Visualization for Weight Loss -The Gabriel Method

Part IV: Positive Forces that Make Your Body Want to Be Thin

exercise as a calorie-burning tool. Now, light aerobics are great, but imagine you were walking along in the forest and a bear came out of nowhere. Would you go for a forty-minute, light aerobic walk? No, you’d move as fast as you could for a few sec- onds or a few minutes until you had either outrun the bear or your friends, who the bear is also chasing. In the same way, whenever you’re being physically active, it’s those very brief moments of intensity that make your body think that you need to be thin. Leisurely walking is great because it does burn calories, increases blood circulation and cardio fitness, and it strengthens your muscles. I recommend it and I do not mean to belittle it; it’s very useful. But it will not necessarily make your body want to be thin. And that is our primary objective—to make your body want to be thin. Walking can be a great exercise. But when you’re going for a walk, the way to maximize the benefit of the walk is to vary the speed at which you are walking periodically. So if you’re going for a twenty-minute walk, don’t just push yourself straight through for the whole twenty minutes. It’s much better to go at a leisurely pace for the majority of the time and then three or four times during the walk, walk a little faster for thirty seconds or a minute. It is in those brief periods when you are moving faster that you are able to make your body think that its survival is at risk. As far as your body is concerned, the hormonal message is loud and clear: Alert! Alert! Nothing is more important than being lean and fast! The predators chasing us could kill us at any moment! For- get about storing and holding onto fat! We have new priorities! Drop weight! Do whatever you can to drop weight! Shut off all the FAT Programs, and get thin NOW!! One recent study monitored women who exercised on a sta- tionary bike for twenty minutes a day, three times a week. The women were told to sprint for eight to twelve seconds periodi- cally during their ride. Interestingly, these women lost three times as much weight as women who exercised at a continuous pace for forty minutes. 2

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