- "...If someone is overweight, it came from thinking 'fat thoughts', whether that person was aware of it or not. A person cannot think 'thin thoughts' and be fat. It completely defies the law of attraction."
- "Food cannot cause you to put on weight, unless you think it can."
- "I now maintain my perfect weight of 116 pounds and I can eat whatever I want."
- Rhonda Byrne, author, The Secret
The Secret, the 2006 self-help/spirituality bestseller, at first blush seems to offer a perfect solution to those interested becoming fit. Diets don't work, it claims, and exercise doesn't work; the only thing that will give you a perfect body is manifesting the attitude of a perfect body, and the only work required is visualizing that body completely, as though you already had it.
"If you pray hard enough, you can make water run uphill. How hard? Why, hard enough to make water run uphill, of course!" - Robert A. Heinlein
The problem comes when the perfect body doesn't appear simply from visualizing it. Adherents of The Secret respond that either a) you didn't give it enough time, or b) you let negative thoughts keep your intentions from manifesting.
Any trainer or coach will confirm that mindset and attitude is critical in attaining goals. He'll also tell you that it takes work. Here are the steps to using The Secret to manifest your fitness goals.
Thoughts become things
Picture two people entering the gym on New Year's day, each starting a workout program for her resolution.
Angie has in her mind the mantra "I hate working out. This is going to suck, but I have to go through this drudgery if I want to keep from getting fatter than I already am."
Barbara tells herself "Alright! I have a lot of ground to cover so I can run the Bolder Boulder in May, and look dazzling in the dress I bought for my 20-year reunion in August. No time like the present, so let's get kickin'!"
Which one is going to meet her goals? And who will find any possible excuse to skip a workout?
Like attracts like
Angie spends all day Monday complaining to anyone who will listen about how miserable her workout was, how her trainer made her do these heinous exercises, and how sore she is. Most people nod sympathetically. A few of her coworkers stick around to share their difficulties at the gym, and commiserate about how bad it is, but agree that working out is a necessary evil.
Barbara spends all day Monday telling anyone that will listen what an exhilarating workout she had - whether she felt that way at the time or not. Most of her coworkers smile, and nod, and walk away with the thought "hey, whatever works for you". Two of them turn out to go to the same gym, and suggest they workout together. They begin talking about other possible goals beyond the Bolder Boulder, such as the "Fight for Air" (the 56-story stairclimb formerly known as "Run the Republic") or the "Warrior Dash", or maybe even entering a figure competition to give them something concrete to focus on.
Which lady will find herself surrounded by a group that supports her fitness goals, and goads her into making it into the gym after a tough shift? Which will gather a support group to help her eat a cheesecake, or goad her into ordering a third margarita after a hard day?
Think healthy thoughts
Angie feels a sniffle coming on, and immediately starts thinking of all the things it could be. A cold? The flu? Oh no...could it be H1N1? Just to be sure, she stays home from the gym. She spends all evening worrying about getting sick, and sure enough, she wakes up to a fever, chills, and nausea.
Barbara sneezes, blows her nose, washes her hands thoroughly, and goes to the gym. In the morning, she wakes up and goes to work.
Barbara, by the way, works in the pediatrics department of the hospital. She doesn't get sick much (she has a great immune system and she knows it), but about every year or two one of the kids passes something along that her body can't quite fight off, and she has to take a sick day.
Our minds have tremendous control over our bodies. Medical science is well aware of both the ability of placebos (sugar pills or other inert substances given as medicine) to convince us that we're well, and the ability of hypochondriacs to actually make themselves ill. This goes beyond a disease being "all in your head"; We have considerable control over our mood, which directly influences our body chemistry, which in turn affects every process in our body. Athletes know the power of getting "amped up", which stimulates epinephrine (adrenaline) release, and anyone who has ever had to work late to beat a deadline or risk losing their job has likely had a similar cortisol response to someone with a blunt trauma injury. Cause-and-effect may well go beyond that, as even diseases as physical as cancer have been shown to respond, both positively and negatively, to changes in patients' mental states.
To live a healthy life, visualize yourself as healthy. Take time every day to imagine strong, healthy muscles and bones, to listen to your own powerful, miraculous heartbeat, to recognize and feel gratitude for your body's amazing ability to protect you and keep you healthy. Then exercise, eat your veggies and drink your water, and get enough sleep.
Your current state of affairs aren't who you are - they're who you were
Your fitness level, like your education, your job status, and your relationships, don't reflect who you are right now - they reflect the person you were up to this moment. The instant you decide to change your mindset, your beliefs, and your actions, you begin to change your life. If Angie decides - right now - to fully embrace a fitter lifestyle, to see herself as capable of doing the exercises her trainer prescribes, to have a body that protects her and keeps her healthy, and to seek goals and support systems that give her something to reach toward, she immediately changes her life's direction. It will take work and practice, and she will likely have to consciously steer her mind toward the positive (at least at the outset) but she will have begun the journey.
The Secret has garnered much criticism, both for its suggestions of mystic practices over practical action, and for suggesting that our thoughts can affect our waking world through quantum mechanical channels. What remains true, however is that by approaching life with passion and enthusiasm, by reaching toward our goals rather than running from our fears, and by treating our bodies and minds as the miraculous gifts they are, we can achieve far more than we ever would through negative means.
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Developing a productive fitness mindset See also: |
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Give your workout focus See also: |
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It's not all about "bulking" vs. "toning" See also: |
For more info:
- Visit Jonathan on his site at www.defylimitations.com
- Many thanks to Aricia LaFrance for guidance on making The Secret more palatable to an engineering background
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