Welcome back, my friends, we are on week number four. So you're doing a great job so far, we're really proud of you. I'm very proud of you. So keep going, keep going. Again, consistency is the key, you're doing just fine. So today, we're going to talk about a few things.

We're going to talk a little bit about water. We've all heard, I'm sure that you know, water, drink a lot of water, drink water for all kinds of reasons. We're going to talk a little bit about why water is magic. As opposed to any other type of beverage, you can be drinking. Water has a leg up on all of them. We'll talk a little about that.

We're also going to talk about stress a little bit. So much of what causes us to create poor habits or habits that don't serve us. It has a lot to do with stress. And we're going to talk about one little shift, a mindset shift that might actually help you manage that. stress in such a way that it serves you a lot better. We're also going to do a visualization exercise because sometimes it's hard to really see what you're trying to accomplish.

Until someone gets gives you a chance to see what you're trying to accomplish. But we don't take that time to do that for ourselves. We often look at a lot of external things, once again, things outside of ourselves to say that's what I want. That's what I want to look like. That's what I want to be like. And we don't really look inward and go, but that's not us.

Those are other people. How do we picture and visualize what we want with our face on it? And we're going to do that today as well, because that might be something quite powerful for you at this point in the game. And we'll talk a little bit more about that. But let's jump right in. So first things first, let's talk about water.

So once again, you have probably hurdle a lot about just drink water. Drink eight glasses, drink six glasses, drink a liter drink a gallon a day drink all kinds of, here's the key. start drinking water more. However much you drink, start drinking a little bit more. If you enjoy soda, or you enjoy tea or you enjoy coffee or you enjoy any other beverage of your choice, juice, anything, whatever it might be, if you drink several glasses of any of those things a day. Here's a great rule of thumb.

Replace one of them starting today with a glass of water. Again, don't want to deprive you of things you enjoy. But if you drink five cans of soda every day, you're going to now start drinking four cans of soda every day and replacing one of those cans with a bottle of water. And next week, I'm going to say why don't you now drink three cans of soda A day and replace the two that you're not drinking anymore with two bottles of water, and so forth. You will find that when you begin weaning things weaning off of things, and replacing them with things that are better for you, you begin to feel different. Instantly, you begin to melt pounds away instantly.

So what are some of the things that why do people tell us to drink water and more water and more water? Here's the thing. No other liquid can replace the effects of water and you can say, Well, you know, tea and coffee most of that's mostly water. Of course, if it's liquid and you're drinking it, it's a lot of water, but there's a ton of other things in stuff and again, nothing can replace the effect of simply drinking water. It does a ton of things in your body. When it keeps your kidneys functioning well.

There's a problem if your kidneys don't do it. Their work, because they can't because they're not getting hydrated. Because you're not giving them sufficient water, some of their workload gets deferred to the liver. Now, why do we care about that? Here's something fascinating. One of the livers other jobs is to transform or metabolize fat that's stored in your body into energy so that your body can use it.

But when the liver is forced to drop some of their job and start doing some of the kidneys jobs, guess what it does, it metabolizes less fat, which means more fat than gets stored in the body. And weight loss is either slowed down or is non existent. When your body's not getting enough water, it holds water. Something that you hear often this is something and this may you might know exactly what I'm talking about. I'm holding water I'm retaining water and the the thing that we think is, the last thing I want to do is drink more water. But here's in reality, what's happening.

When you are not getting enough water, your body begins to hold on to every drop. If that's if you're holding water or retaining water, do you know what the best thing to do to get rid of it almost instantly is? Go drink some water. Go drink water, because when your body then knows it's getting the water it needs. It doesn't have to hold on to it anymore. So there are things like that, that we think we know what we're doing.

But the reality is, it's actually completely the opposite of what we need to be doing. If you're holding on to water, go drink water your body is telling you I'm not letting go of a drop of it until I know Getting it. hydrating muscles we talked last week about how the beauty of it is is if you if you get active a little bit you get moving on a consistent daily basis that your muscles are well toned. And when you drink water, your muscles are well hydrated and once again, well toned well hydrated muscles Do what? They burn fat. It's the fuel for all the little muscle furnaces in your body.

It burns fat while you are at rest. Here's something else that water does from us. Again this goes back to hydrating and hydrating from the inside out. You know or sometimes if you have you know compromised skin of any kind you're breaking out or you've got you know dry skin or things like that. We we put everything on from the outside, right? Go get lotions, go get creams go get certain types of soap and stuff and, and something that we neglect is, again, we're trying to fix ourselves from the outside in.

Drinking a lot of water helps keep your skin clear clear, because you're literally hydrating yourself from the inside out. Water also helps to basically flush away some of that waste because when you're metabolizing fat as you lose weight, it's like a factory. It's like a machine. There's residue, there's waste and water helps to flush those things out. So when you wake up first thing in the morning, great habit to get into go drink a glass of water. You don't have to gulp it down.

But just drink water first thing off the bat. Because one of the things that happens also is in the morning when you First wake up. Sometimes people feel very hungry. But here's here's the challenge in that that's often a fake sense of hunger that's being given off. The reason is you're actually partially dehydrated from having slept the last several hours. You wake up your cells are partially dehydrated, and they just need hydration.

If you drink a glass of water, that hunger goes away because it wasn't actual hunger in the first place. You were simply dehydrated. So make a point throughout the day sip some here sip some there, carry a water bottle if you want, take breaks and go somewhere if you if you go to lunch. If you go to breakfast, you go to dinner. Make a point to order water, drink water as opposed to something else if you're going to order something like soda make a point to do that. Also the simple act of keeping yourself hydrated enables them to do their job.

It helps them continue to burn fat. So, if you want a guideline, drink between about 48 and 60 ounces of water a day, if you don't like math, drink a handful of glasses of water a day, keep it simple. Again, don't worry about numbers. Don't worry about getting it perfect up your water intake and get 5678 glasses a day and without fail. It's going to help your weight loss is going to help your fat burning. And it's going to do things that you wouldn't be able to do without sufficient water intake.

Again, water is the only liquid that effectively hydrates those body cells and can then in turn help create a high level of fat burn out nothing but water does that. So make it a habit. We talked a little bit about exercise last week and the idea of getting moving. As a matter of fact, it was our thought for the week move. So I'm curious, I'd like you to take a moment and just in your head, kind of go back to last week. And as you begin this session this week, have you done something differently with getting moving?

If you haven't, I don't want you beating yourself up about it. Do it starting today. Don't think about it. Don't talk about it. Just do it. Begin today.

Nothing happens unless you begin. Nothing. But once you begin, that's the hard part. Once you begin, you're off and running, sometimes literally right literally or figuratively. But we did talk again about this idea of increasing your physical activity. It's not about preparing you for the weightlifting championship of the world or to run a marathon.

It's simple, everyday things to help your body and your mind, get what they need. It gets the blood flowing. Things get circulating through your body oxygen blood flow. It creates overall health when you get up and move. The other thing is that we know for fat now is not only do all these wonderful thing happen, things happen when you make a point and a habit of getting moving every day, but a lot of other things don't happen. It reduces the risk of dying prematurely from a myriad of things, reducing the risk of heart disease, developing high blood pressure, reducing certain cancer risks, reducing feelings of depression and anxiety.

When we get moving, it gives positive energy to our body. The chemicals that are the happy chemicals, the chemicals that motivate us, that make us feel better. The endorphins come popping out, go out, take a walk in smile while you're walking. It makes an amazing difference. Now, absolutely understood that there are clinical issues. But here's what you need to know.

It's not always a clinical issue. It could be literally something that you could change as a habit that can completely make a difference in your life. So know that know that. building and maintaining healthy bones, muscles and joints, right as you age, you become stronger and you're better able to move around. Arthritis doesn't kick in as much. Things like fear of falling and so forth.

You've got balance, you've got stability. You've got grounded centered energy. And of course it does control your weight. It is a piece to the puzzle. And possibly Most importantly, it promotes psychological well being. When we do things for ourselves that make ourselves healthier, happier.

Those things that we do for ourselves changes our brains. It makes us become our own best friend. It makes us believe in ourselves and want to take care of ourselves. That's a huge component. You know, sometimes we think in terms of weight loss as well. It's just a body thing.

No, no, no, your weight loss. Your weight loss success, or lack of success lies in what's happening between your ears. That's six inches between your ears will determine everything you get or don't get in life. It is not just a physical thing, it is a mental thing and promoting psychological well being for yourself allows you to do what you need to do to believe in yourself to become your own best friend to up that self esteem so that you want to care for you. That is absolutely key and getting moving. supports all of that.

It supports a lifestyle that promotes wellness, all day, every day. So I want you to close your eyes as I take you through a visualization exercise. As you can see, obviously, it's in your workbook. It's on the on the screen right now. But right now I'm going to walk you through this I'm going to invite you to close your eyes and simply listen you have a natural body shape. The weight that looks best on your height and frame the shape you were meant to have.

Now, no chart, no program can tell you exactly what your natural body shape should look like. But you can. And becoming familiar with that image in your mind's eye can be a game changer for you. It will allow you to connect and literally see what you're trying to accomplish. Your natural form is there, it's inside of you. And I want you to see it clearly.

So let's take a couple of moments and get reacquainted with your natural form. Okay, so if you haven't already close those eyes, and I want you to create a mental picture of your natural form and what I mean by that is create a mental picture of yourself without You're extra wait. Now here's something very important. Put your own head and face on this image. I don't want you thinking of a celebrity or a model or a musician or an athlete or somebody that you're amazed at how they look and you want to look like that. This is you, your face, your head, your body simply without its extra weight.

And I want you to see that for a moment. Enjoy this sight of how you can look and how you will look. Now you can begin to enjoy this natural shape now. I'm going to ask you to create a movie in your mind and you and your natural shape. You're the star What is your natural body shape wearing What are you doing? Do you feel confident, comfortable, light, energetic.

This is the real you and it is absolutely attainable. So, relax, take a deep breath and put aside any self doubts and any anxiety. And I want you to play this movie in your head every day. If you want in the morning when you wake up if you want right before you go to sleep at night. But self doubts and anxiety will start to take a backseat when you begin to bring the positive messages and positive images and once again, what you want Not what you don't want to the forefront. This is empowering.

It goes back to last week we were talking a lot about control. You control your thoughts. You control what is in your head, you control what visuals you see, you control what triggers pop up and what you choose to do about them. It is 100% under your control, it is a choice. And so having this mental picture, having this little movie in your head, is something that you can go back to and look at within moments. Anytime you need to.

Anytime you want to. You can't possibly access it enough or too much. So don't worry about that. But make sure you can see exactly what it is you're going for because of it Just in your head as well as a fleeting thought, if it's just that I wish, I wish I want I hope those things aren't real hope is not a strategy. Wishing is not a strategy. You've got to see what you want.

And when you can see that picture clearly, it makes it that much more powerful, and allows you to move so much more quickly and easily in that direction. Now, let's talk a little about stress. We just talked a little bit about the things that we want to push to the side in order to let these positive things come through to help you and serve you while you're going through this weight loss process and journey. And two of the words that got mentioned in there that we want to push aside are things like self doubt and anxiety. So There's a reason we call it stress management and not stress elimination. Because it's not going away.

We live in a world where things are going to be stressful at times. That's the reality of it. It's not about getting rid of stress or anxiety or self doubt. It's about managing those things. So when self doubt or anxiety or fear, or stress or worry, rear their heads. What you choose to do that next moment determines what you're going to get.

Because life's not about what's happening to us, we don't have any control over that. Life is all about how you're choosing to respond to what's happening to you. When you can learn to control your reactions to external situations. You're in control. So, begin to be aware of how you choose to react to things. And you'll start to find something that's a pattern, you'll begin to find that it's often not the thing that's happening that stressing you.

It's often how you chose to respond to it that created the stress. those thoughts you have the risk, the reaction you have to those external situations are actually the things causing emotional pain. You can choose how you react. And if you think about it, I'm going to give you a word to shift. This is just a mindset shift. When we react to something we're out of control when we respond to something we're in total control.

There's a big difference between reacting and responding. Reacting is often autopilot. There is a trigger, however, responded to that in the past, I'm going to do it again in the future. I'm not even gonna have to think about it, my brain automatically does it. autopilot takes choice out of the mix. So it will keep you out of control.

But when you begin to understand that you can choose how you respond to something. You just went to a different level. And the difference between reacting and responding is often one breath. Reacting, we just jump into it. We're already halfway through the conversation. We don't even know we didn't choose words we didn't think about it, we just reacted.

It's all autopilot. It's how you do the same thing every single time it happens. But when you choose to respond, something comes at you. You take a moment and take a breath before you even open your mouth. And in that moment, you put yourself in a place of choice. So take ownership of how you're choosing to respond to your, your thoughts, your situations, anything coming at you.

You can choose how you respond. It's not the trigger that creates it. It's how you choose to respond. Another way that puts you in so much more control than you believe you're in, in any given moment. And this is a perfect question. This is what we talked about a couple of weeks ago.

Right? If I'm reaching for food, for whatever reason it is. And I take a moment and I stopped and I asked myself, am I physically hungry? You just took that moment instead of reacting, which had been grabbed the cookies in eat him that's reacting. And then after the fact going, Oh, I didn't want to do that. Why did they do that?

That would have been reacting, responding is I reach for the cookies and take a moment and go, okay. Am I actually hungry right now. That moment, where you chose responding instead of reacting, changes your life? Because now you have the opportunity to go. Yeah, you know what? I am physically hungry.

I'm gonna eat a cookie. Or, no, I'm not physically hungry. Let me take a cookie. And when I'm hungry in an hour, I'll eat the cookie. Again, there's no deprivation. It's not that you can't eat the cookie if you want the cookie.

But when you choose to eat the cookie makes all the difference in the world. That's how you lose your weight and keep it off forever. So that moment changes everything. Get in the habit of doing that not just when you're reaching for food, but for other things in your life. Because it's not uncommon when we stress ourselves out because we're reacting to things that we reach for food. Because many people are stressed eaters.

It's hard to be a stress eater. When you begin to take stress out of your life. You find yourself reaching for food, a lot less. Give it a try. Your immune system is only as well and strong as the amount of self love, self acceptance, self caring that you give yourself daily. So what we've been talking a bit about this week is kind of becoming your own best friend.

You've got to make choices and decisions for you. You've got to understand how to care for yourself. It doesn't matter what everyone else is doing. But there are things you can do on a daily basis that take care of you. And most of them don't take any extra time. So the excuse if you were going to make it as I don't have time to add more things to do to my life, one you're wrong.

Because I guarantee you're doing a bunch of things that are not serving you, you could get rid of those and replace them with things that serve you. But what we're talking about here are simple things that you don't need any extra time for. self love, self acceptance, self caring. These are absolute keys to your success. This is not just about dropping 30 pounds, that's not what this is about. This is about making sustainable changes in your life.

Loving yourself is an absolute key to a healthier, thinner and happier you and those things go hand in hand. Developing self esteem helps you in all aspects of your life, including all of the ones we're covering in this course. When we talk about self esteem, we're talking about believing in yourself. It is nobody's job to believe in you. That is your job. That is 100% your job.

And what sometimes gets in the way is that whatever you're saying in your head, your subconscious mind believes it doesn't have to be real. It can be completely alive, but If you say it to yourself enough, your subconscious mind begins to own that. If you think about your self talk, everybody self talk is like this. Our self talk doesn't say anything nice. It's our own worst critic. It's always looking for what's going wrong.

It's never looking for what's coming, right? Those are conscious things you need to shift and change. But if you've spent a lifetime telling yourself, I'm fat, I'm not in shape. I'm so unhealthy. I'm never going to be able to do this. I keep failing on diets.

This is awful. Why can't I be like somebody else? Those are awful things to be saying. And your subconscious mind believes everything you're telling it. So you've got to stop telling yourself things that do not serve you. Again, garbage in garbage out, you can program yourself more positively.

That puts you in control. What is it you want? Don't tell yourself what you don't want an example I don't want to be overweight anymore. Okay? So if you keep telling yourself you don't want to be overweight, your subconscious mind does not hear the word don't. It just continues here and you say, I'm overweight.

I'm overweight, I'm overweight. I don't want to hear what you don't want. I want to hear what you do want. So instead of saying, I don't want to be overweight anymore, what might you start saying to yourself in replacing that I want to be thinner and healthier. Now let's bring it present tense. I am thinner and healthier.

Guess what you tell your brain that enough times it believes that too, and it begins acting on it. This is so powerful. Again. Empower yourself. Not just with the Should I eat this? Or should I eat that?

Should I be good? Should I be bad? That's nothing. Look at the big picture your mind, your body, your spirit, everything is interconnected. And when we talk about believing in yourself and becoming your own best friend, and giving yourself what you need to succeed, we're talking about self esteem. And you can't walk into the store and buy it.

It's not sitting on a shelf, you just go buy a box of it, but it is absolutely free. And you can have it 24 hours a day, seven days a week. But you have got to consistently be programming your subconscious in ways that serve you not ways that don't. When you start replacing negative thoughts with positive ones, you begin to get positive outcomes. It is that simple. And if you're if you argue that no, that's not how it works, you can't just be an optimist and look at the positive stuff and things change.

I guarantee you've never done it or if you've tried it, you've not done it well. So, get in the habit, pay attention to what is the conversation in your head? What is your self talk, saying? What are you doing to knock your own self esteem? If you're part of that problem, you are that solution. That's a great thing to know.

It's a fantastic thing to know. You don't have to wait for anyone else. You can change that beginning right now. So manage that conversation in your head because you are the author of it all. You are the author. So rewrite the script.

If the current script you're using isn't helping you rewrite the script, manage that conversation in your head. And you will be amazed once again, at how different things become all of a sudden how your perspective changes, all of a sudden, how when you actually are saying and doing things that serve you instead of things that that harm you, or continue old patterns that are not at all beneficial to you. Not only do you all of a sudden start dropping your excess weight, but you feel better. You feel better about yourself. You begin taking better care of yourself. Your habits begin to shift, your self talk begins to shift.

Everything takes a U turn. And because all those things are interconnected, you get Closer and closer and closer to exactly where you want to be. So there are some self esteem affirmations here. Again, if these resonate with you or feel free find something that does. But you have got to be reminding yourself of these things on a regular basis. I am my own best friend.

I deserve to love myself. I will totally take the responsibility for loving myself. I and only I will determine my self worth. I will stop to praise myself for my accomplishments. I deserve to have high regard for myself, and I will never forget that I am a miracle. It is nobody's job to believe in you.

That is your job. Take that job seriously, and never, ever quit our thought for this week as well. Melt. If you've been incorporating the last three weeks worth of things that we've gone over and you've started implementing these things to your life, you may notice yourself already feeling differently. Feeling differently. And I know in week one, I asked you to stay away from the scale, I'm going to still ask you to stay away from the scale because the real scales are hanging in your closet.

A number doesn't tell you anything about yourself. The real scales are hanging in your closet. And if you've been following the last three weeks of this course, I guarantee your clothes are fitting differently. You're feeling differently. I bet your energy level has changed. So continue melting.

Don't worry about the number on the scale for right now. Continue melting. As always, you've got your goal sheet right? down a couple of things. What are you going to do this week? What is your focus, pick something and run with it.

We also have our lesson for affirmations, I will leave these for you there in your workbook. Once again, what resonates with you whether it's one of these things, or whether it is something you found on your own. affirmations are a fantastic way to consistently there's that word again, consistently remind yourself of what it is you're trying to accomplish and why. So take full responsibility and taking care of yourself. become your own best friend, and choose to be accountable to live a healthier lifestyle, mind, body, and spirit. If you need us by now, you know we're here.

So reach out anytime we are here. Send us an email. We'll get right back to you. You'll probably hear from de wolf founder and creator of this book. GRAEME herself, she loves reaching out and having conversations and helping anybody. And as always, we love hearing about successes as well.

We'd love to hear any of that from you. Reach out. We're here and I will see you in week five