**there will be a blog post added eventually to this in the future so please watch the video for now and comment below with any thoughts or questions.**

I want to start off by letting you know that this video is my personal example of self talk.  I will add more to this blog in the future but I would love to ask YOU, how do you handle self talk?

Give me an example of something you did well OR ask for some help with a situation you are dealing with.

Comment below and let’s have a conversation about this very important topic!

This is an excerpt from my book, Fit 2 Love: How to Get Physically, Emotionally, and Spiritually Fit to Attract the Love of Your Life.

“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.”                                  Virginia Woolf

We have lost touch with our relationship to food. With at least three opportunities every day to practice receiving the transfer of energy from our meals to our cells, eating has become a source of confusion and conflict, rather than a delightful pleasure. The lack of respect and abuse of food is one of the reasons why our health, as a culture, is rapidly declining. For some of us, the concept of doing anything except ordering in or going out seems like too much work. Our lives are too busy to slow down and prepare a home-cooked meal. Having a food love affair means having a deep, meaningful, respectful, and loving relationship to the food we put in our bodies.

In cultures throughout history, hunting, gathering, raising, and preparing foods was an honored and respected daily ritual. People were in tune with the abundance of each season and the different foods the earth provided throughout the year. Modern living has taken away the need of our attention to this. If you are looking for love, practice these principles with your food first. You have to create a love affair with food to attract the respect of your body and have success with health and weight management. To heal the obsession of dieting and calorie counting, you are going to treat food as your new lover, with whom you see the potential for a committed relationship. Rather than making food the enemy, you want to fall in love with food.

The Courtship

When you meet a man who interests you, the curiosity can be overwhelming. You want to know so many things: Who he is? Where he is from? What does he do for a living? How was he raised? Passion and excitement surround the quest for knowledge about this new person. It is an important step in finding the right partner. I want you to take a similar heightened interest in what you eat. Every day you fill your body with ingredients that make a huge impact on your health, state of mind, emotional well-being, and size of your waist. Take a look inside your refrigerator and kitchen cupboards and ask these questions: How did this get made? How does it affect my body? Where did it come from? Start to be more curious about seeking knowledge of the most vital relationship you already have—your diet. We take for granted what we consume everyday and how it impacts our lives. We are missing the spiritual connection to food.

Imagine you are looking at a red pepper. How does it affect your body? How was it grown? Did the farmers use pesticides on the plants? Was it just picked, or has it been sitting in a grocery store for a few weeks after being shipped from a warehouse? What’s the difference? I chose the red pepper because my husband and I have just started growing our own vegetables, and we have green and red bell peppers. Prior to planting a garden, we were regularly shopping at the local farmer’s market. At the last minute while preparing brunch for guests, I had the direct experience of comparing the shelf life of farm fresh veggies over the grocery store bought version. The store bought celery started to turn brown after two days, while the farmer’s market celery lasted for over two weeks. This confirmed my choice to go directly to the farmers to get my produce as often as possible.

The red bell pepper has many nutrients you want to know about. Studies have shown that red bell peppers have significantly higher levels of nutrients than green. Red bell peppers contain lycopene, which helps to protect against cancer and heart disease. They are a good source of vitamin C, vitamin B6, beta carotene, and folic acid. Peppers contain a large amount of phytochemicals that act as antioxidants to protect against cataracts, blood clot formation, and reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Sounds good, yes? Can you get more excited about eating a red bell pepper and all the wonderful things it can help your body do? If you find yourself more interested in the red pepper, this is good news. You are creating a love affair with food.

In my book, I cover a few more steps and ways in which we engage with food and how it can enhance different parts of our lives as well as our bodies.

I am doing a complimentary class on 3 of these stages at Whole Foods Market Redondo Beach.  Click here to get more info and learn how to register for these classes.

Just like your relationship to a person, food is no different.  Your relationship with food can always be improved and deepened for a more satisfying union!

The presentation was centered around stress, its effect on the body, the benefits of laughter and self esteem.  It was a fun presentation to give!

As with all presentations I do, I use my own life and experiences as examples.  One of the slides was entitled “how to laugh more” and noted to “Laugh about the unlaughable”.

The story I told was my most recent event around something that was initially not laughable for me-an accident.

A few Sundays ago, my husband and I were at the laundromat doing the weekly laundry (our machine broke and we haven’t decided on a new one yet).  While we were sitting there waiting for the dryers, my architect husband pointed out that the room was 29 feet long. (He likes to observe how things are made and teach others about it since that’s what he does).  I said “ok”.

Then he said, “do you know how I know that?”  “No”, I said.

“The tiles on the ceiling and floor are each 1 foot long and there are 29 of them across.” He explained.

“OK.” I said.

Then I looked up at the ceiling and back at the floor and could swear that the floor tiles were slightly larger than the ceiling.  So I said “The ceiling tiles look smaller than the floor.”

“They may be” he said.

“Well I am going to measure them” I said.  Because we had at least 10 more minutes to wait for our clothes to dry and I just happened to have a tape measure in the car!

At this point, my husband thinks I don’t trust him and I have to prove him wrong.

No.  I wanted to know if my eyes and perception were accurate.

That’s all.

And I had 10 minutes to do nothing!

After going out to the car to get my little breast cancer awareness retractable tape measure (I think I just wanted to use it!  It’s new!), I proceeded to measure the floor tile.  It was 1 foot long on each side

Next, I stepped up onto the window ledge so I could reach the ceiling.  As I was starting to straighten up, I hit my head on the edge of the framing around the window.  I had my sunglasses on my head.

“OUCH!”

The first thing I did was check my sunglasses- I swore I heard a crack.

Nope- glasses were in tack.

But as I was examining them and holding my hand on my head, I noticed blood drip onto the floor.  I looked up to have my husband telling me my head was bleeding and he handed me a paper towel  to wipe the blood that was now dripping down my face.

Yikes.

I have never had blood running down my face before!!  Or from my head!!

My first thoughts were that I may have a concussion.  I was in a bit of shock but doing ok.  My husband was more set off by this as he ordered me to go sit in the car and keep the pressure on my head.   I will spare you the middle of the day details which include Brian telling me I needed to go to the hospital for stitches ( no way, not happening) and me sitting on the couch with an ice pack on my head ALL DAY.

Here is a picture of the ice pack on my head while Brian was folding the laundry.  At this point, I was laughing.  There were 7 loads of laundry and he would not let do any more work.

He is a good husband.  He probably thinks I am nuts because I was laughing at this point especially since the ice pack around my head is hilarious to me.

What else can I do?  I didn’t have a concussion, I felt mostly fine, the cut wasn’t that big and it stopped bleeding within 20 minutes of when it happened.   It didn’t swell, it looked like I was going to live so why not LIGHTEN UP and laugh at it???

Here are some highlights from the presentation I gave about the BENEFITS OF LAUGHTER:

• Dissolves tension
• Reduces conflict
• Brings out warm feelings
• It’s light cardio and can increase heart rate and blood flow
• It’s an ab exercise- haven’t you felt sore abs after laughing really hard?
• Because the diaphragm squeezes the abdomen, your internal organs get massaged
• Respiratory system gets exercise by the increase in intensity of air in and out
• Increase endorphins so you feel better
• Reduces stress hormones
• It’s free and you can do it as often as you like!

You always have a choice about how to process an event or situation. The story you tell will dictate how you feel about it.  If you want to REDUCE STRESS, you might try creating some NEW STORIES!

Last night I found myself getting angry because of a conversation I had with a friend of mine.  It brought up many judgments about myself and I started question who I was, what I stood for and how I communicated with people.  Basically it brought forward a lot of self-doubt.

Did I workout? No.

Did I call a friend for support? Nope.

Did I journal my feelings? Hello no.

I’m embarrassed to say that my OLD patterns kicked right in and I found myself at 7-11 at 9pm purchasing a pint of Ben & Jerry’s.  I came home, turned on the TV and dug in. And, it did its job.  The thoughts and feelings quickly dissipated and were gone by the time my spoon hit the bottom of the cardboard carton.

Truthfully for the past week my eating has been sliding. I found myself not being as aware of what I was putting into my mouth and I was making choices that were not the healthiest.  I also haven’t been working out as much.

I woke up today in a total food hangover. I woke up angry, cranky, tired, pessimistic (I’ll never find a man…blah, blah, blah) and feeling uber lazy.  When I wake feeling this way, I know to check two things: 1. What have I been eating? 2. How much am I exercising?  Lately it’s been too much food and not enough movement.

So, I reach out to all of you to publically disclose this and to re-commit to myself.  I did read JJ’s book, “Fit 2 Love.” It’s a GREAT book! And I am now embarking on starting on the workbook that accompanies it. I’ll be starting a cleanse this week (oy, I hope I’m not a total bitch during the cleanse…LOL!).  So, hopefully, I will turn this around.

I’m just amazed at how I can be so convinced that I won’t revert to old patterns and then find myself at 7-11 on a food binge.

I’ve learned that the old patterns are never truly gone but just may be dormant for a time but they’re always there waiting in the wings. So, what there is to do is to just continue to practicing new ways of being with food, exercise and my thoughts about myself.  The more I practice this, the stronger that muscle will be and hopefully the old ways will get weaker and weaker over time.

Although painful, I appreciate these oh-so-human moments that remind me to not get too cocky and that I need to stay looking forward, not backward and working my new ways of being.

I am going to focus on the last one, current relationships, and use a personal example from my own life.  Current relationships can be any person, group or environment that you are currently participating with.

In my case, it’s a group.

About 6 months ago, a client of mine invited me to check out a group that offered support around the areas of allowing, accepting, and trusting in a higher power to better serve those around you.  It was exactly what I needed at the time.

Why I did I need to go?

I need to back up a bit and tell you that I grew up in a very positive, supportive, loving home.  I was allowed to do, be, and say just about anything I wanted and I was given respect and trust from the beginning.  Still to this day on most subjects, my parents support my decisions and question only to learn about my choices or to keep me safe by offering another opinion if asked.

This environment gave me permission to make my choices, learn my lessons and decide for myself what was acceptable or unacceptable behavior in my life. They were great examples in many areas and I know I am blessed to have chosen them as my parents before I was born.

In thinking about having children or even just looking at the relationships I currently have- I saw a need for me to practice accepting things that scare me.  There aren’t that many that really trigger me, but I have a few that I am currently aware of.  I want to be able t o provide my family the loving and accepting environment that I had in order for them to grow in a safe environment.

This group is free and meets often. I decided to pick one day a week I could commit to for many months. When I first started going, I heard success stories of people who had been through much more than I have and I was inspired to see them living a happy life regardless of what was happening around them.

This “inspired” feeling lasted a few weeks and then went away.  I started to not really get anything out of the meetings about a month ago.

But I do see evidence that I have grown by how I deal with clients and friends- I keep my mouth shut more now then I have before.  I can notice where people are and allow them to be there instead of having to push them along faster to get out of pain. When people pay me to help them, that’s what I want to do- HELP.  But I have become better at knowing when to offer my guidance and when to just be supportive.

About 3 weeks ago, I went to a meeting and had a very negative experience.  I left feeling badly and took the rest of the day to undo the damage.  There were many people in the room who are going through very tough times.  My life is going well so sitting in this energy for 90 minutes actually brought me down.

I calibrated to their energy.

Deciding to give it another shot, I went 2 weeks ago.  This time I noticed another aspect of what was happening inside if me.   I was feeling guilty for having a healthy childhood!!!

That was my first big clue that I needed to “graduate” from this particular group and say thank you for the lessons I have gotten.  My life has changed because of it, but now it’s time to go.

I talk about calibration in Fit 2 Love.  Most of the time, it is very hard to avoid.  If you are in a room full of negative people and you stay there long enough, you will start to become negative.

The other reason I decided that it was time to graduate was the talk about a higher power.  Because this is not a religious group, I understand that positioning a “higher power” separate from you is safer for people who are not spiritual.

But in my world, there is no separation of spirit and me.  I find it disempowering to believe that I am less than my higher power or even just separate from”it”.  So to maintain my connection to my source, I needed to acknowledge that this energy cut the tie that keeps me connected to my higher power which I believe is inside of me- and inside of you.

I am glad I went to this group.  It truly has helped me become a better person and hopefully a better parent in the future but for now, I am graduating to the next level of growth for me.  And I am excited to see what that will be!

Take a look at your life- do the people and environments you put yourself in keep you stuck, pull you back or help you grow?

Would you like to take a look at how you can clean the slate in your life for more love, self acceptance and some results with your body?

Join me on the free call,  Sign up here to learn more about what you can do to bring more joy, love and balance to your life everyday.

800 571-5722

www.fit2love.info/freecall

I think I have watched this video ten times already-or more.

I play it for every client I see who I think needs to hear it- which is most of them!

Why I love this video by Marianne Williamson is because she focuses on how we START our day. It’s about having intention, flow, a stable base coming from love, breath, and readiness VERSUS what most of us do (me included sometimes) which is REACT, REMEMBER, and REPEAT all the crap we did, thought and felt from the day before.  Especially when it’s negative.

It’s part of Law of Attraction as well.  I will give you a perfect example of how it can go very wrong.

Last week as I was getting ready for an early client, I noticed that one of our new towels was discolored.  I decided to get upset about it and write my husband a note- this was one of the FIRST  things I did to start my day on the way to the shower.

Since I started off focusing on something negative, the rest of the day went that way.  Traffic was awful and I was late for my first client.  On the way to my next appointment, I got off the wrong exit and turned the wrong way using up all of the spare time I had before my doctor appointment that I was going to use to get an oil change.  I had no more time because I used it up driving in the wrong direction!

Then at the doctor’s office, I had to wait. ( I HATE waiting when I was told I wouldn’t have to).  Anyway, you get the drift.  My day did turn around when I decided to get a $35, 75 min reflexology and massage around the corner from my last appointment of the day.  I had a coupon and I decided I needed some help with my energy shifting!

And it worked.

Most of my mornings, I start off by playing an appreciation game.  I intentionally verbally make a list with a partner what I appreciate and what I am excited about manifesting.  This is to create the positive energy and direct myself into that good feeling place. Or to redirect to a more general place if I happen to “not be feeling it” that day.

Most days, things flow well and I see clear evidence of my efforts in choosing to see the possibilities and stepping over the little things that could be bothersome- they aren’t worth my time.

This “bad” day is not the JJ typical day which is why I had to recall it and laugh.  I know better but now I am reminded how not being deliberate in my thoughts and focus can have me really frustrated!!

It’s all about HABITS.  What habits do you have and how do they support you or sabotage you?

What do you do first thing in the morning?

Do you turn on the TV to see what to worry about today?  Or do you read, meditate, exercise, journal, connect with your family, etc?

When Marianne talks about literally having more time when you meditate, it’s because you ground yourself into who you are FIRST, then you can choose how to process the information coming to you.

Without doing this, you allow your environment to dictate what and how you do and feel.  You become a victim and lose control.  It can be done very differently.

I invite you to change something about your morning routine and see how differently your day goes.  Or how you attract different, possibly better things.

Let me know how that goes.

Since our 6 Week Beach Body Program uses MIND TOOLS such as EFT, hypnosis and meditation, I wanted to share with you WHY and HOW you can lose weight by changing the way you THINK.

For some of you , the idea of hypnosis is being told to act like a chicken.  Wrong.

This article was written by Susan French, C.Ht.

Hypnosis is a powerful tool but exactly HOW does it work? The real magic is that hypnosis works as both a “magic wand” and as a “snowball gathering snow.”

Let’s take a look at each separately and then how they work together.

The magic-wand effect is when you have a hypnosis session and your issue is solved instantly and without further effort. Magic!

The snowball effect is what you experience with several hypnosis sessions, in which each session reinforces and enhances the relief created by previous sessions.

The reality is that both effects create permanent change. Hypnosis creates the initial change. Reinforcement ensures that the change lasts.

Reinforcement occurs when you regularly use a reinforcement CD made by your hypnotherapist, induce self-hypnosis, or through continued subsequent sessions with your hypnotherapist. Your hypnotherapist guides you in creating the initial change and reinforcing it, thereby accomplishing your goal of permanent, positive change.

Now, let’s look at it a little more closely.

We use hypnosis to change responses and behaviors. All responses and behaviors are learned. All that hypnosis really does is cause very rapid learning (or relearning) to take place so that new responses and behaviors become automatic.

Hypnosis allows this rapid learning to occur by interrupting the conscious, critical factor of the mind/brain. For reasons of survival, the critical factor of the mind/brain slows down the learning process. However, when those initial survival reasons are no longer necessary, it makes sense to interrupt or bypass the critical factor, which is precisely what hypnosis does – painlessly, safely, and effectively.

We know that no learning is INSTANT. You didn’t learn to ride a bike instantly. You didn’t learn to speak instantly. You didn’t learn to read or write instantly. You were taught the initial ideas and methods and those ideas were repeatedly reinforced until they become automatic.

Hypnosis allows that learning or relearning to happen more rapidly. However, as with any learning process, it needs to be reinforced. Thus, hypnosis is both a “magic wand” and a “snowball gathering snow.”

Let’s take a look at Joanna’s experience to get a better idea of exactly how hypnosis DOES work:

Joanna was sitting in the waiting room at the Hypnosis Motivation Institute. She was waiting for her first hypnotherapy appointment. She was desperate to lose weight. She had lost and gained at least three hundred pounds in her thirty-two years. Now, here she was, seventy pounds overweight again. She had tried everything.

She had heard some say that hypnosis could be like a magic wand. She had heard others say it didn’t work at all. Her best friend Martha had just lost fifty-five pounds using hypnosis. She said it was easy and it worked, but that Joanna would have to do her part too. Would it work for her?

If this reminds you of your own questions about weight loss and hypnosis, keep reading.

We can call the habit of overeating a food addiction, compulsive overeating, or a self-destructive habit. Whatever we call it, though, once that kind of behavior takes control, you will need to unlearn old, destructive behaviors and relearn new, constructive ones.

Joanna followed through with her hypnosis for weight loss. She learned the reasons she ate for comfort and she altered those behaviors. She learned that eating good, fueling foods were essential, and she incorporated those ideas into her daily life. She also learned that she needed to move her body more. Exercise became her oasis. It became her “me-time” every day.

Joanna lost her seventy pounds easily and happily and has maintained her new weight because she created a new relationship with food, with her body, and with life itself. That was five years ago.

Hypnosis makes the process of transforming counterproductive behaviors to productive behaviors easy, effective, and empowering. Any behavior that does not serve your goals and dreams can be changed using hypnosis.

Hypnosis accelerates your learning process so that what might have taken you twenty years to “learn” can be restructured in four to six sessions.

Hypnosis is being used in major medical institutions, such as, Harvard Medical School, UCLA, Stanford, Kaiser Permanente, Beth Israel Deaconness Hospital, and many burn centers, to ease pain, fear, and treatment [, and accelerate healing] for their patients.

Hypnosis is approved by, both, the American Medical Association (AMA) and the National Institute of Health (NIH) for Complementary and Alternative Medical Treatment and as an adjunct to traditional treatments.

The moral of this story is this: if you are wondering if hypnosis is a magic wand or a cumulative change response (snowball effect), it is both!

If all else has failed and you are ready and committed to achieving your goals, it is time to try hypnosis. It works!

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And that’s why we use it as the foundation for changing your MIND on the 6 Week Beach Body Program.  We want you to have long lasting change, not temporary results!   http://www.6weekbeachbody.com

This article was written by Oprah’s Dr. Oz and Dr Roizen.

“The best way to keep your job might be to leave your desk. That’s right: The less time you spend sitting on your bottom, the better it might be for your — and your company’s — bottom line.

In a study of entrepreneurs, people who worked out regularly also had companies that performed well. In fact, those who ran regularly were better at meeting their personal goals, and their companies had better boosts in sales than those owned by nonrunners. (The researchers didn’t ask about walkers.) People who stuck to a strength-training regimen were also better at meeting their personal goals than people who don’t lift weights — but their businesses weren’t doing off-the-charts better.

Researchers suspect that the lift in confidence and energy that people get from regular exercise may spill over into their careers, giving them an edge. Plus, getting into shape often means developing a mind-set that accepts and embraces hard work — a definite perk when it comes to moving a business through tough times and beyond……………..”

you can read the rest by searching Dr Oz and the title.  Now my 2 cents.

Duh?

Sorry if that seems simple and offensive but people who take time to take care of their body GENERALLY value themselves more than people who do not.  Therefore the people who care about their body, take action and then have ENERGY to spend giving to others.

If you neglect yourself, you probably neglect other things too.  And you end up being miserable and cranky because you feel badly and you want to lose weight but make the excuse that you don’t have time.  People know what your priorities are by WHAT and HOW you do things.  If you want change in your body or your wealth, it might be time to rearrange your priorities.

You get one body.        That’s it.     How are you treating yours?

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A new study that was published recently by the American Journal of Epidemiology compares the density of fast food restaurants to a high walking traffic city. Click here to read the original article Link to original article.

The bottom line was not shocking- if you live where there are a high density of fast food restaurants, you are more likely to gain more weight and be “fatter” than the people who live in high walking traffic areas.

I was interviewed for Demo Dirt Gold about this article and I thought I would share some of the tips I gave to her.

“Personal fitness trainer J.J. Flizanes (www.invisiblefitness.com) advises people who live in high-density fast food areas to keep healthy, non-perishable snacks in the car. “Often if people are very hungry, they will say they are starving, and can’t think straight, and they will fall into the habit of not caring what they eat,” she explains. “They will get headaches, mood swings, and a desire for fat and sugar.”

“Get a shoebox, a plastic shoebox, that you can buy for a dollar, and fill it with nuts, dried fruit, and protein bars. If you’re feeling really hungry, you can maintain your blood sugar to get yourself by between meals,” Flizanes advises.

Whatever you do, she warns, “Avoid fast food. Fast food means fat people.”
The other key? Flizanes says that who, not just what, you are surrounded by will affect you. “Surround yourself with positive people who have the same goal,” she says.”

What I said was “Friends don’t let friends drive through”

If you live in a city where there is an overwhelming amount of fast food, you need to prepare yourself.

1.   Stick that plastic shoe box in your car filled with good, healthy, non perishable snacks.  This can  help curb your hunger in between meals so you don’t head to the drive through.  You should be eating something every 4-5 hours to maintain blood sugar so you do not crash.

2.   You are what you eat and what you are surrounded by. You are the sum of the 5 people you hang around most and you are the sum of the 5 habits you keep.  Iron sharpens iron.  If you want to change your habits, find people and places that support you in doing that because they want the same thing.  If your spouse or house-mate have opposite habits, it may be more challenging for you to stay disciplined. Find ways to have support , get new friends or move! J

3.   Vision Board: This is a place where you can paint the life you want and use visual reminders of it every day.  I have food on my vision board- Organic Produce Delivery!  I want to be delivered fresh, organic produce weekly to support my healthy lifestyle!

4.   Make a date to walk.  Find a place near home or work that you can walk to 2-3 times a week. It doesn’t have to be that far, just practice saving money on gas for an errand or two and walk.  You will save money on gas, help the environment, burn some calories and inspire others to do the same.

5.   Change the way to relate to junk food and fast food.  I was once in line for Del Taco late at night after dancing.  I had an apple next to me but I was in the mood for cheese.  I battled driving through but I had such a craving that it took over.  As I was in line, I saw a very large women walk out of the restaurant and THAT was all I needed to see to turn around and leave.  I had cheese at home.  Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.

Try our 30 Day JUMP Start Program FREE  – Workbook and Audio valued at $197

Sign in and get your copy!  http://www.invisiblefitness.com

For more info on programs and products that can help support you in changing your habits, please contact  info@invisiblefitness.com

by J.J. Flizanes, Director of Invisible Fitness

Named by Elite Traveler Magazine as their 2007 Global Black Book pick of Best Personal Trainer in Los Angeles , JJ has been lauded by Shape Magazine as one of the top 6 fitness trainers in 2003.

http://www.invisiblefitness.com

800 571 5722