we'll be doing this vision, just for expediency's sake, but of three months. Three months is a really great because that's about as far out as like, you know, there's that sort of ideal weight and five-year weight, but that three months is more visceral. It's more like, oh, I'm gonna be there soon, and this is what's gonna happen. So we can't, it's, it's hard to think four or five months out, but three months is really it's, you know, like that's why businesses will plan, you know, their quarters because a quarter is a very good amount of time like the brain can wrap around that pretty easily. So having a three-month vision, and that is also for people, very motivating because usually within a three-month timeframe, you can get significant traction on your weight release, right? Like maybe in a month you can release X amount of weight, like five pounds or four pounds or seven pounds, or, you know, depending on how quickly you're releasing weight, but three months, you know, you'll be releasing 10 pounds or 12 pounds. So it it's, it's motivating because it's close enough that like, oh, you know, by the summer I'm gonna be, you know, this is where I'd like to be, and this is my goal, and this is what I'm moving towards, but it's not as, as so it's, but it's not like your ideal weight it's, but it's, it's, you know, it's very, uh, fun and you know, the sexy goal, I guess, you know, like, Ooh, 12 pounds by the summer. Awesome. You know, like it can really kick your brain into gear.

Rita Black: Now a month is also something that we really focus on in the monthly mastery program like, because I feel like having a monthly goal again, you know, it, I don't know how much you know about the shift or what you've done, but like a lot of it is we really focus on using our brain really effectively and having that month goal is incredibly helpful because we, we, we take a very cognitive approach. We're, you know, we're at creating a specific goal. How can we achieve it? And we're getting out of the emotion, like being good or bad, but really being like clear, ways of releasing weight that we know we can achieve and going for it. And, so that month timeframe is very helpful for this.

Rita Black: Then we have our week goal, like our, s weak vision, s week-long vision, because again, like we can go, I wanna lose five pounds this week, which, you know, probably for most people isn't very realistic, but, but having a vision of ending the week, feeling lighter, feeling like you showed for yourself, feeling good. That is a, that's a more powerful vision of like, oh yeah, I wanna end this week feeling good. What do I need to do in order to do that? That vision is pulling you forward to a feeling, you know, and, and you'll see in our vision exercises that we are really focused on that feeling because that really engages the emotion is what engages the reticular activation system. Because that's, you know, like when I would talk to my son about colleges, I'm not like you, like, what does it look like? What does it feel like to be walking on campus, you know, in a cold snowy place in the middle of winter, you know? And he's like, it feels awesome, you know, it's like, okay. But anyway, uh, yeah, you know, what would it feel like to get to Sunday night and instead of feeling bloated and full and regretful and like, oh, I ate too much just like feeling light and that you exercised and had wonderful healthy weekend, that is gonna get your brain making different decisions than the typical brain, which would be like, it's the weekend, you know, it's time to party. Right?

Rita Black: So then we have our one day vision, which again, if you've done work with me, you know, you probably know, like we have these morning meditations where it's really focusing you on the end of the day because, and going to bed, feeling light and, and good getting into bed feeling that you really took care of yourself, really showed up for yourself for the day and thinking that in the morning, creating that vision in the morning, it, we wake up with the most willpower. So we're really leveraging our willpower to create this vision, to pull us through the day as a powerful roadmap of self care, weight mastery, as it's, it's a powerful thing to do.

Rita Black: So, I am gonna open up my "From Fat to Thin Thinking" book again. So pardon the pages turning? Oh, I think I took my little book mark out. And, but I'm gonna read you, so we're gonna do this. We're gonna do some vision work, and I'm gonna, I'm gonna work on the five-year vision. I am gonna do a ideal weight. And then what will we do? I just wanted to do three. I think that is probably enough. And then, no, we'll, we'll do, we'll do a month and then we'll do a day. I, cause I just wanted to get you, have you get the different sensations of those different timeframes. So I'm just gonna read you a little bit.

Rita Black: So, so these are the important tips for creating your visions. See it, be patient with your imagination. Sometimes you can see certain things more clearly than others. So as I walk you through these things, maybe you won't see anything very clearly, you know. Many people might say, Hey, I, I, I'm not that very visual person. So if you can't see it, don't fret because the feeling part is more important. But if you can see it great, just get, you know, get specific and, and I'll be walking you through this. Feel it. Sometimes you cannot see your vision as well as you can feel it. This is true for you. Pay attention to the feeling part of the vision. For instance, if you ask yourself, what would it feel like to slip easily into a pair of pants I couldn't get into last year? What would it feel like to have my daughter put her arms all the way around me? You know, like, so what's that feeling and how what's that emotion that it evokes. Those are the important things that we wanted. And, and if you have a hard time seeing things you might focus on hearing it, you may be able to engage others, other senses, like hearing, for instance, what will it feel like to hear how proud my husband is that I'm finally healthy.

Rita Black: So, I am going to do this. I'm gonna, I'm gonna start with your long. So this is what we did in January for our beginning of the year, sort of like refocus session in monthly mastery. We reverse engineered. So I'm gonna start with your long-term weight, mastery vision. So I'd like you to imagine yourself. So take a nice deep breath. Sorry, I didn't prep you. And, and if you are driving and listening to this and obviously walking, you might wanna just pause this and just do it when you get home. But if you're at home, you just wanna sit down, get yourself comfy and just take a nice deep breath in and close your eyes and just take a moment to scan your body for any area, you know, any feelings of tension, just give yourself permission to be in your body now to be present and just notice your body wherever your body resting against. If it's, if you're laying on a couch or if you're in a chair or, uh, any other place on a couch, you know, what are you resting up against? And notice that that thing that you're resting against is supporting you fully and that can signal to your subconscious mind that you can relax even more deeply. And just notice the texture and temperature of whatever is up against your feet. And notice the temperature in the air and the room around you. Good.

Rita Black: And now, as you sit there with your eyes closed, just imagine yourself in a specific place, five years from now. You have maintained your ideal weight. What are you wearing? Where are you? Who are you with? Are you alone or with other people? And, and just as you're doing this, you're imagining from the outside. So you're, you're seeing yourself. How does, what are you doing in the scenario? How do you feel emotionally? And now just imagine, like you're stepping into your body in that vision and how does your body feel? How does it feel to be in your body? How do the clothes feel pressing up against you? How is life different after maintaining your ideal weight for five years? How has your ideal weight impacted your long term health? Are you healthier? How has it impacted your confidence in self-esteem? How has it impacted your feelings of self mastery? How has your long term weight release affected others in your life? How do they view you differently? How has your mastery affected them in a powerful and positive way? How has your weight mastery affected your community? How are you a leader for health in your life? And just take a nice deep breath in and really lock in that wonderful feeling, strength, confidence, power, and let it go. Just lock that in as an internal blueprint. Good.

Rita Black: And now let's move up forward in time to creating your ideal weight vision. So now just imagine a specific place and time in the future when you have achieved your ideal weight. Imagine it fully as if you are really in the place and time right now. What are you wearing? Where are you? Who are you with? Are you alone? What are you doing? What are you doing in that scenario? How much weight have you released And how now just imagine stepping into your body. So stepping into the feeling, being in your body now. And, and if you can't get this fully, that's okay. You can always come back to this recording and practice this more. So how do you feel? How does your body feel? How do the clothes feel hanging on your body at your ideal weight? What is your life like now that you've achieved your ideal weight? What dreams are you living? How have your relationships with yourself and your family and friends and others improved? How has your health improved? How have your finance has improved? Just get a sense of that. Get a sense of that wonderful feeling of confidence, again, we're looking for the emotion and feeling and take that nice deep breath in and lock that wonderful feeling in holding that as a blueprint in your subconscious mind.

Rita Black: And now let's create a month vision. Imagine a specific place and time 30 days from now. And imagine you're in a specific place, time. And again, just what are you wearing? You've been releasing weight this month, exercising, making the right food choices for you. Where are you? What are you doing in the scenario? How much weight have you released? How do you feel? Step into your body and just notice, how does your body feel? How do the clothes fit on your body? How do they feel on your body? Good. And just take a nice deep breath in locking that wonderful feeling of being healthy for the month, achieving your goals, being on track and lock that in. Good.

Rita Black: And now let's just, I wanna give you the experience of a day. So imagine yourself. Hope, well, if you're not listening, if you're listening to this in the evening, maybe you can picture tomorrow, but just imagine yourself at the end of the, of today. And imagine yourself getting into bed and you've made the healthy food choices. You've said no to the things that were good to say no to, that would disempower you. You exercised and moved your body. Imagine how good you feel, how light toned. Really ready for a wonderful rest. And I want you to think back over the day. What were the things that you did that allowed you to go to bed feeling so wonderful? Think about how you, your meals for the day. Where did they fall? How did you set yourself up for success? Did you bring food with you? Did you plan ahead? Did you drink water? Make sure that you were hydrated. What was your exercise today? How did you make sure you were set up for success and followed through with that? Just think through your day, like it was a roadmap from the beginning of the day, through your morning, into the afternoon. Are there any vulnerable times in the afternoon and evening? You just wanna make yourself aware of. Note like, oh, okay. What do I need to do to make sure I'm not eating dinner? Maybe I just, you know, make sure I'm fasting from after dinner until the next morning. Make that, clock that in your mind, or make sure you hide any or get rid of any sort of foods that are gonna be a challenge for you, maybe at your office or on your desk. And then just imagine yourself again, once again, getting into bed tonight, feeling light, lean that you really took care of yourself and take that nice deep breath in and lock that in, ready to go have an amazing day.

Rita Black: So I, I hope that was helpful. I hope you got a feeling for what it feels like to kind of create some different visions. Like I said, I really like working on that idea of yourself at your long term permanent. And, and that one was really one that I worked on very hard during my mastery journey. And, and even, you know, obviously after I reached my ideal weight, you know, I was like, I'm a person who I'm gonna be five years, 10 years from now. I'm gonna still be at my ideal weight. And I, and I had to, you know, have that vision and ask myself questions from that vision. I think what having a vision does is it also allows you to ask the right questions because the, by asking yourself the right questions, you know, so often the answers are only gonna come if we ask questions. And so often what we're doing is reprimanding ourselves or yelling at ourselves or telling ourselves we were doing something wrong, or you should do it like this instead of like, how am I gonna make it? How am I gonna, you know, I have a party this Friday night, how am I gonna do it? So I have fun, but I also eat healthfully and leave that party feeling light. Like I wanna feel Sunday night at the end of the weekend. That's a completely different way of engaging your brain than you better be good at that party on Friday. Right. Totally different.

Rita Black: So that's how you can start to use vision to questions, to inspire you, to motivate you. And, and again, a long term, permanent weight management journey, isn't about being good or bad, but it's really about changing the way you communicate with yourself and, and creating these powerful visions. It's a, it's just a wonderful way to engage your brain. It's fun, but it's also very, very much a powerful framework of engaging your creative brain, your imagin, which is such an important piece of long term permanent weight mastery, or any mastery journey, really. Okay.

Rita Black: Well, I hope this has been fun. I, I hope you enjoyed it. I just want to remind you guys, this is the last week I'm offering my new, you free video series called "The 3 Mental Shifts to End the Weight Struggle Once and for All." So please go sign up. It's, it's really good. I, it has a little meditation. It has a little hypnosis. I think you're gonna find it really enjoyable a lot. It is only back because so many people are like, I, that, or I, that was so good. Thank you so much. So that's why it's back. So, thank you and have an amazing week. And remember that the key, and probably the only key to unlocking the door of 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.