Seasonal Challenges For Weight Loss

Everyone, welcome to today's program yourself thin podcast. Today we're talking about seasonal challenges to losing weight. I find this to be a really interesting conversation because I think on one hand, we all recognize that there's obviously different challenges depending on the season you're in, right? And so right now, we're in fall, and that kind of brings its own challenges, winter will bring its own challenges, and so on. And I think it's important to look at your weight loss through this lens, right? There's going to be consistent challenges you have, but then there's going to be these seasonal special challenges that you're going to have as well. And I think you can learn a whole lot about weight loss when you look at it this way. Right? Because what I think this starts to do, even just by recognizing seasonal challenges, is we do the most important thing I think you can do with weight loss, which is to break it into smaller pieces. Most people are going to approach their weight loss with an all or nothing mentality where they're just doesn't matter, the season, doesn't matter what's going on. They're going to jump right into the plan 100% change everything all at once. That's. That's how most people approach weight loss. And that approach, obviously is doomed for failure because we can't just change everything all at once. We only have so much energy. We can only change so many things at a time. And again, to put in a different context, if you're going to learn how to be a golfer, a musician, an artist, a dancer, a martial artist, literally anything. You can't just be great at all those things. You can't just learn how to do all those things in a week, overnight. It's impossible. And so we have to recognize that weight loss is a process, a long process of learning and growing and evolving and changing a lot of different things. That's the real path. And when you see it as such and you start to break it down into smaller pieces, you can manage them more effectively. And so one piece of that is recognizing the seasonal challenges, because again, each season is going to bring different challenges with them. And if you're somewhat prepared, then you're going to most likely be able to handle them much more effectively. And so here we are in fall. And, you know, I think there's kind of two levels to the seasonal challenges, right? There's kind of the general challenges, and then there's your unique, specific challenges. So we start with the general challenges. So for the average person in America, a fall challenge Maybe potentially pumpkin spice products, right? And. Or candy, right? Again, a big Halloween thing. And so, again, this is just one tiny example. There could be a multitude of kind of general global seasonal challenges. And of course, they depend on where you live and different things like that. But the idea is to recognize what are some of the unique challenges you face in the fall, let's say, right? And so it might be pumpkin spice, it might be colder weather, it might be bonfires, it might be the leaves that make you think about coffee drinks. Again, it could be anything that this season kind of evokes in you. And it could be a physical, mental, emotional thing, right? It could be an actual craving, because all of a sudden you want pumpkin spice, because you associate pumpkin spice with the fall, and then all the marketing and products are out there in front of your face, right? So that might be a unique challenge. You know, again, the weather might change, and that might trigger you to crave different foods. So these are kind of the global seasonal challenges that. That a lot of people that live in a similar area anyways are going to experience, potentially. The other side is your personal experiences with the season. Okay? And so here it could be, you know, the fall might be you thinking about going back to school. And when you used to go to college, the first semester, you guys would hang out and eat pizza and drink beer, right? And so now every time the fall comes, you start having more cravings for beer and pizza. Okay, you might have lost someone, right? You might have had a. You might have lost someone important to you in. In the fall. And all of a sudden, the fall makes you kind of sad, and it's harder to deal with that. So again, when we start to look at the seasons and what kind of challenges they bring, and potentially strengths as well, but we start to realize that different seasons bring different challenges to us. We associate different things with the season, and again, that can support or challenge us more. But once you recognize that, I think it starts to get you on the road to being able to deal with it, you know, because again, what always comes first is awareness. So once you have awareness of what these challenges may be during the different seasons, you now kind of on the road to figuring out a solution to it may be. And of course, each season is different, but it's the same pattern that you could look at winter, right? There's kind of the global and the personal challenges that it brings. The global ones, obviously, you know, for a lot of people's colder weather, the holidays, you know, kind of celebration, the new year, darkness, right? Again, good and bad things that can trigger overeating. Spring, same thing. Summer, same thing. And so as you start to appreciate this, you realize this big kind of like seasonal pattern. And the beauty of recognizing the seasonal patterns is it also develops your ability to recognize the patterns in general that are driving a lot of your behavior, that are typically subconscious, they're typically outside of your awareness. So the nice thing about starting with the seasons is it's one of the easier things to start with, to recognize. What do I associate with fall, with winter, with spring, with summer? What do I associate that? What do I assume? What do I expect? And how can I manage that more effectively? And again, the first step is becoming aware of it. The second step is, you know, beginning to find solutions for it. So I hope this helps you out. And if you want to go deeper into this concept and idea of subconscious change for weight loss, click the link in my bio or go to program yourself then.com go get the free self hypnosis session I give you. It's called the New Thin Me and it'll help you get fired up to lose weight. It's a kickstart session designed to get you motivated to lose weight. So if anyone has any questions, feel free to ask them and we will get into it. Here we are. I don't know what day it is. We went Thursday. Good lord, the weeks are flying by here. So yes, it is, it is the fall, it is Thursday, it is October. All of a sudden, where'd September go? Yes, things seem like they go quickly. Ferris Bueller says that, right? Life moves pretty quick. You stop and look around sometimes or you might miss it. So it does feel that way sometimes. So I hope you are all.

Hope you're all having a nice day and yes, any, any weight loss questions are welcome. Get on here every day to try and share some insights or some new ideas about weight that can hopefully help people out. And and I am usually here Monday through Friday, usually around noon, noon to 12:30. I've been a little late lately, I will admit. But yeah, I always get here one way or the other eventually. And this is also a podcast, so any of you that are here that enjoy this and want to listen to it when you can't make it, feel free to go to any podcast platform and search program yourself then and up. It'll pop. And I usually put these, these calls up as soon as they're done so you can listen to them whenever you want. But yeah, weight loss is the, is the name of the game here and with Program yourself then. You know, we do here a little differently than dieting is we follow the goal weight pyramid. Right? So in program yourself then, we're kind of systematically and strategically transforming your mindset, lifestyle and eating in a way that really is built around you so that you can not only get to your goal weight, but that you can live there for the rest of your life, which is the real goal we're looking for.

Yes, Yasu. Don't talk any more Greek to me, though. I don't speak it. I can't tell you the number of times I did grow up in the Greek Orthodox Church in the Greek community center. And you know, even my grandparents were immigrants right off the boat from Greece. However, for whatever reason. Well, I know the reason. They, they died when I was young, so there's the reason. But yeah, never, never learned to speak Greek. It's one thing I kind of wish I did. That would have been cool. I think I would have learned it quick because I was a kid and then I heard it all the time. Oh my goodness. Back in the day, church. Oh, two hours of church and almost all of it was in Greek.

Yes, Those years and years and years in church, listening to masses that I, I have no idea what they were saying. I think in some ways, I swear that's helped brought me here. I, I swear I, I was meditating back in those days, you know, just. I think it was good work. But yes.

Challenging that was. But anyways. Yes, yes, sue, and always working on that. But yeah, so anyways, I get here on here every day, talk about weight loss and.

Always talk about why diets are no good, you know, but there's a good reason because. And I don't leave you hanging, you know, I will say that diets don't work and diets are no good for long term weight loss. But the good news there, right, Let me say. Well, no, you might be saying, or you may say what, diets don't work. What are you talking about?

But they don't work, right? Not long term anyways. Of course, you can lose weight on a diet for a little while, but keeping the weight off, oh boy, that's a whole nother story. And so there's no diet that works. I think about that all the time. I mean, it's crazy to think like there's 100 years of dieting, let's say, you know, and in that hundred years, every diet that's ever been out there, there's not one single diet that's risen to the top of the list in terms of effectiveness. And I think the closest one is probably the top one is probably Weight Watchers, and that has almost nothing to do with the diet piece. I mean, let's be honest. The counting points thing is really know, it's just a way to. It's just a way to.

Make calorie counting seem more interesting. You know, instead of calories, you call it points, and just kind of simplified a little bit. So. And again, nothing against that, but I'm just saying if. If that was in a book and I gave it to you, you're not going to lose any weight, right? So really, what makes Weight Watchers probably more effective than other ones is that is that there's a social component. You know what I mean? And so, you know, I think that is an important piece, you know, but again, I guess the core point that there's no diet out there that's ever been effective long term. So, you know, that's kind of the starting point of all this, is that there's been no strategy out there that really works very well. And if that's the case, we've got to kind of reevaluate it. You know, that's what I think. Sometimes I find myself. I've been doing this personally for over 30 years, professionally for over 20 years. I regularly find myself wondering if I just have delusions of grandeur or what is going on with the way I approach this. But I don't think so. But what I think sometimes is that just like the big way we think about weight loss is so broken. It's funny. I was just. I just got this new book. It's called Diets, Drugs and Dopamine, I think, and it's by. Oh, what's his name? Is it Kessler? Let me get this straight. I. I just got. I have not even started it yet. But let's see here real quick. Diets, Drugs and Dopamine.

Yeah, there it is. Yeah, Kessler. All right, I got it. I got it. Pretty good now. I like. I'm a big fan of David Kessler.

And look at that. He wrote another book. I'm going to have to get that one. Fast Carbs, Slow Carbs. Well, that sounds great. I'm a big fan of his. I did read his book at the end of Overeating, and I'm really excited to read this one. Fast Carbs, Slow Carbs, I just saw. So I definitely want to check that out. Yeah, okay. But I love this guy. He was. What was he. Was he the surgeon General? No, he was the former head of the U. S. Food and drug Administration. Right. This is a smart person. He's at his own struggles of weight, I guess. But even just reading the beginning of the book, the languaging is all screwed up, in my opinion. And you know, he talks about his big promise in the book is that you're going to achieve your goal weight. Once again, weight loss is always talked about as a destination in our culture. You have been conditioned to think about weight loss as like a destination you get to so your goal weight. Right. So most people just naturally and reactively when they think about weight loss, they're thinking about getting to their goal weight as a destiny. I'm going to get to my goal weight finish line. That's what I want to do. Even Dr. Kessler. Now, again, I don't blame Dr. Kessler because I know he knows more about the science of weight loss than I do. I would never question that, but I guarantee you I know more about the actual practical psychology of changing and becoming a thin, healthy person and living that way. That's what I've been focusing on. And I wouldn't use the word just achieving, you know, the goal that I promise my clients is that you're going to learn how to get to your goal weight and live there for the rest of your life on your autopilot. So my goal isn't to achieve or get to your goal weight. Primarily, my main goal for my clients is to live at your goal weight on your autopilot. And I hope you can hear that distinction because that's what changes everything. That's the big thing that I'm offering you, that I think you never get anywhere else is that. And I want you to have this distinction in your mind when you hear anyone talking about weight loss is I want you to think, are they talking about it as a destination I get to, or are they talking about living there for the rest of my life? And that is such a clarifying question.

Because if you're thinking about getting to your goal weight as a destination, you fundamentally think about it differently because what happens is you think about it as a.

Short term, I don't mean to say short term, but let's say temporary. You think of it as a temporary process. You think of it as, I'm going to change things until I get to my goal weight. And then the idea of, like, how you're going to maintain that afterwards, what you're going to do afterwards is usually an afterthought. I can't tell you the number of Dieters that have success been losing weight, I said, well, what are you going to do when you get to your goal weight? I say, I will figure that out then. And so this is part of the problem. Even that response is part of the problem because they're saying, what I'm doing now is going to be different than what I'm going to do once I'm at my goal weight. And this is the core mindset problem I think all dieters fall into is it subconsciously. The way that you're conceptualizing weight loss is that you're thinking about it as like a race where you're going to get to a destination.

And you're not thinking past that. And that's causing all kinds of problems in your mind. Because as soon as you think of it as a temporary thing that you want to get to, well, the next thought that comes up is, say, how fast can I get there? It's a temporary thing. Let's do it as quick as we can. And now, as soon as you ask that question, the next answer that comes up is, well, what's the most extreme thing we can do? Because it's a very clear relationship that the fastest weight loss is created by the most extreme behavioral shifts.

And this is what sets you up for failure. And I believe it's. It's being stuck in this mindset of thinking of weight loss primarily as something you're going to do temporarily to get to a place that's causing you most of your problems, because that is what sets you up to choose unsustainable, overwhelming, tiring strategies to lose weight that you can't maintain.

So my focus is completely different. Yeah, I'm excited for you to get to your goal weight, but the weight loss phase is just a phase. And if all things go the way we want them to, your weight loss phase is going to be this long. And living at your goal weight is going to be this long. So for me, I'm more fixated and focused on living at your goal weight than I am on how you're gonna get there.

And that changes everything. Completely different path. So, anyways, what's up, Lena? Lena says hi, Jim, what time do you start your lives? I'm in the UK and missed the beginning parts. Oh, I know, I know. I, you know, boy, I just gotta commit to it. It's so funny. Like, change is harder than you think. I will tell you that. And I mention this all the time, and I'm no exception. Change isn't easy for me. That's why I do this for a living because I'm obsessed with this stuff. But.

What time do I start? Usually 12 to 12:30 noon Eastern Boston time. If you look at Boston, New York time, same thing. I usually start 1212, 1230 New York Boston time. And though Lena. So I don't know what time that is in England. I actually work with a lot of people in England. I always say this like the main four countries I work with, United States, England, Australia, Canada.

But if you missed the beginning, part one cool thing is that you can.

Go to any podcast platform if you listen to podcasts and you can search program yourself then and you can listen to the beginning so never have to miss another one again.

And that's now again, I, I am.

I had to wave the white flag with circle, meaning I, I hired someone here to kind of help me out, give it one last, you know, all in to see if we can get this working better. But what is on the docket, whether it's circle or something else, I think it's going to be circle, is that there's gonna be a whole free section and in that free section is going to be all the podcasts. So you will right there within the app be able to listen to each days. So that is coming down the pike. Whether it will be through circle or something else remains to be decided, but we will see. So that's coming and I can't wait. I got so many cool things for you. All.

Really cool things. I. Things are. I said this before, like when you stick with something long enough, magical things start happening. Now, they may not happen when you want them to. I've been doing this professionally for over 20 years and boy, what a journey it's been, you know, not a straight line, I wouldn't say, you know, just always a little different. So there's some cool stuff coming, but yes. 12, 12, 30. What's up, Lois? Lois says I am 48 and have lost some weight, but BMI charts don't go down to that low. But using a BMI calculator, it says normal weight for me is 85 to 105 or so. I felt great when I was around 125. Well, that, is that a good goal? Yeah, absolutely, Lois. The BMI chart is just one little reference data point and it's not as relevant for women and people of color and probably outliers. And so being, to be honest, Lois, 4, 8 is a little bit of an outlier number, I'm going to guess on the BMI chart. So the more data points you have that bring you towards the outlier status of a BMI chart. The less important that is because it's just less data and it's just. It's not really relevant for you as much. And the BMI chart's not a perfect thing anyways. Okay? So the BMI chart I have as one piece of data that I kind of reference one reference point for me. But at the end of the day, I think you're right on the right track, Lois, that the ultimate goal weight is the one that you have personally decided is where you feel your best. Right. And so it's not just about how you look, it's also about how you're able to maintain the weight. So, yeah, I would absolutely, Lois, aim at 125. And never mind that BMI chart. That BMI chart, again, is just one point of reference. And at the end of the day, the ultimate point of reference. The way I think of the BMI chart is that I don't want to be in the obese category. Okay. Because pretty. There seems to be a pretty clear connection between being in the obese category and having health issues for most people now, there's always outliers, okay? So there absolutely are people in the obese category that have great blood work numbers. Okay? But statistically, if you're in the obese category, you're probably going to be dealing with some health issues, metabolic dysfunction, things of that nature. So to me, I look at the BMI chart and I'm like, if I'm in the normal weight, overweight range, health wise, the data shows that you're, you're pretty. They're pretty similar. So it seems, the data seems to show that the overweight range of being in the BMI chart doesn't really have much of a negative impact on health factors. And so what that means is if you're in the normal or overweight range, at that point it really just becomes a matter of what you want to do, what weight is best for you, you know, and everyone has to kind of make their own decision with that. So that's how I'd approach that. But I would. I would probably start certainly with 125 being the initial goal. Get there, make it comfortable, live there, you know, see how it is, and then you can decide what you want to do from there. But I think the 125 for me, depending, you know, based on what you said, sounds like a great starting point.

So. Yeah.

Oops.

What's up, Kent? Ken says this month marks one year on PYT down £50 and comfortably living on my goal weight. Thank you, Jim. You, Kent, are amazing. I can't believe it's been a year already. Holy. Yeah. Kent's superstar. You know, £50 down. But again, the key thing I want you. I know £50 down is great, right? Everyone gets focused on that, and that's awesome. Okay, the key part I want you to hear, what Ken's saying is comfortably living at my goal weight. Comfortably. Comfortably living at £50 down. You see what I mean? This is what I'm talking about. It's not, you know what I mean? It's not, it's like, got the £50. Oh, yeah. I mean, it's not, it's not that, it's not the typical diet thing. It's, it's, it's breezing right into 50 pounds and just keep going because you've learned how to change your thinking, your lifestyle, and your eating so that the new way of doing this just feels automatic and easy. That's how you maintain it, you know, just a different approach, you know, Great job, Kent. Kicking ass. Proud of you.

See, Soul61 says, I lost 40 pounds on Zepbound, but took myself off. So scared to regain.

Yeah, I, I, I wish I had good news for you. I mean, just the studies just show, like, when you come off that stuff, the weight just comes on, you know, it's. So I want you to be the one it doesn't happen to, you know. But again, in program yourself, then, you know, we look at things in a layered way. And you know what, what the GLP1s do is they, they make you feel like you're full all the time. We'll just kind of simplify it. It's more complicated than that, but basically just make you feel full, right? And so now you always feel full. Now you eat less food and you lose weight. Okay. And again, that'll work as long as you're on the medication. But as soon as you come off it, well, what changes? Right? Again, you don't feel full anymore. You feel hungry and whatever. So when you're on the medicine, you haven't really learned how to change anything. You know, what's happened is you've injected yourself with something, and I just feel full. So, yeah, you come off it, and now you haven't developed any skills. There's no new awarenesses. So program yourself in. You know, we systematically and strategically work on changing your mindset, your lifestyle and your eating. And this, what I'm holding here is the goal weight blueprint. So this becomes your literal customized roadmap blueprint. It's 144 pages, you know, I mean, of questions and sections. And specifically we come through and create a customized, detailed blueprint for how to think like a thin, healthy person, how to live like a thin, healthy person, how to eat like a thin, healthy person. So when you're losing the weight, well, like Kent was just saying, right down £50, you didn't do it just by not feeling hungry from some outside force. You have internally inside out, learned how to genuinely think, live and eat like a thin, healthy person. And it's customized to you. And then on top of that again, there's two sides to mastering your weight and program yourself. Then there's knowing what to do, that's what the blueprints are for. And then there's knowing how to get yourself to do it. That's what the program yourself in techniques for. It's a 60 second self hypnosis exercise you use to program your mind, right? So once you know exactly what to do for you and you know how to run your mind, what happens is now you've got the keys, now you're the one who's driving the bus, you're in control. You're not relying on an injection, you're not relying on anything on the outside because you know how to create the results you want genuinely. So you're, you're empowered. So again, I, I mean, yeah, when people come off the drug, they put the weight back on because they never, you never, you never changed your mindset on the drug, you never learned, you never shifted your lifestyle on the drug, you never really figured out how to eat like a thin, healthy person without, when you, when you have your normal hunger level. So you, you've developed no strategies, you know, so again, I don't say this to be mean, but let's just got to look at things honestly too if we're going to fix them. So again, you're scared to regain, but don't let yourself feel scared to regain. Use that energy to learn how to live at your goal weight. Now I'm not saying you got to do program yourself then, but what I am saying is here's the map. Of course you, you know, your mindset matters, your lifestyle matters, your reading matters, you know, so start working on these.

So don't be scared though, because I mean, again, you're gonna, you're gonna do what most dieters do most diet. 95% of dieters that lose weight put the weight back on, you know, and they're scared the whole time they're putting the weight back on, but they waste all that energy being scared instead of figuring out how to solve the issue. But of course they don't know how to solve the issue because again, even the diets, the injections, they never teach you how to change your mindset, your lifestyle, and you're eating, so you don't even have any real granular understanding of how to make those changes. But once you do, once it's broken down, just put the. Instead of being scared, you put the energy into figuring these things out. So you feel comfortable as you move forward.

You know, like, Ken feels grounded, I feel grounded, you know what I mean? And living at my goal weight, I know exactly how I'm doing it. And when I get wobbly or I get off balance for, you know, whatever reason, I know how to kind of recenter myself. Like, for example, in the mindset section here, one of the last things we go through is maintenance. Not the maintenance like once you get to your goal weight, by the way, the maintenance of how do I get from day one to day two, week one to week two, month one to month two, like, how do I stay engaged? How do I make a mistake and get back on track? How do I deal with times of stress? Now, most dieters don't think about this and they don't have any answers to this. So when those situations happen, when you do make a mistake or you do hit times of stress, what are you going to do? And most dieters just freak out. So again, we need to be more. I think the simplest way to think about it is you need to be more strategic.

And so, see, see cell. You're imagining now you're going to be hungry and you just got to fight against your hunger. Again, that's how most dieters approach weight, is it's a battle, it's me against my hunger.

That, that's really missing. This kind of strategy, though, because if you start to approach your weight strategically and you systematically begin to transform your mindset, lifestyle and eating so it supports you, like now all of a sudden, you're approaching it in a much more intelligent way. Because what dieting's taught you is that it's just a game of willpower that you just have to fight against your hunger. And that's, that's the biggest lie there is. It's not true. There's so many other things you can focus on to influence your weight.

So I wish you the best, though. But I would definitely get this, the self hypnosis. Session I give you. It's free, by the way. Check that out. Mari, what's up? What do we do when we reach the end of the eight weeks of daily hypnosis? Begin again from the start. Sorry, I just logged in. Yeah, exactly. Mari, you can restart again.

If you. If you like, the sessions you can do. Kind of one of two things. One is you can just restart it. Just shoot me an email. I'll restart you on it. Number two is that there's a Thrive program where you get hypnosis sessions every day.

Every. Every day? Well, every weekday, I should say. But then you also get a lesson every weekend and you get a session with that. So if you. If you want to redo the sessions that you got, you can just redo them. Just shoot me an email. I'll reset it. If you want to continue receiving new hypnosis sessions, new lessons, shoot me a email and I. I'll show you about the Thrive program, if you're interested in that. Yeah, Lois says. Awesome. Thank you. £85 just sounds crazy. Yeah, I agree, Lois. You know, and again, you know, this is what I mean. Like, like, everything's relative, you know, for one person, £85 might sound perfect. You know, for another person, it might sound absolutely ridiculous. Now Lois is 4 8. Let it be known I don't want you. I know Sometimes people hear 85 pounds and say it's really low, which that is. But if you're 4 8, it's a little bit contextually different, you know, but regardless, we have to choose a goal weight that really resonates with us. We don't want to choose a goal weight. That feels really crazy to us. And I think a lot of people do that, actually. So Carol says you have taught us to eat real whole foods rather than manufactured food stuff that has helped me so much. Now I'm satisfied after eating, having fewer cravings, feeling better, and enjoying meals more. Thank you. You're welcome, Carol. Yeah, exactly. That's such a huge part of the food thing, is not just. See again, the diet industry, which is a branch of the food processing industry, you have to understand that. I think to make sense of this whole thing, you have to realize that diets are that not there to help you. Diets are wolves in sheep's clothing. They are the food companies.

Programming you and influencing you in sneaky ways. I know you don't believe me, but Weight Watchers was owned by Heinz. Jenny Craig was owned by Nestle Atkins. Food Products owned by the same company owns on the ends Pretzels and Cinnabon Slim Fast, owned by the same company, owns Ben and Jerry's ice cream. So these come. These companies do not want you to stop eating their food and live at a healthy, lower weight for the rest of your life. That's the last thing in the world they want. So you have to understand that diets, even on the surface, you think they're about helping you lose weight. Deep down, what they're really doing is getting you to be overweight for the rest of your life. I'm not going to go all the reasons why, because I just don't feel like I talk about it every day. But this is why it's important, I think, to understand hypnosis and how hypnosis works. Because with hypnosis, you can talk about something up here, but really down here, communicating to their subconscious mind some completely different message. And so once you understand that process, you can look at diets and see it in action. And you may say, oh, Jimmy, being a conspiracy theorist, am I? Because at this point, 75% of the American adults are overweight or obese. It's estimated 95% of dieters that lose weight put the weight back on. So am I. Am I being a conspiracy theorist? I think it's very clear that diets absolutely don't work.

So great job, Carol. I'm proud of you. Eating new, good, healthy food. That's the smart thing. So again, diets teach you that it's really all just about quantity. And I'm here to tell you, yeah, of course it's about quantity, but it's also, if not more, about quality. And again, the diets don't want you to think about quality of food because all the diets are run by. Are backed by these food companies. So they have a vested interest in getting you to think about weight loss in terms of calories and not in terms of real, whole natural foods versus processed food stuff. Because they are the reason that.

Yeah, Heinz. The reason Heinz bought Weight Watchers, Weight Watchers was originally, it was a kind of a grassroots thing. This housewife from. This housewife from New Jersey, struggling with her weight, began talking to her friends. They began having meetings that kind of organically grew, and people are starting to have success meeting up and all the rest of it. Heinz went and bought Weight Watchers and they started having meetings in the back of grocery freezers because it was just a way to sell their shitty processed frozen foods. So that's. That's the origins of Weight Watchers as a corporation, as a big multinational corporation so it wasn't there to help you get healthier and lose weight. It was there to sell you processed food.

So. So if that goal, that's just one example, but if their goal was to sell you processed food, do you think that they're going to make a huge distinction between whole food, natural food, and processed food? Do you think that's in their best interest?

There you go. So anyways, so great job, Carol. Barbara says, can you explain how hypnosis works? Yeah, sure. I love that question because it's so much different than what we typically think. The first of all, let me make the big distinction that it's not so much hypnosis, it's really self hypnosis. So I was saying this the other day. Like I always say, I'm a hypnotist, but really I'm a self hypnotist. That's a much more accurate description of me. Because at the end of the day, I believe you have to take control of your own mind. Okay, you could certainly come and see me, and I can hypnotize you, and I can influence you. No question about it. But how long that influence lasts is, you know, up for debate. And at the end of the day, ultimately, you are your own best or worst hypnotist because you are up in your head 24 hours a day talking to yourself. Okay? And so you have to realize that what you say to yourself consistently is one of the most impactful things on the results you're going to get. And chances are, you've never learned how to run your own mind. Okay? So to understand how hypnosis works, we need to understand that we have two minds. We have a conscious mind and a subconscious mind. The conscious part of your mind is your prefrontal cortex. It's about 10% of your brain. And it's the part of your brain that's logical, analytical. It's the part of your brain that knows you should lose weight, knows what you should do to lose weight, tries to get you to do it. That's where your willpower exists. And the other part of your brain which is really in control, the 90% of your brain is your subconscious mind. And this part of your brain runs all your habitual thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. And this is the part that's in control of your weight. Now, the key thing here to understand is that your conscious mind understands language and logic. So I could tell you, oh, don't eat this anymore, because it's got really a lot of calories in it. It makes you overweight you get it consciously, and you say, okay, I'm gonna stop eating that. I'm gonna stop eating ice cream. You get it, you got, okay. But then with that knowledge, at some point you still go and eat the ice cream. And this gets to the crux of why losing weight is hard. You logically know what you should do, but then there's some part of you that compels you to do the wrong thing. And so most dieters feel this battle within themselves, and it feels like a battle because what you're trying to do deep down, is you're trying to use your conscious mind to fight against and control your subconscious mind. That's basically what a diet is, you consciously trying to fight against your subconscious mind. Oh, let's eat cookies. No, let's have some ice cream. No, let's eat this. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. And it becomes this battle and you feel it, you feel it as rebellion. You feel eventually you feel the subconscious mind get restricted enough and found. And now you. Candy, ice cream, cookies.

How every diet ends, right? It's called the what the hell effect, you know, in dieters anyways. So with program yourself then. And how hypnosis works is we're changing this model. We're not going to fight against our subconscious mind. We're going to use our conscious mind to repro. We're going to use our conscious mind to reprogram our subconscious mind. So we're not fighting against anymore. We're going to reprogram it. We're going to reprogram it to do the things that are going to get us to be thin and healthy and keep us there, and to do it on autopilot. That's the key thing. And so we systematically and strategically come up with a plan of what to do, what to think, what to live and how to eat. That works for us. And then we use hypnosis to program it in. And the main way we program it in, remember I said the conscious mind speaks in language and concepts and ideas. The subconscious mind thinks in imagination. And so in order to influence the subconscious mind, you can't just say facts to it. That doesn't respond to those. You have to start imagining, doing and being the way you want to be, thinking, living, eating, as the person you want to be. And so we use our imagination to program our subconscious mind to do the things that we want it to do to get us the results we want to get. So that's kind of a simplistic explanation of it, and it's a Crucial piece of the puzzle, in my opinion. I don't know how the hell anyone's going to create any real profound quality of change in your life without understanding hypnosis and self hypnosis. I, I have no idea how that would be possible. All right, he says, thanks. I look for it. Great. Kim says, what a racket. And they're so good at how they suck you in. Yes, she's talking about the, Kim's talking about the diets. Yes, the diets are a racket. I, I, Jesus Christ. I got a book coming out about this. It's coming, it's coming. But I can't wait for that one either. So anyways, what's up? Xx says, today, Jim, I eat just a little bit. Everything that I want to eat. And feeling so full without restriction and no night snack. Grass. Great.

Yeah. Nice job. X. Keep it up, keep it up. Actually, you're always working. Good job. Vicki says, hey, Jim, off today. Listening to you on my second walk. Nice. Second walk. No, no, dog, little dog's a little tired out for the second walk. Well, that's awesome. Glad you have a day off. Hope it's nice weather out there.

Let's see. If anyone's got any questions, feel free to ask them. Whoop.

Something there she sells to think you're so right. Yeah, you're welcome.

Follow says, oh, this is the best news I heard in a while. Well, good, good. That's what I'm here for. Again. I am here. I feel very fortunate. I've said this so many times in my life. I'm. You're probably looking at one of the luckiest people on the planet. I would have to say.

I'm definitely one of the luckiest people on the planet. And, you know, I was just like everyone else, struggling with all this, and a lot of this stuff that I'm sharing with you just kind of fell in my lap. I mean, really, honestly, like in a a month or two of my life, like yoga, meditation, personal development, neuro, linguistic programming, Tony Robbins, meditation, guitar, martial arts, all this fell in my lap in like a month or two. And it was so transformative. It was absolutely transformative in my life. And it ultimately ended up, it was kind of the beginning of figuring out how to master my weight. And it was such a profound shift for me that I literally dedicate my life to this. Now, you know, Boyd says, do you make podcasts? Yes, this is a podcast.

So I always record this and then it's up there. So if you go search, program yourself, then on Any podcast platform. It'll show up. You'll see it. I do have plans that's kind of. I got a bunch of projects that are kind of winding down. It's exciting. So it's going to free up more energy for other stuff. But one of the main things on the next level of docket is getting the podcast, kind of exploring some other formats for the podcast, some different ideas that I think will make it kind of interesting. It's funny, I've been doing this podcast now for, I think, three years. It's crazy. So anyways, yeah, studio, this is a podcast, but like I said, I got some ideas about some new. New ways to kind of format it. We'll see.

But have any questions, feel free to ask them. If not, you know, maybe we'll close it up. I got stuff to do. Lena says all diet food tastes horrible. Yeah, Ready meals. Yeah, of course. Right. And if. Listen, if you're, you know, if your food. If the food you're eating, like, this is the thing with Jenny Craig. It's like you want to eat that forever. Really? Really. Is that what you want to eat? You don't. I mean, you don't. Obviously you don't, and you shouldn't probably. I just don't. Come on, now. I will see you Jenny Craig people, you know, And I mean, I will compare my food to yours any day of the week. I love my food. I love my food.

And it's a process, you know, this is a journey. I think a lot of people don't understand because it's intrinsic motivation is. Is different than, like, extrinsic motivation, meaning that intrinsic motivation is like. My favorite example is like, when you're doing a puzzle and you get. You put a piece in and just feels good, right? And it's like, no one gives a shit. Who cares. You put a piece of a puzzle and it has no real meaning to anyone else, but to you, it just. You get that little. That little good feeling, you know, and it's like the more you start to orient yourself to chase those little good feelings when you do something kind of good, the easier this path becomes. Because what most people are chasing for motivation with their weight loss is, is they want to wear a certain outfit, they want to be a certain size, they want to, you know, be a certain weight. And really what that means is that your weight loss motivation is built around what other people think, you know, and you've been trained to think that that's the highest form of weight loss motivation. Every diet has conditioned you to think in the before and after picture which subconsciously causes you to think about weight loss motivation as an aesthetic superficial thing. You think about weight loss primarily as I'm going to look better, I'm going to wear skinny jeans, I'm going to wear my bathing suit to the beach, I'm going to be a size, blah, blah, blah, I'm going to look good in my pictures. Okay, Now I'm not saying that that's fine motivation by the way. I think that's great but it's usually not enough. And there's a way more powerful form of motivation under the surface. And what that is is the intrinsic motivation. So again, I'm not saying get rid of those extrinsic superficial goals. I want to look a certain way, I like wearing certain clothes, so I have the same thing. I'm not saying this as if I'm not. I don't have those goals too. I do, but the big difference for me is that's my secondary goal. So yeah, I want to look a certain way and all the rest of that shit. But that's a secondary goal to me. And I, and I mean that as in it's not as powerful. I have a more powerful form of motivation within me. That's what makes what I'm doing different. Probably the most dieters, so I have that secondary one too. But my primary motivation is really this intrinsic one where this path is really about meeting my most important kind of goals in my life. So for me, I eat the way I eat, live the way I live and manage my weight the way I do. Primarily pain side of it. I don't want to die. My dad died of 54 of a heart attack. I'm going to die, but I don't want to die at 54 of a heart attack if I could help it. That was the biggest trauma of my life. It was horrible. I don't want to do it to my family if I can stop it if I can help it, you know. So that's my big why pain wise. And I have a million more reasons of pain reasons. One, okay, but that's a big one. But on the other side, on the pleasure side, I want to have a great quality of life. I want to have energy, I want to have the best relationships I can have, I want to be the best coach I can be. I want to run the most successful business I can run. I want to do exciting cool things. I want to go on adventures, I want to have fun, I want to feel good in my body, I Want to feel strong, I want to feel confident. I want to be flexible. I want to have great mobility and balance.

You know, and I'm so connected to those goals. Primarily, that's my main focus.

And I want to look a certain way, too. But I've just tapped into so much more motivation because of that. I mean, that's what I'm saying. Like, you know, when I talk about the goal weight pyramid, right? And we talk about mindset first, the very first thing you start within this program after you choose your goal weight is.

Your motivation.

You know, I think most dieters just treat that as an afterthought. You just assume you're motivated. You assume you're motivated because you think about weight loss constantly. But thinking about losing weight all the time is not the same as genuinely being motivated to change up your behavior so that you actually lose weight. And so, you know, that's just the first step. But it's like five pages you go through a bunch of questions. You go through. So your motivation now versus when you answer these questions is it's night and day. And I'm telling you, your motivation is lacking. You don't know how to even control your motivation. Sometimes you get motivated, and then sometimes it goes away and you really have no control of that process if you're like most dieters. And that's obviously a huge problem. So, again, I think dieting doesn't really. Dieting has trained you to not reflect on the granular aspects of losing weight.

You know, So I always say this one, that dieting basically. So we look at this goal weight pyramid, right, of mindset, lifestyle and eating, and then there's the subcategories of each. But dieting basically trains you to focus on this. This is about as much as you've done in this pyramid with your dieting your whole life too, by the way. So think of all the time, energy and effort you have put into trying to lose weight with the diets, okay? Think about how long it's probably been decades, right? Think about how much time and energy you think about losing weight, right? But when you look at this whole thing, in all that time, all that energy, all that effort you haven't done. You haven't done anything with your mindset. You've done very little bit with your lifestyle. You haven't done any customized eating. What's happened is you've done this. And you know what this is? This is meal plans.

This is working out really hard. This is different diet strategies, right? Because someone just tells you what to do. Oh, don't eat carbs.

Okay. Count your points. Okay. Just eat Mediterranean food. Oh, all right. And then you try and do it, but you're doing this much when in reality there's all this that you can work on. Now, again, I know this isn't for everyone, right? I know most people just. Oh, my God. Oh, no way. Jim, let's go back up here. I just. I don't want to do all that. Just tell me what to do. I'll just do it. What are you talking about? What do you mean, you just do it? Are you serious? I can just give you a meal plan, you just follow it? Is that what you think? Diet? You're gonna snap out of that trance? Do you really think if I gave you the perfect meal plan for you that that's all you need? Do you think you're one meal plan away from living at your goal weight? Is that what you think? Because that's this sort of thinking that that's all you need. Because even if I gave you the perfect meal plan, what about these factors?

I don't know. Again, it just gives you a much more granulated understanding of the whole process. What's up, Barbara? Barbara says I'm making good food choices with food lately, but my mind is stuck in not doing anything but waiting for the next meal. So I guess food still controls me even when my eating is more in control. So feeling very stuck. Yeah. Great, Barbara. That's great to recognize. Okay? Because again, we come back here. This is exactly what I'm talking about. I'm making good food choices with food lately, but my mind is stuck in not doing anything but waiting for the next meal. Yeah, exactly. So great job recognizing that. Now, how do you fix that? So what I would suggest is. I'm going to guess, and this is a very common one. Again, don't get offended, anyone. I'm here to help you. But this reminds me a little bit of boredom eating, right? So it's like people like, well, how do I deal with boredom eating? And the answer is so simple. It's like you smack yourself when you hear it. It's be more interesting, you know, how do I deal with boredom eating? Have more interesting things you can do in your life. If all of a sudden you're not eating and you're bored, that's an indicator that you don't have a lot of interesting things to do.

So you stop eating. And now you're just like, well, what do I do now?

Start a hobby. There must be some hobby you used to do. And kind of fell away or that you want to do and you just haven't started yet. Start filling your time up with things that are genuinely interesting to you. This is the piece, you know, I always say, with program yourself, then we take your weight loss and wrap it in personal development. So it's about becoming the person you want to be. Primarily, the weight's a piece of it, but it's more about being the person you want to be. So in Barbara's case, what do you want to be? Like a thin, bored person. You want to be a thin person who's obsessed with food but can't eat it. That sounds terrible to me. You know, Barbara says. Right, right, exactly. So this is what I mean. You know, dieting has taught you to. To deal with the symptoms, right? Because if we talk about boredom eating, right, you'll say, well, how do I stop boredom? But boredom eating is just a symptom of a deeper problem. Right, the boredom eating is a symptom of the deeper problem. What's the deeper problem? You don't have anything interesting to do that. Food is probably the most interesting thing you may have in your life. Don't be embarrassed by that and don't be ashamed of it. Okay? It's a lot of people. It was me. It becomes the main thing. I remember when I was 50 pounds heavier, the main things in my life were I knew every night, like what TV shows I was going to watch. I was always thinking that night what I was going to eat. All day long, I was thinking about what I was going to eat that night while I watched my show, that I was going to watch the shows I was going to watch, and then drinking at that time. And that's what I've thought about, constantly lived in that space, you know, so it's not just about stopping the board of meeting. It's about figuring out other ways to entertain yourself, keep yourself interested, focused, curious, fascinated, entertained. And so, you know, I look at it like when I was 50 pounds heavier, that was my main focus. Now, you know, I play guitar, I read a lot, I do puzzles, I play with my kid. You know, go take my dogs for a walk. I got so many more things that I do that I really enjoy doing. And that was a huge part. See, this what I mean, that's a component of the lifestyle piece. That's why I'm saying weight loss doesn't live in a vacuum. You can't just change your eating. You have got to change your mindset, your lifestyle, and creating an eating plan that really works for you. And again, dieting doesn't do that, because dieting. Oh, just do this. Just do this. Just stop. Board of meetings. Okay, great. So you stop boredom eating, and now you're just bored. Do you understand? I don't want to stop boredom eating. I want to start doing something that's more interesting and fulfilling for me. Hope that makes sense. And when you approach it this way, all of a sudden, you don't stop yourself from boredom eating. You start doing other things that genuinely fulfill you and are interesting to you. And all of a sudden, having to use food to deal with the boredom, it fades away because you're already dealt with the boredom.

So, Vicky Biggie says, love your energy and creativity. Thank you. Appreciate that.

Sister Tay Tay says to be desired and not be alone for many.

Yeah, that's. That's for sure. But again, let's just say. Let's just use that for an example. Okay? Let's just say you wanna. Your main reason for wanting to lose weight is so that people. I'm going to use Sister Tay Tay's exact words, right? Let's just say your main motivation is that you want to be desired and not be alone.

Okay? So you want to. You're alone right now and you want to lose weight so that you can find a partner and spend your time with them. Okay? Let's just say that's your goal. I think it's a great goal. Okay, but I bet you're thinking of that goal very superficially so. Again, I think it's a great goal. You want to get into a relationship. I think that's a wonderful goal. But are you thinking that the only thing you need to do in a relationship is look a certain way?

Is that how you're thinking about it?

Wouldn't you put yourself at even better chance of getting a relationship if you start to look better and you start to feel better about yourself, you start to be happier, healthier, more energized. Wouldn't that also make you more attractive? Wouldn't that also put you in position to get into a better relationship or get into a relationship?

This is what I mean. Like, we just think. I'm gonna guess, right? It's like usually people just think, well, if I look better, I'll find a magical relationship will pop up.

So even if that's your goal, you can think about it in a more holistic, internalized way. We pull even more motivation out of it. And set yourself up for more success, too. Oh, all right, I gotta get out of here. I do have to get out here now. So thank you so much for listening, everyone, and great questions. Appreciate your comments. Questions. And if you are not in my world yet, please click the link in my bio. Click my little face picture, which I gotta update. I realized yesterday, that picture from three years ago, there's a little fresh face, baby, with no beard or nothing. And maybe a little more hair. And I don't think so. Maybe. I don't know, the hair is going away.

So anyways, yeah, if you're not my world, click the link in my bio, go to program yourself, then dot com, go get the free hypnosis session I give you. And when I give you that session, I also gave you a training three steps to master your weight. You should watch. It's like 20 minutes long. So if you're remotely serious about your weight, go check that out. And if you like this, I'm here every Monday through Friday, usually around noon Eastern.

New York, Boston time. And then this is also a podcast, so if you missed the live and you like listening to it, you can listen to the podcast whenever you want. All right. He says, I'll give you some of mine. Yeah, that'll be great. I don't know, I was thinking that. I'm like, what if they just come up with some magical thing? Or it's like, you can just grow hair. Would I do it? I'd probably do it. I'm not gonna lie. I'd probably do it if it wasn't like some chemical thing. If they could just, like, do something safe and natural. I don't know what I. I don't know. My daughter always ask, you never use. Always going to shave your head. You never let it grow. I don't know. It's been 30 years. I don't know. I don't see. It's not gotten better, I don't think. Anyways, who cares? All right, everyone, have a super day and we'll talk soon. Bye.