Create Your Ideal Body : A Breakthrough Easy, Natural Way to Lose Weight 9781605570723, 9780972852715

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A Breakthrough, Easy, Natural Way to

LOSE WEIGHT by Terri Levine, MCC, PCC, MS, CCC-SLP

Contact Information Published by: Comprehensive Coaching U Publications 727 Mallard Place North Wales, PA 19454 http://www.createyouridealbody.com/ [email protected]

For enquiries: Toll free number: 877-401-6165. To sign up for the Create Your Ideal Body & Health newsletter, send a blank email to: [email protected]

© Copyright by Terri Levine. All rights reserved.

Legal Notice No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form, in whole or in part, or by any means, mechanical or electronic, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, or transmitted by email, without permission in writing from the Author. Readers with health/medical problems who wish to follow any information should first consult with their physician or health care provider. Advice is not intended to create any coach-client relationship or supplant any existing medical treatment by your physician. Any information given in this ebook is not intended to diagnose, treat, or cure medical ailments and is not intended to replace proper medical care. The Publisher, Author, Interviewer, or Interviewee of this ebook do not endorse or recommend any specific therapy, procedure, treatment or product and accept no liability for any decisions that you make that are influenced by the content of this ebook. References, links and pointers to various websites/ businesses do not constitute endorsement or warranty, expressed or implied. Any perceived slight of specific people or organization is unintentional. The Publisher wants to stress that the information contained herein may be subject to varying international, federal, state and/or local laws or regulations. The purchaser or reader of this publication assumes responsibility for the use of these materials and information. Adherence to all applicable laws and regulations, including international, federal, state and local, governing professional licensing, business practices, advertising and all other aspects of doing business in the US, Canada, or any other jurisdiction is the sole responsibility of the purchaser or reader. Neither the author, the interviewer, or the Publisher assume any responsibility or liability whatsoever on the behalf of any purchaser or reader of these materials. Some images © 2002-2003, www.clipart.com

A Note from Audri Lanford

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first had the pleasure of meeting Terri Levine when I took one of her Ideal Body tele-seminars. I was so intrigued — the information was so powerful — that I thought it should have a much wider audience.

DR. AUDRI G. LANFORD has created three very different businesses, including one of the fastest growing private companies in the US, an Inc. 500 company (Micro Dynamics), the oldest and largest direct results Internet marketing company (NETrageous Inc.), and an online company connecting busy people with what they love to do (WZ.com Inc.). She has received many honors and awards, including being honored in Forbes Best of the Web. She is co-editor of Internet ScamBusters, the #1 publication on Internet fraud. Subscribe free at www.scambusters.org She can be contacted at [email protected].

I asked Terri if I could interview her so that tens or hundreds of thousands — or perhaps even millions — of people could gain access to her revolutionary approach. Terri’s approach has completely transformed my approach to eating. Without dieting, I’ve easily lost 11 pounds since she and I did this ebook — which may not sound like a lot, but in the past it’s been very difficult for me to lose weight. And that’s without “trying.” I’m extremely pleased because I’m about halfway to my ideal body. And I’ve eaten everything I wanted to eat — without feeling guilty at all. It’s been so much more fun! As you read this book, I suggest that you read with a very open mind. Terri’s approach sounds so easy that you may believe it can’t work. But it does work — like a charm. In fact, the best ideas are almost always very simple. You’ll also notice that this interview is non-linear. We have come back to discuss the same topic from different perspectives at different times, so we could incorporate the ideas in between. This was very intentional — so you gain the most from this book. As in her tele-seminars, Terri’s unmatched passion and enthusiasm are plainly visible in this ebook. And after reading the material, I’m sure you’ll be saying the same thing as I, and so many others before me, did after spending time with Terri… Thank you, Terri!

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Create Your Ideal Body: A Breakthrough Easy, Natural Way to Lose Weight An Interview with Terri Levine

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here was a time when I found myself on the diet merry-go-round. I’d tried possibly every sensible diet there is, including Weight Watchers. Once I’d lost the weight and attempted to return to “normal life,” I found the weight always came back, and not only that, but I seemed to end up even heavier than when I began. The situation was ludicrous. One day, I just said, “Enough is enough. I have a life to live.” So, I stopped dieting.

TERRI LEVINE, MCC, PCC, MS, CCC-SLP, is the President of Comprehensive Coaching U — The Professional’s Coach Training Program, a popular Master Certified personal and business Coach, sought after Public Speaker, and Author of best-seller, “Work Yourself Happy” and “Coaching for an Extraordinary Life.” Terri specializes in using Comprehensive Coaching principles to create extraordinary growth for her clients’ lives and businesses, and has been coaching professionals and companies, and training others to use coaching skills every day to experience much greater business, financial and personal success, discovering better ways to grow profitable businesses and restore balance in life. She can be contacted at CreateYourIdealBody.com, by telephone: 877-401-6165 or by email: [email protected].

Instead, I began to eat intentionally. And I incorporated techniques into my eating habits that I use in every other area of my life and that have brought me success and happiness in all those other areas of my life. The result? I lost over 40 pounds! I was amazed. I lost it easily, quickly, and without struggle. I had no idea at the time that this was going to happen. However, when I thought about it, of course, it made sense. If I had done this from the start, I would never have needed those crazy diets I’d tried… and I’ve never needed one since. I then shared these techniques with my clients. The result? Every single one of my clients, with a few exceptions (like pregnancy, health, being underweight) lost weight — when they didn’t even have that as their main goal. In other words, the same thing happened for them as had happened for me! 4

That’s about 250 people who reported better eating and better living as a by-product of my coaching. More than 60 people lost twenty pounds or more, again without dieting or struggle, over a six to nine month period. And like me, they’ve kept it off. How did this happen? One of my clients said, “I simply thought myself thin.” Participating in Terri Levine's Ideal Body workshop has changed my life. I have tried several different approaches to creating the body I desire and for the first time I have found something that works. The concept of making choices based on using my common sense and selfawareness has shifted my whole perspective. In this workshop I have learned the power of intention and my entire life has shifted as a result of it. By being given the freedom to create a plan that works for me, I have been successful in creating my ideal body. Thank you, Terri, for sharing your magic with such power and enthusiasm. — Suzi April, South Salem, NY

Well, that’s a little simplistic and only part of the equation. It also involves the power of intention, mindful eating, support, and a bit more — none of which are difficult, costly, stressful or time-consuming. When people ask me to coach them with the same techniques I used for myself and other clients, and I start off by assuring them that ice cream can still be on the menu, and no, they don’t have to join a gym, they are a little surprised… but delighted! They are even more delighted when they discover how easy it is to lose weight using these techniques. I say this all the time: if there was one diet that worked, everyone would be on it. If there was a magic diet pill that worked, everyone would be taking it. And the fact is that everybody is different… what works for one will not work for another. Because the Ideal Body system is NOT a diet, and works on natural principles, it works for everybody. The only differences that will be found is that some people lose weight faster than others… but they all lose it, and they all keep it off, and they don’t “diet” to maintain it. Ideal Body does not involve special exercise routines or special eating formulas or any drugs, natural or otherwise. Everybody is unique. Ideal Body simply works with that uniqueness… and that is why it works.

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INTRODUCTION

Introduction Audri:

Welcome, Terri. I’m very excited to be talking with you today! I’d like to start off by letting our readers of this ebook know exactly what you intend to share with them.

Terri:

My intention is for people to discover that they can eat the foods they love and truly enjoy them, lose the weight they want easily and almost effortlessly, and they can have a body that is healthy, looks great, and feels wonderful and ideal for them.

Audri:

Sounds terrific. That’s a goal so many people have today. We recently did some fascinating research I’d like to share with you and our readers. We surveyed 182,000 of our members who were interested in weight loss, because we wanted to know what their frustrations, questions, concerns, hopes, and wishes actually were. Our members, and I believe the people reading this book, have all been on lots of diets. They’ve become frustrated by not being able to find real solutions — things that are healthy, that are doable, that feel good, that don’t cost an arm and a leg, and that don’t take a lot of time. I’d like to spend a moment to share some of their specific comments with you, just so you get a feel for what we heard people want in terms of creating an ideal body and losing weight. “I’m becoming frustrated. I’m 5 feet tall and weigh 141 pounds. I’ve tried so hard and nothing is working.” “I want more energy instead of being tired all the time.” “I want to feel better about myself.” “I want to be the most effective in the least amount of time possible.” “I want to stop eating to cheer myself up.” “My husband moans if I don’t eat the same evening meal as him.”

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“I need to stop raiding the fridge at night.” “I can’t lose those last 10 pounds.” “I want to get rid of the belly bulge.” “Is there some kind of thing out there that can help me keep interested in longer than a week?” “I want to find a process that I truly enjoy. I want it to be safe. I want help to keep the weight off without tasting like shoe leather.” “I want something that will definitely work and not just be another example of false hope.”

INTRODUCTION

Terri:

As I listen to what these people are saying, it exactly parallels what I hear in my coaching and what I, myself, felt at one time, which was that nothing seemed to work, it’s too much effort, and I don’t want to give up my life. Over and over again, we have this sense of false hope that tells us “Oh, no, that wasn’t the right diet — this one is,” or perhaps “That wasn’t the right pill — this one is.” People are tired of what I call the “diet mentality.” They’re ready to do something different. They know that dieting isn’t the answer. We’ve been dieting for so many years as a society, yet we’re a fatter society. Doesn’t that tell us something?

Audri:

Yes, it really does. Something we all know in our hearts.

Terri:

Ideal Body is the opposite of dieting. It’s forgetting the word “diet.” I believe that if none of us had ever heard the word diet, or went on diets, we might well already have our ideal bodies! Ideal Body is truly coming from a place of saying, “I’m really giving all of those beliefs up. I’m going to abandon the diet mentality and I’m going to now live my life.”

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TERRI’s STORY

Terri’s Story Audri:

I can just hear the cheers of our readers when you say that. So tell us, how did you get started with this idea of creating your own ideal body?

Terri:

I think it came from having the not so ideal body. I am short — 5 ft. 1 in. — and I’ve struggled with my weight from the time I was in 4th grade. I was always “chunky,” always on diets, talking about diets, and reading diet books. I was bombarded with images of skinny people and what the magazines wanted to convince us was the ideal body. It’s not very realistic, but that’s the image I was brainwashed into believing was the ideal body. And unfortunately, society has become convinced as well! I’ve probably tried every diet program out there. If there was a book on a diet, I’d buy it. If there were magic pills, sign me up. Each time I would successfully lose weight, but I couldn’t keep the weight off; it would return, faster than before. It was a vicious merry-go-round and I couldn’t get off. Finally, in complete frustration, I said to myself, “You know what, I’m just not going to do this anymore. I choose not to live this way, constantly worrying about my weight, what I look like, and what I eat. There are other things in my life more important to focus on than someone else’s unrealistic idea of what an ideal body should be.” I “surrendered.” And it was the best thing I’ve ever done. When I finally gave up “dieting,” I immediately started to lose weight — and that fascinated me. I didn’t understand this. I wasn’t dieting, so why was I losing weight? I started paying a lot of attention and realized that in other 8

areas of my life, I am very intentional. I set intentions and those things fall into place. The one area in which I’d never done that was with eating and weight management. So, it came to me that creating the ideal body was the same as all of the other things I created in my life; it was deciding in my head to be very intentional about what my desire was — to give up dieting, and to just understand that an ideal body meant an ideal body for me. I was not going to be a stick figure on the cover of a swimsuit magazine. I just wanted to have a nice, healthy body that stayed at the same healthy weight — and looked good.

TERRI’s STORY

As soon as that all came into perspective for me, I was able to lose the weight. I lost 47.5 pounds, and I have stayed at the same exact weight for five years now. That to me is the key; it’s not so much the losing it, it’s how naturally I stay there. And I relish the chance to share this with other people! Audri:

Wonderful! I know that everyone reading this book is going “Tell me more.” You just mentioned that you discourage dieting. Tell us a bit more about the dieting cycle that we’ve all undoubtedly been through.

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The Dieting Cycle

THE DIETING CYCLE

Terri:

The dieting cycle is almost a cycle of starvation. We go on a diet because we’re not happy with how we look or feel. The diet creates hunger and we feel deprived. After a while, we start to feel that we can’t do this anymore and we lose control. We start to binge and that’s it — end of diet. Then inevitably we gain back the weight — and to make us feel like even more of a failure, we usually gain back more weight than when we first started dieting! That’s when the desperation kicks in and we wonder what to do next. And what do we do? We go back and diet all over again. It’s a vicious cycle that we can’t get out of. We diet. It makes us feel hungry and deprived. That makes us feel bad. We eat. We feel bad about the eating... and then we start dieting again. It’s a cycle that’s so hard to stop when we’re in it. We need to stop the cycle permanently.

Audri:

That’s exactly what happened to me. Whenever I would diet, I would usually lose weight and then I would gain all the weight back again. I discovered that I gained more weight overall when I was dieting than when I didn’t diet!

Terri:

That’s very common, and when you finally say, “I can’t take it anymore — I’m going to go ahead and eat,” then you feel shame and guilt. You ask yourself, “What’s wrong with me?” or you say, “I blew it.” So often, many people beat themselves up over this cycle, which leads to what I call “self-hatred,” or lower self-esteem. That puts you deeper into that cycle.

Audri:

This cycle happens because we all want to have the ideal body. That’s the real starting point. Tell us your definition of an ideal body, Terri.

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What is an Ideal Body?

AN IDEAL BODY…

Terri:

An ideal body is where you create the best weight for you. It’s easy to stay at that weight. You’re healthy and well. You can enjoy your life and you feel good about yourself and the way you look. You’re not overweight. You are just right for you. An ideal body is not determined by a chart, or someone from the fashion industry determining that you should weigh a certain weight, or that you should be a size 2 or 12 or 16. You determine what feels best for you and what you want for your own body. A person with big bones can’t possibly be comfortable being the same “size” as a person with a small bone structure!

Audri:

What about all the diet pills and potions available on the market? Do any of these work?

Terri:

There are no magic pills or potions. There is good news though... The good news is that you can forget the old rules and old books that tell you that you’ve got to eat this and eat that. The good news is that you can actually begin to eat by trusting your body. Your body, in a way, is its own magic pill. Your body has all the answers.

Audri:

This is probably a new concept to many people — but it may come as somewhat of a relief as well. When I took the tele-seminar that you offer called “Creating Your Ideal Body,” I was so impressed with what I learned from you. You talked a lot about getting pleasure from eating. Typically, when people are trying to lose weight, they think they have to eat shoe leather. The idea of enjoying eating is the exact opposite of what you normally hear when you discuss this topic.

Terri:

The truth is that most of us really do enjoy eating. It’s cultural, it’s social, it feels good — it brings back wonderful memories of our childhood. It’s nurturing. 11

The really, really good news is that you can still enjoy eating. In fact, you’ll find that you’ll get more pleasure from eating as you focus on eating.

AN IDEAL BODY…

For example, did you ever sit down to a meal and think, “Oh, this looks wonderful. This is going to be so great,” and you ate it so fast that afterward, you really couldn’t recall the details of the experience? When you use the Ideal Body approach we’re going to discuss, you’ll see that as you really get intentional about your eating and you focus on feeling the pleasure from eating, you will find that you will truly taste all the foods — that you look at them more, that the aroma is stronger. You’ll enjoy the food even more. The pleasure of eating will be heightened for you. So, how about that — eating can actually become an enjoyable pastime, not an obsession! Audri:

I love it! So, as we lose weight, we’re going to wind up in a situation where we’re actually enjoying our eating more, which sounds a lot better than eating shoe leather! Let’s now spend a few moments on the concept of normal eating. Tell us what you mean by this.

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Normal Eating Terri:

I think people are very confused about what normal eating is. People seem to believe that normal eating means either eating very little, or they have to eat salads!

NORMAL EATING

Normal eating has to do with allowing for fluctuations and variations. Normal eating allows for differences in the way we eat, the days, the times, and the moments we eat. It’s not locking yourself into three square meals a day. In terms of a person functioning in ways that I would consider “normal,” they’re eating when they’re hungry. They stop eating when they’re satisfied. They choose foods they like to eat. They are not restricted in their eating, but they do use some moderation. They do give themselves permission to eat when they’re emotional. They do overeat at times. Sometimes they actually wish they could eat more. They trust their body to make up for their mistakes. They also notice that eating takes up some of their time and attention. It’s one aspect of their life. It’s flexible and varies according to their emotions, their schedule, their hunger, and the amount of food that’s there. These definitions come from Ellen Satter, a dietician. My clients have remained, according to her term, normal eaters. Many of my clients now use the term “natural eating,” which I’ve come to adopt. Natural eating involves no rigid rules. It’s choosing things that you feel like eating and being flexible from meal to meal, and generally, having foods that are nutritionally sound — but not always. It’s making intentional choices about what to eat, how much to eat, when to eat, and using common sense. It’s sometimes having bouts of both overeating and under-eating. I said this earlier, and I want to go back to it. Trust your body to make up for your mistakes. Sometimes, your body is going to say, “Oh gosh — that looks so good — give me more of that.” 13

Sometimes, you’re just going to forget to eat intentionally and you’re just going to eat, eat, eat, and sometimes, you’re going to be so busy in your life experience that you’re going to forget to eat lunch! That’s normal and natural — versus a diet that says you’ll always have 300 calories at lunch, eaten exactly at noon whether you’re hungry or not. Or, you’ll always have a fruit and a carbohydrate at breakfast.

NORMAL EATING

It’s about trusting your body and allowing your body to make choices.

When I first heard of Ideal Body, I was not sure what to expect. I am not one to diet — to me it is “die” with a “t.” Also if you tell me I can't have something, I want twice as much of it. So when we got into the program and threw away the diet mentality, I felt a big sense of relief. The concept of being intentional and eating out of choice really feels right to me. I especially like that I am listening to my body and eating what feels right for what my body needs and not what my brain or emotions are telling me to eat. Ideal Body is not about quick fixes but about a different way of living and a different way of being that is very enjoyable and truly livable. I have been able to lose weight on this program without feeling deprived, hungry, or guilty about the types of food I eat. However, this has not been the extent of my changes in beliefs. In addition to the changes in patterns around food, I have experienced changes around money issues and choices around money. So Ideal Body is not strictly about weight issues but more about being very conscious of choices, fully engaged in the decisions you make, and fully enjoying the process and the outcomes. I am certainly having fun with all aspects of my life! — Susan C. Guiher, Warminster, PA

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TRUST YOUR BODY

Trust Your Body Audri:

The idea of trusting that your body actually knows what you want is absolutely freeing. Tell us more.

Terri:

It is. And the truth is our bodies have all the abilities to communicate to us if we’ll just stop and listen.

Audri:

Do you think people feel guilty about eating normally or naturally?

Terri:

Great question. My answer is absolutely yes. I say that because we’re taught that we’re not able to eat normally — that there’s something wrong with the way we eat, and that unless we follow a rule or a program, we’ll be out of control. And most of us carry around that fear or that belief. So, the first time you sit down and say, “I’m not on a diet and I’m going to eat what I want,” most people report a great fear and think, “Oh no, I’m going to eat everything and I’ll be out of control.” And that just comes from the beliefs that we’ve had — the training we’ve had — teaching us that we don’t know how to eat normally. We’ve been brainwashed with misinformation. Once we get back to trusting that our bodies do actually know what to eat, when to eat and how much to eat, the process is very easy. So, normal is whatever is ideal for you.

Audri:

What approach did you use to become a normal eater?

Terri:

I completely listened to my body. I’m constantly asking my body, “What is it that I want to eat? What am I in the mood for? What is my appetite? What’s my desire — do I want something crunchy? Do I feel really stressed out and would chewing a piece of chocolate make me feel better?” 15

TRUST YOUR BODY

I just allow myself to realize there are day-to-day, momentto-moment, and meal-to-meal differences in the choices my body wants to make. The big thing is that I really believe that anything I do in a given day really makes no difference. In other words, if I sit down today and say, “Wow, I don’t know what it was, but all day I had cravings for sweet stuff,” then I just decide that’s what my body wants. I give it to my body. Let’s face it. I won’t get on the scale tomorrow and weigh ten pounds more. We may think that, but that’s not what our bodies do. So, the next day, we’ll just get back to “What do I feel like eating?” Chances are with my body being normal, and me listening, it would say, “You know, we had enough of that sweet stuff yesterday, Terri, so why don’t you give us a couple of vegetables today?” That is natural eating. It’s eating in response to what my body wants and not giving my body a rule and saying, “You might want chocolate, but I have willpower and I’m not going to give it to you.” The Ideal Body approach works. It’s totally effective. I simply honor what my body needs. Here’s a comparison. If you really felt that your body was physically tired, and you asked, “What does my body need?” and the answer was, “It needs a bubble bath,” chances are you would indulge your body in a bubble bath. So, what’s the difference if your body says that it would really like to have an extra portion of chocolate tonight? Let your body indulge. Your body won’t ask for the same thing over and over again. Here’s another example. When we get into our car and we’re going somewhere, we don’t say to the car, “Well, we have a long journey, and I’ve noticed that you’re pretty much on empty; I’m really sorry, but I’m just not going to give you anymore gas. We just have to go anyway, but you’re not allowed to have the gas.” 16

We feed the car the gas, and we say, “Oh, let me replenish you and give you what you need so you’ll have more fuel, more energy, so you’ll perform better and take me where I want to go.”

TRUST YOUR BODY

I look at the body in the same way. “Feeding” my body is giving my body energy and putting this wonderful nutrient “gas” in my body so I can go. I would never say to my body, “No, you’re not allowed — you can’t have that.”

Eat Less and Love it… Here is a satisfying reason to enjoy olive oil: Researchers in France say it may help you lose weight. People who lunched on meals made with monounsaturated oils, including olive and canola, were a lot less hungry later in the day than others who dined on the same dishes made with their polyunsaturated cousins, such as corn oil.

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Overeating Audri:

Can we talk for a moment now about overeating and what that feels like to people?

Terri:

Yes. It feels different to each of us. We typically have a strong physical reaction. It could be a pain; our stomach hurts. Our pants get tight. Certainly, it’s uncomfortable. Or it could be a feeling of guilt or heaviness. I know that when I’m overeating, I will feel fatter. Your stomach feels stretched holding all that food.

OVEREATING

So we all have some physiological and some psychological response when we overeat. If we tune in and become aware of what that feels like, we can usually label what that is in our own body. Really tune in — physically and psychologically — and ask, “What does it feel like for me?” Audri:

You mentioned that sometimes you choose to overeat. What do you mean by that?

Terri:

Choosing is the key word. I used to overeat because I was eating without any intention. I was completely unconscious of it. It was an impulse. Eat, eat, eat. And then I’d eat to the point where, very often, I’d feel those sicknesses or ailments of overeating. Now, I’m always tuning in and asking myself, “Do you want more, are you still hungry, what do you want to eat?” Sometimes, I’ll get the answer, “I am pretty full, but I really want to have more.” Then I make the choice. I ask myself, do I choose to have more, or do I choose to say, “No more today.” Sometimes, it just feels good, and I’ll say, “You know what, I want more of that,” and I have it. Here’s an example. I just came back from a wonderful vacation in Florida, home of the Key Lime Pie. I love it; it’s not something I can eat regularly in my part of the country. I

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was dining out and was very full after having a wonderful dinner. The waiter came over and said, “We have homemade Key Lime Pie.” I asked my body, “Do you want more?” and my body said, “No, we’ve clearly had enough.” But I thought, “Wow! It’s my only chance to have Key Lime Pie.” So I made a choice — a choice to overeat, knowing that I was going to feel uncomfortable and it wouldn’t feel so good.

OVEREATING

It’s a very different strategy than mindlessly eating and then feeling guilty. And, I’m glad I made that choice.

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INTENTIONAL EATING

Intentional Eating Audri:

You just led in to one of my favorite topics, which is what you call intentional eating. Tell us what you mean by that.

Terri:

Intentional eating is tuning in to become fully conscious and present of your eating experience, of being in touch with what your body is feeling, what you’re choosing, and what you want to eat. And it is what you experience in the taste, aroma, and texture. It is being very present, deliberate, and in control of the entire experience of eating, and eating by choice. The best way to do this is through a dominant intention. A dominant intention is having an overall thought about your eating every single day. Something very easy — what is it that you want to experience today in your eating? Maybe it’s that today you only want to eat healthy foods. Or maybe it’s that you want to feel full. Or maybe it’s that you want to try some new foods, or you want to eat slower. For me, my intention today is that I want to really enjoy my meals. This is my dominant intention. A dominant intention immediately gets you present when you’re eating. Every time you have the opportunity to eat, you go back to your dominant intention.

Audri:

Now let’s say that your desire is to lose weight. Would the same kind of dominant intentions be present?

Terri:

Absolutely. When I was in weight loss mode, my dominant intentions were things like “I intend to eat things that are healthy and that satisfy me.” Or “I intend to make healthier choices. I intend to eat more fruits, vegetables and grains.” Maybe your intentions are that you want to have less dessert, or eat more whole fruit.

Audri:

So you have one dominant intention throughout the day. What about when you’re having specific meals — do you do anything there?

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INTENTIONAL EATING

Terri:

Yes. That’s when I do something called “segmented intentions.” This is an important piece that supports the dominant intention. Have your overall dominant intention for the day, and then, at each eating experience, before you just dig in and pick up the fork, ask yourself, “What is your intention for this particular meal?” It could be that your intention is to slow down, to enjoy food, or to notice the flavor. Immediately, before you engage in that meal, you’re letting yourself become back in tune with your body. Segment your intentions every time you’re ready to have something to eat.

Audri:

How often do you do this each day? You’ve said every day and every meal, but do you do it several times during the meal, or do you do it once?

Terri:

I’ll do the segmented intentions right before I start eating, and sometimes, I may have another intention as the meal goes on. For example, I was at a wonderful restaurant and I really wanted to take it all in. My intention was to really enjoy the atmosphere and ambience of the dining experience. At about halfway through the meal, I noticed that I was eating extremely fast, so I set another intention, which was to slow down and savor my food. I might have intentions arise at different segments of the meal. One segment, for example, may be “Do I want to have something at the close of the meal? Do I want to have fruit or dessert?” And I’ll attach my intention around the closure of the meal.

Audri:

Do you do this just for eating, or for other parts of your life too?

Terri:

I do it in all areas of life. I segment my intentions in every experience. Before I have a phone call with someone, I ask what my intention is for that phone call; before I drive my car, 21

INTENTIONAL EATING

what’s my intention for my driving experience, and so on. It always allows me to be fully present and intentional, and in the moment. I was using dominant intentions and segmented intentions in just about every life area, until it dawned on me to do the same thing around eating. Audri:

I think, for many people, dessert is really a big deal. Give us some examples of dominant and segmented intentions for different meals if our goal is to create an ideal body, lose weight, and have more energy and eat in a healthy way.

Terri:

If losing weight is important to you, make that your dominant intention. It might be something like “I intend to eat in a way that will support my weight loss.” Or “I intend to make healthy choices.” Or “I intend to eat items that are lower in fat and calories.” Set that overall intention into motion. Now, when you get down to the segments of your day, and you’re making your choices at every meal, go back to something that supports the dominant intention. So, a segmented intention might be “Well, I’m in a restaurant, I have a choice between salad, soup, or a sandwich. I intend to make the healthiest choice and something I would still enjoy eating.” It might be “I intend to eat a lighter main course, so I can have room for dessert.” Or “I intend to have a small piece of dessert.” Or “I intend to have dessert, but it will be sugar-free.” Break it down into a smaller scale for each eating experience. And, by the way, I can’t leave this out... I lost my weight eating ice cream, which I love, three to five times per week! I never, ever deprived myself of it. I just asked myself the question, “Do I feel like eating it?” If the answer was yes, (which it quite often was!) I ate it. Not a gallon or a pint, but a scoop or a cone.

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INTENTIONAL EATING

Audri:

What you’re saying is that you can let your body tell you what you want and still enjoy even the things that you “shouldn’t” have?

Terri:

Absolutely, because there are no rules. I can and should have whatever my body chooses. I’m allowed. No one tells me what or when to eat — my body tells me.

Audri:

You mentioned a lot of people have a fear that there are no rules, that they’re creating intentions, and that they’ll get out of control. Can you give us advice on how your clients have dealt with that?

Terri:

It’s natural and to be expected that we’ll have the fear that we won’t be able to stop eating. “If you give me permission to eat — put me at a buffet — I’ll be there for three days — I’ll be out of control — I’ll gain 50 pounds. I’m afraid to try that.” If your intention is “I’m going to eat whatever I want, eat wildly, and if I gain weight, who cares?” then you’re right; you’ll probably gain a lot of weight and be out of control. If your intention is “I’ll be in touch with my body. I’ll be listening. I’ll respect my body and know that it will give me the right signals. At first, I may overeat because I haven’t listened to the signals, and initially I may gain weight as I’m getting more in touch with my body,” that’s OK too. Don’t feel guilty. It goes back to an intention where you allow yourself to get reconnected to your body. It’s like a baby. If a baby is getting ready to walk and he stands up and then falls down, we say it’s OK, it’s not a problem; he’s just going to keep trying. We don’t get too concerned about it. It’s the same thing. We’re going to make some mistakes, we’re going to fall down, but we keep going. It’s a journey.

Audri:

So, it’s not like if you do it once and you don’t get it perfectly, that’s the end?

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INTENTIONAL EATING

Terri:

Absolutely, because there is no “perfect.” Even in natural eating, there are times when someone observing me would think, “Holy Cow, does she have an appetite!” And I’d say, “Yes, I do,” and chances are tomorrow you’d say, “Wow, she hardly ate anything.” You can’t just set the intention “I’m going to eat a way that’s thin and healthy” and then forget it. It’s being present to that intention. You will not continue to eat at the buffet table if you get back to your intention.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the 12-week Ideal Body program. Finding myself in the worst shape I have ever been in, I decided I needed to do something. Not one more diet — because I have been on them all — but a healthier lifestyle. During the program I found a new way of looking at my eating habits and, through the course, came to a new understanding of myself. Being 30 pounds heavier than I have ever been, in the middle of my divorce, I realized that it was not so much how much weight I have lost or gained or what the scales told me I weighed, but how I felt about my body and myself. I have not lost much weight during this process yet but have arrived at a new understanding and place in my life where I know my body needs the weight for protection and security at this time (the divorce and other issues) and that it is OK that I weigh the weight that I do right now. I can enjoy the foods I like and not feel guilty or beat myself up because I know that my intentions have been set and that my body will adjust and I will eat as much or little of what my body wants or requires to be sustained and fulfilled. I have changed my thoughts about myself and can love my body just the way it is right now, cellulite and all, and I have learned to appreciate just how wonderfully my body does take care of me! I am so grateful to be a part of this community of like-minded people and to be able to work with others struggling in the same areas as I. I hope this new paradigm shift around the areas of weight loss continue to spread to increase the awareness that there is a better way to have a healthier lifestyle and that it does not have to be a struggle. — Sheri Rowland

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STEP #1: SELF-CARE

Step #1: Extraordinary Self-Care Audri:

Let’s now talk about the three steps to intentional eating. The first one seems a bit like a change in gears. It’s what you call “extraordinary self-care.” Tell us about this and why it’s important.

Terri:

This is one of the most precious things I’ve learned over the past five years and is the first step on the way to intentional eating. Extraordinary self-care means being in balance, being whole. It’s slowing your life down, taking the time to enjoy your life and making you the number one priority. It’s making changes in all aspects and areas of your life and feeling good about you in a comprehensive way — physically, spiritually, and emotionally. It’s doing things that are way above normal. If you would normally get a massage — that’s not extraordinary. How about two massages? How about ten? How about a facial, a pedicure, and a massage? Extraordinary self-care could involve more quiet time. It could be nurturing, it could be playing with a pet. It’s doing things that are extraordinary that you have not made a priority before.

Audri:

And why is it important to take extraordinary care of yourself?

Terri:

Our lives are busier than ever. Everyone is feeling more stress, more push with less time to do things that feel important to them. People feel out of control. If we take extraordinary care of ourselves, we’re putting the priorities back in order. We’re slowing down, taking care of our health, being in control, being in the moment. And we’re back to creating feelings of love and extraordinary care for ourselves. As soon as that happens, we’re on top of our agenda. 25

STEP #2: BEING IN TOUCH

We have the ability to make our own choices, to live our own lives now. If we’re doing that, then we can make the same choices about our health and our eating. Audri:

How do you do this? Everyone I know feels rushed, busy with a million things to do.

Terri:

First is by intention. Having the intention of extraordinary selfcare. Setting a healthy lifestyle — it’s a choice. Take 10 minutes a day of quiet time. I don’t care who you are or how busy you are, and I don’t care if you have to get up at 4:00 a.m. to get that 10 minutes. Take those 10 minutes of white space — of quiet time. Create nurturing relationships, social relationships, things that support you. You have to do things for yourself, create activities that allow you to feel peace, balance, and harmony. You have to find a way to make yourself a priority. It starts with an intention.

Audri:

OK, so what is the next step in intentional eating?

Step #2: Being in Touch Terri:

The next step is being in touch all the time. Questioning yourself all the time — How am I feeling, what do I want, what would nurture me, what would support me, what do I choose to eat, what would feel good, what do I choose not to eat, what can I eat less of? Step two is using the process of being intentional on a regular basis. It’s consistently asking yourself, “What is my intention here?” What is my intention for this meal? What is my intention for the hunger signals that I’m getting? What is my intention for eating healthy? It’s being in touch all the time and asking your body what it wants.

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Roadblocks to Intentional Eating Audri:

Can you tell us about some of the things that get in the way of being intentional and checking in with how we’re feeling?

Terri:

The thing that gets in the way most frequently is that people don’t eat as an isolated activity.

ROADBLOCKS…

Think about your meals in the last day or so. Did you pick things that made you say, “Wow! I love this; this is going to be really wonderful; this is going to be an extraordinary meal.” And then, did you focus on all aspects of the dining — what it looked like, what it tasted like, how you arranged the food on the plate? Or were you thinking about what you had to do after dinner, when were the dishes going to get cleaned, was the phone ringing, etc.? That’s typically where we get hung up. We’re not focusing. Accept that you have time to eat and just focus on your meal. You don’t have time NOT to do that. Make this a priority. People get caught up in beliefs, or stories, they’ve had throughout their lives. It could be rules drilled into them from childhood by parents, their culture, friends, family, teachers, etc. I came from a family where the story was you had to clean your plate to get dessert because “children were starving.” Of course I wanted dessert — don’t all kids want dessert? — so I would force myself to clean my plate. It taught me to overeat. It’s a story I carried into adulthood. I want people to surface up what some of their stories are. What are some of the attitudes you might be carrying around? Don’t beat yourself up when you notice them. It’s OK if you’ve got that story. Just notice it and now observe it. Detach yourself a bit so you can witness it, and decide if you still want to carry the story. If someone says, “You have to eat everything on your plate because kids are starving,” notice the story and say, “Oh, that’s interesting.” 27

ROADBLOCKS…

Take a look at it. Where did it come from? I remember, my mom, my aunt, my cousin, and now I witness it. I’m hearing the story and now I’m going to make a decision. Do I choose to carry that around anymore? I decided, “You know what, my eating the food isn’t serving those kids,” and so, I don’t carry that story around anymore. Audri:

How did you get past that? Of all the stories, that’s probably the biggie, right?

Terri:

It is perhaps the biggest for many people. I used humor. When I looked at it for the first time in my life, at age 40, I realized that my eating the food didn’t help those kids. I thought it was silly and found some humor in it. That was the first thing. The second thing is that I didn’t get angry with the people who gave me the story. I really believed they were coming from a good place so I flowed a lot of love and appreciation toward my family members; they thought they were doing the best they could and that story made sense to them. The third step was allowing myself to be aware of when that story began to play and to choose whether I wanted to acknowledge it or not. So sometimes, while I’m eating, I do think, “I need to finish everything on my plate,” and I give myself the chance to decide if I want a new story. The point I want to make is find a way to notice the story, observe it, witness it, and allow yourself to come from an intentional place of choosing. You might choose “Well, today, I want to eat all the food.” Fine. Eat it. But not because someone told you children in other countries are starving.

Audri:

You mentioned to me that you had an old way of dealing with this story originally, and that was to make a contribution to some hunger organization that fed children. Then you decided that there are even better ways to deal with it.

Terri:

That is correct. The decision I made was that instead of finishing the food on my plate, making myself fat, which wasn’t 28

serving those kids, I would contribute to the hunger bank in my local community. So, every time I thought, “I’ve got to eat all the food on my plate,” I’d say, “No, I choose to make a donation instead.” Then I would go to my pantry and pull out a can; that would be my offering to the hunger bank.

ROADBLOCKS…

Now I don’t do that as much. I still make financial contributions, because I choose to do that, but I notice that I got myself out of the pattern and realized that eating all my food wasn’t making a contribution. It felt much better to physically deliver the food. Audri:

How about other stories that people carry around?

Terri:

Another common story is that you’re not allowed to make mistakes, and you’ve got to be perfect. So, if you blow it, or go off the diet one day, you may as well keep on eating because it’s over. That whole story about perfection and being a perfectionist contributes a lot to our feelings of guilt, our sense of deprivation, and our failure. So look at the story and decide how to shift it. I don’t expect perfection from myself or anybody else. It’s not possible. But I do expect that there will be some form of progress. So allow for the errors, the mistakes, the bad days, and for the times when you forget to be intentional. I do that — all of a sudden, I’ll eat something and think, “Why did I even eat that?” But it’s OK — no big deal — it happens. Allow yourself to not be a perfectionist. Allow yourself to be natural and normal. Another common story is that once you’re off the track, you can’t get back on. In other words, once you blow it, you will be out of control and won’t be able to “fix” yourself. So, if you were really good on a diet for three months, but then one day you got off it, it’s all over.

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I ask people to shift to a position of “Well, what did work about that? What was working?” And get back to noticing and observing all the great things you were doing. That eating event is a non-issue. If you forgot to wash your face tonight because you were too tired, would you never wash your face again?

ROADBLOCKS…

Change the story. People can surface up their own stories; it’s important for us to do that without judgment.

I loved Terri Levine’s Ideal Body program, and have learned so much about my eating habits and ways to refocus myself and my eating patterns! I found that much of my eating has been unconscious, and that intentional eating could have amazing effects! Learning how to place my full attention on what is most important about eating (enjoyment, fulfillment) instead of on shaming, guilt-inducing or resisting foods I love reframes the entire dining experience. I’ve taken several other classes from Terri, and was looking forward very much to applying her principles in this area — I wasn’t disappointed!! What makes Terri such a special teleclass leader is not only her incredible enthusiasm and passion for her work and for this particular topic, but also her humanness and practical “been there, done that” approach and applications! While she’s a “petite flower” herself (I saw her at the ICF conference, and can tell you she’s just a little bit of a thing!) and has maintained her weight for years (due to this approach), she has not forgotten what it’s like to live with the innate desire for great tasting foods every day. Because her body make-up and love for food is such that she, too, continues to search out new ways to apply the program principles every day, she lives the program right along with us as we’re learning it, and gets as excited as we do about a new idea to apply! In my experience, it doesn’t get any better than that! Thanks so much for such an enlightening and comforting teleclass! — Karen Christopherson, Grand Rapids, MI

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STEP #3: BEING PRESENT

Step #3: Being Present Audri:

And what is the third step of intentional eating?

Terri:

It is being present. Being completely intentional. Noticing and being aware. Stop that multi-tasking process of eating while thinking about something else: going through the mail, talking to the kids, writing out checks, watching TV or whatever you’re doing. Notice the food — appreciate it. Relax and be fully and wonderfully present to the eating experience. It’s a great experience. Enjoy it.

Audri:

Great advice. Terri, can you tell us what it sounds like in your head when you’re eating?

Terri:

It sounds something like this. “My intention is to fully enjoy this meal and to be thankful that I have the opportunity to have a great meal and that I can chew it, swallow it, and enjoy it.” Then, I’ll ask myself a question like “What do I really feel like eating here? What would satisfy me the most?” And then if I begin to eat, it will be “What are the things I can taste? What are the flavors I’m experiencing here? How does that feel in my body?” Then it might be “Does my body want more of this, or is it in the mood for something else?” And then, “Have I had enough? Is there anything else that would add to this meal or experience that would allow me to be more focused?” And then, at the conclusion, it might be something like “How did I do at being intentional during this meal?” While this might sound like a whole lot of chatter, we do have self-talk going on all the time. Now you’re controlling the self-talk, versus letting the self-talk control you. It’s very powerful.

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BEGINNING THE PROCESS

Beginning the Process… Audri:

What do you recommend our readers start doing now?

Terri:

Create a healthy eating plan. Notice I didn’t say “diet” or “rules”! Then, set a dominant intention. What do they want to feel or experience — their overall essence — their feeling in their eating? The second thing I want them to do is to segment their intentions at each meal. Set their intention of how they want to experience that meal or that snack — even if they’re drinking a can of soda, how do they want to enjoy that. I was leading an ideal body group and asked the group what had been most significant for them so far on their journey. They shared two concepts. The first is that they felt tremendous relief and release about being able to eat what they chose to eat. I want to remind people that is the essence of what we’re talking about. The second thing was that they were really starting to get the concept that this is about having a well body, not a thin body. They really understood that for the first time in their lives, it might not be about being at their thinnest, but being at their best. “Skinny” does not look as good as it sounds!

Light Bites… The next time you reach for a mid-afternoon snack, opt for low calorie fare like carrot sticks or fresh fruit. Crave more substance? Try a handful of protein-packed nuts or some cottage cheese.

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Be Playful Audri:

Let’s talk now about being playful.

Terri:

I believe we go through life with self-talk that, generally, is very judgmental and negative. It’s about what’s wrong with us, the world, why we’re failing, why things aren’t going to work out, what the problems are, etc. As soon as we can allow ourselves to take control of intention and self-talk, change the channel and self-chatter, and set an intention that we’re going to focus on what’s working or want to have happen, then we change our life experience.

BE PLAYFUL

The play part comes from lightening up. Loosening up. We’re not sent to this planet to have a tremendous struggle. We’re here to have playful, wonderful fun — nothing is all that serious. It’s all a game. If we can lighten up and just go with the flow, we’ll be a lot less stressed, a lot happier, and a lot healthier. Audri:

Any thoughts about how to do this? Especially with something like weight loss and being healthy — these are typically serious topics.

Terri:

Use reminders. Little hooks that bring you back to “It’s not that serious.” It could be a cartoon or a comic. I have all kinds of toys in my office — a talking Furby, some dolls, Mickey Mouse ears — it just brings me back to the reminder that it doesn’t have to be this serious. I even have reminders in my kitchen. I’ve got fun magnets on the fridge and a really interesting plant on the table that bring me back to “Nothing has to be perfect, it isn’t that serious.” It’s all about visual reminders. Another is setting an intention. Set the intention to have fun in this experience. When you find yourself getting too serious, don’t try to turn it off. Just notice that you’re doing it and 33

change the channel by saying, “What is something I could say to feel a little bit lighter?” Audri:

When you’re asking your body what it wants, what do you do if it’s something that isn’t in the house, or isn’t nearby?

Terri:

I ask my body several questions. The first is, “Could I get it?” For example, one day last week I knew just what I wanted for lunch. I could see it, taste it, and smell it. But we didn’t have that in the house. My body knew I wanted it. I asked myself, “Do I have time to go get it? Could I pick it up from the store, or take it out from a restaurant?” If the answer is yes, I’d go do it. I serve my body. If the answer is no, I ask what could be a good substitute. “What could I have that would still give me some pleasure and allow me to know that I could have this some other time?”

BE PLAYFUL

It’s all about intending.

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INTENTIONAL MOVEMENT

Intentional Movement: Move Your Body! Audri:

In your tele-seminar, I learned that you discourage a standard exercising regimen. That ought to thrill a lot of our readers.

Why do you want to get away from the concept of exercise?

Terri:

The word “exercise” is one of those heavy words to me. It’s a “should,” something we “have to do.” Human beings don’t enjoy “shoulds.” We don’t enjoy pain and sweating. And we’re not really inspired to exercise. So, if we’re talking about health and wellness, I want people to forget that exercise as a word even exists. Movement comes from a sense of our bodies wanting to play. When we play, we see more beauty and joy in the world. Incorporating movement into our everyday busy schedules — fun and playful movement — energizes us in a way that standard exercise doesn’t.

Audri:

So, you’re saying simple movement is actually more important than exercise as we know it?

Terri:

Yes. It’s critical because by moving our bodies we’ll get to see and experience more. We’ll get to see more trees and flowers and plants and nature, and maybe other people. To me, that’s a benefit. It’s very holistic and nurturing to the soul. People who move their bodies more actually need less sleep. They’re able to think more clearly. They get their work done more efficiently. They are more productive. The more you move your body, the less fatigued your body feels. And the more you move your body, the more you give your body an outlet for managing stress. So, not only is your body becoming more fit, mentally you’re also giving yourself more energy, health, and wellbeing. 35

INTENTIONAL MOVEMENT

Everyone can find his or her own personal reasons to move their bodies everyday. Audri:

Why do you like to move?

Terri:

I love to move because I love to see the outdoors. One of my favorite activities is walking. Walking just for the fun of walking — not because I’ve got to walk a certain amount of miles. I just walk because it’s so neat to see what flowers are growing, who has added what to their house this year — I love the experience. Another reason I love to move is that within me there’s always been this body that wants to get out and dance. If you put music on, my toes are twitching and my feet are tapping. The more I move the happier I feel— almost childlike. It allows me to be more playful.

Audri:

In terms of your clients, can you give us some other examples of why other people might like to move?

Terri:

When I was talking about movement with one of my clients, she was thinking that she had to join a gym or get fancy equipment in her home. As I helped her shift to playfulness, her movement became Ballroom Dancing. Now, on her website she has pictures of herself ballroom dancing. She’s elegant and beautiful. I look at her and I see several things happening. One, she found a hobby she’s passionate about. Two, she moves her body more. And three, she’s also possibly found her next partner in life. That’s a recreational activity that allowed her incredible ways to grow. I have another client who decided to take a break at lunch. He said all he could do was take a walk in the parking lot. He’s been walking in the parking lot for two months and now a whole group at work is walking with him. They talk about everything but work. 36

INTENTIONAL MOVEMENT

He’s found it to be a great time away. He’s more connected with the people he works with. When he comes back to the office, even though they haven’t talked about work, he’s got inspired actions at work that surfaced from being quiet and moving his body. Audri:

Do you have any recommendation in terms of how our readers can think about movement from their perspectives?

Terri:

Stop focusing on losing weight! Incorporate more activity to let your body have fun. Think about what you enjoyed as a child. What were some of those activities? Was it playing basketball, swinging on a swing, running, playing with the dog, playing catch? Let those activities you enjoyed come back to you. Think about your body and how little it moves today, and think about how much it can move tomorrow. Notice where you’re at now. Notice where you were at as a child, and start thinking of some baby steps to move your body a little more tomorrow. What would be fun, easy, and effortless?

Audri:

Well, this is quite different from all the research on how to exercise. What do you think about that research?

Terri:

I think it’s overwhelming. One theory says “20 minutes a day, five days a week.” Another one says “60 minutes for seven days a week.” Yet another says “It has to be consecutive.” There are hundreds of different “experts” telling you how it should be done! I’m asking readers to forget all of that, just let it go. You are your own expert. You don’t need a scientist, a book, or someone on a television show telling you how to exercise. You probably won’t stick with that kind of program. And most of you have already figured that out. Your body knows how it wants to move. So forget the research. Get intentional and allow your body to tell you how it wants to move. 37

INCORPORATE MOVEMENT…

Incorporate Movement into Daily Activities Audri:

Many people don’t exercise because they feel their schedules are too hectic. How do you incorporate movement into your daily activities without spending a lot of time?

Terri:

You do it through your intentions. Over time, I’ve developed various forms and planning sheets to use with Ideal Body to make it easier to visualize your progress. It’s so much easier to stick with a plan when you write it down! Use the Movement Planning Sheet to list your intentions and plans to incorporate movement into your daily activities and to capture your ideas to add more movement in a joyful, easy way. For example, let’s say you drive in your car a lot during the day. You might ask the question, “How can I move my body more in the car?” Maybe you can tap your hand on the steering wheel while you’re listening to music, or tap your toes. Or maybe at every red light, wiggle a little bit or flex some unused muscles! Instead of sitting at your desk when you’re on the phone, stand up, walk, or pace while you’re talking. I didn’t change the structure of my day. I don’t get up at 4:00 a.m. or think about how to fit in an exercise program when I’m so tired and have no time. I just look at my daily experience and ask how I can move my body all day long while it’s still doing what it likes to do. In fact, this morning, I noticed when I was brushing my teeth that I was being intentional about moving a lot, because I hadn’t the day before. When I was brushing my teeth, I reminded myself that this was my intention. As a result, I was dancing and walking all over the bathroom. I enjoyed the whole experience more. I thought, “Why don’t I always move when I brush my teeth? Who says you have to stand still?”

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INCORPORATE MOVEMENT…

Here’s another example. While on vacation, I noticed most people were lying on lounge chairs at the pool. They looked very relaxed. I was thinking, “They’re lying there and burning zero calories.” So, when I lay in my chair, I moved. I wiggled my toes, I stretched my feet, and I did leg strengthening exercises. I was rolling my shoulders and moving my arms. I was having a ball. At the same time, by the way, I was reading a book. Now that’s multi-tasking at its best! I noticed people hanging onto the edge of the pool, chatting. So, I hung onto the edge too, chatting, but while I was in the pool, I was kicking my feet almost the entire time. Moving, burning calories, letting my body move in space. It’s a lot more fun. Audri:

When is it good to move? Is there any special time that is better than another?

Terri:

It’s good to move whenever you feel like moving, and at whatever time works best for you. Using the Ideal Body Choose to Move Form will help you cement your intentions even more. This form is a weekly log split into “formal” and “informal” exercises and permits the user to log the movement they incorporate daily. Some people love to do some form of concentrated movement in the morning. They might want to stretch, do Tai Chi or Yoga. And then other people go, “ Ugh! Morning! I don’t want to move!” That’s fine. Move in the afternoon, or the evening. It’s all about you. There is no right or wrong way. Move all day long during your daily activities. Decide if there is a concentrated period of time, or if there are spurts of time, where you can be really intentional about moving. It doesn’t matter when that is.

Audri:

I take it then that how long you move is not something you focus on?

Terri:

Not at all. I’m not looking at “Oh, did I do 20 minutes today?” 39

INCORPORATE MOVEMENT…

It’s based on what my schedule allows me. Could I move for 10 minutes in the morning, and maybe, see if I have 10 minutes in the afternoon? I don’t pressure myself. I’m moving all day, anyway. Audri:

I’ve heard you talk about accumulating movement. What does this mean?

Terri:

Your body responds to movement whether you do the movement in one block or whether it’s small steps of movement that occur naturally all day long. So many times people say, “I don’t have 20 minutes.” And I’ll say, “Good — you don’t need 20 minutes. If you have two minutes, then move for two minutes. If you have five minutes, move for five.” The other morning I woke up a little late. I didn’t have time for a walk… but I had five minutes. So, I did some jumping jacks and sit-ups — just some real quick stuff. And then later, after lunch, I realized I had another five minutes. I asked what I wanted to do now. I decided to walk on my treadmill — there’s not a lot of time to do anything major, but there’s five minutes there. By the end of the day, intentionally adding minutes, I had done over 35 minutes. That’s all cumulative — it all adds up and it all counts.

Audri:

Where is it best to move?

Terri:

It doesn’t matter. Move wherever you move best. Some people will feel best with a piece of equipment, or in a gym, or in a class. That’s great, but that will not resonate for other people. Some people would rather ride a bike and move their legs. Some people would rather do something that uses their whole body. There is no wrong choice. It’s all about you choosing what’s interesting and something that you really want to do.

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THE INTENTION

First Step — The Intention Audri:

What’s the first step for incorporating movement into your life?

Terri:

You shouldn’t be surprised to hear that the first step is getting intentional. It’s checking in with your body and asking your body, “How would I like to move, how would I like to feel? Where am I feeling that I haven’t had enough movement? How might I get some movement in my day?” For example, I had this happen to me a little while ago. I was sitting in the same position for quite some time, working on some paperwork. I noticed that my legs were getting tingly, so I checked in with my legs and asked, “What’s up with you?” They said, “Extend us, move us.” So I took a couple of minutes while I was thinking about what else to write, and stretched my legs, kind of danced around a bit, banging them on the floor, etc. Within a few minutes, they felt good. And right now, while I’m chatting with you, I’m doing some leg extensions. I hope our readers can read and move at the same time too! Check in — ask your body — it’ll always tell you what it wants to move.

Audri:

Can you give us more examples of dominant intentions for movement?

Terri:

Sure. I intend to move more. I intend to be more aware of my body. I intend to do my daily activities using my entire body. I intend to check in with my body and see what areas feel tightness and stress and let it out. I intend to plan a walk each day. I intend to allow my body to dance when it feels like dancing. I intend to always walk when I’m talking on the phone.

Audri:

I remember when I was taking your Ideal Body course, one of my favorites was: “I intend to listen to my body and move in happy ways to please it.” So what’s step two? We’ve set our dominant intention, which is something we do in the morning and whenever else we want, right? 41

Step Two — Segmenting Terri:

Yes, whenever we want. We segment and set more intentions all day long. Let’s say the overall intention is “I’m going to move my body more.” As I segment my day and break it into separate chunks of activities, I might look at my first activity, which might be taking a shower, and set the intention that I’m not going to stand still. I’m going to move while I shower.

SEGMENTING

Then, I’m out of the shower and doing my grooming. I’m brushing my teeth, washing my face, skin care — whatever I’m doing. So I set another segment, a new activity, and my intention might be “I’m going to see how much walking I can do while I’m doing this.” And then it might be time for breakfast. Normally you get all of the things out for your breakfast once and carry them all to the table. So instead, you might decide to see how many trips you can make back and forth, instead of making one trip with everything. I had a client who bought a pedometer and was curious how many steps she took per day. Initially, she took less than 253 steps per day. Over the course of about a year of being intentional with how much she moved her body, she went to 10,000 steps in an average day! She does nothing that I would describe as formal exercise. She feels better and she’s lost 22 pounds and looks amazing. And that’s the only change she made — making the intention and moving her body. Just keep setting your intentions all day long, For example, I have an intention for this evening… I’m in charge of preparing dinner tonight. My intention is to see if I can get in a walk while I’m preparing dinner. To really make it a walking back and forth experience. I’ve never tried that and I’m going to have fun with it.

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Roadblocks to Intentional Movement Audri:

Let’s talk now about stories and beliefs that get in the way. I want to share one with you as an example. About two years ago, my physician (who is very focused on wellness, prevention, and fitness) told me that I really needed to start doing weight training and more aerobic exercise. I’ve exercised for about 20 years, but I really didn’t like doing weight training.

ROADBLOCKS…

He said that I was healthy now, but in 20 years it would be a different story if I didn’t begin doing weight training now. It scared me enough to get me to buy a cable machine and do some weight training (since I want to be healthy for my entire life). And he was very happy with my improved fitness level at my last checkup. Terri:

I think we all have “shoulds,” particularly from the medical community. What I ask people to remember is that the medical community is focused on what is not working, or what could break down. That’s just the way it is, particularly in the U.S. It’s the way our physicians have been trained. It’s not like that in every culture. What we need to look at is where we are today in our “now.” We don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow or ten years from now. We don’t even know if we’re going to live another five years, never mind 50 years. I want to be at my healthiest now. Does that mean don’t weight train? Not necessarily. But it means taking that information in — pardon the word, “digesting” it — and asking ourselves, “Does that resonate for me, does that feel good? Or am I doing that based on the fear that if I don’t, then this bad thing will happen to me?” Let me put more perspective on this. We’ve all heard stories of the person who did perfect conditioning. They ate perfectly, they exercised, and they did the weight training.

43

They reach 40 years old and die of a massive heart attack. And others do everything “wrong,” yet live to be 100.

ROADBLOCKS…

So, forget the future. Easy to say, hard to do. Live in this experience. Find your way (and I’ll give you some suggestions) of strengthening yourself; it doesn’t have to be lifting weights! Audri:

What other kinds of stories and beliefs have you seen people have, besides this one, that do get in the way?

Terri:

One is that exercise has to be hard. Ever heard of “no pain, no gain?” I wish that phrase had never been invented. Another is “I’ve got to sweat, but I don’t want to, because I don’t like the way that feels.” Then there’s “I have to do it for a really long time or it has no effect.” And here’s a big one: “I just don’t have time for it.” “I have to join a gym, or buy special equipment, or go to a health club, or it has to involve lifting weights.” One belief I hear a lot is that exercise is supposed to last a certain amount of time, or be done a certain number of days per week, or that it has to be at 7:00 in the morning, etc. There is a belief that there are rules about how exercise has to be done. The only rules are those that work for you.

Audri:

I’ll add one more. “It has to be boring.” And when you’re not doing it playfully, it is boring to a lot of people.

Terri:

Yes, and if you don’t have an intention of it being something other than “exercise is painful and boring,” you’ll get exactly what you’re intending.

Audri:

What do you do when you really believe one of those stories, and you believe that movement has to be hard or it’s not fun?

Terri:

That’s a story that’s going to take you a while to un-surface, so I wouldn’t try to push against the story. The more you push against it, the more it’s going to hang around. So instead, I 44

would ask anyone who is hooked on that story to allow themselves to be hooked on it and to allow themselves just to be for a couple of days.

ROADBLOCKS…

In other words, stop your exercising (and yes, I used that word because I believe those people are exercising). Allow your body two to five days where it doesn’t do that kind of movement. Just allow it to do more play. Then, see how you feel. I’ll bet you’ll have some very surprising information from your body. Audri:

What is the reaction of your clients and other people who have taken your Ideal Body class to this approach?

Terri:

The reactions range through some dramatic extremes. The first are the groups who are feeling totally free and liberated like, “Wow — no exercise!” I get the feeling they just want to hug and kiss me. Then I get a group of people who have some resistance like “But I have to exercise and it has to be hard.” We have to work through that, as I said earlier. They’ve just got to drop it and be for a while. The other thing that comes up for people as they get good at this and as they play with this more and more is they really love moving in a playful, happy way that feeds their soul. This kind of movement is “soul nurturing.” All of them get that.

Audri:

Let’s say you decide to be intentional and you’re going to choose to incorporate movement more and you then get the question — why bother? Why should I move? How do you deal with this?

Terri:

That’s a normal question, so don’t chase it away. If it’s like “Oh, why even bother with this?,” immediately ask yourself, “What’s my choice here?” Because you do have a choice. No one is telling you to do this. There is no “should” here. And you’re not telling yourself to do this. Ask yourself the question, “Well, what do I choose? Do I choose to bother? Do I choose to do something today? What is working about my movement? Do I feel like some movement 45

would assist me today?” And then listen for the answer. If the answer is, “Don’t move — don’t you even bother moving today,” then don’t move. Just make sure you check in the next day and ask the question again. And don’t go to the place of getting scared and saying, “But Terri, what if I ask every day for 30 days and my body says I’m not going to move?” That’s not the behavior that bodies exhibit.

ROADBLOCKS…

Bodies want to move. So believe and trust completely that your body will say to you, “Hello — I do want to move.” Just allow it to answer you. Audri:

Instead of having these beliefs, what do you do?

Terri:

The first thing is don’t beat yourself up for having them. Everyone has some story like this. Notice the story. Then detach from it a little. Then ask, “What’s a different story?” Set a different intention. For me, I get quiet, I go inside and I ask myself, “What’s a new story? What feels better?” I used to carry around the belief that you have to exercise for a long period of time or it doesn’t pay off. Another story that followed was, “And I don’t have 60 minutes, so I just won’t do anything, because five minutes doesn’t matter.” My new story became “I just want to move my body for a few minutes. I want my body to move.” I got intentional and changed the belief. I’ve replaced it with the new belief — and the old belief comes up less.

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CHOOSE YOUR MOVES

Choose Your Moves Audri:

Can you tell us about the types of movements we can do?

Terri:

There are three categories of movements, three ways that your body gets wellness and nourished. The first is what is typically referred to as aerobic movement. To me, aerobic means you’re moving the larger muscle groups, like the legs. You’re doing things like running, biking, walking, skating, dancing, or maybe, playing basketball. It’s usually done over a longer period of time The second category is muscular fitness, or muscle movements. That is where we generate some force on the muscles of our body. That would be weight lifting, using dumbbells, or the different machines in the gym. Or even using things like an exercise tube, band, or getting in the pool and doing some aquacising. You’re generating some force against your muscles. The third one is flexibility. It’s allowing your body to get stretched, to take the joints through a complete range of motion, so that they’re extended. It doesn’t have to be anything formal. I recommend each person look at how they can incorporate these into their life. For aerobics, what would be easy, effortless, and fun? What would feel good for your body? Would it be dancing, or taking a walk in your neighborhood? Would it be using a treadmill, or doing a spinning or aerobics class? Would it be doing a Taebo kickboxing video? Only you know the answer. So, ask your body, “Aerobically, how would you like to move?” I asked my body, “What do you think about lifting weights?” and my body said it sounded like work. So I asked what else we could do. I found that I love aquacising in a pool. I don’t sweat, it’s refreshing, and 47

CHOOSE YOUR MOVES

it’s fun. I just move my body against the water resistance. I have a lot of clients who have really enjoyed dyna-bands or spri-tubes (resistance tubes). Just find some ways to challenge your muscles. I have a client who told me that she wasn’t interested in using dumbbells, so she got a couple of water bottles (filled with water) and she lifts them. Those are her weights. That’s fine — it’s still putting some resistance against your muscles. And the third one is flexibility — this is really easy. Certainly, you could do Yoga, Tai Chi, or Pilates, which is very popular right now. Or you could do what I did today — just start stretching. Taking the joints through a full range of motion. I did my shoulders, my arms, I stretched and touched my toes, my legs — all of that serves my body. Audri:

One of the things I’m hearing from you is that it’s probably a good idea to have lots of options because one day something might sound great, but another day it may sound like work.

Terri:

That is a great point. It’s not that you are now committing to a program — see how much that sounds like exercise? Every day, ask your body how you want to move today. One day, I asked my body what felt good, and it said, “Running.” Now, I want you to know that I’ve never run anywhere in my entire life. So, I went outside and I tried running. I wasn’t enjoying it. So, I checked in and said, “By the way, Body, we tried running, but that’s not a lot of fun. What else?” And my body said to go home and do some sit-ups. So, ask your body every day, all day long. When you start an activity, it doesn’t mean you’re married to it. If I start on the treadmill and get bored, I ask, “Do I feel like I want to do more?” If I say no, then I’ll stop. If I say yes, then I’ll decide that the treadmill is boring and find out if there is something else I can do. It gets right back to trusting your body and allowing yourself to create new answers every day and at each experience. 48

CHOOSE YOUR MOVES

Audri:

Can you give us more examples of ways that you and your clients like to move? What are examples of things that feel good and are fun?

Terri:

I’ll give some personal ones first. I’ve discovered that walking is an amazing thing; I can do it anywhere. I’ve done it in airports, parking lots, and malls. I love to walk. The other thing I do that feels great is dancing. I look like a bit of a wild woman at times! If I hear a tune that I like, I get up and dance. I have found that to be a great release and something that brings me great joy. I’ve also discovered that I love stretching. It feels great and I really feel that I’m elongating my muscles. A lot of my clients have gone to formalized recreations like golf or tennis. That is serving their purpose. Many clients enjoy different kinds of dance — everything from line dancing to swing dancing. I even have a client now who is square dancing. She always laughs because she lives in Manhattan. It could be gardening. It could be exercising via videos. I have a few clients doing water skiing and crosscountry skiing. The other day a client said, “I don’t think I’m moving my body as much as I choose to.” We were talking about intention. He said, “For example, this weekend, all I did was go for a couple of walks, played with the dog a whole lot, shot baskets with my grandkids, my wife and I took a walk, and I walked to the corner restaurant.” I was listening and saying, “Hello! That’s it — you’re doing it.” Remember, I said it could be just even standing more!

Audri:

So, now we’ve set dominant intentions, we’ve set segmented intentions, and we’ve had three different ways that we might move. What’s next? 49

CHOOSE YOUR MOVES

Terri:

Getting yourself on track right now and checking in with your own body right now. Asking your body, “What do you feel like? What would be a good movement? What in my daily activities could I do?” It’s allowing yourself to release any beliefs that it’s got to be hard or scary or difficult to exercise, and instead, just reflecting on movement that you’ve done in the past and allowing yourself to come up with creative movement today.

Audri:

I’m not surprised, but this process is sounding very much like the eating process.

Terri:

Yes. Thank you for recognizing that. It’s the same process. It works in all areas of our lives.

A Hot New Diet Drink… The antioxidants in green tea that seem to protect against cancer and heart disease may also help you lose weight. A Swiss study found that drinking four or more cups a day can boost your metabolism by about 4%. Hey, every little bit helps! 50

INTERFERING CONDITIONS

Interfering Conditions Audri:

Let’s talk about the specific problem areas and how people might deal with them. One problem that is big these days is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. How would you deal with the fact that your hands might be a little bit unhappy?

Terri:

I like the way you said that. You hit one that resonates with me because I do have Carpal Tunnel. The truth of the matter is that when you get clearer in listening to your hands, and really loving and respecting them more, you’ll notice more often when they’re tired and might need a break. About one year ago, when my Carpal Tunnel was at its peak and I was contracted with extreme hand pain, I just decided to use more intention when I was working. Everyone had given me exercises and Yoga at the computer and a physician gave me 20 exercises to do — I wasn’t doing any of that. Instead, I sat down and thought, before I type something I’m going to use the best hand posture I know of and I’m just going to listen to my hands. When they’re tired I’m going to give them a break. I started to do that, and on my break I stretched my fingers and my shoulders — I allowed myself to move. And I gave myself lots of breaks with my hands all day long. Over the past nine months, I have only had two really difficult times with Carpal Tunnel, and on both of those occasions, I know I was not being intentional. I was working on a project and I stopped checking in with my hands. So, whether someone has Carpal Tunnel or they suffer from another area that’s giving them a problem, they need to refocus on intending how they can best support that area, and give that area more love. It’s asking you for something — give it more of what it’s asking for.

Audri:

Can you give a back example?

51

INTERFERING CONDITIONS

Terri:

It’s interesting how many people these days suffer from back problems. It’s the same thing. Just check in. Get present with that area of your body. How is it feeling? Am I doing too much? Is my back tired? Is my back ready to be in another position? Have I been sitting too long? Can I stretch my back? Would a walk allow my back to feel better?

Audri:

When you get these messages from your body, what do you do so you don’t override them? Sometimes, I get these messages back from my body, but I say, “I’m too busy.”

Terri:

Change your self-talk, because now you have a process of being intentional. In the past when your body would say, “Hey, we need a break, we’re getting a migraine, go away from the computer,” you’d say, “No, be quiet, I have work to do.” Now, you’re going to be more intentional. Before you do your work, you’re going to say, “I intend to listen to my body while I’m working.” So, when your body gives you a message, you’re going to be open to hearing it.

Audri:

What are some of the personal rewards you feel from movement?

Terri:

I love to move because I notice that I’m happier when I’m moving. I also notice, psychologically, that I feel lighter — I feel thinner when I’m moving. When I was in that pool kicking my legs, I felt that my legs were so thin. Is that a truism? I don’t know, but it felt good. I have more energy. I concentrate better. I’m more focused. If I go to a conference and they have us sitting in a room for a long period of time, I get sluggish. But if I go to that same conference with an intention that they’re putting me in a room, but I’m going to stand in the back, move my toes, shift in my chair, or whatever, I feel different. So for me, movement makes my life easier, less effortless, and I carry a lot less tension and stress, particularly in my neck and shoulders. It’s made a huge difference, as I said earlier, with my Carpal Tunnel. The rewards are huge. 52

INTERFERING CONDITIONS

Audri:

Any specific advice we haven’t talked about yet?

Terri:

Choose a lot of activities. Take a wide gamut of things that feel good. Don’t just have a couple. I want you to be able to say, “Sometimes I might like to dance, and sometimes I might like to go to the gym, or play racquetball, and sometimes I might want to ride a bike.” .

Remember that you’re making the rules and you can change them. Give yourself a lot of options. Look for things you can do inside, outside, by yourself, with groups, and remember the questions “How can I move my body more? Where can I incorporate more movement?” Audri:

What specifically would you like us to do?

Terri:

I want everyone to think about how they want to move. How it will feel good for them to move. Your intention begins with a set intention to add more movement to your current activities — your current life. Do not change your life. Just change your intentions.

Audri:

Can you share some tips here?

Terri:

Here are two things I did in the beginning and that I still do regularly. First, I changed my mindset. I used to go to the shopping mall and look for the closest spot so I didn’t have to walk too far. Then my intention became that I wanted to move my body more, so I now go to the mall and park as far away as possible. The second thing is that I use the stairs all the time. This weekend we were doing some activity down at the shore, and I noticed that everywhere we went there were escalators. Everyone automatically got on them. I took the stairs. I’d rather move my body when I have a choice. Recently at the airport, I did get in the people mover because I had a lot of heavy luggage, but I kept moving. So those are ways that I really have shifted.

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INCORPORATING INTENTIONS…

Incorporating Intentional Eating with Intentional Movement Audri:

How would you incorporate what we discussed about intentional eating with what we’ve just discussed now in terms of movement?

Terri:

I hope people can see that it is really the same method. Forget the old rules. Last time, we forgot the old rule about diets. Today, we’re forgetting the rules about exercise. We’re being intentional, conscious, and mindful; we’re now creating our Ideal Body from the inside out. We’re becoming intentional about how we want to move it and how we want to feed it. I want everybody to enjoy the journey and process, and get out there and play with these techniques.

Audri:

Can you give us some examples of how people respond to the idea of telling their bodies that they’re really going to listen to what the body wants — both for eating and for movement? It’s such a different concept.

Terri:

It is different. Typically the response is one of fear or nervousness, a lack of trust; it’s a belief of “No, I need a program, strategy or number of points, or number of calories to guide me because I don’t trust my body.” It’s very common not to trust your body. When we really just say, “The heck with it, I’ve tried everything else, let me try this and let me tap in and listen to my body,” people are amazed to learn that their body is not saying “feed me more, feed me more.”

Audri:

Do a lot of people’s bodies test them by wanting them to eat a lot of food — including tons of ice cream, chocolate, jellybeans, or whatever —to see if they’re really going to listen? Or that they keep not wanting to move? 54

INCORPORATING INTENTIONS…

Terri:

I’m not sure if it’s the body that tests us, or if it’s more that we test the body. It is common; we haven’t trusted our bodies since we were babies — since we’ve learned to diet. It’s a challenge between our bodies and us. So, it’s not uncommon, initially, that we might eat larger quantities, or to feel that with such freedom now, we might actually gain some pounds. What happens is that you get more in touch with your body. Your body gives you more signals and you go right to a nice, normal, blended balance and you start to lose weight to create your ideal body. It’s a matter of trust.

Audri:

For those people who do gain a few pounds, do they lose them again?

Terri:

They lose them — always. The only reason someone wouldn’t is if they still stayed in a place of not listening. Because the body is going to say, “Hello — that isn’t really a food I need — I’m satisfied — don’t send anymore down.”

Audri:

That makes a lot of sense. It’s an important point for our readers. It is scary, but worst-case scenario, even if you do gain some weight up front, you’re going to lose it again soon.

Terri:

Gaining a little bit of weight in this process is a non-issue. Because we’re not here to just lose the weight and gain it back. We’re here to lose the weight permanently.

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Wellness I.Q. Audri:

Terri, tell us what you mean by “Wellness I.Q.”

Terri:

Creating an ideal body is not just an isolated thing that we do. It’s a part of our overall health strategy and our overall wellbeing. Start thinking about wellness versus thinness. Wellness incorporates a healthy lifestyle and the power we gain in living in other areas of our life. Where do we feel stress and pressure, and how are we coping with that? Is it food that we use to cope with it?

WELLNESS I.Q.

Create a different intention for how to cope with stress. I like to take a bath rather than eating. It’s saying “I am intentional about being well” and creating a contract with yourself to live in a healthy way. Audri:

Most of our readers are starting because they want to lose weight, but it just occurred to me that this process would work for people who need to gain weight — who are just too thin — and who are not healthy.

Terri:

Absolutely. And it will work for someone who says, “Hey, you know, I’m really pretty comfortable at my current weight and I just want to maintain this weight and be well and healthy.” So, really it’s for everybody. I want to remind our readers that when we talk about an ideal body, it is wellness and health; it is not about numbers on a scale or being a certain size. An ideal body is where you create the best weight for you. It’s where you feel good. It’s easy to stay at that weight. You’re healthy and well. You can enjoy your life and you feel good about yourself.

Audri:

You did lose a lot of weight when you did that. You mentioned that being thin is not the motivation. Could you tell us a little more? That’s sort of counter-intuitive here. 56

Terri:

Yes. I don’t consider myself thin. I consider myself to be at an average weight. I have thick hips. And that’s OK by me. I consider my weight to be healthy because I feel good. My physical fitness is great. I have great stamina and energy. I live a balanced, happy, enjoyable life. And, I’m not focused on food and easily and effortlessly stay at this weight. Many times in the past, I have been thin — extremely thin. However, it wasn’t ideal for me. What I mean by that is that I wasn’t at my best. I was actually sluggish. I had so much difficulty maintaining that weight and I felt deprived.

WELLNESS I.Q.

So, thin isn’t necessarily the goal. If you looked at a chart, you might say, “Gee, Terri, you need to lose another ten pounds.” I’d say, “Nope — this is ideal for me.” Everyone’s body is unique — the shape, the bone structure, the metabolism, the height. What is good for one body is not good for another. There are too many variables at play to say that bodies should weigh a certain number. You’ve only to look at fashion models to see what I mean. That bony, gaunt look is achieved by smoking too many cigarettes instead of eating, popping diet pills, and surviving on crazy diets. I ask you, is that natural? Is that ideal? The beauty of the ideal body concept is your body knows what weight is most suitable for it to maintain health, vitality, and well-being. This is the weight level that also makes you look good and feel good. You are not fat; you are not a walking skeleton; you are “just right.” And that, in a nutshell, is what creating an ideal body is all about — being “just right,” healthy, and happy the natural way.

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Six Skills To Becoming a High Competency Eater Audri:

OK, let’s change gears again. What is a “competent eater”?

Terri:

This goes back to what we discussed earlier, about natural or normal eating. If I’m going to be a competent eater, I’m a thoughtful eater. I take time to make sure I am fed. I feel good about eating. I enjoy eating. It becomes nurturing. I also am eating in a very mindful, focused manner. I listen to internal signals. I also take in the external signals like a TV commercial that shows popcorn and when I think, “Oh, I need to have popcorn,” I then choose whether or not I really want it. A competent eater is also structured. They think and plan their meals — “When am I going to eat? What am I going to eat?”

SIX SKILLS…

They are also flexible. They have intentions. They don’t just eat. A competent eater doesn’t follow impulse. If you’re intentional, you’ll be stopping the impulse. Finally, if a competent eater has an emotional trigger — stress, frustration, anger — their response isn’t to eat. It’s to make a mindful decision and choice. Audri:

You say there are six skills to becoming a competent eater. What are they?

Terri:

The first one we have already shared, and here goes the big reminder: Skill Number 1: Let go of the diet mentality. We really have to understand that dieting does not work. It keeps us preoccupied, it zaps our energy, and it’s not something that will allow us to create an ideal, healthy body. Without this, you can’t move on to skill number two.

Audri:

What does it mean to let go of dieting and the dieting mentality? 58

Terri:

I’ll give you some examples from my own life first. One of the very first things is to stop letting in everything that the media wants to tell us. For example, today when I was checking email, I had 10 messages telling me how to lose 10 pounds. Enough already! Also, for me, it was going in to my library of books and noticing how many books I had on dieting — and throwing them away. It was taking all the magazines that I have with thin women on the cover and throwing them away. It was quitting Weight Watchers — which I believe is a very good program — however, it is based on a diet mentality. I got rid of the madness that I had on my fridge that said, “Terri, are you following your diet?”

SIX SKILLS…

So for me, that was part of really letting it go. Some of my clients have done things above and beyond this. I’ve had clients drop out of weight loss programs and groups and e-groups, and get rid of books, magazines and tapes. I’ve had them start to talk to people about the fact that they will not diet anymore. They are being very public in making that kind of statement. I had a client who did a wonderful job of keeping a log for two weeks of everything that came into his house that made him feel bad about his weight — and then he got rid of all of those things. Everything from ads to prescriptions to magazines. Clients have also worked on accepting their body more. This is a biggie. Looking in the mirror and saying, “Oh gosh, I’m still overweight, or I’ve got some fat on my hips,” or whatever it is, and then adding “and, I’m not going to diet because of it.” Someone pointed out that the word “diet” had the word “die” in it… It’s perfect because that really hit me. Standing in front of the mirror and saying, “I’m just not willing to diet about it — I’m just not.” 59

It’s noticing the internal dialogue with yourself as well as the messages outside — the magazines, newspapers, and TV messages. Stop watching those infomercials on drinking magical juice. I don’t watch talk shows, but I hear from a lot of people that diet is a big topic. Get off all of these. Give yourself new messages — internally and externally. Audri:

I don’t diet because I discovered many years ago that if I diet, I inevitably gain weight. On the other hand, I would like to have an ideal body, and I’m not there yet. So for me — and I imagine this is true for many people — it’s more in my head. When I hear you talk about “letting go,” it’s really all these internal things (which often contradict) that I hear first. For example, it’s good to eat low fat because my cholesterol will be lower — or whatever it might be. We all have our “shoulds.”

SIX SKILLS…

You’ve talked about physically getting rid of this stuff. But what do you do about the stuff that’s in your brain? Terri:

I’m glad you asked that because it really is the most important stuff to get rid of. Let me give you a few techniques. One is what I call a “release.” A release is writing down some of the stories, beliefs, programs, or clutter in your head. Write them down without any judgment. The belief might be that you have to diet to keep to a certain weight, or you have to eat certain foods, you have to eat lower fat, etc. Make a list of every story and get them all down on paper. If you don’t like to write, talk them out loud, or dictate them into a tape recorder, or draw them — whatever — just get them out of your head, because they’re playing in the background anyway. Then, actually release them. Say, “I’m choosing not to believe this anymore.” Let it drift off. Give it up to the Universe. I visualize a lot. I will see them in a big pink balloon just floating away. I’m not carrying them around anymore.

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You can get as basic as rewriting a belief. For example, we get a belief because it’s a habit that we think over and over again. But it may not be true. For example, I hear over and over again that you should eat no more than 20% fat. That’s when it becomes a belief. What if I want to shift that and not believe it anymore? What if I say that I’m going to go back and reprogram my diet? I don’t have to limit myself; I don’t have to do this or that. Think about the new story that you want to build in your brain. Release the old one. Instead, start playing that “CD” with the new story — rather than the old one — over and over again in your head. Audri:

Can you give us some examples?

Terri:

Sure. Here are some new CDs you might want to create for yourself:

SIX SKILLS…

• I don’t have to diet. • I look great no matter what. • As long as I feel healthy, the number on the scale doesn’t matter. • It doesn’t matter if I buy a size 10 or 2 or 8 or 6 as long as I feel and look good. • As long as I have energy and my cholesterol and other things are checking out fine, I can enjoy and just eat. • I know my body will decide what’s best for me to eat. • I don’t need food charts anymore. • I don’t have to count calories anymore. • I’ll eat the amount of fat that feels right on any given day. Do you hear how easily my CD starts playing?

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I encourage people to understand that anything you currently believe doesn’t mean it’s really true. So choose beliefs that you really want to believe. Audri:

What else can you do to let go of this diet mentality?

Terri:

One of the things I ask people to do is to just notice. As you go through your day, notice what you hear, what people are saying, what your own story is. Notice your self-talk. Even as you’re on this journey to becoming a competent eater, what’s the little voice inside saying? Is there a voice saying, “I don’t know if this stuff is going to work,” or “I can’t eat like that.” Just notice. Don’t judge yourself. Don’t try and chase it away.

SIX SKILLS…

Each time you take notice stay calm and collected about it, it will assist you in turning that story off. For example, I have a story that doesn’t serve me. I do not eat pasta frequently, because to me, you have to have a big portion or it’s not enough. Recently, I ordered a dish at a restaurant that I thought was just seafood and it came on pasta. I noticed my voice went immediately to “I’m going to eat the whole thing. I’m going to be out of control. This is going to be terrible.” All I did then was just notice it, and I thought, “Wait a minute — new story — I don’t diet anymore. If I want to eat the whole thing, so be it, and I’ll just keep checking in, checking in, checking in.” Not only did I not eat the whole thing, but I brought it home, and I’ve been eating just a little bit over three days. That’s what I want people to do. Hear the story. Don’t react to it. Change it. Audri:

OK. What’s skill number two for becoming a competent eater?

Terri:

Skill Number 2: Give yourself permission to eat. My grandmother was good at this one. She’d always say, “Eat, eat!”

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I want people to eat. I want them to eat all kinds of foods. I want people to try delicious foods they haven’t tried before. I want you to eat the things you were told to avoid, for example, chocolate, fried foods, whatever. I’m not going to tell you to load up on those foods, but give yourself permission to choose those foods and to choose any food when you feel like eating it. Audri:

The two things I really love that are “bad” are chocolate and ice cream. A few weeks ago when I was taking your Ideal Body teleseminar, it was really warm, and every day I wanted to have ice cream after lunch. What do you do when, frequently, you really want this type of food?

SIX SKILLS…

Terri:

To me, it’s all OK. The first thing I would say is give yourself permission, because your body is saying it wants it. I would just notice how much ice cream your body “needs.” If it’s a daily thing, ask yourself how much feels satisfying. Give yourself permission to have the ice cream. It feels good after lunch, so that’s the time of day I’m going to have it. I’m also going to be mindful when I eat it, so I’ll know when I’ve had enough. Chances are that ice cream coming into your body is meeting some dietary need. I want you to fully enjoy it — really get into what it tastes like — how it feels in your mouth — enjoy the whole experience. And notice if that allows you to want less. Many people experience that when they’re really eating the food fully; they want less.

Audri:

Yes, that was actually my experience. Over the week, I was savoring the ice cream — totally enjoying it — and after a few days I did want to eat a lot less — which is what I did. And the next week I only wanted ice cream three times.

Terri:

Good. That’s listening to your body, and that’s what we’re talking about.

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Audri:

Can you summarize what you’d like our readers to do regarding giving themselves permission? I’d imagine that you might have people asking you to give them permission to eat. It’s hard to give yourself permission to eat.

Terri:

It is tricky. Think about this — we go on a “diet program” and they say eat this, don’t eat this, chart this, etc., and we say OK. So, why can’t you listen to you? You’re the best expert for your body. I want each reader to give themselves permission from themselves. Me giving permission is not important. It’s giving permission from your “inner coach” or your “inner guidance system” that says, “Go ahead and eat.”

SIX SKILLS…

We are not here on this planet to have a miserable life experience and spend 70, 80, 90 years saying, “Don’t eat this, don’t do that, can’t eat that, can’t enjoy that.” We’re here to have joy, pleasure, and to be happy, and eating is part of that. So give yourself permission to eat as a part of your happiness. Audri:

Great! I imagine our readers loved skill number two. What’s skill number three?

Terri:

Skill Number 3: Eating Mindfully, Intentionally. Certainly, it is the entire basis of why this experience will work for people, and we’ve already covered this and how it works and how to apply it.

Audri:

So, what’s the fourth skill of becoming a competent eater?

Terri:

Skill Number 4: Pay attention to the signals that you get — those internal signals that say “I’ve had enough of that” or “I want more of that.” I notice that most of the time, when people start eating, it becomes a process of where they’re not listening to anything their bodies are saying. They just get into the eating behavior and keep going.

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I’ll tell you a fascinating story. A family member tasted something from the fridge and said, “This tastes bad,” and proceeded to eat the entire container. I thought that was very interesting. Even when we’ve received the signal that says maybe this is no good, we don’t listen! So, I want you to use your best, most keen senses of tuning in and hearing those internal signals. Audri:

You’ve talked about internal signals. Are there also external signals?

Terri:

There are external signals, but they’re not as important to me. For example, an external signal is noticing that everyone else at the table is finished. Why are you eating seconds when everyone else seems content?

SIX SKILLS…

Or “Gee, it’s time for the next course, maybe you should speed up — you haven’t finished this course yet.” I ask people to ignore those messages. You can notice them, but it’s not about doing what everyone else is doing. It’s about you listening to your own body. I happen to be a really slow eater. I used to try to keep pace with everyone else. I really don’t enjoy eating that way. So I don’t do that anymore. I love to eat slowly. I love to taste my food. My internal signal tells me to eat slowly, to relax, and to enjoy the experience. I really couldn’t care less if you’re on to the next course before me. Internal signals are more important. Audri:

That makes a lot of sense. I’ve noticed, when I’m watching TV, for example, if there’s a commercial about popcorn, I suddenly get this desire for popcorn. That seems like an external signal to me. I’m not hungry. I checked in with my body and I didn’t really want the popcorn, but when I saw the commercial, I immediately thought I wanted popcorn. Can you say anything about those kinds of external signals? 65

Terri:

That’s a wonderful example because we get those kinds of external signals a lot. We smell something. We may be at a fair and see someone with a hot dog and think we want a hot dog. It was wonderful that you stopped, checked in, and asked, “Do I really want that?” If you did want it, I’d say go eat it. But if you said, “No, it was just something that came to my attention via the TV, but I don’t really desire it,” then I’d say, don’t eat it. That’s what this is all about. You can’t shut out the external signals. They happen all the time. You order something in a restaurant and look at what someone else got and think you should have ordered that. Then you’re really focused on it.

SIX SKILLS…

Just go back and ask, “Do I really want that?” Well, you must not want it, because you ordered something else. Audri:

Can you give us some more examples of these internal signals since they’re the ones that are really important?

Terri:

Internal signals can be anything from your tasting something, chewing it, or for whatever reason, it isn’t matching what you really wanted. For example, I don’t normally eat chips. I ordered a sandwich that came with chips. I ate the chips, checked in with my body and said, “I don’t really like the way these taste,” and then I chose not to eat more of them — that’s choosing and listening to an internal signal. I had another experience where I was sharing a dessert with someone and started to eat the dessert and thought how good it was. After a few bites I realized it was incredibly sweet. I did my check-in and thought that’s probably enough — I wouldn’t feel well if I ate more of it. That’s the kind of checking in that I want people to do. Am I full, am I satisfied, do I want more, am I thirsty versus hungry? Do I want something crunchy, something sweet, etc.? Listen to the body reacting to your choices and to what you’re eating and how it’s being digested.

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Audri:

Good. What’s skill number five?

Terri:

This is one of the most important ones and usually the one most people struggle with. Skill Number 5: Practice accepting yourself at whatever size you are right now. Accept yourself, love yourself, and that includes loving the size your body is right now.

Audri:

How do you do that?

Terri:

First of all, there is always something to appreciate about the body. I noticed that when I was at my heaviest, I didn’t want people to take pictures of me. I was dreading it when someone said I had to put my picture on my website. I didn’t look in the mirror.

SIX SKILLS…

To practice accepting myself, I decided that I needed to look at myself. When I looked at my body, I decided to find something about my body that I liked. It was minor, but it was very critical for me. One of the things I noticed (and I noticed only one thing on the first day, by the way) was that I have dimples. I thought that even with my chubby face, I had dimples that brought out a nice quality when I smiled. That’s where my first acceptance came from. I accepted that there is a part of my body that’s pretty darn cool. Over time, I would try to find more and more things to accept — little things like my hands are generally smooth and nice. Even at my heaviest, the bottom part of my legs had a pretty good shape. I noticed that. I started to notice that I have hazel eyes. Sometimes they’re very green and sometimes they’re not. This was sort of interesting about me. I have had clients who noticed that even though their middle section was a bit overweight, from the back, they looked pretty good. 67

That’s part of accepting your body as it is now. My background and training in college was as a speech language pathologist. I think one of the greatest things about being a human being and having a human body is that we have the ability to communicate. For some of us, that’s verbal, and for some of us, that’s not. So, when I was in a place of saying that I’m fat, I’m overweight, I’m ugly, I look horrible, etc., I remembered that I have this amazing ability to think, to process, to create language, to speak, and to write, and I just started appreciating that about my body.

SIX SKILLS…

I recommend that people come from a place of gratitude. Do you have legs that get you around? Do you have eyes that allow you to see? Do you have taste buds and the ability to swallow? Be grateful for your body. I want people to appreciate — no matter what their body physically looks like — how it functions. It’s an amazing machine. I also want them to notice some of the physical parts of their bodies that are good, or better than good, or that they’re actually pretty darn proud of. Audri:

You’re right, that probably will be the hardest step for many readers. What’s the sixth skill of becoming a competent eater?

Terri:

Skill Number 6: As you’re being thoughtful in choosing your foods, bring in more and more foods that you really like. I’ve said this before. You can have reasonable portions of anything you want. My desire is that people will have it and fully enjoy it. So, think about what you want and incorporate all the foods you want, so you’re walking around happy in your body and happy in your choices.

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Experiment! I’d like for people to have the ability to play with and experience becoming a competent eater. Very often, people get “advice” from other people. Now I want the readers to create experiments of their choosing so they can get more and more in touch with understanding their intentional thoughts behind eating. Audri:

Can you give us some examples?

Terri:

Yes, and again, I want people to know it’s about creating what they want to play with. Here are some ideas. Do you prefer to eat three meals a day, or four, five, six or even seven meals a day?

EXPERIMENT!

I prefer five to seven mini-meals, Monday through Friday, and on the weekends I usually only eat two meals. So, play. Try some different things. Try three and see how that feels in your body. Then maybe try four — see how that feels. You can try more or less. Remember, there are no rules. Something else you might want to play with is eating before you’re hungry. I eat snacks before I’m hungry. I know that I get hungry every four hours. I’ve paid a lot of attention to my body and that’s what my body seems to do. So, within three hours of a meal, I have something. It could be a handful of pretzels, a plum, or it might be a cookie. I have something before I get hungry, and for me, I notice that reduces cravings. So you might want to play with that. Audri:

Before we talk about other things to play with I want to ask a question I imagine some of our readers are asking about these experiments. How long do you spend experimenting? One day, several days?

Terri:

Well, this will relate to everything we’ve talked about. I have no rules and I don’t have your answer.

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Do what feels best in your body. Sometimes, after one day, you’ll have an internal sense that something worked really well, felt really good, and you want to do more of that. Sometimes, you might say that you’re not sure — that three meals sort of felt OK. Maybe you’ll want to try it again or try it for a month. I ask people not to be locked in to this like it’s a rule. It is not a rule. If you say you want to try eating three meals now, but tomorrow you feel like you want two, then listen to your body. Even in your experimenting phase, honor what your body is wanting.

EXPERIMENT!

Several of my clients have a ritual of intention before they eat. One client verbalizes their intention before they eat. I have another who sits down and says a verbal prayer before she eats. Her teenaged daughters have joined her in this. It gets them back to intention about eating and also a sense of gratefulness about eating. Something that works great for me is eating only in certain places. I’ll remind you that this isn’t a rule! The other night when I was going to bed, I really felt like I wanted to get a cookie, and I did; I ate it in the bedroom. The bedroom is typically not a place I eat. But generally, when I was experimenting, I said, “Where do I feel best?” I’ve never eaten in my dining room when we didn’t have company. I love eating in my dining room, so I started eating in my dining room. My family would ask who was coming to dinner. We are! So play with different rooms and different locations. Experiment with the different things that may be distracting you while you eat. Are you reading the newspaper? Are you involved in a deep conversation? Do you have a TV on in the background? I found in my experiments that I do better with a bit of quiet music in the background, so I listen to CDs that I love while I’m eating. A very popular experiment is watching your body language

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when you’re eating. Are you standing? I know a lot of people who don’t sit down when they eat. Are you feeling comfortable? Pay attention to some of the places you eat, and some of the ways that you eat. Audri:

Basically then, you can try all these different experiments to see what works best for you. One of the things I discovered is that if I get really hungry, I eat a lot more. Our big meal is lunch and we eat very little at dinner. I discovered that if I make lunch a bit earlier, I eat a lot less. That was one experiment that’s really working for me.

EXPERIMENT!

Terri:

Great. Another thing people can try is changing the atmosphere. You might want to have candles, or use beautiful china or special dishes. I no longer take responsibility for feeding everyone in my family anymore. I don’t serve the amount of food they get. It was an experiment for me. I found that I do better with letting people serve themselves. Another experiment might be not having the serving dishes on the table. Let people have seconds or thirds by having to physically get up to get them. One experiment that surprised me was when I decided to eat smaller portions and see how that would feel. I would take about half of what I considered a normal portion knowing that if I wanted more, I could have it. I learned that at many meals my body is fine with that half portion. Some of my clients use smaller plates and bowls. If that feels good — use it. If any of this feels like it’s depriving in any way, shape or form, that’s not what the experiment is for. The experiment has just pointed out for you that that’s not a good strategy. If I tried a strategy and it made me feel deprived, then that’s great information. I learned from that experiment, and I won’t repeat that as a normal, daily strategy.

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Audri:

What’s worked really well for me is using smaller forks when I eat. I love that and I eat less naturally. What do you want us to do with these experiments?

Terri:

Play. Start creating your own experiments. Keep trying things on to see how it fits for you. I want people to start living and to stop dieting.

Audri:

What do your clients say after you’ve shared these six strategies?

Terri:

People feel very free. They finally have permission to eat and incorporate things they want to eat that they thought they shouldn’t eat.

EXPERIMENT!

They usually feel a big sense of relief after doing the brain dump and getting rid of all the stories, programs, habits, and beliefs. That allows them to feel good. What I hear most frequently is “Thank you for giving me permission to eat.” They really start to get that this is about creating a healthy lifestyle. It’s not just about taking weight off our body. One more thing people sometimes ask me is if they should talk to other people about what they’re doing, share their intention, and have support from friends and family. And again, I say do what feels best and right for you. If you can get some people with you at this stage of the journey and that feels good — great. If it feels best to be quiet and do your own thing — that’s great, too. Stop dieting and start living.

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STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS

Strategies for Success Audri:

You’ve talked about various strategies people can use to succeed. How can people use these strategies to get the most out of them?

Terri:

My intention is to assist readers in building solid behavior strategies so they can change their habits permanently.

Audri:

I’ve been thinking a lot about the concept of not struggling to lose weight. To think that something is effortless, feels good, and isn’t a struggle may be helpful for some people. It’s such a freeing and mind-expanding idea for me to look at it this way. To feel better and listen to your body. Have you had clients who have had that experience?

Terri:

I’ve had clients who have had the experience of not only seeing that it’s fun and actually easier than they thought it would be, but also noticing they’ve done this in other areas of their lives. That for whatever reason, they just weren’t thinking about doing it when it came to eating. I have a client who is good at getting parking spaces in front of his office building. There is very limited parking. He said that before he even gets into the car to drive to work, he’s very clear. He visualizes the parking space, he sets an intention, and it’s the joke of the office because he almost always pulls up into this parking space. He just knows he’s going to. He saw how powerful he was in the other area and how this was working in his life and it just clicked.

Audri:

Did he then apply it to his eating?

Terri:

Yes, and for him it was very easy.

Audri:

Different topic: What are your thoughts on using diet pills? Is this a good strategy?

Terri:

I’m not a fan of diet pills; they aren’t a solution and they won’t change your habit from the inside out. And typically, they do not give you well-being and health. 73

STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS

If you’re in a situation where you absolutely need to utilize the pills because of a physician’s recommendation, do it in conjunction with the principles that we’ve been giving you. Because if you only use diet pills, it will not be lasting. It’s the same thing as going on a diet — it’s a temporary change in behavior. Once you go off the pills, nothing has changed. Your intention hasn’t changed; your inner landscape hasn’t changed. My experience is that the weight comes back in an even bigger way. Audri:

Do you have any suggestions for people who feel “stuck”? How do you get yourself unstuck?

Terri:

This is going to sound very familiar: Change the intention. Notice you’re feeling stuck. Notice the story that’s probably going with this. “I can’t do this.” Or “This is too hard.” “This doesn’t work or make sense.” “I’m not good at this,” etc. — whatever your story is. Change the channel to the new story that you want to intend. “This is easy, effortless.” “I’m not stuck, I can do this.” Or “This makes sense.” It’s up to you to change your own channel. Listen to what it is that your head is saying, because the only reason you’re stuck is because your self-talk is stuck on an old recording. This morning, I was reflecting on how amazing it is to be a human being, how we can choose to have our mind think about something, do something, visualize something, or create something. We have amazing capabilities to decide what it is we’re going to do, going to think, and how we’re going to be. Tap into your own inner power and ability, and allow yourself the thoughts you want to think. I want to help people be really successful. To be successful, they’ve got to have some strategies, behaviors that they’re going to change. They also have to have some new responses. I want people to really continue to see and feel and know that their ideal body is coming to them. 74

BEHAVIOR STRATEGIES

Behavior Strategies Audri:

Let’s now talk about behavior strategies. First, what do you mean by behavior strategy?

Terri:

Behavior strategy is the way we respond or behave, and typically, the way we respond or behave becomes a habit. You learn to tie your shoes a certain way when you’re two years old; now, you could be 60 years old and you still tie them the same way. It’s a behavior you’ve learned. You’ve learned, not consciously, lots and lots of eating behaviors. Now we want to take you to the place of consciously looking at the ways that you behave when you’re eating and finding those behaviors that support you best to lose weight easily. Use the Ideal Body Eating Pattern/Solution Sheet to identify your current behavior and eating patterns. This will help you find strategies and solutions to create new behaviors and to replace the old habits you want to change.

Audri:

Can you give us some behavior strategies that our readers could play with?

Terri:

One strategy might be using something to remind you to stay focused and set an intention. It could be a written prayer you put next to where you eat. It could just be a reminder on the table that says, “What’s my intention?” It could be choosing to eat more slowly. It could be taking a break when you’ve finished half of your food and asking, “Do I choose to have more?” It could be taking half the amount you normally take. It could be eating some mini-meals. And it could also be focusing on the experience of eating — not the food, but the environment and the people we’re with. It has to do with becoming very present and conscious.

Audri:

What would you like the readers to do with this idea? 75

BEHAVIOR STRATEGIES

Terri:

Create at least three strategies for themselves, and no more than five, and begin to use them regularly and consistently. The Strategy Planner Tool goes one step further than the Ideal Body Eating Pattern/Solution Sheet by helping you recognize current behaviors and to find ways to replace them with new behaviors. Write down the problem areas in your eating and then below each problem area, list possible strategies to overcome that problem. Pick one strategy per problem and use that as your solution. If it works, stick with it; if not, choose another strategy until you find the one that works best for you. Only work on one to three problems/solutions per month. I want the readers to go through their day and notice what they’re doing now in their eating, or in some cases, what they’re not doing, and come up with ideas about some new techniques they can do differently. For example, if right now you notice that you’re a really fast eater, the strategy might be to slow down. Or if you’re really distracted during eating — lots of noise or TV — eat in a quiet environment. Or it could mean using a different chair, or eating with music or candles. Start to think about things you’re doing now that you’ll want to play with. I’ll remind you that when you try on a strategy, it doesn’t mean you have to use that strategy for life. We’re only talking for a day, an hour — one meal. Get an idea of how each strategy makes you feel in your eating experience, and notice whether it allows you to be more intentional in the eating process — and less in the dieting mode.

Audri:

We’ve talked a little about planning in terms of eating. Are there examples of using planning with these strategies?

Terri:

I’m a big fan of planning — how many meals I’ll eat, when I’ll eat. I allow myself to do “pre-thinking” — that is, I don’t just go to the fridge and say, “Eat, eat, eat.” 76

BEHAVIOR STRATEGIES

I’ve already thought about my day; I’ll probably eat this for breakfast, have this for lunch, and for dinner, I’ll go to this restaurant. And I’ll usually succeed in getting that. So I already have in my mind the intention for the day. I also plan snacks. I carry food with me so I don’t have hunger attacks. I have little emergency meals. I’ve got different protein bars that I happen to really like. I’ve got some cookies, some fruit. I always have something with me. One important strategy is to plan when you go to the grocery store. Don’t go while you’re famished and take everything off the shelf. Go with an intention. Have a list and plan. Think about what it is that will best support you in your intention.

Terri, I want to share with you some of my experiences and feelings since being part of Ideal Body. While not yet losing much weight, I have found that my total relationship with food and exercise has changed. I am more comfortable with eating anything that I want, recognizing that food isn't something to control, but rather something that I manage on a day-to-day basis with deliberate, conscious choices. I have also realized that once I determined what I wanted my Ideal Body to be — for example, to be hiking when I am 90, then I have been willing and able to incorporate exercise into my daily life again as a mindful choice and not a drudgery. Thanks for sharing the program with me and I am so looking forward to sharing Ideal Body with many others. — Susie Strauss

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TRIGGER RESPONSES

Trigger Responses Audri:

Let’s shift gears now and talk about some of the things that set off eating — in other words the triggers that people eat in response to.

Terri:

I call this habitual eating. It could be some event or stress that causes you to eat. A lot of clients will notice that a commercial on TV triggers their eating. It’s more of a habit. You’ll want to notice your response. Commercial comes on — I eat. What does that mean? It means that you may want to play with a strategy to change the habit. If the commercial comes on and I want to eat, my strategy might be to wait for five minutes, and if I’m still being called to eat, I’ll eat. It’s simply putting a strategy in place when you notice the trigger. One of my clients shared with me that once she sat down to eat, she was focused on getting the food in as fast as she could. Just shoveling it in. Now, she makes a point, consciously, of breaking that habit of shoveling it in; she tries to remember, every once in a while, to put down the silverware, take a drink of water, and check in. Am I still hungry — do I want more? Another response kind of eating is when you see someone else eating something, and you think you want to have that too. So just notice, stop and ask, “Do I really want that?” I saw someone in the mall yesterday eating an Aunt Annie’s Pretzel. I don’t particularly like those, but he walked past me eating it and my brain told me to go get a pretzel. If I had been in my old habitual response pattern, I would have run over and bought one. Instead, I stopped, checked in and asked, “Do I want a pretzel? No, I don’t really like those.” 78

TRIGGER RESPONSES

Here’s another example. This might be an old story, old habit: The dinner isn’t over, or your meal isn’t done, until you have something sweet — some dessert. If this is one of your triggers/patterns, then you should come up with a strategy to combat that. You might say, “OK, maybe I’ll have dessert some nights, or maybe I’ll have a small dessert.” Or “I wonder what it would be like to have a cup of wonderfully flavored herbal tea, or a great flavored coffee instead?” By the way, I have something called an adult gourmet lollipop. They only have about 100 calories and last for hours. Another client was in the habit of having something sweet after every meal. She was choosing to break that. She doesn’t want to eat because of habit. So instead, she leaves the table and does her entire toothbrushing ritual, including flossing and mouthwash. When her mouth feels good and minty, she doesn’t want to eat. Another client told me about these chocolate calcium chews which are only a few calories. They’re very small and bring calcium into your diet, which is something you may want in terms of nutrients. After dinner, she has calcium chews instead of dessert. I thought that was clever and bought some myself. They are excellent. They truly are just as satisfying as a piece of candy, and they are 100% calcium.

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IS DIET FOOD BETTER?

Is Diet Food Better? Audri:

When people are dieting, they tend to eat foods that are either low calorie, low fat or no fat, and the packaging the food comes in often tastes better! They aren’t satisfying. Yet eating the diet or no fat food becomes a habit because it’s one of the stories that you can’t eat what you want, so you eat these other things. Can you comment?

Terri:

Over the past 20 years, we’ve been sold on the fact that it’s better to buy low or non-fat, sugar free, lower calorie food. I ask people to look at that strategy. First, if you’ve been doing that, have you lost weight, or has it supported you in any way in creating your ideal body? For most people, it hasn’t. I would also ask people what it might be like for them as a strategy to eat the “real” food, the higher calorie food that probably has more flavor and tastes better, and in many cases, has more nutritional value, and many times includes more natural ingredients. Here’s a personal example: For about 10 years, I ate low calorie bread, which was 40 calories per slice. I thought I was going to save calories and lose weight. One day, someone who I really respected asked me why I ate that bread. They told me that it was primarily filled with sand. Yuck! I did some research and learned that that bread is primarily comprised of sand and has almost no nutritional value, and has no fiber, and instead of eating one piece of really good tasting, nutritional bread that satisfied and held me longer, I now was in the habit of heating two slices of this low cal bread. So, as a better strategy, I decided to buy the best bread I could find. I now buy this incredibly thick raisin bread. It’s huge with a lot of fiber. When I eat it, it takes a long time because it’s thick. I only want one piece. And, by the way, if I craved two, I would have two slices of this regular delicious bread. 80

IS DIET FOOD BETTER?

I want people to look at their strategy, and decide if it has really served them. I do not think, as a culture, we can say that these diet foods are assisting us. I believe they cause us to overeat. “I can eat more because this is only 50 calories, so instead of one tablespoon of mayonnaise, I’ll have three.” I want people to eat things that really taste good, that they fully enjoy and that support their health and well-being. If you haven’t had real ice cream in years because you’ve been eating the diet stuff — go have a small scoop. I invite you to do that today!

After 40 years of being overweight and feeling like a failure for not being able to take it off, I discovered Ideal Body. Never before have I found a set of workable guidelines for eating, how to think about food, exercise, and overall clarity regarding how I want to treat my body! The concepts used in this program are positive, workable, and freeing. For the first time I am confident that I am creating my Ideal Body, which for me is to create health and vitality! At first I liked what I was hearing and the ideas fit into how I do the rest of my life, but I was still skeptical that anything would work for me! I've been overweight most of my life, and I had resigned myself to the fact that it would probably always be that way. Except that I also wanted to live a long, healthful life, being active and playing with my grandchildren. At age sixty I have so much I still want to do in life, and I know now I will have the energy and optimal health to accomplish my dreams. Ideal Body guidelines are exactly what I need to change some long-held beliefs and habits that kept me from attaining my ideal body. I would recommend them to anybody, even to those who feel hopeless at this point. I say give it a chance to work (3-6 months). You have nothing to lose but unwanted pounds! It's not a diet plan for the present, it's an eating plan for the rest of your life. — Marilyn Larson, Bayfield, WI

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BREAK THE HABIT

Break the Habit Audri:

Why do we have these habits?

Terri:

Because we’re not being present, we’re not conscious, we’re not thinking about what it is that we’re doing. We just do the same things over and over again until it’s embedded and planted in our being. Most people brush their teeth in the exact same way. First, I put the toothpaste here, then I put the toothpaste on, then I put the toothpaste here, then I brush with my right hand. It’s a habit. You don’t even think about it. If I sent you to the bathroom and told you to think about the whole process and what might be easier, better, etc., it would slow down your process and allow you to create new strategies. That’s what we’re doing with eating. You’ve got these habits because you have not been present. The good news on habits is that this applies to all areas of your life. If you say you want to quit smoking and you set that intention and you’re present, then every time you pick up a cigarette, ask if you really want it. You can change all of your habits in this way. I used to be a smoker many years ago. I’d never dream of picking up a cigarette now. I want people to understand again, we’re back to the power of our minds. You can change any habit you have in your life experience with the tools that you’re getting here.

Audri:

So this is a huge bonus — it’s way more than just weight loss and an ideal body.

Terri:

It is. It’s life changing. Another strategy is to look at alternative things to do rather than just eat. If we’ve been in the eating habit and we want to break that, what else can we do? Can you go for a walk with the dog, or read a book, can you put on music and dance, can you do something that feels really nurturing, like writing in your journal, taking a bath, or sitting in a Jacuzzi? 82

It’s a great time to look at what else we can do that supports us and that isn’t about food. Here’s another example. I love to listen to music. So when I get the trigger that it’s time to eat, I say, “Well, it’s only been a few hours, I’ll put on a CD and either sit and relax with it, or get up and dance.”

BREAK THE HABIT

I love to write, so I might write in my journal or write a letter to a friend. Or I might even take a power nap for a few minutes. The other day, I did something I typically don’t do, but it worked really well. I was getting the hint to go eat. I thought this was ridiculous because I had just eaten. I thought there must be something else. I realized that if I did something nurturing, the desire to eat would go away. So I checked in and asked my body what would feel really nurturing. I had been noticing all day that there was one filing cabinet that contained so much excess paper I couldn’t get my hands in comfortably. So I thought, “I’ll take five minutes and work on this filing cabinet and if I’m still hungry, then I’ll eat.” I thought it would feel nurturing to clean up. I spent 35 minutes, the filing cabinet got cleaned and so did the one under it — and I never even thought about food again. So take your mind away from the signal that says go eat. It’s not a commandment. Then, take yourself to something else that you choose to do, or something that feels good to your body, like Yoga or stretching. It could even be checking email. Replace the activity. What you’re aiming for is breaking the cycle. Instead, you’re saying no — what can I do instead?

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Binge Eating Audri:

Let’s now talk about binge eating. I’m sure there are a lot of people reading this who either are, or who have been, binge eaters. How do you apply what we’re talking about to that problem?

Terri:

Binge eating is interesting. Many of my clients don’t initially describe themselves as binge eaters — nor did I. But as we look at what a binge eater does, and what the pattern is, many people can identify with those same feelings.

BINGE EATING

Binge eating normally occurs when we get a trigger to eat. We don’t consciously pay attention — we just react. We eat and we never check in about our satisfaction; we keep on eating. I have that binging reaction with cookies. They’re part of my plan every day, and they’re also part of how I lost all my weight. The difference was becoming conscious. My research indicates that there is normally about a 20minute cycle in our bodies, so when you get the trigger that says eat, try to ride out that craving. Do something else — go play your flute, make a phone call, take a bath — and that craving will pass in just 20 minutes. Nine out of ten times you will still not have the desire to binge. What typically happens is that we get present, we get focused, and our body becomes very happy doing something else. When you get the trigger to eat, you don’t have to immediately respond to it. I put it on pause, like a tape recorder, for 20 minutes and do something else. If I’ve still got the craving 20 minutes later, I allow myself some cookies. Twenty minutes, in my experience, will completely change the binging pattern. When my body says, “Eat,” it probably really needs some care and love. So I look at how else I can nurture my body. Can I provide it health and well-being other than through food? 84

Audri:

What if you feel like you’re going out of control?

Terri:

That will happen at times. It’s part of normal eating. I will just hold an intention. OK, I’m reeling out of control; my intention is to not feel this way — that doesn’t feel good. My intention, my choice, would be to feel ease and joy. To get more in control. And maybe, for just this one meal or this one moment, to be really, really focused.

BINGE EATING

So get back to being present, setting your intention, and to loving and accepting yourself for being a normal, natural eater. Audri:

How do you recommend we look at our own habits, or the areas where we’re having difficulty? How would you describe these problem areas?

Terri:

All of us have some areas that are not quite right yet. Areas that may lead us off track, or that may be a little more difficult than others. It could be that old story we talked about earlier about eating everything on your plate. It could be something that really triggers you. Notice the patterns that trigger you, the problems in your daily framework. Notice what is happening day to day and what areas might not be quite right yet; those are the ones you want to have some strategies and solutions for.

Audri:

Can you give us some personal examples?

Terri:

One of my personal examples involves the buffet. Whenever I go to the buffet, it creates a problem for me. It makes me feel that I’ve got to get my money’s worth, I’ve got to eat as much as I can. And it usually says “all you can eat.” I know that’s a trigger. So a strategy I use is to walk the entire buffet line and look at everything before I put anything on my plate. Then I get intentional. What do I choose to eat? I keep reminding myself as I go through the buffet that I can have what I choose, but I don’t need to choose all of it. That’s one example of a trigger area. 85

Some of my clients report secretive eating. In other words, they might not have time to eat lunch at work because they’re too busy. Then they have five minutes, so they go to the candy machine, get two candy bars and stuff them in their face in their office with the door closed because they’re embarrassed. That’s a problem area. Your strategy may be to have some fruit on your desk. See how you can plan lunch and replace that with a chocolate protein bar — some are very good.

BINGE EATING

Recently, a client told me he eats in the car. He knows it’s bad because when his kids get in the car on the weekend they’re finding pieces of food, wrappers, the car smells, etc. He’s got a strategy now that if he’s got to spend a lot of time during his work day in the car, he will stop and eat at a rest area with picnic tables. He’s breaking that routine.

I really found the Ideal Body program with Terri Levine to be incredibly helpful. Each session was jam-packed with useful strategies and ideas, but most importantly, it really helped me to reframe the ways I think about my body, eating, and food, and to undo decades of unconstructive thought patterns around this area. What’s most inspiring is that Terri’s well-thought-out plan is based on real-life strategies and ideas that worked for her and have worked for her clients. Her program is realistic, not idealistic, and feels approachable and do-able. You end up feeling equipped to succeed on your own personal terms, not like you’re going to fail to meet someone else’s expectations. I highly recommend it. — Jill Simpson, Larchmont, NY

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STRATEGIES & SOLUTIONS

Strategies and Solutions Audri:

What are the differences between strategies and solutions?

Terri:

Strategies are ideas that you can come up with around an event. So for the buffet, a strategy could be to take a smaller plate, look at everything first before choosing, and stop halfway through. A solution is what you actually choose to do. I could list hundreds of strategies around a buffet. The solution is the one that I’m actually doing. If you choose a solution, there is no rule that says you have to stay with it. So if you try a solution and find that it didn’t work well, that’s fine. That’s why you have a whole list of strategies. Then you can try on another strategy and that becomes your solution.

Audri:

Can you give us an example of a solution that didn’t work with buffets?

Terri:

Very early on, I decided I would only go through half the buffet line and if my plate was full I wouldn’t go through the second half. I felt deprived. I felt that I didn’t even know what was up there and had probably missed the best item. And then I’d be looking at everyone else’s plate and wanting what they had. That strategy did not work. In fact, I only remember doing that twice and it was within a two-week period. Immediately, I had to go back and look at strategies and find a different solution.

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STRATEGY NOTEBOOK

Creating a Strategy Notebook Audri:

What would you suggest our readers do now?

Terri:

Create a strategy notebook where you can write down your problem areas — and again, let’s just work on three to five, rather than the hundreds we could all come up with! Go for the easier things first. Write down as many strategies as you can. Include even the ones you think are ridiculous and wouldn’t do. Brainstorm and you’ll come up with a lot of them. That will then enable you to pick one solution to try. Use that solution and check in — how’s that working? If it’s working, you can use it over and over again. You can celebrate the fact that you’re doing a good job with it. But if it’s not working, go back to your notebook and choose another strategy.

Audri:

Can you describe what a strategy notebook might look like?

Terri:

My notebook is a binder with different tabs. I’ve got a tab called Buffet and behind that, I have a few pieces of notebook paper listing all the different strategies I could think of around buffets. The ones I’ve tried as solutions may be highlighted or have asterisks by them. I tried that, it was OK, or that really worked. So I have different tabs with different categories or headings. I’ve had clients who just write Topics and then Strategies underneath the topics. They don’t necessarily have different dividers. Once again, no rules, no programs that you’ve got to buy — it’s your system and it’s your way.

Audri:

Will you share some of the areas your clients have had difficulties with? What kinds of areas would you suggest people might think about to get ideas to put in their strategy notebooks?

Terri:

I’ll start with the “clean plate syndrome” because that’s very common. 88

STRATEGY NOTEBOOK

Another is that perhaps they’ve been used to omitting certain foods. Again, it could be a food like the full fat or calorie food, or it could be a whole food group. Or… they’re skipping meals or eating incredibly fast. They are not at all aware when they’re eating. They’re eating as a reaction to stress. They’re overeating all of the time. Or eating when they’re cooking. Or overeating socially. It could be eating secretly. It could be eating too much of one item — too much candy, cookies, salt. Eating past the point of fullness. It could be waiting too long to eat so they’re famished. Or eating in response to the TV or the smell of food. Eating in bed or in the car. Eating extremely large portions. It could be that they don’t even sit down when they’re eating. Or it could be eating out of containers or eating at the refrigerator. I’m seeing more and more of this behavior — people who think if they don’t eat breakfast and lunch then they’ve saved all these calories and can have a gigantic dinner. It could be the Slim Fast theory of have a few drinks and then have a “normal” dinner. That’s a great strategy area to work on. None of these strategies make us a bad person. All we want to do is notice the problem area, set an intention, come up with a lot of different strategies, and then pick the one or two areas we want to change first. For example, if you eat in the car, set the intention that you’re not going to eat in the car, or you’re going to eat in the car less, or you’re going to be present about eating in the car. Then you pick one strategy, or two at the most, to try. Try it on. If it feels good, stick with it. If not, try something else. One of my clients wrote that she was eating when she was too hungry. She usually didn’t eat lunch until about 3:00 p.m. and she ate breakfast at 6:00 a.m. That’s a pretty long stretch for the body. She was not making good choices for lunch. In her strategy notebook she had the category of “eating when way too hungry.” She came up with about 20 different strategies. Some of these strategies included eating a small snack in the morning between breakfast and 3:00 p.m. Another one was redoing her 89

STRATEGY NOTEBOOK

work schedule so she could eat around 1:00 p.m. Another was keeping mini-meals on her desk at work. Another was to eat a breakfast that consisted of a little more protein because she found that would fill her up. She had all of these different strategies and I suggested she pick one. The one she chose was to have snacks on her desk, pretzels, crackers, cheese, fruit, etc. She played with that. She decided not to change her schedule, but she found that between the time she got to work and 3:00 p.m. if she just ate a few mini-meals quickly at her desk, she wasn’t famished at 3:00. Audri:

Can we go back to the very beginning when we were talking about the concept of eating naturally and normally? We’ve talked about so many strategies, ideas, concepts and ways to do things since then. Could you repeat that idea? I think we’ll get a deeper understanding of what normal and natural eating is now.

Terri:

Glad you asked. Remember with natural eating, nothing is perfect. Let me start there. So it’s a response — we eat when we’re hungry. We are intentional, so we stop eating when we’ve had enough. We eat foods we like. We use moderation but we don’t diet or restrict ourselves. We allow ourselves permission to eat when we’re triggered by certain emotions. We just do it consciously. There are going to be times when we unconsciously overeat, or we choose to overeat. There are going to be times when we say, “Wow, I wish I could have had more.” We have complete trust that our body will make up for all of the day-to-day mistakes that happen. Natural eating will take some of our time and attention. It takes consciousness, it takes being present. And it’s just one small aspect of our lives, but is not the focus of our lives. It varies in response to our hunger, emotions, our schedule, the smell of food, the proximity to food, etc. It allows flexibility. Actually it takes into account that eating is a fuel and 90

energy for the body. When we eat, we give our bodies a way to have even more help. Finally, what we do on any given day is a non-issue. We eat naturally. We trust our bodies. We recognize that we should have variation from day to day. There’s no such thing as perfect eating.

EATING OUT…

Eating Out Audri:

Thanks, Terri. Another problem area for many people is that they travel. They have to eat out a lot. Can you make some recommendations to help our readers who travel a lot?

Terri:

Yes. That was actually one of my original issues. I was concerned that I wasn’t going to be able to do a good job at this because I was traveling. I was eating in restaurants, not able to follow my desired choices. I want everyone to know that I lost my weight traveling about four days per week on business. It doesn’t matter that you’re traveling or that you’re eating on the run. What matters is that you notice it and you get intentional and create strategies. I still remember that a lot of times I wasn’t eating dinner until 9:00 or 10:00 p.m. because I’d finish up late, go back to the hotel, get showered, and then meet a client for dinner. That wasn’t feeling good. I was feeling extremely hungry, so I was eating bigger meals at night and was noticing that I’d often want something sweet. I needed a new strategy there. This was not going to support my intention of creating an ideal body. So I started to carry fruit with me. I would take a piece of fruit back to my hotel before dinner. I’d eat this a couple of hours before dinner, so when I got to dinner I wasn’t quite as hungry.

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It’s about noticing if you are eating on the run, eating late, or you’re a traveler, and adding that to your strategy notebook so you have some solutions. Audri:

Another problem is getting home late from work. You’re famished. There’s nothing great to eat in the house. What do you do about this one?

Terri:

Again, it’s intentional. It’s thinking about it and knowing that this may be a challenge for you in your life.

EATING OUT…

So you may decide to keep quick meals in the house. There’s so many wonderful frozen dinners now — really good tasting, healthy stuff. Or it could be a strategy that I use a lot. On Sunday evenings, we’re usually home and no one is doing much. We just cook up a batch of food and I freeze it. So if I’m working late one night, I just pop something out of the freezer (something I made at home and I really like). Come up with some good strategies. It could even be that you keep some things from Boston Market or from your local deli. It’s taking the time to be prepared. Audri:

Can you give us some more examples of how you can eat on the run? Both in and out.

Terri:

Let’s start with “in.” Think ahead and plan what I call emergency meals. I’m expecting that I’ll get home at a reasonable hour on Tuesday, but what if I didn’t? I have a crockpot; I can use that. It might be that when you cook something the night before you double up on it. Or when you go to the grocery store buy a couple of frozen “just in case” meals. When you’re eating out, get intentional. Some choices are better than others. Even some fast food places have chicken items, salads, etc. Get intentional so that when you’re on the run you can choose something that’s healthier. Have a list in your head of places that are the best choices. I know in my home community there are about six places that 92

have quick and healthy meals. So, I’ll go there instead of somewhere else that offers less healthy choices. If you don’t have a good choice, understand that you don’t have to eat all of it. You can get an item that isn’t the best choice and eat a smaller amount. Audri:

What would you like our readers to do as a final part of this section?

Terri:

I want them to be very conscious of their eating habits in a loving, accepting way. And to pick one habit, maybe two at the most, that they’d like to change. Again, one that’s easy and doesn’t feel like it would be a mountain to move.

EATING OUT…

Have a strategy notebook. Come up with a whole lot of strategies and pick one or two solutions — and just play with those. Audri:

And after those are working, you then move on to another one?

Terri:

That’s all we do. We keep adding — here’s another one, here’s another one, and pretty soon you have a whole arsenal of habits just like you do now. But right now you didn’t necessarily choose those habits.

Audri:

OK. Tell us now what you mean by looking at your ideal body more comprehensively.

Terri:

An ideal body isn’t just about what we weigh, what size we are, or whether we can wear a two-piece bathing suit. An ideal body is in our entire comprehensive holistic person. It’s our well-being, our health, our extraordinary self-care. It’s all of the areas in our lives, including our relationships, how we feel about ourself, our career, our intellectual stimulation, and our sense of community or spirituality. It’s a comprehensive view of our overall person and wellbeing. So your ideal body is allowing yourself to have a vehicle — both mental and physical — that allows you to live your life in a full way. 93

CREATING A VISION…

Creating a Vision of Your Ideal Body Audri:

I’d like to move on to how you actually create your ideal body. That might still seem a bit abstract for many people.

Terri:

OK, let’s talk about visioning. There is nothing more powerful that you can do in your life experience than visioning. Period. Any time you allow your magnificent, wonderful human brain to create pictures and images of what it is that you’re wanting, your brain goes to work on bringing that to you, even when you’re sleeping. It’s on autopilot. It can’t tell reality from fantasy. The brain says I see an image of a healthy you: you’re vibrant and you look and feel great, and you desire to eat naturally. It goes to work on creating that. The missing link for most people is they start with where they are and don’t think about the end result. Again, the end result isn’t about being thin or being a size 2, 6 or 4. It’s about the feeling. What is the feeling that you intend to have when you have an ideal body? For me, an ideal body means I’m going to feel healthy, enjoy well-being, have more energy, and have a balanced life that isn’t focused around food anymore. You’ve got to start with the feeling you intend to have and create a technicolor vision.

Audri:

Let’s say that being thin is part of your definition of your ideal body. What do you do then?

Terri:

It can be in your definition, but I want you to get under that and tell me what being thin feels like to you — not what it looks like. Does being thin mean that you’ll feel happy, sexy, pretty, or have a greater self-esteem? You need to get in touch with the feelings that you want to have; that’s what you want to bring up in the vision.

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CREATING A VISION…

Audri:

So, it might be something like feeling your clothes being loose and comfortable, or in a certain size, besides the health and energy aspects?

Terri:

Let’s play with this for a minute. What I heard was the feeling of the loose and the comfortable, and maybe that body part looking good. It doesn’t matter if that body part measures X dimension or Y dimension, as long as it looks good and the clothes feel good on it. That’s the feeling I would go for, instead of going for a certain size or losing this many inches. It needs to give a feeling that it’s firm. Clothes look good on it. That sort of thing. That is a feeling versus “I have to weigh X amount of pounds.” I have a visioning exercise I’d like to share now, so readers can have a much clearer understanding of the process. I want people to imagine that it’s a year from now. They’ve decided to share with friends and family and everyone they know what an incredibly magnificent, ideal year it’s been. They’re going to describe it as if it’s in this moment — their body, health, and well-being. I want you to see yourself one year from now. As you wake up I want you to notice your body. I want you to notice how wonderful your body looks and feels, and how energetic it is. What your skin feels like when you touch it. Perhaps a wonderful smell that your body has or oils or lotions you might have on your body. I want you to notice all aspects of your magnificent body. Just notice how great your hair looks, your eyes, teeth, your smile, etc. Notice how firm and strong you are, how much energy you have. Notice the feelings of health, well-being, and joy. How easy it was. It wasn’t dieting. You just had an intentional year. Life has been easy and effortless. You’re more connected than ever before. Note the size of clothes you’re wearing, the texture and feel

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CREATING A VISION…

of these great new clothes, and how excited you are to slip into those things. In your mind’s eye, really notice your body. Observe it, witness it, feel it, touch it, breathe it in. Enjoy it. It’s yours; you created it. Hold the image. Hold the vision and know it’s on its way. When people talk about their vision, I find they create something that is not very deep. In other words, they create, “I want to wear a size 12, and I want to be healthy and have more energy.” They’re not passionately feeling their vision. When I say a technicolor vision, I want people to get in their mind, body, being, and breath in what it will feel like. Your vision could be, “I wake up with so much energy and I feel young and healthy. I get out of bed and I notice my legs are incredibly shapely; I feel wonderful. I decide to go for a walk just because it’s joyful. My intention is to move my body. And then when I come in, I set my intention around eating for the day, and I just know I want to eat things that are primarily healthy. I make great eating choices and I enjoy my mood and food.” Can you feel that vision? I want people to create a vision they can feel, taste, hear, touch, and smell; one they can really see in their mind’s eye. You can’t create the vision unless you have a whole movie of it playing. Our mind will create what it sees. It can’t tell the difference between reality and fantasy. It will work on that for you 24 hours a day. But you’ve got to create the vision for it. Here’s another example of a vision: “I suddenly feel great health and well-being. For the first time in my life, I have energy to take the dog for a walk in the evening. I go for a ride in the car and just 96

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notice that I feel healthier and breathe better. I get out of the car and notice that when I’m at the park I want to play ball with the kids. For the first time in my life, I feel that I have energy and I’m not focused on what I’m allowed or not allowed to eat. I’m making better eating choices, yet I’m still eating foods I love. In fact, when I want fudge, I whip up homemade fudge and I enjoy it. I’m wearing different kinds of clothes. I’m wearing a belt. I can move the belt up a notch and that feels great. I know that I’m at a weight that’s easy and effortless for me to maintain.” That’s from one my clients who has lost a little over 50 pounds, so far, in less than three months. It’s been an easy journey for him. Audri:

I’d like to hear a couple more examples from your clients — these are very inspiring.

Terri:

Amazing things have surfaced for people. Sometimes, I have to push people along this process. They think they can skip this part. But you can’t! You really have to do this part: you will see why when you do it. I had a client about a year ago who went through the vision and, amazingly, saw himself working out in a gym. He never was a fan of working out or lifting weights. But he saw that he was getting really healthy and strong in a gym and now he was creating a desire to go to one. By the way, not only did he join the gym, he loves the atmosphere and just being there. I had another client who had incredible clarity in her vision. For the first time in her life, she could really see what a healthy body looked like. It was healthy — it wasn’t twiggy. It was really healthy for her to get that distinction. This is a fun one. A client wrote: “I wake up in the morning and decide that I’m going to spend some time really grooming my face. I find some of my favorite skin care products and spend some 97

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time grooming and noticing how shiny my hair is and how it’s becoming easier to care for. “I notice that the sun is shining and I decide to look out the window and just enjoy the sun. It’s one of the first times I’ve ever done this in my whole life. I glance at myself in the mirror and I admire my body. It’s not perfect, it’s not thin, but it sure looks healthy. “I decide that I’m going to set my intentions for the day. I see and feel a glorious day unfolding. I know that my intention is the same as it was yesterday — to smile, sing, feel joy, and focus on eating things that make me feel good.” Isn’t that fantastic? I want to share a piece of one more vision sent by one of my clients. I’ll be quoting the essence of it. It’s extremely powerful. The client wrote this not quite nine months ago. This client is a gentleman who is very high up in an organization. He had a lot of work stress and was carrying around about 40 extra pounds from work stress. When I was coaching the client, he was very concerned because his physician had told him he was a health risk and really needed to lose weight. So he was planning to go on a diet. We decided that a diet wasn’t the right thing. His vision started out with him saying that he had lost the weight without dieting — it just “magically fell off” and that his intentions every day were to just slow down, to take great care of himself, to regain his health, his connection with his wife and children, his renewed values in his church and community, and to make himself and his life the priority. His vision went on to say something about picking up hobbies. One of them was painting, which he hadn’t done since he was a child. I’m sharing this because it was amazingly powerful. In less than nine months, not only did he lose 22 pounds, but his cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood sugar were all back within the normal ranges. He has begun painting and is working less. He’s figured out that he has to make time for himself and for his family. He’s 98

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got closer relationships. His whole life has totally changed by having an intentional vision. He has reminded me a few times that he reads his vision and it hasn’t even been a year. But he said he could see his vision from the day he wrote it, and he just knew that it was meant to be. That’s the technicolor vision. Don’t omit this step. You can’t be intentional without giving your mind the images that it’s going to intend. I knew what my body was going to look like when I lost my weight. I create technicolor visions for myself all the time. It’s how I have achieved the professional and personal success I’ve achieved. I see it first and then I say, “Well, that’s what it’s going to be,” and then I go make it happen. I want everybody to create for themselves a vibrant, living, technicolor, Dolby sound vision. Really envision yourself. Think about yourself ten years from now, five years from now, one year from now. Think about what you are feeling, seeing, tasting, touching, doing, etc. Describe your body, your overall being and wellness. Allow your brain to absorb those images. Audri:

Do you suggest people write down what they saw once they’ve done this exercise?

Terri:

Yes, do write down your vision. In my experience, that makes it even more powerful. The act of writing it engages our right and left-brain hemispheres at the same time, and allows the brain to create these images. If anyone is really resistant to writing it down, they can record it on a tape recorder. You can draw it, cut out pictures, etc. I really want you to have the experience of not only envisioning it, but somehow experiencing it with another modality — at least two modalities.

Audri:

Can you describe what happened to you when you did this the first time? 99

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Terri:

It was amazing for me. If someone had asked me what my ideal body was I would have said that I wanted to weigh 100 pounds. And I wanted to be a size 2. Where did I get that from? I’ve never been a size 2 and I can’t ever remember weighing 100 pounds. When I went through the vision, instead of seeing this thin body in a bikini, I saw myself being strong, healthy, and energetic. And I don’t know what size, but it wasn’t a size 2. It wasn’t about a number or a scale. I just looked and felt great. I knew in my gut that was the body I was going to have. I could see it, feel it, and it’s the body I have now. Let me give you another wonderful example. I have been writing down and creating visions since the mid to late 1970’s. I had this old journal where I wrote my vision in 1979. I found this and goose bumps sprang up all over my body. What I wrote down at that time was a description of not only having a wonderful, healthy, strong body in a house that I really loved and a great relationship with a spouse, but I had this vision of doing work from my home. In fact, it even talked about wearing shorts and a T-shirt, being comfortable. And speaking with people all over the world, impacting on people’s lives in a big way. And in the vision I used this word, which in 1979 probably meant nothing to me. But I used this word about five times. The word was “coaching.” When I stop and look at this and think why it brings goose bumps, it’s the power of the vision. I have every single thing listed in the vision, including the exact car in the exact color that I envisioned. I have an incredible opportunity. I am a coach. I impact on people’s lives all over the world. I have the opportunity to work from home. I wear shorts and a T-shirt pretty regularly. That’s the power of vision. It’s no accident that I have these things in life, that I found the profession of coaching, work with people all over the world from my home, drive the car that I drive and do the things that I do. I created that. 100

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Audri:

What do you recommend people do with their vision after they create it?

Terri:

I recommend looking at it every day. That doesn’t mean you have to sit down, read the whole thing and fully focus. But at least notice it every day. Mine sits on top of my alarm clock. I turn off the clock and scan my vision. I spend a moment feeling my vision. I remind my brain of my vision. You could choose to do less or more. You could choose to just read it once a week. I have some clients who scan their visions more frequently than others. In fact, they’re the ones who seem to be manifesting things quicker. One client reads it every day out loud. Another client carries the vision in a notebook and reads the vision every time she has some down time during the day.

Audri:

What about when you start to feel like you’re getting off track?

Terri:

Whenever I still don’t have something I had envisioned being in my life, I go back to my vision and see if it’s something I still really want. Is it still important to me? If it is and if it feels good, I’ll even add that to my vision. I’ll write some more descriptions. I’ll make it even fuller and spend more time reading and feeling that section of my vision. I’d like to share a few tips on how to make this more livable, more enjoyable. First of all, no rules. Do it your way. Have fun with it. Truly allow yourself to experience it, even if you only write it once. Pretend you’re creating a movie and you’re going to describe it to me (I’m the director or producer) so I can create the scene. I need to know colors, what you’re wearing, what you’re doing, what the room looks like, every detail. I want people to be fully in this experience and to do it in their own way. Make this a process that’s easy, effortless, and enjoyable. Know that this is the most powerful tool you have. If you 101

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don’t use this tool, you have not allowed yourself all that you can. And, it’s easier than you think it will be. As I said, some people want to skip this part, but when they understand how powerful this is, they’re amazed at how much joy and clarity they’ve gotten from the process, and how quickly what they’re envisioning does come to be. Clients also tell me that they get empowered from knowing they can change their habits. As they create strategies and solutions, they see that changing their habits is not the big, ominous difficulty they thought it would be. People have eliminated all kinds of habits, from coffee, cigarettes, overeating, and binging, to the smaller items of maybe eating in bed or not eating mindfully — all kinds of things. It’s easy, it’s effortless and it’s fun. That’s what they tell me. And that’s the way it should be. Creating your ideal body is not a struggle. I want the readers to bring their own sense of ease and fun to this process. Audri:

Terri, we’re almost at the end here. I have a couple of final questions. What gem of information have you learned the hard way — or the easy way — that can help all of us?

Terri:

To toss out that whole belief system about dieting! I originally believed it had to be really difficult to change beliefs. And for me to create an ideal body by intention was going to take tremendous work to get my mind really focused. I was wrong. Approach this as being easy and effortless. I didn’t. All you’re doing is changing the channel and changing the CD. This kind of thinking will serve our readers extremely well.

Audri:

Before we conclude, I’d like to recommend that if our readers feel that they’d like even more support, they should check out your Ideal Body program. It’s wonderful. In fact, I found it so beneficial that it inspired me to ask you to do this book! 102

How can people learn about it and get more support?

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Terri:

They can learn about the Ideal Body program by visiting CreateYourIdealBody.com. And I have a list in the Resource Section at the back of this ebook of the Certified Ideal Body coaches who I’ve found to be extremely supportive, and who would be thrilled to help. I highly recommend that people should first complete the Ideal Body Client Questionnaire Form and then email it to the Coach they wish to be coached by. Completing this form will provide invaluable insights about how people think and feel, as it asks questions they may not have thought to ask themselves before.

Audri:

What is the most important thing you’d like everyone to remember from what we’ve been talking about?

Terri:

Dominant intention. Find out what you want to create and go do it.

Audri:

Thank you so much, Terri! This has been terrific. You’ve shared so many inspiring, freeing, and practical ideas and things for our readers to try. I’d like to suggest that our readers go through this book again in a month or so — or whenever they feel like it. This isn’t a book to read once and forget about. It has so much wonderful wisdom — and you’ll get new momentum and ideas each time you read it.

Terri:

Thanks, Audri! This has been fun. I’d like to conclude by reminding our readers to play. And to have fun creating their ideal bodies!

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Resource Section

RESOURCE SECTION

More About Terri… Terri Levine, MCC, PCC, MS, CCC-SLP, made the transition from senior executive to become one of the top professional coaches in the industry, founded a leading coach’s training program and has worked with clients from every walk of life. She is President of Comprehensive Coaching U — The Professional’s Coach Training Program, a popular Master Certified personal and business Coach, sought-after Public Speaker, and Author of the international bestseller, “Work Yourself Happy,” “Coaching for an Extraordinary Life,” and now “Create Your Ideal Body.” From her own experiences with dieting and exercise, she realized the principles she used in other areas of her life, which have brought her great success and achievement, could be applied to eating and weight management. So she set about applying these principles and techniques to her eating and activity habits and found that she lost weight easily and effortlessly and was able to keep the weight off without hunger or feelings of deprivation. She then coached her clients with these techniques and found that they, too, enjoyed the same results of weight loss and better health. This ebook is a result of the urging of clients and friends who encouraged her to share her techniques and strategies with a larger audience. You can learn these Ideal Body techniques through the experience of reading this book and applying the techniques and strategies to your own life. Terri can be contacted via email at [email protected]

Excellent Weight Loss Resources If you would like more information about how to lose weight naturally and keep it off without health risk, without that sense of deprivation, and without having to use any gimmicks or gizmos, visit our website at CreateYourIdealBody.com to find a community of support, resources, and information.

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Certified Ideal Body Coaches These coaches provide group classes, individual coaching, and plenty of tips and useful advice. Jana Collar — [email protected]

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Marilyn Larson — [email protected] Susie Srauss — [email protected] Sheri Rowland — [email protected] Sue Guiher — [email protected] Sandra Ford — [email protected] Kim Tomlinson — [email protected] For further information on classes or coaching, email [email protected]

For telephone enquiries, toll free number: 877-401-6165.

Join our Newsletter If you would like to receive weekly advice and tips on how to incorporate the techniques you have read about in this ebook, subscribe to our weekly newsletter “Create Your Ideal Body and Health.” If you are tired of fad diets, exercise gizmos, and feeling deprived, this Newsletter is for you. To sign up for the Create Your Ideal Body and Health newsletter, send a blank email to: [email protected]

Other Books by Terri Levine If you enjoyed this book, you might enjoy reading these other books, also by Terri Levine: Coaching for an Extraordinary Life From her experience with private and corporate clients, Terri realized the principles used by professional coaches could be used by anyone who wanted to grow and reach their personal best. Coaching for an Extraordinary Life reveals how the principles of personal and professional coaching can improve your everyday life. You 105

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can learn these techniques through the interactive experience of reading this book and doing the exercises that will reinforce your application of the material. If you have ever felt you wanted to experience your life and work with more ease and more joy, this lively coach training guide will help you discover how to be a better spouse, partner, friend, parent and person. Coaching for an Extraordinary Life is based on the same techniques that coaches use to bring productivity, balance, success, and stress-free living to their lives and to the clients they coach. Work Yourself Happy Terri Levine’s bestselling book, “Work Yourself Happy,” is a Stepby-Step Handbook for Creating Joy in Your Life and Work. Terri has put together a coaching book with practical tools for learning how to have a job you enjoy. Whether you are looking to make a career change, or want to move up and get a promotion or want to increase your job skills, this book will help you understand how to do your work with less effort. Entrepreneurs, professionals, coaches, coaching clients, and others are taking Terri’s tips and re-inventing or defining their work. It is time to “Work Yourself Happy”! These books can be purchased from Amazon or direct from the Comprehensive Coaching U website bookstore at: ComprehensiveCoachingU.com/bookstore.htm

For a full range of programs offered from and in conjunction with Terri Levine and Comprehensive Coaching U, visit CoachingInstruction.com.

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