READY TO SHIFT YOUR MINDSET AROUND WEIGHT FOR 2024?

Rita Black: Well, hello, new year 2024. We are staring right at you. It's almost time, and it's that time of year again where we take stock of where we are and look ahead to what we wanna create with our upcoming year. Being healthy, being out in the world, feeling confident, feeling good in our own skin. But there are probably a few things that you wanna leave behind in 2023. So let me help you with both in today's Thin Thinking episode. I have my New Year's gift to you. A meditation session that allows you to shed the old and unwanted things from the past and make a beautiful, big opening for new and more powerful things to come to you this upcoming year. So grab your auld lang syne, come on in to make some new lang syne. And I will see you in the session.

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, bestselling 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.

Rita Black: Hello, and come on in. It's all warm and toasty in here, and I hope you're looking forward to the new year. How did you do with your holiday? I hope you had an amazing one and are still enjoying it. We have had a really quiet holiday week. My kids were off running around doing things, but coming home and hanging out too. But I just wanted to chill, you know, and kind of stare at a wall like you do sometimes. And so it's been a good week to do that, to kind of just let everything go. And it takes me a few days 'cause I'm, if you haven't noticed a little type A and I go through some weird stuff. I don't know if you ever, you fellow type A's like when you go away on a holiday or you go away, there's a real, it's almost like ice cracking on a glacier.

Rita Black: Like that feeling of letting go, that like I can almost hear the ice cracking in my, like very focused on top of things mentality and letting go and going, oh yeah, this is relaxing and cool. So it takes me about a day or so to kind of fully let go. But once I do, boy, I love to let go. So it has been fun. We are getting ready now for our family's annual New Year's Vision board making events. So it is bringing back a little bit of my Type A organization, my Virgo, you know, we sit down every year. I love, love, love this. And we talk about the next year, we start envisioning it as a family and as individuals, we go around and talk about our goals and thoughts and discuss it. It's just, ugh, I love it so much.

Rita Black: It's such a great tradition that we started. And believe me, my kids really didn't wanna do this in the beginning. They thought it was stupid and slowly, but now they're the ones like saying, when is the vision board thing that we're doing? You know? So I love that. I love that. So if you wanna make one with your family or with your friends or whatever, I did one at my birthday with my girlfriends, which was just so amazing too. It's really kind of cool to do it with adults only as well. But so you get a bunch of stuff together, art, you know, artsy stuff. I get boards like eight by 10 boards. I go to Staples and I just get a foam core board one for each person. Or you can do it, I've literally done it on pieces of you know, just big pieces of what do you call that paper that you make posters out of, you know, that roll stuff.

Rita Black: I mean, you don't have to be fancy about it. I've made ones online notebook papers, so doesn't have to be super fancy. Couple of pens to do some writing. If you wanna use a printer and print, you know, type up stuff and print it out and get fancy. I have very fancy ones. And then I have super, you know, very chill, you know, low key ones as well. And then I save up my magazines all year long. We, my husband and I many years ago had a company and for some reason it sounded like a hairdressing company. So we now get people just the, you know, magazines and send us magazines like for a beauty salon. And so I get Oprah Simple Life or what is it? Simple Living, simple. What are some of my, you know, better homes and garden architectural design.

Rita Black: I mean, I get crazy magazines and so I just saved them up. But I had, what I did when I had my friends over was, I said, bring over your favorite magazines. And and other things you can do is just print out pictures of you and your family or images from the internet if you wanna do that. You know, people do make these vision boards too online. Like it doesn't have to be, you know, on paper it can be, you can do these digitally as well. You can look that up like Google Digital vision board. So any way you do it I divide it into four categories, health and wellness, relationships, spirit, meaning, you know, your connection to the universe, however you connect to, and that could be, you know, about just bigger ideas and you know, expansion of yourself, whatever.

Rita Black: It doesn't have to be religious, but if you are religious, it could have to do with your connection to your religion and God and whatever you wanna create that one as. But I like to have that kind of one where it goes deep and then and then whatever you're up to this coming year. Like what's the big picture for your work or for, you know, for me it's always the, you know, my podcast and my community and the shift and you know, what new things I wanna create and how I wanna serve people better and more deeply and all that stuff, right? So I, I get that and we, we just sit and we write about, you know, what, we make lists of the things like, what do I wanna do? What do I wanna do? And then we talk about it.

Rita Black: But you don't have to if you're doing this on your own. And and then you then you take those ideas and then you look through papers and, and magazines and you clip out images and words that represent those things. And you don't always get an image for every single thing you've written down, but, you, what you end up with is this you know, and you start pasting the words and the images together, you know, and don't be, you know, perfectionistic about it. I mean, honestly, some of these things look really slapped together, but I love having them around me. Your eye rests on an image and it evokes something in you. I love it. And so many of the things that I put on my vision boards and my kids, this is why they love it. They're like, wow, the stuff that I put on my vision board, it came to pass.

Rita Black: So they really love the power of creating you know, their future and their, their vision for the future. So now before you create a vision for the future, it would serve you to get clear of the old, you know, clear out the past, right? Like, let's, let's clear out the muck, muckety muck. That's what I'm gonna be doing this week. Clearing out all the Christmas stuff and, you know, putting everything back and getting clearing the space, right? So last year I put out a meditation that went over really, really well. People were like, I love that meditation, so I'm gifting it to you again, re-gifting. But I'm pretty sure you probably haven't, if you did listen to it last year, you can listen to it again 'cause you'll get a different level of learning from it this year.

Rita Black: So it's all about of letting go of weight management limiting beliefs and habits and resentments that are holding you back from believing in yourself and creating a powerful future 2024. So give it a listen. It's a great session. And then coming up in January are some great sessions that are gonna help you really create a fantastic weight mastery in this new year. So you know, get ready and let's go. If you haven't taken advantage of my free masterclass, How To Stop the Start Over Tomorrow Weight Struggle Cycle and Begin Releasing Weight for Good, this is a perfect time to watch that masterclass. Now, it is gonna help you get beyond the subconscious blocks that keep you stuck and frustrated with weight and get the breakthrough that you need, that you want for the new year. So it's free. The link is in the show notes. People love this masterclass, and we do a little hypnosis in there too. So go get into that masterclass now and get ready for a healthy new year.

Rita Black: Okay, so now let's do this meditation. Let's begin by you allowing your awareness to settle gradually on your breath as you breathe in all that you need for yourself, you're probably aware of the fact that you always have more than enough air to breathe wherever you are. And if you like, with every breath, you can choose to be as relaxed as you want. That's right. Just allow yourself to relax as deeply as you want, observing your thoughts as they come and go. Like a breeze that comes and goes so lightly, so slightly, you almost wouldn't even notice it at all.

Rita Black: As you allow your inner mind to remember for you. Every time you take a deep breath into your body, you have even more evidence that you're always in control of how much relaxation you take in begin at any time and anywhere just to be so in touch with yourself, you can actually allow your entire body to relax even deeper. And so now it's time to give yourself permission to let go. Let go of the old and bring in the new. It's about time, isn't it? So just go ahead and imagine that right in front of you is a large, clear plastic bag. And as you look into the bag, can notice many things about it, especially how clearly you can see through the bag to the inside. Have you noticed yet that you can see very clearly what is inside of the clear plastic bag? One thing you probably didn't notice right away is the color blue. And how inside of the bag is this most amazing iridescent, swirling color of blue, slowly swirling around and around and around. So just allow yourself now to watch that blue light swirling around and around inside the bag,

Rita Black: Just around and around. And there's some things that you can place in the bag if you'd like. Some things about the worn outweighs of this past year or past few years that you created to comfort yourself. So we're gonna begin putting those in the bag. Your feelings about your body, everything that you have felt about your body, what your body means to you, what it says about you, how it feels to have this body. Just put all of your feelings about your body into the blue bag and notice them just swirling around in the blue light. Put all the negative beliefs and resentments about your body into the bag. Good. And now, place in the bag, your clothes, your favorite outfit, in fact, your entire wardrobe, maybe all the different sizes of clothes. Place them in the bag. Place your hairstyle and your makeup and notice what all of this says about you. What kind of statement it makes. What it means about you letting go of how you look. Just put it in the bag. Watch it all swirling around the bag. And notice, just notice those things that have been the most important to you.

Rita Black: And now put in the bag every diet you've ever been on, your entire history of watching your weight, all of those yo-yo pounds coming and going. Just notice all the weight of the past swirling around and around in the blue mist. Put your demands on yourself in the bag, all of your shoulds and musts. Put them in the swirling blue color and watch them go round and around. And now put in the bag that little negative voice, that inner critic voice. The one in the back of your mind, the one that whispers negative self-talk, resentments, cruelty. Watch it as it just swirls around and around in the bag that critic dissolves into the mist. And now put that inner rebel voice in there too. That impulsive voice that talks you into making choices that don't serve you. That voice that puts all the limiting beliefs about you, that gives up easily. Put that all into the bag. Put the fears in the bag and the frustrations about weight in the bag and place in the bag. Your beliefs, all of your beliefs about your weight, place, everything. What the perfect body would be for you.

Rita Black: Anything that you allowed yourself to believe about. That perfect body that takes your power away from you. Put it in the bag, put in the bag. Your need to always be perfect. Put your opinions to opinions about what you have and have not accomplished. Opinions about failure, opinions about success. Watch them all swirl around and around. Put in the bag, the agreements you didn't keep with yourself. All the good intentions that got started and stopped. Put in the bag, all the demands you ever placed on yourself. And put the demands and expectations that didn't get fulfilled this year. Put in the bag opinions others have had about you. Opinions your parents had about what they wanted you to be, what your spouse wanted you to be, what your children wanted you to be, what your weight ought to be, what your friends wanted you to be, what your boss wanted you to be. Watch all of those expectations and shoulds melt into all the rest, swirling around and around in the blue, put in the bag, your overeating habits, the compulsion to graze on foods. When your body's not hungry, portion, control the impulse to eat sugar. Put it all in the bag and just watch it swirling and moving. All those ways of being that you used to define yourself,

Rita Black: Put in the bag, your refusal to offer yourself new ways of self-care, your reluctance to empower the part of you that is courageous, the way you beat yourself up. Put in the bag all of your fears about feeling empty, about sitting with your compulsions, about getting to know all the parts of yourself. Put in the bag, that anxiety that makes you reach for food. And the guilt, all the guilt you have ever felt, the resentments you have, felt the anger about yourself, the anger about others. Put in the bag, the sadness and the loneliness. Put all of your current thoughts and feelings about using food to numb yourself out in the bag. And just watch all those things about you swirling in the bag in that blue light. And now look inside yourself and all around the ways that you live your life. And put anything you might've forgotten into the bag. Put it all in there. Anything you wanna leave behind in the old year, everything you've told yourself.

Rita Black: Just put it in the bag now. Put the clothes that you are wearing in the bag and now put your idea of your naked body in the bag. See everything that is you in the bag, all swirling around in the bag filled with the blue light, but you are not in the bag, are you? You are who is looking at the bag. And up until now, you created everything in that bag to help you experience what you believe about yourself and how you really feel about yourself. And I'm wondering if you are ready, really ready to realize that you can keep or discard anything you want. Put it all.

Rita Black: All that doesn't serve you into the old year and leave it behind. After all, this is your life. This is your new year. It is your choice. You are not who is in the bag. You are not those thoughts or limiting beliefs or the feelings or the habits or those things in the bag. You are who is looking at the bag, aren't you? So now you can keep whatever you choose, it is your choice. So if there's anything in the bag you want to keep, take a moment to invite it all back. Bring in anything you wanna bring with you into the new year, like your hope, your positive beliefs, your positive habits, your belief about yourself, and your ability to be healthy. Bring that all back and just leave behind in that bag, all the things you no longer need. And when you're ready, take this opportunity to let go of the rest, to say goodbye forever, to the old worn out thoughts and feelings of the past year and even further back of the past. And now it's time to notice there's a large pile of bleached out bone, dry wood nearby, and a pack of matches. So drag that blue bag over and toss it on that pile of wood. And now stand back. And as you light a match, throw it into the wood pile and watch as that blue bag ignites with a flash.

Rita Black: Just watch the fire burn and all your old ways of thinking, feeling and being watch the fire until there's nothing left, but a teeny tiny pile of ashes. And watch it as it blows away in the wind. In fact, the only thing that I imagine that is left is your decision to be good to yourself. To fill up with self-care and self-love in this new year. To open your mind, to belief in yourself, to open your mind, to making yourself and your health a priority, to be your own best friend. To take the actions, to be healthy, to fill your body with healthy foods, to let go of the weight of the past of you, move forward into a healthy new year. And now look into the fire and see that image of you in the new year, that image that you are creating. See yourself healthier, fitter, living your best life.

Rita Black: If you can't see it, just feel it. Feel that lightness, feel that health, feel that confidence. And take a deep breath in pulling this idea of you out into the new year, pulling this commitment to yourself and your health into yourself as an internal blueprint and letting it go. And now taking a nice deep breath in and opening your eyes and welcome back.

Rita Black: I hope you enjoyed letting go of what was no longer needed in keeping and creating what you wanna have coming up in this new year. So I'd like to thank you all for being here this year, this last year of 2023. Thank you for all the space you created for this podcast to happen. I wanna thank the Thin Thinking team for their talents and their dedication and loyalty to our podcast, making it happen weekend, week out, all of 2023. Thank you. I love you and hold you close to my heart.

Rita Black: And thank you, dear listeners, for being here, making this global community a powerful place where we can come be safe, connect to ourselves, create a better and more powerful mindset in the area of weight management and an life management and and just be our best selves. So happy, happy New Year. Maybe safe, maybe healthy, adventure filled and happy. Thank you so much. And remember that the key and probably the only key to unlocking the door of the weight struggle is inside you. It's always inside you. So keep listening and find it. Happy New Year. I will see you next week. In the new year.

Rita Black: You wanna dive deeper into the mindset of long-term weight release. Head on over to www.shiftweightmastery.com. That's 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.