Rita Black: It is time to clear out the clutter in our minds and make way for a healthy new year. So join me for this Thin Thinking episode where I guide you through an end of year meditation designed to let go of all the mind clutter. So grab that mental dumpster and let's get going.

New Speaker: 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 happy end of year, if you're listening to this when this drops, it's almost New Year 2022, heading into the new year 2023. And I hope you had a healthy holiday, a happy holiday, a safe holiday. We have had a quiet between the holidays week here at home. We decided not to travel this year. We didn't go to any relative's house. We've just been camping out here at Shay Black. Next week we're gonna go away for a few days to go skiing, but we only do that once a year. I enjoy it so much but it's cold and I enjoy it. I enjoy interacting with nature. I enjoy it once I'm up there, but the idea of being cold, getting into the skii clothes, all that stuff, sometimes isn't the most pleasant idea on my mind. But, so we're going to do that.

Rita Black: So one project also that we have been doing this week as we've been starting to declutter the attic upstairs my husband loves, loves, loves to bring things home from whatever people leave out on the street. Last week he found a skateboard and he brought that home and I said who's going to be riding that skateboard? I know my son doesn't. He's like, I thought I would. My husband is 61 years old. And I said, I don't think I want you riding around on a skateboard and I don't think maybe you really wanted. So he thought it through and he was like, okay, okay. You're right. I'm going to, I'll put it back where I found it. So he did, but I don't always win that battle. And so we do have an attic full of things that little treasures he is picked up or things that he doesn't wanna get rid of. He has tons and tons of books that he doesn't wanna get rid of. And they're up in our attic. So we are starting a project of letting go and sparking joy for the new year. And so also as a family, we like to write down the stuff we wanna leave in the old year, like write it on pieces of paper and throw 'em into fire - the fire on New Year's Eve. And also we do our vision boards. And if you listened to last week's episode with Melanie Moore, if you wanna learn how to make a vision board, go listen to last week's episode. It's awesome. But that's what we do as a family. We'll sit around and make vision boards to create the new year.

Rita Black: So this got me thinking. This got me thinking about you, my Thin Thinking friends. What if we do a meditation to declutter the old attic upstairs in our mind of the limiting weight struggling beliefs and habits and resentments from this last year, so that you can move into your new year with a mind open and ready to spark weight release joy. So also speaking of sparking weight release joy, I have a special series of podcasts. It's a three podcast series coming up starting next week, all about building weight release resilience in the new year. It's called Building Weight Loss Resilience. And the main challenge I see with people struggling with weight isn't knowing what to do. But I do see people getting just so far right. We can focus, we can get releasing weight, and we get so far, but then we give up for whatever reason. And we get used to that. And that becomes a habit that runs you. So the series is gonna focus on helping you stay resilient in those moments so that you can get past those moments, get consistent weight release throughout and into this new year. And also, 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.

Rita Black: Now, it is gonna help you get beyond this 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. Okay, so now let's do this meditation.

Rita Black: 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 as you allow your inner mind to remember for you.

Rita Black: 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 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, just around and around. And there's some things that you can place in the bag if you'd like.

Rita Black: Some things about the worn out ways 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. 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 around and around.

Rita Black: 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. 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 too, 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 you're overeating habits, the compulsion to graze on foods when your body's not hungry, the 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 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.

Rita Black: And now look inside yourself and all around the ways that you live your life. And put anything you might have forgotten into the bag. Put it all in there. Anything you wanna leave behind in the old year, everything you've told yourself, 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, 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?

Rita Black: 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 at 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 the 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. Just watch the fire burn in 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 has 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 believe 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 as 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. 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.

Rita Black: Excellent. And now as we head into 2023, I wish you health and prosperity and a powerful and loving relationship with yourself that unlocks the door to amazing best you, best New Year. And thank you for being a part of our Thin Thinking community. We cherish you. Thank you. We are grateful, grateful for you, and have an amazing new year. 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: You wanna dive deeper into the mindset of long-term weight release, head on over to www shift weight mastery.com. That's www shift weight mastery.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.