Visualization for Weight Loss -The Gabriel Method

The Positive Stresses

Visualization Techniques for Maximizing the Weight-loss Benefits of Exercise If you really want to get the most out of exercise in the briefest amount of time, do this: The Imaginary Predator One day I went out for a bike ride and I was feeling kind of flat. My ride was boringly routine, and I thought that I needed some- thing to pick it up and keep me motivated. No sooner did I have that thought when a dog came running out of its driveway and started chasing me. I immediately stood up and began sprinting as fast as I could. The dog stayed with me for almost a mile, sometimes just inches away from taking a bite out my Achilles tendon. He eventually gave up, and the rest of my ride was phe- nomenal. I had gotten all the motivation and excitement I needed, and I was really pumped up. Over the next few weeks, I noticed that my fitness had made a quantum leap. I was much stronger, and my typical ride was easy as could be. It then occurred to me that I had just connected with something very primal. For those brief few moments, my body was running for its life, and so it adapted by getting leaner and stronger. After this event, I started doing something different. Every time I got to that point in my ride, I would stand up and imagine that the dog was chasing me. I discovered that this is a great way to activate the get thin or get eaten adaptation response. For me, the dog chase gave me the same benefits as a similar experience had given to Jessie, my cat. Technique: So in those brief moments during exercise when you’re moving at your fastest, imagine that a preda- tor is actually chasing you and you’re moving so fast because you’re running for your life.

Your body doesn’t know the difference between real and imagined threats, so it won’t know you are making up this visual- ization in your head. It will think that something is really chasing

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