Let’s keep it simple. Your unwanted behaviors – even if they are automatic – are simply behaviors and habits – or mental pathways. They are something you’ve learned, and you can learn something new. In fact, you are learning new things – and creating new neuronal pathways – all the time. By engaging your inner wisdom and working with, rather than against, the part of you in charge of the behavior, you will find it much easier to make the change – and keep it. 

This new approach engages your wisdom and transforms the behavior through compassion and awareness. By addressing these challenges with insight and wisdom, you can embrace your whole self in moving forward on the journey of life. Change can be easy and fun as you pay attention to your deeper awareness and motivations, re-‘source’ the negatives, and create alignment with the life you really want! 

The problem is not your behavior as much as what is driving your behavior. Weight problems are only a symptom. If you address the underlying meanings and use your inner awareness to refocus the part of you in charge of the behavior, you can adopt new behaviors and strategies – and the problem will transform!

Underneath all the behaviors that get in your way is an underlying desire for something positive. So, the next time you find yourself drawn to the old habit ask yourself, “What do I really want?” This is a great question to post on your refrigerator. Whenever you find yourself headed to get a snack, if you ask yourself, “what do I really want?” you can understand the cravings. 

The part of you in charge of the old behavior, the part that doesn’t want to change, is still trying to get something positive for you. There is a higher intention behind the behavior. Rather than having to go through the negative behavior to connect with the positive feeling or sense of something, it’s even more useful to connect with the sense of something first. I often hear that eating sweets is about life enjoyment. But, you don’t have to eat pastries to enjoy life. If you have limited your life enjoyment to foods, open your awareness to enjoying life in other ways. What lights you up? What brings you true joy? By spending more time doing the things you love, you’ll create inner alignment with your conscious and unconscious motives, so that you can finally have the body, life, and health you want!

This is an excerpt from my book, Lighten Up Train your Brain to Lose Weight, see more details here: http://www.lightenup.me/book/