Posts Tagged ‘eating disorder’

The Psychology Of Arm Toning

Saturday, January 30th, 2010

It took a lot of trial and error to figure out how to get arm tone and as a result, flabby arms were the thorn in my side for a very long time. I was extremely frustrated and resorted to hiding behind kimono-style tops all the time.

And the most difficult part of the whole arm tone war was an unstable level of motivation. Despite all my efforts, I could not stick with a program for a very long time.

At times I would feel so unmotivated that I would simply ditch the whole effort all together. And my consolation was an endless consumption of cookies.

One day I had a wake-up call and realized that if I couldn’t figure out a way to stick with a program for the long run, I would never be able to get sexy arms. And I also knew that this motivational “yo yoing” wasn’t sustainable.

As a result, I began searching for a way to maintain motivation and adherence to a program. The answer to my prayers was Dr David Burns MD. He created a method that revolved around the avoidance of cognitive distortions.

So without further delay, here are 3 cognitive distortions you need to avoid that you don’t fall of the arm tone bandwagon:

1. All/Nothing distortions. These distortions provide the foundation for perfectionism. If you find yourself having to have the perfect day of dieting or not dieting at all, then you suffer from this distortion. Don’t try to get everything right every single time. Don’t worry about small hiccups and always keep moving forward.

2. Over-generalizing distortions. Just because you haven’t been successful today doesn’t mean you can’t be successful tomorrow. You simply haven’t found the right approach. Yet with this distortion, you assume that your past failures will keep on being your future failures. The key here is to keep on trying new things with a fresh outlook.

3. Mental-filters distortions. This one his horrible because it forces you to focus on the negative instead of the positive. If you have a solid day of healthy eating, but slightly veer off and have a small amount of junk food you only focus on the junk food. But what about all the other healthy food you ate? Always give yourself credit for the positive.

Avoiding the above distortions will seriously help you achieve lasting motivation when trying to get arm tone. And lasting motivation is the key to sexy arm stardom.

One more thing, it’s very important that you act on this advice sooner rather than later. You see, taking action quickly is the fastest way to get great results.

Katherine Crawford M.S., a Harvard exercise physiologist and recent arm fat victim, is an expert on exercises for flabby arms for women. Learn how to get toned arms right now by exploring her blog on arm flab.

How To Get Thin Arms-The Psychology Of Long Term Motivation

Monday, November 30th, 2009

Learning and applying how to get thin arms can be quite the challenge even when you are using an effective program. For the most part, diet and exercise are NOT the culprits. It’s your ability to stay motivated for extended periods of time that will guarantee success.

Unfortunately, this is where most thin-arm hopefuls fall off the wagon.

You see, it’s easy to start working towards a goal with oodles of motivation, but as time goes by that motivation begins to fade. Eventually, some women simply abandon their thin arm goal altogether.

So here are some tips to keep you on track to get thin arms:

1. Exercise your motivation muscle daily. Some women like to meditate, some like to use affirmations, and some like to write down their positive thoughts. Regardless of the approach, the key is to have a daily routine of mental strengthening. Just as you should be eating clean and exercising on a regular basis.

2. Don’t rely on motivational speeches. Motivational speeches are great for getting you fired up for short periods of time. But the afterglow fades quickly. If you want lasting motivation, you have to modify your thought processes.

3. Log it all. Writing down the self defeating thoughts as they sprout up in your head is one of the best things you can do. You see, trying to sort it all out in your head is like trying to kill a giant swarm of flies all at once. Once written down, you can relax and deconstruct the thoughts at some later point.

4. Don’t overestimate. Most women overestimate how hard it is to get thin arms. One strategy to counteract this is to keep a before and after log of activities. For instance, write down how hard you think it is to exercise at 100% effort. Once you complete the workout, write down how hard it actually was. More often than not, you’ll notice that you overestimate how hard things are.

Unfortunately, no matter how well you are at motivating yourself, you will fail. The key here is to get right back up as soon as possible. In other words, speed of resiliency is the name of the game. The most successful women that figure out how to get thin arms have the fastest speeds of resiliency.

Regarded author, Katherine Crawford M.S., a Harvard exercise expert and recent flabby arms refugee, instructs women on how to lose arm fat. Uncover how to get sexy and toned arms by exploring her website about toned arms right now!

Overcoming Sugar Addictions To Get Rid Of Flabby Arms

Sunday, November 15th, 2009

The research is crystal clear here: sugar addictions do exist. In fact, high sugar intakes alter levels of dopamine in the brain just as drugs do. Not a good scenario for your flabby arm goal.

Even worse, sugars elevates insulin which is a hormone that regulates arm fat loss. So if you have high levels of insulin, the flabby arms will never go away no matter what you do.

Hence, it is imperative that you win the war on sugar to finally get slim and sexy arms that are no longer flabby.

Here are some tips on how to do it:

1. Embrace the withdrawal. Simply being aware that there will be a sugar withdrawal puts you way ahead of the game. Many women just go around in circles and do not really understand what is going on.

2. Always stay full. Once your blood sugar drops, your brain will send you on a sugar bingeing hunt. So make sure you eat consistently and never starve.

3. Get your mind off of things. I know some elite athletes that do activities with high distraction factors during their most gruesome dieting. Luckily, your nervous system can only process a limited amount of information at once. Distract yourself and the cravings for sugar will dissipate.

4. Have some fake sugar. Artificial sweeteners can trick your brain into thinking that it is getting sugar. You get the taste without the calories. The key here is to use them sparingly since we still do not know if they are safe.

5. Have loose leaf teas. Yerba mate is your best bet here. This tea is so powerful that it can knock out your cravings for an entire day. The only catch here is that you may have some trouble sleeping. Make sure you have the loose leaf version.

I will be honest, overcoming a sugar addiction is not easy by any stretch of the imagination. But if you really want to get rid of flabby arms, it behooves you to attack this problem head on. Once you overcome the addiction, getting toned arm will be that much easier.

Highly regarded author, Katherine Crawford M.S., a Harvard fitness physiologist and former arm fat casualty, instructs women on how to lose arm fat. Learn how to get sexy and toned arms by exploring her website about arm fat right now!