QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Hi

Welcome to Lifebuilder! In this week's edition, we focus on how to manifest a healthier, slimmer physical body as part of a life of total health and wellness. If you live in Johannesburg and are interested in getting into and staying in shape once and for all, you come to a talk hosted by the Lifebuild Integral Consciousness Network (ICN) entitled 'How to Become an Athlete' given by a certified Body for Life success coach and a former professional athlete on Monday the 2nd of July from 6 to 8.30 p.m. at the FNB Conference Centre in Sandton. If you are interested in wealth creation and property investment in particular, the Lifebuild Property Investment Network (PIN) holds a regular mini-seminar on wealth creation through property investment every Wednesday evening from 6 to 8.30 p.m. at the FNB Conference Centre in Sandton. We hope to see you at one of these events, and enjoy this week's edition in the mean time!


Contents

Achieve Financial Freedom in the Next 5 Years

Learn how to generate a large ongoing passive income and free yourself financially in the next 5 years with only a few hours of work per month and no capital investment required. Click here to find out how!  
 

How to Become an Athlete - Using the Mind / Body Connection for Total Wellness

By its very definition the word 'lifestyle' in the phrase, “a healthy lifestyle” indicates that we are talking about far more than a '10-week-diet-and-running-around-the-block' programme. The very notion that we can (well, kinda, sorta) eat properly and do some exercise in the short term, is based on the concept of a DIET, a concept that should, in my view, be done away with completely. A diet always implies that there is an end in sight. We all know what I’m talking about: the ‘28-day grapefruit diet’, the 4-week South Beach diet, the ‘Lose-150lbs-eating-only-rice-cakes-for-10 days diet’, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

We all know instinctively that after years of neglect and abuse of our bodies, we cannot expect get into the physical shape we want to be in overnight, and once we are in some sort of shape, go straight back to sleeping late and eating cheese cake for breakfast and expect to retain our new physique for very long. So how does one lose weight and stay in good shape over a lifetime? It’s actually very simple: all we need to do to lose weight and be healthy is to change our identity.

There are two types of people who are overweight. People who habitually over-eat at meal times, and people who are comfort eaters. Since the second group is by far the majority, I’m going to talk about them. Habitual over-eaters just need to understand how to eat properly, which is relatively simple, although not easy, to accomplish.

However, comfort eaters are a different kettle of fish altogether. The majority of people that come to me for help are very overweight. The first question I ask them is, “How did you get to look like you do?”. Then begins a psychological discourse that reveals the solution to their weight problems and their path to health and fitness for life. Past or present emotional trauma, often experienced in relationships with mentally, physically and sexually abusive parents, partners, children, colleagues and friends, are by and large the root cause of regular. The person eats large quantities of pleasure-inducing food, such as ice cream, potato chips, chocolates, pies, pastries, etc. (add your favourite fattening food to the list!) to soothe their inner emotional trauma. They feel somewhat better immediately, and so they repeat the behaviour habitually, leading to repeated ‘bingeing’ whenever a new trauma arises or something occurs to activate their pain. Over time, the individual becomes seriously overweight and develops an even greater self-image problem than they started out with as a result.

I’m a great believer in the statement: “Things in my past are responsible for the way I have become, but only I am responsible for the way I’m going to be now and in the future.” This is certainly a courageous attitude, but it doesn’t become habitual overnight. It all starts with a thought. Remember that “everything starts with a thought”, and I mean everything. Think how often you have said something like, “I think I’ll go down to Durban for the weekend” or “I think I’m going shopping on Saturday?” and it becomes a reality soon after?

So, although it takes time, making a firm commitment to being lean and healthy and changing one’s identity to become this person is the starting point of a healthier life. A few simple, regularly practised techniques to heal the inner trauma and re-programme the subconscious mind, such as goal-setting, visualisation and affirmations, are all that is needed to get anyone on a lifelong path of health and fitness. The will to want to change is obviously critical, but I don’t know any fat person who wants to remain where they are and get progressively bigger as time goes by, do you? It’s a matter of changing their mindset so they see that the pain of eating fatty foods and leading an unhealthy lifestyle outweighs (if you’ll pardon the pun!) the short-term pleasure in the eating.

I get my clients to say a simple affirmation: “I AM AN ATHLETE” over and over to themselves many times a day and whilst exercising. It seems silly at first and they are normally embarrassed to repeat it out loud, but the miracle starts happening when, through constant repetition, they start believing it. They start walking taller with more purpose and more confidence. This has the effect of making them want to train harder, and so they progress until they reach their original goals and it’s time to set new ones.

I’ve seen this happen countless times, and although this article only scratches the surface of my personal methodologies, the love, kindness and caring underlying it all are what help people to transform their physical body and their entire lives in the process. My heart soars when I see a client, now a friend, walk healthily into the future with head held high, a strong respect for themselves and a definite belief that they are athletes.

This article was written by Dougal Macdonald, a certified Body-for-LIFE Success coach and personal trainer, and edited by Jonathan Quail

Hear Dougal speak on Monday the 2nd of July at the regular Lifebuild Integral Consciousness Network event at the FNB Conference Centre in Sandton - click here for more information. Dougal does personal training by appointment in Randburg and is offering an initial consultation at no charge to Lifebuild subscribers. Click here or call 082-451-0778 to arrange your free consultation now! Here's what a few of Dougal's clients have to say about Dougal and his approach:

"We spoke to a number of trainers about helping us to get fit and healthy but Dougal connected with us immediately, since we realized that we would get more than just someone counting reps. Dougal has added a “wisdom” component to our training. We are very happy with our choice and the way our lifestyle is changing." - Chris Koller and Tracy Porter, Advertising executives

I was very overweight when starting a program with Dougal and in six months, both my wife Audrey and I have dramatically changed our body shapes. In fact my Doctor was astounded at my condition recently when I went for a check up and commented that “I had added 10 years to my life” - Tim Stewart, Entrepreneur

I started training with Dougal 4 years ago as a thin, introverted, people shy person. My goal was to gain some muscle. I got a lot more than that. I now feel wonderful about myself and have become a lot more extroverted. I have put on 30kgs of solid muscle and have achieved all my goals through Dougal’s caring, nurturing attitude. I would never have got this far without him." - Mark Nicholson, Entrepreneur

I had been training before but hadn’t got the results I was looking for. Dougal has shown me how to eat properly and train effectively but even more than that was the change in my self image. I feel great about myself and know that this is a lifetime change. “I am an athlete.” - Gail Dugmore, Sales Manager


In the next edition of Lifebuilder, we will show you how you can re-awaken the latent psychic powers within you to consciously co-create your life with the Universe. Until then, be well! 
 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SUBSCRIBE / UNSUBSCRIBE INFORMATION

To unsubscribe from Lifebuilder, click the 'Unsubscribe' link below. To change your email address or any other information, click the 'Update Profile'  link. To forward this email on to a friend, click the 'Forward Message' link. If this email has been forwarded to you and you want to subscribe to Lifebuilder, go to www.lifebuild.com/subscribe. To download 12 free e-books and access other great resources and subscribe to this mailing list at the same time, go to www.lifebuild.com/membersclub.

This edition of Lifebuilder was sent to 4,511 people. Help us spread this life-changing information to more people by forwarding this email on to your friends - just click the 'Forward Message' link below while you are online and follow the instructions.