Visualizing A New You

As you anticipate your journey toward a new healthy lifestyle, it is crucial that you take some time now to really figure out what you want out of this program, and more importantly, what you want for yourself, and expect of yourself. Additionally, it is important that you have a clear mental image of what it is you want to attain, be it a size 8 dress, a cut muscular physique, or simply an increased fitness and energy level. Why is developing this mental image now so crucial to your success down the line? 

Well, think of losing weight as a long road trip. What if someone asked you to drive to Saskatchewan? At first, it might sound like just a cold, distant place -- or at the very least, just a really long drive. But say someone showed you where it is on the map, and you saw that your destination was a beautiful area of North Central Canada that you'd always wanted to visit -- then you'd be more interested in the trip. Then maybe they'd show you some of the things you'd see while you were there -- a brochure for the adorable bed and breakfast by the lake where you'd be staying; menus and photos from some of the local restaurants, featuring locally harvested fresh vegetables and salmon; photographs of the scenic vistas and beautiful mountain walks; an exhibit that would interest you at one of the nearby museums. As you see these images, the drive is starting to seem a little more doable now, isn't it? Now say someone takes out a map, and shows you how you'll drive there -- including some scenic stops along the way, and other pleasant side trips you can take while you're on the road. All of the sudden, the drive doesn't sound so bad at all -- you might enjoy the drive itself, and even during the long, boring stretches, you would be entertained by the thought of the vacation paradise that's waiting for you at the end of your trip. 

Think of this visualization exercise as the very beginning of your journey: you are figuring out where it is that you want to go and why you want to go there. Along the way, your Nutricise Counselor be your driving companion: he or she will provide you with a map; complete with shortcuts, driving instructions, new routes to take if you get lost, and even the occasional jumpstart if you end up stalling by the side of the road. But it's still up to you to figure out where you're going. 

In essence, we will help you plan your route, get psyched for the trip, and fill in the details along the way. But it's up to you to take the time now to decide where you're going, and why you want to go there. 

Visualization is a way for you to become the author of your future by actually designing what you want your future to look like. This "view of the future" is crucial: one of the most effective ways to "keep the faith" in the midst of hard work is to hone your skills at visualizing your desired outcome--and to keep this vision close at hand to summon when the going gets rough. When you can "see" an appealing image of an attainable future, it informs and inspires your actions, and helps to coordinate your plan and goals. 

In this exercise, you will imagine what your life will be like when you've achieved your healthy living goal. What will you look like when you achieve this goal? How will you feel? How will your life be different? 

Your assignment in this exercise is to develop 3 scenarios, or visualizations of something that could happen in your future once you achieve your goal. The purpose of these visualizations is to have 3 different motivational scenarios that you can keep in your back pocket to pull out when you're having a tough time sticking to your plan. We're going to call these visualizations your "Life Preservers" -- as in, the thing you will cling to when you find yourself desperately in need of dieting salvation! So remember -- make these visualizations compelling, inspiring, and clear, so that they really mean something to you when you're in a time of need. (After all, they'll have some powerful forces to stand up to: your nephew's birthday cake, the nacho platter at your friend's house, those tasty garlic knots at your favorite Italian restaurant, and that diabolical duoÖBen and Jerry!) 

One of our clients, Samantha, lost 35 pounds on the Nutricise Program, and has kept it off for 6 months now. But her journey was not without its rough spots -- when she began the program she was recuperating from a messy divorce, and had to face down her emotional eating patterns to overcome the urge to turn to chocolate and cookies to help her through this stressful time. To keep herself on course, Samantha often summoned the help of one of her Life Preservers when she was tempted to fall off her plan. 

Samantha joined Nutricise because she decided it was time to reclaim her life. Not only had Samantha let her appearance and health go over the past few years, but her unsuccessful marriage had also taken its toll on her self-esteem. She wanted to feel good about herself both physically and mentally. She describes one of her Life Preservers to us: "I've just come from an art opening. I'm wearing a turquoise sheath dress, it's a size 8 -- and I have a matching beaded handbag. It's a summer night, and I pull up to the restaurant, pay the driver, and step out of the cab. My date is waiting for me by the door. I walk toward him with a confidence that I haven't felt in years. I am fit and healthy and I know that no matter how this evening turns out I will return home tonight feeling good about myself." Samantha created three of these very detailed visualizations, and was asked to use them as motivational tools anytime she found herself in a "food crisis." Any time she was tempted to go off of her weight-loss program she would think about one of her Life Preservers, and use it as a motivator to fend off her craving. (It worked.) 

Visualization Step-by-step: Make Your Own Life Preserver!
Now, it's your turn to develop your 3 Life Preservers, each clear and compelling enough to stand up to your worst food crisis. 

Visualization can begin with something as a simple as a daydream, a fantasy -- a free-floating ride through the tangles of your imagination. It might not come easily at first -- many people are uncomfortable with the idea of daydreaming initially. Children provide terrific examples of how to go about visualizing with gusto: when they talk about what they want to be when they "grow-up," they dive headfirst into their fantasy world. They talk about their dream, read about it, dress up like what they want to be, and constantly imagine themselves in that role. It might not come naturally at first, but it's important that you allow yourself this childlike gift. (Don't worry - you still have it!) 

Make time, perhaps a regular time, for visualizing and daydreaming every day. Add detail each time -- the more detail, the better. As you first start these visualization sessions, don't visualize obstacles and problems you might encounter along the road. Try to see yourself at the goal, the finish line, and then go back to fill in all of the textures--including the possible problems and obstacles. 

Visualization is the first essential step. Before figuring out how you're going to get where you want to go, you need to know in detail where you want to be. You have to get comfortable with the notion of yourself as a person who can accomplish your goals. 

1. Sit in a comfortable, quiet place. 

2. Close your eyes and dream. It may seem fuzzy or disjointed at first. Don't try to force the daydream into some sort of coherent logic yet. Let it drift wildly. See how far you can go. 

3. Concentrate on and imagine what you would like to do, accomplish, achieve--or simply just let yourself fantasize and mind wonder. 

4. If you're having trouble getting started with your visualizations, try the following: 

     a. Pause to ask yourself if there are any genuine objections in your mind to completing this task. Be sensitive to them. If there are no major obstacles, continue. 

     b. Now use your imagination and all of your senses to develop an image of your "future self" that you find truly motivating -- this is your "Life Preserver". Make the images of your daydream bigger, closer, more colorful. Add pleasant sounds, an encouraging voice, or whatever will make the visualization more attractive to you. Keep doing this until you feel strongly attracted to this visualization -- until it's almost as clear in your mind as a memory. 

In the end, the visualization, or Life Preserver, should be so clear that you will have no doubt that what you are working for is what you really want. 

5. Think about what it will be like to actually live the life you see in this visualization. Give this a great deal of thought and detail, and include sounds, smells, feelings and tastes. Make the image colorful, detailed, rich and vibrant. Start to fill out some of the contours of your daydream. What does it look and feel like? What would it be like to live in the world that you are conjuring up for yourself? What kind of people will be there? How will they act? How will you interact with them? Get a clear idea or picture of it. 

6. If your goal is to lose weight, imagine what you will look like when you attain your goal. Now, move beyond the external vision of yourself and put yourself inside this new you. What kind of clothes will you be able to wear as a result? Will looking fitter impact your self-esteem, and therefore, your career or social life? Think of how great it will feel to be in great shape. 

Let yourself lose control of the movie every once in while, and see where it takes you. Remember, you are the director. If you don't like where the story is going, you can rewind, re-cut, and revise the script. 

7. Write down some of the images. Which ones were the strongest? Which ones made you feel the best? 

8. Stay on track. If negative or self-sabotaging thoughts come into your mind, replace them with the feelings and images you created and the increasing feelings of success and competence as you take each step. 

OK, now take out a notepad. Start by picking one Life Preserver and begin by allowing yourself to dream about it. Then start the process of writing it all down. Continue to add to the visualization, including more details, feelings, and incorporating all of your senses -- until your Life Preserver visualization takes on the quality of a real experience. 

As an end result, you should have 3 Life Preservers -- each a clear, polished, tangible experience in your mind. Write out these Life Preservers, and make them durable and portable -- you could use a laminated note card, a dedicated page in your date book, or an entry in your Palm Pilot to keep these Life Preservers readily available. Remember, you want to have these handy so you can keep your goal in mind in any situation. 

Some helpful tools for developing your Life Preservers:

The best revenge is living well. Come on -- dish out the dirt! We all have someone who we want to "show" how great we look -- nobody said your Life Preserver had to be worthy of polite cocktail party conversation! The purpose of this visualization is for it to be clear, emotional, and inspiring for you -- and as history and Charles Bronson movies have shown, revenge is an excellent motivational tool, if nothing else. 

So who is it that you'd run into in your Life Preserver visualization? An ex-boyfriend or girlfriend? An ex-husband? An old friend? A colleague? Remember -- motivation is the key here! 

Dig out the old photos. Do you have any old pictures of yourself at your goal weight? Old photos are vivid reminders that yes, your body is capable of looking like that again! (However, remember to maintain a realistic perspective when using old photos as a motivational tool -- losing weight is not necessarily going to make you look 20 years younger!) 

Find a motivating picture. If you've never been at your goal weight during your adult life, it might be even more difficult for you to imagine what you are working toward in terms of your physical appearance. Look through magazines to find a picture of someone who has features similar to yours, and who is at your ideal bodyweight. Use this photo as a tool in developing a clear vision of yourself at your future weight. (Please! Leave Kate Moss and Arnold Schwartzenegger out of this exercise. Even if you have the same hair.) 

Revisit old memorabilia. Maybe you have an old high school trophy, race certificate, yearbook, pair of sneakers -- anything that might remind you of a goal or a state of physical fitness you had attained when you were younger. Summon up the feelings you had, how the world looked to you, how your body felt. 

Set the stage. Maybe you already have the staging set for the visualization you're using as a Life Preserver, and your "new self" is the only missing piece. Perhaps you're working up to a trip to Hawaii, and you plan to arrive bikini-clad. Or your wedding is a few months away. Maybe there's a specific race you're training for. Well, it's time to gather up the airplane tickets, magazine photos, and entry forms -- and use them as a reminder and tool for imagining yourself in that visualization as an active player. 

Upcoming Events. Perhaps there's an upcoming event that you're aiming for? Reunions are especially good for motivation -- perhaps you have a college reunion coming up, or an event with family members you haven't seen in a long time -- these sorts of events can be terrific motivational goals. Be detailed -- imagine who you'll run into, and what you'll wear. (However, be careful of using a single event as your sole motivation -- if you don't have some more long-term motivations in mind, the buffet table at your goal event is likely to be your first stop on the road back to where you started!) 

Summary

Knowing what you want is important, but it is just a part of the battle. Your thoughts and actions must be achievement-oriented for you to reach your goals. You greatly enhance your chances for achievement by being proactive, setting goals, thinking positively, and effectively visualizing the end result. In some exercises you will be asked to complete over the next few months, you will work to develop specific goals for yourself based on this visualization, change your ways of thinking about your goals and behaviors, and visualize the steps you need to take in the long term to achieve your visualization. 

Copyright 2001, Breaking the Pattern