Day Fifty-six: visualisation

First of all, thank-you to everyone who commented on my last post via Facebook, and in fact all my blitherings on over the last six months. Your support is greatly appreciated.

One of the lovely ladies in the Facebook group I belong to recently posted a link about how visualisation can help with weight loss (among other things). This can be a hugely powerful technique and is used by successful people in all types of activities. 

http://caloriecount.about.com/visualize-weight-loss-success-b325293

We all visualise, constantly. Mostly we are not aware of it. But we have perceptions and mental images that we use to interpret the world around us and our place in it. Having lived through long bouts of depression throughout my life, I know that our minds can act very simplistically in their reactions to events and images around us. It doesn't distinguish between reality and strongly imagined events. One of the causes of depression is the mind constantly imagining negative and untrue outcomes. The treatment of depression often involves using actions and deliberate thought patterns to persuade the brain out of the poor habits that exacerbate the underlying chemical conditions that cause the illness.

I know that I have a pretty poor mental image of my body. I do wonder whether this is part of the reason my progress has slowed down recently.

There is a phenomenon in the financial markets called resistance or technical trading levels. It happens when a share value approaches a certain level but doesn't break through it. This can happen near a round number in value. For example a stock will trade up from $8 to $9, creeping up towards $10, but when it gets to $9.95 it gets stuck and the price may fall again. Even though investors feel that stock is worth more, the fact that it is getting near a round number prevents them buying.

I feel like I'm mentally stuck at a technical limit just below a 2 stone weight loss. I've been so close for so long but just can't seem to get to it. I find it very difficult to imagine losing more weight. I particularly just can't get my head around the idea that I might one day not be overweight. I know I need to get past that if I'm going to get any further but it just seems completely incomprehensible. In the mean time I'll just keep plodding on and hope that I am pleasantly surprised, much as I have been up to this point.