What Do Self Improvement and Bamboo Have In Common?

Although self improvement is a worthy pursuit, many often abandon their efforts due to a false belief they are not making progress.

We try this technique or that and see little or no results. We resist this “apparent” lack of success and begin to feel impatient or frustrated.

I recently heard an explanation of how bamboo grows and realize it is an excellent example of the process that takes place when we embark on a journey of personal change.

When a bamboo is planted the roots begin growing and continue growing for years under the ground and out of sight. The larger the root mass, the taller the bamboo plant will eventually reach.

You can watch a bamboo for years before any outward growth becomes visible. Then suddenly the bamboo begins an amazing growth cycle, shooting up like it is on a mission to make up for years of no growth.

Sometimes this is how self improvement works. We learn techniques and begin applying them. Then under the surface out of our conscious awareness, change begins to take place. We see no visible effects of this change, but it is happening.

The more we focus on our goals and direct our attention to making positive changes, the more our subconscious is getting into alignment with our conscious choices.

Then suddenly one day all the pieces of the puzzle seem to fall into place and you manifest positive changes on a massive level.

Impatience and Frustration:

Many often feel stuck and frustrated with the perceived image that nothing is working.

Think of it like an overweight dieter. They begin to lose weight and see great results, then seem to hit a wall where no weight loss is achieved. The easy step would be to give up and proclaim the diet is not working.

However, if the individual sticks to their plan, they eventually get past this plateau and again see more weight loss results.

I don’t know about you, but in my personal life I discovered no matter how frustrated or impatient I become, it does not speed things up. Actually it has the reverse effect.

During periods of little to no growth, it seems normal to become impatient and frustrated. However you can compare this to digging up a bamboo every week to check on growth. Not only would the growth cycle be slower, there is a chance it wouldn’t even survive.

Have you ever left for work late and noticed the more impatient or frustrated you become with traffic, other drivers and stop lights the slower your progress becomes?

When broadcasting a signal “I can’t have what I want” the Universe acting without judgment then responds with heavier traffic, slower stop lights and drivers blocking our path – ensuring we get exactly what we focused on – being late for work!

Self improvement works exactly the same. Broadcasting impatience and frustration to the Universe because of slow or even no progress shouts out the Universe “I cannot manifest my desires!”

The Universe then responds by making sure we get exactly what we focus on – no progress.

So the next time you feel there is nothing happening, remember the bamboo and re-focus attention to your goals and desires.

Acknowledge any impatience or frustration that arises, accept it as yours and then let it go. Self improvement takes time. Little steps today make big improvements tomorrow.

A Slight Breakfast Adjustment That Could Pack A Big Wallop

The exciting thing about weight loss is the more studies are done, the more the idea of making small changes in your nutritional plan can have revolutionary results towards your goals.

In the Michael Thurmond 6 Week Makeover plan, salt is eliminated as both a food production additive and as a condiment. People who have made this adjustment report being astounded at the differences in how much better they feel and how much easier it is to keep weight off (especially around the mid-section. Users also report that the decreased consumption of processed sugars through processed foods or as an additive also has drastically changed outcomes. So you have to products that come and exist in forms that are almost too small to see, yet they make such a monster difference.

Michael Thurmond 6 Week Makeoveris all about that knowledge and sharing it with you. What’s making us fat is not necessarily eating too much. It is actually eating the wrong things v. the right things we could be eating. As I have said numerous times, were talking content over quantity. That’s what actually matters.

Jan from Eatingplansforweightloss.info posted recently about a study that showed clearly that eating eggs rather than a bread based alternative for breakfast caused the egg eaters to lose weight at clip of 50 percent or greater. The reason for this comes down to the content science. Eggs are naturally occurring in nature and are loaded with vitamins and protein. They are easy to digest and easy to turn into energy. Bread products like bagels and cereal are unnatural, loaded with hard to digest and burn chemicals and preservatives and also unnatural sugars. These substances cause the body to store fat rather than burn it.

It’s the primary reason that Michael Thurmond 6 Week Makeover approaches the weight loss question almost strictly from a food perspective and focuses so much of the blueprinting process on limiting your intake of processed foods. As we take ourselves off these products and get the body used to more natural foods like nuts, fruits, meats and whole creams, we see the body have a rising metabolism and a more efficient burn of calories to energy. This is the fundamental reason for weight loss or weight gain. If you are a burner, you keep weight off. The fact is, we all can become burners. That idea is extremely exciting.

What we eat determines whether this transition takes place and whether it will remain permanent.

A Quick Look at Some of Today’s Most Effective Diets

The idiot-proof diet is all about calorie shifting. That is, in this diet, you shift your food intake throughout the day instead of eating just 3 meals a day. The diet is popular because it’s actually very easy to follow and there are hardly any restrictions when it comes to the types of food you can eat.

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The Idiot-Proof Diet

The idiot-proof diet is all about calorie shifting. That is, in this diet, you shift your food intake throughout the day instead of eating just 3 meals a day. The diet is popular because it’s actually very easy to follow and there are hardly any restrictions when it comes to the types of food you can eat.

The ‘calorie shifting’ model takes place because you eat every two and half hours. The theory is that because your body is consuming calories (energy) constantly throughout the day, it’s always in ‘burning calories’ mode instead of the ‘saving calories’ mode.

When you sign up for the diet, you get access to a diet handbook, an 11-day diet-plan and a diet calculator. You get to pick what foods you like to eat so don’t think that you’ll be tarving in this diet!

NutriSystem

The NutriSystem way of dieting is all about proper meal planning. People love this diet because it takes away the burden of trying to figure out what to eat during their dieting phase. You see, a lot of people actually get confused as to what they can eat when they want to lose weight. That’s not really surprising because there’s so much information out there and for every yay sayer, there is a nay sayer so it’s really tough to know what to eat.

However, with NurtiSystem, they do all the meal planning and portion controlling for you. You just need to sign up to any of their diet programs (e.g., Women’s Program, Men’s Program, Vegetarian Program, etc.) and order a multi-day (usually for 28 days) diet program.

After you choose your diet program, a menu is presented to you and you simply choose what you want to eat. The meals are then delivered to your doorstep at various intervals during your diet program.

The South Beach Diet

The South Beach Diet is popular because the name alone conjures bikini-clad bodies! Add to that the fact that it was founded by a cardiologist, Dr. Arthur Agatston, then you have a sort of ‘doctor recommended, doctor approved’ seal on the diet as well.

At first glance, the South Beach Diet looks a lot like the Atkins Diet in the sense that it restricts carbohydrates during the initial phase of the program (there are 3 phases). The first phase (14 days) encourages ‘normal eating’ in the sense that you can pretty much eat whatever you want but you must NOT eat bread, rice, potatoes, pasta, or baked goods. Fruit is also not allowed. No sugar. No alcohol.

The second phase allows you to SLOWLY introduce these items back into your diet but at lesser levels that you consumed them before of course. The third phase is more about general maintenance.

Weight Watchers

Probably one of the longest running diet programs out there is Weight Watchers. It believes in the overall approach where food, exercise, behavior and support are addressed.

Weight Watchers is known for advocating a point system for foods. Using this system, one calculates the calorie intake of the foods he or she eats. The number of points you can have in a day varies depending on your weight. The beauty of the program is that there are no gut-wrenching food restrictions so you never feel deprived of anything. However, the point system teaches you how to balance your meals so that even if you indulge on one food item, you don’t go overboard and consume too much in a day.