Melinda Boyd - Train Your Brain to Get Thin: Prime Your Gray Cells for Weight Loss, Wellness, and Exercise

Congratulations! By completing this book you have just taken the first step toward getting your weight under control. Remember, training your brain to get thin is a total lifestyle change and losing weight cantand wonthappen overnight. Just know that using the tools provided to you in this book will get you started on the right path to reaching your thin weight, and keeping it there.

Understanding your brain and its components helps you to be in control of what you want. Knowing how to exercise your mind in the right way means you can stay in control of your decisions. Meditation, mental rehearsal, and those similar techniques you just learned about will be handy helpers on your quest for thin, but only if you make sure to practice them regularly. In addition, getting the right amount of sleep, balanced with play, physical activity, and a nutritious diet, will help you get to the weight you want with the body you desire, and most importantly, when you continue with these changes as part of your everyday life, you will be able to keep the weight off.

Your brain plays a critical role in all that you do and its hard to think of a weight loss plan that doesnt include this component and youre now ready to make the right decision to implement these techniques. Youre on your way to committing to a lifetime of healthy choices that will all work together to keep your body at a healthy weight for you. What are you waiting for? Its time to get going and train your brain to get thin!

This book has provided you with specific techniques for maximizing the potential of your brain. We know that much of the information was on the complex side because there is a lot of science related to your brain and how it works. As a result, we know that a lot of the book required a little bit of extra work to processwhich is, of course, also good for your brain.

Having an understanding of how your brain works and how you can capitalize on its power can help you get what you want out of life, but most importantly this will help you get yourself to the weight you want. So lets wrap things up with a list of some specific things you can do, utilizing the techniques youve learned throughout the book that will train your brain to get thin. After going through the book, you may have a better idea about what you can specifically add to your own list that would be even more specific to your own personal situation.

Gain an understanding of yourself and your core values, so you have a clear direction of where you see yourself headed.

Determine what being thin really means to you, and determine if this is a realistic weight goal.

Make yourself familiar with the most up-to-date information in neuroscience, and then implement those techniques that will strengthen your brainpower.

Identify your brains assets and flaws, then work to make your brain a finely tuned thought machine.

Recognize which activities you do that motivate your brain, as well as which activities have a negative effect.

Avoid situations that could be considered toxic, where you feel like those around you are lowering your ability to succeed.

Surround yourself with people who are optimistic and supportive of your weight loss plans.

Set clear intentions and goals, aiming to solicit your brains assistance in bringing your dreams into reality.

Enhance your brains ability to focus intently on important tasks geared at getting your behaviors in line with being healthy.

Invest the necessary time and energy needed to fully engage your brain and let it be your partner in weight loss.

Improve your memory of past successes, which will allow your brain to help you recreate them in future situations that are similar, instead of jumping to fear-based reactions with a focus on negative past experiences and failures.

Use visualization to generate a mental picture that seems real enough for your brain to perceive it as true, thereby taking you down the neuronal path to recreate the event successfully.

Strengthen your memory and ability to integrate newly learned information and skills.

Hone your intuitive powers.

Go out of your way to do things that shake up your traditional thinking patterns.

Find new ways to stimulate the parts of your brain that usually lay dormant.

Dont think in black and white.

Look at every experience from a different angle.

Put your brain to the test by challenging it, which will help generate new neuronal pathways.

Never stop learning. Keep your brain alert and ready to acquire new skills.

Always seek credible information and learn how to integrate that into your lifestyle.

Select activities that promote positive outcomes and boost serotonin levels.

Use positive reinforcement, rewarding yourself in healthy ways.

Quiet an overactive amygdala, putting an end to irrational fears and improving your decision-making skills.

Decrease your level of stress to avoid flooding your brain with cortisol.

Harness the power of meditation to teach your brain how to zap distractions and instead allow you to focus on necessary tasks.

Train your brain to wash away all negative thoughts and allow yourself to respond more readily to all things in a positive manner.

Create dedicated playtime.

Get adequate sleep each night so that every morning you face your challenges feeling refreshed.

Nourish your body by focusing your caloric needs on nutrient-rich foods so you can properly fuel your brain.

Allow your blood vessels to remain flexible and clear so your brain has proper blood flow to function properly.

Provide your brain with space to breathe, making sure it is refreshed and ready to work for you when you need to call upon it.

Melinda Boyd, MPH, MHR, RD, is a registered dietitian whos spent more than seven years practicing in the field. Her main area of focus is weight management and helping people develop healthier lifestyles. She completed her graduate work at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and the University of Oklahoma, and is currently working on a doctoral degree. Melinda lives in Japan with her husband and their two pets.

Michele Noonan, PhD, is an expert in the neuroscience of weight loss. She formulates top-selling health and weight loss supplements and, as the editor-in-chief of www.doctormichele.com, she shares Scientifically Proven Tips for Better Living. Dr. Michele has starred as part of the Brains team on the hit CBS reality TV show Big Brother 11 and has lent her neuroscience expertise to other TV and radio shows. She lives in Los Angeles, California.

Its easy to close your eyes and think of what you look like thin. Maybe it was how you looked a few years back. Perhaps this image is how youd always hoped that your body would look like with a little less weight. Thin is the image you wish to present to others; however, there is more to this. We use the word thin because it sounds good. We think of it as something positive. In this book, the word thin is used to describe a weight where you are not only healthy, but feel good about yourself as well. This doesnt mean super skinny (which is just as unhealthy as obesity), and this doesnt mean forcing your body to get to a weight you used to be when you were in high school or college. The key is not to focus on achieving an unrealistic weight. Understanding what it means to be thin means letting go of images of movie stars and runway models. It means embracing who you are and understanding that everyone has a different body. You have to work with what you have, not against it, and find the weight thats right for you. A weight that reduces disease risk, but lets you feel comfortable. Having an unrealistic perception of what thin means toand foryou will hold you back on your quest to shed those unwanted pounds.