Visualization and the swish

I’m talking about the swish, not the Nike swoosh, so don’t anyone get all worried about evil sneakers being made by children in a third world country. Instead, I’m talking about something even more controversial, even if it’s not as evil.

What’s working for me right now? I’m getting a clear vision of how I will be when I’ve released the excess weight that I built up from food as my only comfort mechanism. It’s funny, because I was about to say, “when I’m a normal eater,” but I’m already a normal eater. I’m choosing reasonably healthy foods in reasonably healthy portions, not binging, no obsessing about food. Sounds normal to me.

But I’m still so far overweight that I know I want to lose weight. I’m about 325 pounds, having lost about 40 pounds with this normal eating method. I’m also feeling ready to eat less in order to lose weight a little more consistently. This kind of stomach-hunger-driven, portion controlled diet is what I believe can work for me.

Where I’m not normal is in my thinking, which is keeping me on the sofa and not out in the world. This is where I’m changing my thinking at the moment.

The technique I’m practicing at the moment is NLP’s swish. Neuro-Linguistic Programming has all kinds of tools meant to help you recognize and replace things you don’t want to think with things you do want to think (and do). Although NLP is controversial, I’m being careful to focus on the useful and not the crap.

Hence the swish. There are many techniques, but the essence is:

1. Get a picture in your mind of you doing the habit you don’t want. Make it a good clear picture.
2. Get a teensy picture in your mind of the habit you do want.
3. Perform a mental maneuver in which you replace the old habit with the new. In my specific case I’m picturing me sluggishly on the sofa, being replaced by me up, active and doing fun things.
4. Practice over and over again until you get it, generally over a series of months

This activity has many forms and different practitioners have different methods, but this is the essence. So far, it’s getting me up off the sofa and doing stuff. Right now I’m headed out to the pool to get in some swimming.

My positives:

1. My thinking changes are enabling me to choose to eat less.
2. I find myself asking, “Do I really want to eat this right now?” and answering, “Not really. I think I’ll go do xxx instead.”
3. Practicing the swish was hard at first and is easier now.
4. I’m also visualizing smaller portion sizes without feeling deprived and eating more
5. My portion sizes are actually getting smaller.