Бесплатный фрагмент - Easy Way to Get And Stay Slim

Introduction

“Easy Way to Get And Stay Slim. Mindset for weight loss” is based on the integrative lost-weight counseling successfully applied by Artyom Ovechkin for over eight years (“fusion” of cognitive, behavioral and humanistic approach), Ultraparadoxical Psychotherapy developed by I. Kosenkov, “I see you” (mirror neurons techniques) by A.V. Trenogov, and “Mind format” technique by A.G. Lyamin.

This book contains a step-by-step description of the training course accompanied by comments of N. I. Kosenkov, Ph. D. in medicine science, member of Petrovskaya Academy of Sciences and Arts, Ph. D. of medical science, head of psychotherapeutic chamber of Gastroenterology department of Kirov Military Medical Academy; A.V. Trenogov — psychiatrist, psychologist with over ten years of experience in group counseling (psychological correction of weight). There are also comments of those who have already lost excess weight and stay slim successfully due to counseling of psychologist Artem Ovechkin — Olga Tsyganova (lost 110 pounds) and Gennady Arustamov (lost 90 pounds).

In our opinion, our experience of counseling and other information contained in this book allow making decisive progress towards solution of the issue of great public concern — overweight and obesity, which leads to many other coexistent diseases, decreasing quality of life. About 50 percent of Russia population and more than 1.7 billion people in the world suffer from excess weight. For various reasons, professional help of weight loss specialists — a therapist or a psychologist — is not available to many people. The book can be used (and we believe it WILL be applied!) as an important tool not only by overweight people seeking recovery but also by counseling experts: physicians, psychologists, massage therapists, and others.

A combination of effective methods applied during the training described in this book, absence of necessity to count daily calories, or impose strict bans on high-calorie foods make our approach more effective compared to previous ones. At the same time, simplicity, clarity, and effectiveness of the techniques make this approach more comfortable both for people who lose weight and for assisting specialists. According to this book, the problem of excess weight is a complex issue, inherent to a person who shall be considered as a bio-psycho-social being, seeking not only to adapt but also to realize his potential in full. Therefore, losing weight and long-term preservation of achieved results are impossible without self-development, which is described by the authors of the book and confirmed by people who comment on the training after dropping dozens of pounds and successfully preserving the result.

“Easy Way to Get And Stay Slim. Mindset For Weight Loss” won the nomination “Psychology to people — Educative psychology project of the year” of the national psychological contest “Golden Psyche” 2017.

Chapter 1. Day one

— Hello there! We are live on the air again!

My name is Ovechkin Artyom Andreyevich. I am a psychologist, instructor at the Institute of Practical Psychology “IMATON”, author of several books and TV show consultant. I provide weight loss counseling and all kinds of mindset training. Occasionally I conduct seminars all over the world but mainly provide personal, family, and group counseling in Saint-Petersburg. I am 41. I hope I will be able to work as a counselor for a long time. Do you think it’s easy?

— Probably not.

— You are right. Have you already tried to fight against overweight?

— I do it every day of my life! ☺

— You are experienced fighters then. Great! Let’s wait a few minutes for Victor. He will come soon. We are going to have a man in our group. Lucky you! They say it’s easier to succeed with weight loss if there is at least one man in the group. Our plan for success is like that: we will swap places every day to ensure that each of you will have been sitting by the man for a while. It will contribute to weight loss.

— ☺

— Have you ever heard about people who studied the mindset of a slim person at my group sessions?

— My daughter attended the group and took personal consultations.

— How is she doing?

— Fine. Her weight is one hundred forty-three pounds now.

— What was her weight before?

— Two hundred nine.

— So, she lost over sixty pounds. How much time did it take?

— Let me see… Ten months!

— Great! Perhaps someone else has friends or relatives who passed my seminars? Did they succeed?

— My colleague attended your group session. She has lost forty pounds.

— Thousands of people attended my training on practical psychology of being slim. They succeed in weight loss and stay slim. Who can’t get slim? Only the one who does nothing or starts to distort recommendations saying: “Why shouldn’t I try something else?” Actually, everything is easy. During our session, I’ll tell you what to do. You’ll try the technique and start to change your habits. It’s impossible to learn how to drive or ride a bicycle in one day, right?

— Right!

We are in the beginning of never-ending journey of self-improvement

— One stage of this journey is to drop excess weight and stay slim. It’s a long-term process. During our course, we will build a relationship that is similar to the one that is established between a coach and an athlete.

Athletes keep on training. They need to take many efforts to win the competition. But the coach makes his contribution to success either.

He trains the team, corrects mistakes, encourages, and provides moral support to the athletes. Sometimes he even gives them, you know, a swift kick in the pants. As you can guess, it makes athletes redouble efforts, and they achieve success faster. ☺

If you have any questions during our course, you can schedule an appointment for personal counseling on-site or via Skype.

Does anyone else have friends, relatives, or acquaintances who attended our weight loss training course?

— My girlfriend.

— When?

— In 2008.

— Has she lost some weight?

— Yes.

— How much?

— About thirty pounds.

— Does she maintain the weight?

— Yes.

— Any other people?

— My acquaintance attended a group session in May.

— Was she in my group?

— Yes.

— What is her result?

— She told me that she had lost sixty pounds. She definitely looks slim and fit. She is my fellow-student.

— I remember her. She attended another training recently.

So, here is the thing. If you follow our recommendations, you succeed. If you ignore them, you get nothing. Let’s write down a few things.

Olga Vladimirovna Tsyganova, 28, economist, lost 110 lbs Everyone, even the strongest people, has concerns that it won’t work for them. But you have to find the strength to make the very first small step to your dream, and then another one, and another one.

Anyway, you lose nothing. Yes, it won’t be easy. But believe me, it’s worth every effort. I took the first step. I came up for a sort of swift kick in the pants. It was so powerful that my whole world flipped upside down. My counselor inspired me. He gave me hope and demonstrated how attractive my life could be if I were slim.

Obesity is a psychosomatic disease

Obesity is a psychosomatic disorder. At first, your ‘psyche’ suffers, and the body is next. “Psyche” means soul, ‘soma’ means body. Psychosomatic disorder.

Oh, here is our man!

Hello, come up here. Take your seat. Here, Mila shows you the empty chair. Ok. So, I prepared everyone for your arrival. I told them you are a sort of mascot of our group! You know, men are rare here. But their presence contributes a lot to a weight loss of the women.

— ☺

— There are a lot of men with excess weight, but just a few are seeking the assistance of experts. They should. It’s the easiest way to get slim.

N.B.! Obesity is a psychosomatic disorder, a chronic disease that tends to relapse. “Tending to relapse” means that if you return to former eating behavior, you start gaining weight again.

Nikolay Ivanovich Kosenkov, member of Petrovskaya Academy of Sciences and Arts, Ph. D. of medical science

Only humans have self-consciousness. Therefore, we can affect the disease caused by the impaired performance of self-consciousness through the self-exploration.

Remember: psychosomatic diseases are unique to humans!

This type of diseases include bronchial asthma, nonspecific ulcerative colitis, idiopathic hypertension, neurodermatitis, rheumatoid arthritis, gastroduodenal ulcer, coronary artery disease, psychosomatic thyrotoxicosis, diabetes mellitus type II, obesity and neurocirculatory asthenia.

According to our theory, any psychosomatic disorder is a result of a malfunction of hemispheric asymmetry (N. I. Kosenkov, 1997). Psychosomatic disease occurs due to the increased activity of the left hemisphere. We believe that some other diseases, such as radiculitis, hemicephalalgia, intestinal colic, irritable bowel syndrome, dyskinesia of bile ducts, chronic pancreatitis, and infecundity, may have a psychosomatic nature as well.

The physiological adaptation mechanism (for compensation of functional brain asymmetry) is the impairment of an adequate response from body organs or functional systems with temporary functional asymmetry to biological or social stimuli. As a result, these body organs or functional systems are damaged due to trophic disturbances, primarily related to microcirculation disorders, which leads to pain. The pain, in turn, activates the right hemisphere, and the asymmetry of the brain leaves the critical zone.

Group session of psychologist

Artyom Andreyevich Ovechkin:

— I bet your former eating behavior is based on taking long breaks between meals. For example, you satisfy your hunger with sweets and desserts instead of eating healthy food. Have you ever done it?

— Yes.

— So, you ‘feed’ your hunger with desserts, depriving yourself of healthy food. Pauses between meals can last for eight or even ten hours. You eat once or twice a day. Then a woman with this type of eating behavior comes to me and says: “I guess someone put a curse on me. I eat once a day, but I’m still gaining weight!”

Nikolay Ivanovich Kosenkov, member of Petrovskaya Academy of Sciences and Arts, Ph. D. of medical science

Increase in the volume of the stomach due to the abundant meal changes the reflex activity of the entire gastrointestinal tract and can lead to obesity, since the sensation of satiety occurs much later. That’s why if you are suffering from obesity, you need to cut down the amount of food eaten and increase meal frequency. It helps to ease you hunger and induces early feeling of satiety.

The formation of new fat cells occurs: during the last trimester of pregnancy; in the first six or twelve months after birth; at the age of three, six, and during puberty (at the age of twelve-fifteen). After the age of fifteen, the number of fat cells doesn’t change; it stays the same. But a cell size can change. When you gain weight, fat cells increase in size. When an obese or overweight person loses weight, the fat cells shrink. Severe obesity also causes serious mental changes.

Andrey Vasilyevich Trenogov, psychologist, psychiatrist: For a long time, fat cells were considered to be storage depot. It was believed that they accumulated fat and then got rid of it, just as if they were storage tanks. Now we understand that it works a different way. Fat cells are “alive”. They need nutrition just like all other cells of our body. If you do long breaks between meals, the fat cells tend to accumulate energy intensively instead of spending it.

Group session of psychologist

Artyom Andreyevich Ovechkin:

— I tell her: “Curses have nothing to do with it.” Since ancient time, at certain moments of life metabolism of a human has been tending to slow down, activating fat storage mechanism… Imagine an ancient human. He spends lots of time without eating. For example, he can’t find any food. What will be his body response? Any ideas?

— Accumulation.

— Snezhana, an experienced accountant, is right! His body slows down metabolism and triggers economy mode.

Prolonged starvation is a signal for the body that it is necessary to stock up on the in-taking nutrition just in case if there is no food for a long time again.

When a person spends ten hours without food, his/her metabolism slows down and gets disturbed. During the next meal, some nutrition will be kept “in store”. Imagine that you act like this day by day, for many months. You stay hungry for the whole day, and then, in the evening, you gorge yourself with foods. As a result, your body accumulates unwanted tummy fat.

Nikolay Ivanovich Kosenkov, member of Petrovskaya Academy of Sciences and Arts, Ph. D. of medical science

Functions of adipose tissue are as follows:

— accumulation of energy reserves (one kilogram of fat contains 8,750 kilocalories);

— insulation of internal organs and gastrointestinal tract, their protection against mechanical impact and injuries;

— heat protection (maintaining the proper body temperature);

— accumulation of lipid-soluble vitamins (А, D, Е, К);

— endocrine function..

Group session of psychologist

Artyom Andreyevich Ovechkin:

— Obesity is a chronic disease. It means that you are ‘under threat’ for the rest of life. Progressive obesity means that if you start to gain excess weight, it’s difficult to stop the process.

Nevertheless, sometimes people get “mixed” results.

Tayisia lost ten pounds, and then…

— ...gained twenty pounds.

— Precisely. Then she lost twenty pounds and gained twenty-four pounds. And so on.

We have to restore metabolism after a long-term eating disorder. Most of you never face such a problem when you were young. During a certain period of time, when you were two, five, or seven, you didn’t have any excess weight. Am I right?

— Yes.

— You started gaining weight later.

Change your eating behavior to drop excess weight

When you didn’t have excess weight, you regularly ate, especially when you were a child.

— Think, for instance, of a baby. How often does the baby eat?

— Every three hours.

— Every two or three hours. Skip the meal, and the baby will put you through the wringer, screaming and whimpering until you give up and feed him. Tell the five-year-old: “You are gonna have only fat-free, sugar-free yogurt today.” What do you think he would say?

— He would probably misunderstand it.

— Another option: “You must not eat after 6 pm today”. Once a woman brought her five-year-old son to an Open Day at our center. She didn’t find a babysitter and came with her son. Just out of curiosity, I asked the boy: “Imagine, Mom told you not to eat after 6 pm”. You should’ve seen the look on his face after the question. ☺ After 6 pm? It was beyond his comprehension! Why?

— ☺

— He eats regularly. There was a time when you regularly ate too. Our goal is to restore your healthy food behavior. You will have four to six meals a day. Prepare yourself. People usually arrange “Good-bye, food” feast on the weekend before the session. I bet you did the same.

— Yes.

— That’s a common thing. You prepared the feast, invited friends, right?

— ☺

— “Game over. I start to lose weight. I am going to have fun for last”. Right? Then you come here and find out that you are going to eat four-six times a day.

— ☺

— OK, good. Over the years of counseling, I have helped thousands of people to drop weight. Do you know how many people in Russia suffer from excess weight? Over seventy million! Just fancy! As for the world, there are over a billion seventy million people with excess weight! You see, I still have a lot of work to do.

The most curious things happen when people who have already dropped ten, twenty, or forty pounds. They told me afterward that when they meet an overweight person somewhere, they feel a strong desire to come up and say: “Join us! You can drop weight by eating regularly!”

— ☺

— No medicines, no starvation, no coding, no hypnotic stare, or subliminal stimuli. A woman asked me recently: “Look at me with your special hypnotic stare, the one I saw in the picture on the cover of your book. I know you have a sort of superpower. Can you look at me like that to stop me from gorging myself with foods?

— ☺

— You should address such a request to a psychic or a hypnotist! I don’t know how to do it.

Andrey Vasilyevich Trenogov, psychologist, psychiatrist:

We need to recognize that coding helps some people. About ten percent of people feel better after it. What about the remaining ninety percent?

Almost all coding and hypnosis techniques provide for a list of allowed and forbidden foods. Some people immediately declare: “If some food is forbidden, I will eat it for sure.” One of my clients said: “I never liked pies. But after I have been forbidden from eating pies, for some reason, I craved for them. Now I still try to give up this habit”.

The effect of the suggestion of a good hypnotist usually lasts only for a short period of time. This is due to the fact that in addition to the biological immune system, a human being has got a “mental immune system”. When it detects a sort of ‘foreign particle,” no matter if it is nice and useful or not, it easily gets rid of such suggestions and returns to a state of “psychological homeostasis”.

Group session of psychologist

Artyom Andreyevich Ovechkin:

I can change your eating behavior. I’ll give you useful knowledge and help to form new habits and skills. We’ll create new mental mindsets and work on their adoption. Former dysfunctional mental mindsets will be challenged and rejected to prevent them from triggering weight gain. You will use all the knowledge and skills acquired during our session feeding yourself with tasty, nourishing, healthy food every day. At the same time, you will lose weight! All you need to do is to change your attitude towards yourself, others, and food.

Nikolay Ivanovich Kosenkov, member of Petrovskaya Academy of Sciences and Arts, Ph. D. of medical science

Insulin converts glucose and other carbohydrates into fat and inhibits lipase activity. Normally, one-third of alimentary glucose is used for the synthesis of endogenous fat. For obese people, the ratio of converted-into-fat glucose is up to two thirds.

A decrease in the amount of fat in fat cells is due to increased lipase activity.

What hormones activate lipase?

These are adrenaline and noradrenaline (stress hormones), somatotropic hormone (growth hormone STH), adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), and glucagon.

Glucagon is a so-called “hunger hormone” produced by α-cells of the pancreas in response to a decrease in blood glucose levels. By raising blood glucose levels, glucagon increases insulin secretion.

Growth hormone is released only from 11 pm to 4 am. This is the time when your body grows and repairs itself. The release of GH is reduced if a person has eaten a lot of sweet things after eight pm (had a cup of tea with cookies or sweets, ate sweet yogurt or some honey, and so on). Or if the person doesn’t sleep at this time (from 11 pm to 4 am), for example, watching TV, as he is afraid to miss something important. Therefore, you shouldn’t eat sweet things (simple carbohydrates) after 8–9 pm. You can eat something else if you are hungry. Besides, you need to sleep from at least 11 pm till 4 am.

Remember, you can lose weight while sleeping!

If you walk in the park in the evening, a few ounces of excess weight will disappear by the morning.

“A monster in the mirror!” Time to settle the problem!

— What was the final straw for you, Eugenia? Why did you come here?

— I met Eugenia. She has lost sixty-six pounds. Fantastic! She became so slim! I was impressed.

— Why does excess weight disturb you so much?

— It’s not comfortable to be like this.

— Why?

— Because of my job. As a network engineer, I often have to creep under tables. It’s not comfortable at all when my body is so big!

— Ok, got it. Elizaveta, what was the last straw for you?

— My twelve-year-old son told me: “Mom, you are getting a bit fatty.”

— A woman told me recently that her young child used to clutch her tummy. No wonder, there is enough of flesh to cling! So, he uses to shake her fat rolls and yells: “Mom, you are so fat!”

That’s it. Just fancy, she told me: “I nearly almost faint when he does it! I feel so bad. It’s depressing”. What about you? What did you feel when your son said that you are “a bit fatty”?

— I realized that my child is embarrassed of having me around. My elder daughter doesn’t like it either.

— Got it. Thank you. Nadezhda?

— I tried everything to get and to maintain healthy weight. I dropped weight, but then I gained it again. The problem is that I can’t maintain the result. I keep this diet or another, then allow myself some treats — and start to gain weight again.

— Why does excess weight disturb you so much?

— Perhaps, it’s because of my job. Frankly speaking, I can’t drop weight anymore. I am concerned about gaining more weight…

— So, you are afraid of gaining weight?

— Yes. It will be harder to drop pounds when I get older.

— Fine. Got it.

— My husband told me: “You were a bit slimmer before.”

— And whenever he goes by, he pinches your tummy…

— Yes. ☺

— Got it. Larisa?

— I don’t like it! I hate this fat! I don’t like myself! Of course, when I meet friends, they tell me: “Why do you need to lose weight? You look great. You are doing well.”

— Of course, they want you stay like this.

— Agree. I believe, they have to look critically at themselves. I am realistic. I am not pleased with what I see in the mirror. Staying in front of the mirror, I often think: “What a mess!”

— I have to do something about it.

— We’ll discuss this “mess” today. Actually, it’s not a mess at all. You say stuff like that because you are a bit tired and disappointed.

— I always treat myself this way…

Andrey Vasilyevich Trenogov, psychologist, psychiatrist:

We can gain some weight while getting older. On average, after the twenty-fifth birthday, you can afford to gain five and a half pounds every decade. For example, if at twenty-five you weighed one hundred thirty-two pounds, then at the age of thirty-five, your normal weight is one hundred thirty-seven and a half pounds At forty-five years you can weight one hundred forty-three pounds, and so on. But that is up to you Comfortable weight is something very personal, associated with values and self-identification.

Therefore, you should not count your perfect weight as “height minus 100”. You should stop dropping weight when you feel comfortable.

---

Nikolay Ivanovich Kosenkov, member of Petrovskaya Academy of Sciences and Arts, Ph. D. of medical science

While a person is not looking at the mirror, he usually likes himself. Then, why a person often considers himself fat after looking at the mirror? Even people suffering from lack of weight — patients with anorexia and bulimia — believe that they have excess weight and are try to drop it in every possible way. Any objective arguments — weight readings, photos, opinions of others — cannot prove to them that their problem is underweight, but not excess weight. Such behavior is called uncritical (distorted) attitude to weight.

Overweight people often preserve critical attitude to their weight. They realize that their weight is excessive. In addition, this view is supported by the people around and weight readings.

The reason for this behavior is that the mind of an anorexic patient has already formed a “body matrix” based on the constitution of top-models and celebrities who the person looks up to. It’s a tribute to fashion, and at the same time, it’s the destruction of personality, replacement of reality with phantom, and desire to be like this phantom.

In this case, the “error detector”, after unsuccessful attempts to correct the behavior of the person, starts up the process of self-destruction. The person believes that there is another person in his body.

We can create another phantom to correct our body. For this purpose, you need to use your memories and your photos of the time when you were completely satisfied with your body. Then it will seek to return to the state that you had once. It will be you, not a celebrity phantom in the photo.

No! No! And no again! Is it really useful?

— Many people want you to stay big, kind, and appeasable. You know, overweight people are considered friendly and soft.

They never say “no”. This is a great benefit for others. Have you learned to say “no”? Or you have always been able to do it?

— No, not always. Life has taught me. But it’s still hard sometimes.

---

Nikolay Ivanovich Kosenkov, member of Petrovskaya Academy of Sciences and Arts, Ph. D. of medical science

We cannot say “no” when it corresponds to our intentions. We cherish and demonstrate in every possible way our best quality — kindness.

This is the main mindset for many people: “A kindhearted person never says “no”. They say, fat person is a kind person, because he can’t resist delicious dishes and his desire for food.

But it’s not the worst thing. N. P. Bekhtereva, an academician of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, established that our brain has a special mechanism, so-called “Error Detector”. This mechanism continuously monitors thoughts of a person and compares them with actions: whether they correspond to his life attitudes and rules that were formed by his conscience during upbringing and education.

If such a comparison shows that a person repeatedly acts contrary to his conscience and principles, then the “Error Detector” forces a person to correct his behavior by using psychosomatic disorders as one of the mechanisms for influence on the person. We know that obesity is considered to be a psychosomatic disorder. This is often reflected in so-called compulsive actions and thoughts. These are the first obvious symptoms of psychological distress, manifested by inner anxiety, depression, fears, sleep disturbance, decreased concentration, and mental fatigue. At first, one psychosomatic disease occurs. If a person did not make any conclusions, another disease is added, then another one. If it does not help, a person does not want to correct his thoughts and actions, and the Error Detector starts up a self-destruction mechanism through very serious diseases or injuries.

The only salvation is to live in accordance with our moral instincts.

Live in harmony with ourselves, cherish positive thoughts, be kind, but do not demonstrate this quality everywhere and always, especially when you are not asked to be kind and to impose your goodness on a person..

Group session of psychologist

Artyom Andreyevich Ovechkin:

— You are a lucky one. We’ll discuss this topic during our training for sure.

— I started to gain weight at the age of thirty-five. I’ve gained a lot of weight during the last four years. You know, hate myself sometimes.

— You shouldn’t. You know, I have an idea. Raise your hand if it is hard to say No for you… If you can’t say No… Be honest. One, two, three… Eight… Nine! Nine people! As you see, the problem is vitally important. Some people take advantage of you. They take your time, money, attention and energy. As a rule, overweight person gives everything to others again and again. Who is the one he cares the least?

— He himself.

— Yes! Exactly. Ok, we’ll work through this. You know, I’m really impressed to hear that you can say No. Great!

— Sometimes I can give a sharp refuse.

— I guess life taught you to act like that?

— Yes.

— Tayisia, what was the last straw for you?

— I’m so tired of all of this stuff! Anytime I meet a friend, I hear something like: “Oh, you are getting some weight!” And then they add:

“It doesn’t matter, you look great.”

— I bet friends notice every excess pound you gain? You gain another couple of pounds, meet your friend, and she tells you: “Oh dear me, you are getting so fat!” And she says it so joyfully that you would like to punch her, right?

— ☺

— If often happens to overweight people.

Joyful sympathy? Bingo, Elizaveta!

☺ Well, don’t worry, you will soon demonstrate your achievements to her. Let her sweat it out.

— I told my husband: “Stop gobbling up!” He looked at me and shot back: “If you are not hungry, don’t eat.”

— Is he overweight?

— No. My husband is tall. He’s got a big tummy, though. He has a job that requires hard physical labor, so…

— A woman from another group told me recently: “My husband proclaimed: “It’s not a tummy. It’s a bundle of nerves!”

— That’s exactly how my husband feels! ☺

— Do you overeat because of some stress?

— Yes.

We’ll talk about it. The problem must be settled. Snezhana?

— This year we went to the seaside. I didn’t want to go out because of my excess weight. If you want to visit some sightseeing, you have to climb into an off-roader. I just can’t do it! It’s too hard for me.

— Did it hurt your feelings?

— Of course! I’d like to go around.

— I ask these questions to make you think why excess weight disturbs you so much. I want you to realize how you feel about it physically and mentally. I bet it happened more than once.

— Yes. During that trip, one incident really disturbed me. My son is ten. He said that he wanted to have a roller coaster ride with me. But there was weight limit. I couldn’t ride with my son!

— I see. It’s really upsetting.

But I am glad that you are here. Many people feel sad, offended, and unhappy. But they go on living with excess weight and obesity and do not take any attempts to try any effective technique for weight loss.

Olga Vladimirovna Tsyganova, 28, economist, lost 110 lbs Just imagine what a great feeling it is when you meet acquaintances who you haven’t seen for a long time, and their jaws drop because they haven’t got accustomed to seeing you slim and beautiful! It is a strange feeling, funny and inspiring at the same time. It gives you desire to get even slimmer. Sympathy disappears while rivalry takes its place. Right, now you can compete with other women on equal terms! I often felt that my friends were scared. You used to be smart, but many people preferred beauties. Now you are smart and beautiful. You can outshine everyone with your charisma and appearance. You are not a drabbie anymore. But true friends are still with me. They love me even more by now, and I love myself too. It’s much easier for me to live now. I buy clothes in stores I always dreamed about, I run without any shortness of breath. I walk a lot, and — amazingly — my legs do not hurt anymore. I don’t have high blood pressure. It’s possible to get slim and maintain weight at the desired level. You live only once. It’s time to get out of your shell.

Hello Rolly Pollies!

— Victor, why does excess weight disturb you so much?

— Heart issues. And short of breath. I know how much I should weigh. I gained a lot of weight in the summer. My wife attended your seminar in winter. The results are awesome! I attended a gym, kept diet until summer. But then I went on a bender. You know, beer, fish, other summer delicacies. It’s hard to stop. Meanwhile, my wife eats often and stays slim!

Andrey Vasilyevich Trenogov, psychologist, psychiatrist: I’d like to say a few words about physical activity. To lose a pound of fat, a woman has to carry a 10-lbs load for seventy-five hours! As for men, they are lucky. They usually lose weight faster. In order to lose one pound of fat, a man needs to carry the same load for only fifty-five hours.

To burn the caloric value of a 3,5-oz bun, one has to jog for about forty minutes (which is, by the way, pretty dangerous for knee joints of an overweight person) or walk with a dog for four hours.

Why do so many people who start to attend the gym lose weight then?

It’s simple. When do people usually attend the gym? In the evening. When do they usually overeat? In the evening! Physical activity leads to the release of endorphins, the so-called hormones of happiness. People usually overeat when they feel upset, bored, lonely, and sad. As you see, physical activity has almost nothing to do with weight loss. Of course, there are those who train intensively (the process of fat burning starts up twenty minutes after the start of the cyclic dynamic loading). However, let’s be honest. There are just a few of them.

Do not think that I discourage you from using any physical activity in the course of weight loss. It is necessary not for weight loss, but to keep your muscles healthy.

Yet, there is another trap that almost everyone falls into. If I eat more, it’s enough to train longer. This works for a car. The more gas you pour into the tank, the longer you drive. If this works for a human, then as soon as the energy obtained with food came to an end, the person would immediately stop until someone re-fueled him. We spend energy that we have received long before this. To be precise, what you ate on Monday will be spent two days later, on Wednesday.

---

Group session of psychologist

Artyom Andreyevich Ovechkin:

— How many pounds did you wife drop?

— At least thirty-three pounds. We have three children. But she is as slim now as she used to be many years ago.

— As you see, the training has been very productive!

— She commented on me. What a shame!

— ☺

— OK, got it. Mila, what about you? What was your last straw?

— I guess I was stressed when I found out that my weight is over 220 pounds. Another issue: I went on business trips and bought a new jacket every fall. I was at a size 18, but I bought clothing of 20 size. I prefer loose clothes. This year I found out that all my jackets are too tight for me. Size 20 is too small for me now. I was really terrified. Another scary moment: I noticed that when I met friends, I tried to pass by without greeting them. People are used to seeing me as a person I was before — a successful woman who’s capable of doing anything. I don’t want them to see me overweight like this.

— Quality of life deteriorates.

— And my self-esteem decreases.

— …which, in its turn, affects the quality of your life. OK. Nika?

— I began to gain weight after pregnancy. I feel bad. It’s getting harder to move. If I start rocking baby, I get short of breath.

— I see. Olesya?

— I buy 16 — 18 size clothing. Customers and colleagues hint that I am overweight. I heard a new customer said recently:

“Is this plump brunette your director?” Another customer uses to greet me like: “Hi Rolly Polly!”

— ☺

— Shame on him! I am trying to ignore it but being a director…

— It might be really frustrating. OK, I see.

Olga Vladimirovna Tsyganova, 28, economist, lost 110 lbs I am well aware of the problems with clothes. Once, I was at a size 24, even 26 sometimes. I know it sounds terrifying. How could I let myself gain so much excess weight? Every year I bought clothing of a bigger size. When I started to drop weight, almost my clothing ‘got slimmer’ together with me. I re-sew it because I knew that I didn’t want to stop, and buying new clothes every month would be costly and irrational. I am at a size 10—12 now. It’s fantastic, cause it’s so easy to find a nice trendy outfit for me almost in every store. It’s only the beginning. I’m still working for better results.

---

Group session of psychologist

Artyom Andreyevich Ovechkin:

— Anzhelika?

— I don’t like myself anymore. It’s scary to look at myself in the mirror.

— What do you feel at that moment?

— Disgust. This is what I turned into…

— Is it frustrating?

— Yes. Excess weight affects my health well-being, especially when I am at work, even though my job is not related to any physical labor. Once my colleague and me walked from one office room to another one. She told me suddenly: “Anzhelika, you have a short of breath.” I felt embarrassed. It was like a slap in the face.

— Breathe. It’s normal that you are crying now. Here, take a napkin. I understand what you mean. During the training we will definitely work through all the feelings that you have accumulated. You haven’t let them go. They are still in your mind. Ksenya?

— Actually, it’s all the same. Eighteen months ago I was two sizes smaller. Then I gained five kilograms and couldn’t drop them for a year. I even gained more during Christmas holidays. In short, I frantically tried to figure out how to lose weight, rushed from one extreme technique to another. I haven’t tried any diet. Of course, I don’t eat in the evening. It helped me for a while. The last straw was when a shop assistant that was picking out clothes for me said: “I guess you wear a size 18”. I am concerned about these changes.

— What size did you wear before?

— I was at a size 12. In my opinion, I look a lot older and a bit vulgar now.

— We all feel spine-chilling after your words.

Where do you come from and where do you go?

Andrey Vasilyevich Trenogov, psychologist, psychiatrist: Before you start losing weight, you need to send a certain time clarifying a few uneasy issues.

In order to achieve the goal, you need to understand clearly where you come from and where you go.

To do this, you can do the following exercise: write down (no need to think it over, just write down everything that comes into your mind) all sides of your life affected by excess weight. How does it affect your physical and mental health, work, and relationships with relatives, friends, and other people?

How do you feel about it? Where are these feelings concentrated (in your head, chest, in the stomach, or in the whole body)?

Ask yourself: How do I see myself now? What image appears in your mind? It can be an abstract image, a metaphor, or something.

Then describe the environment where you want to get to. Move mentally to a moment of time when you have already achieved what you want and describe your new life in the present tense. Describe your health state, relations with friends, and relatives. Think about other positive changes weight loss brought into your life.

How do you feel while describing your new state? In what areas of your body the sensation is concentrated?

How do you see yourself in this situation? What image (symbol or metaphor) appears in your mind?

After completion of the exercise, you should have two images:

one for a “starting point” and another for a “destination point.” These images will affect you like a powerful magnet, pushing you away from the “starting point” and pulling towards the destination.

“Get slim at any cost!” she said and opened the fridge. How did you drop weight?

— I appreciate that you shared your feelings with me. One more question. What have you tried before to lose weight? We have to discuss the issue. So, let’s talk about it.

---

Gennadiy Arturovich Arustamov, 41, Ph. D. in Economics, a CEO of “Reka-More” company, dropped 90 lbs:

I’d start telling you the story about my transformation from the time when I weighed three hundred pounds. I’ve already met psychologist Artyom Andreevich Ovechkin, as once I attended his counseling session on issues unrelated to weight loss. I knew that he counseled people who suffer from obesity and stress, and decided to ask him for help. Well, that was over two years ago.

My excessive weight began a long time ago, after school. After graduating from college and starting to work full-time, I began to gain weight. In my youth, I was into sports. So, when I quit, the weight literally started going up. I have been trying to settle the problem of excess weight since I was twenty-four. I tried everything. Diets, fasting, that’s quite a story. I became pretty experienced in weight loss. Looking for different solutions, I tried different methods, specialized clinics — almost everything. Anyway, even if it had any effect, it was only temporary. Excess weight returned, even in a larger amount. In an effort to drop weight, I was doing sports actively and intensively. Perhaps, I put too much on my plate. Anyway, it didn’t lead to long-term results either. My physical condition was getting worse. I continued to gain weight. At the time, when I finally realized that I couldn’t handle it anymore, and Artyom and I started working on my problem, my weight was one three hundred pounds.

I felt really bad.

That was accompanied by a continuing crisis at work and constant emotional fatigue. As a result, at the age of forty, I was totally worn out; my nervous system was all gone. Then we started to work. And the changes began. Ironically, things occurred as follows: Instead of weight loss, we started working on stress, trying to determine and eliminate the primary cause, changing my attitude to stress, life, life perception, to myself and others. I read the recommended books. I listened to the bits of advice given by the authors. We worked hard. It is to my credit that I did my best. I was motivated to achieve significant results. At a certain point, weight loss wasn’t my main goal anymore. My mental state, inner harmony, and positive attitude became much more important to me.

It became my main goal, the primary motivation to move on and continue changing myself. Now, two years later, my weight is two hundred nine pounds. I’ve dropped ninety pounds. Yes, I also do sports. But now I do it properly, bearing in mind medical recommendations.

Speaking of success factors, I should admit that the first one is a mental condition, and the second one is a ration. As for sport, it’s on the third place. I guess, it is important to know about it if you are going to get slim.

Why did I set the priorities like this? That’s because I’ve tried everything! I had been trying to drop weight using sport, diets, fasting, both calculation and ignorance of caloric content, even the famous “K…” clinic, for ten years. I had been taken treatments in “K…” clinic for ten years. But, as I’ve already mentioned, my weight came up to three hundred pounds. I bet you wonder what methods are applied in the clinic. Ph. D. of medical science Kosenkov had nearly the same experience of fasting, and he described it in the book. So, you’ll read about it below. The main method of “K…” clinic is a kind of fasting too. Proper fasting, accompanied by different procedures. During the first four days of being there I ate nothing. I only drank a special broth. I drank rice water four-five times a day, and that’s all. No other food. On the fifth day, they started to bring me out of this state. I was given some juice. At the same they maintained my condition by doing lots of bowel cleansing procedures, so that I felt fine more or less. Then, for the rest of the time, I was carefully brought out of fasting. They slowly, very slowly increased my caloric intake and volume of food consumed. The food was pretty common but yummy. You start to feel the taste of the simplest products. You do not imagine how yummy the cucumber or tomato can be! It’s a taste explosion! Oh, wish you know how yummy common buckwheat porridge can be! I almost fell in love with it cause I suddenly found out how tasty it is. That’s true. Besides, there were supporting medical procedures such as massage, hydrotherapy, pelopathy, and so on. As a result, I dropped some weight.

Ten or fourteen days were enough to complete the treatment course. The most important results were as follows. First, it changed my eating behavior. Second, the stomach shrinks. As a consequence, it decreases the daily amount of food consumed. It usually lasts for two or three months. That’s all. During the next month, I dropped some weight because of the stomach shrinkage and decrease of daily food amount. Then you try to maintain weight, you feel well enough, you have energy. But, as I have told, the effect lasts for a few months only.

By and large, your life remains the same, and your mindsets, mental prism through which you look at life, remain the same too. You return to the same life that you’ve left. Now I understand that there is nothing surprising in the fact that you revert to old habits and responses. It’s impossible to change anything in your life without change of responses, habits, and life attitude.

I’d like to assess the experience of my interaction with the “D…” clinic, either. What did it give me? What are the main advantages? How long did the effect last? What prevented me from achieving long-term and significant results? Actually, it was also quite interesting. In my opinion, I get very important information about caloric content there. Now I realize that only one thing matters. It depends on how much energy you consume with food and on the amount of energy you spend then on physical activity and metabolism. There are no miracles, no magic techniques.

They explain it pretty clearly there. You try this method. They give you tools and explain how to calculate calories. They show you how it works. Then you get significant mindsets. The method includes basic psychological techniques aimed to make you feel disgusted with your favorite high-calorie foods. So, it helps to take away some of the addiction. You get a certain mindset that helps to realize: junky food is not that yummy as you thought before. There are breathing techniques that reduce appetite. That’s true, it works. They are aimed at suppressing appetite. There is a pretty interesting method to identify hunger.

It’s really helpful. As a result, I dropped twenty two pounds again. It’s nearly the same weight that I lost after the course at “K…” clinic.

Weight loss effect after “D…” clinic lasts a bit longer, about five months. That’s it. It brought some positive attitude for sure, and besides — some valuable information.

I’ve been thinking about my interaction with Artyom, our collaboration during the counseling, things we had done trying to understand why it led to such impressive and long-term changes: I dropped ninety pounds and maintain achieved weight. I will tell you about it in this book for sure.

Actually, I still keep my weight under control, ensuring that it continues to decrease. I drop pounds pretty slowly now. I still have a long way ahead of me. Nevertheless, I move on! I realize that I have already adopted some new eating habits and perceiving habits. Living this way is easier and more comfortable.

Group session of psychologist

Artyom Andreyevich Ovechkin:

— We didn’t eat after 6 pm.

— I’ll write down everything. Gym. What else? Coding. I’ll write down all the methods, and then we will discuss them. Coding. Anything else? Fasting. What else? All kinds of diets and food rationing. Surgery? No? Great! So, you haven’t tried it yet. I believe there will be no need for surgery soon. What else? Pellets.

— Yes.

— Really? Pellets, slim teas, BAAs.

— Diuretics.

— Pellets, teas, herbs. As usual, they have a diuretic or purgative effect, or both sometimes, to give you a tiny bit of fun. “Getting slim at any cost!”

— ☺

— Acupuncture.

— Reflex therapy. They can use needles, pressing and cautery, and so on.

— Coding.

— Fasting. Once I attended a medical center. I hadn’t eaten for sixteen days.

— Yeah, I am serious. It was a sort of fasting marathon. Was it the “weight loss” clinic? I don’t remember. You shouldn’t eat 24 hours before the start. Then you go to the center, talk all night long there. In fact, I had to stay away from food for thirty days after it…

— I’d like to tell you a story now. There is a well-known “fasting counselor” in the city of… Three participants of his training died last year. One of them died on the eighteenth day of fast. But it doesn’t stop people from coming!

Remember, fast can be applied only in the clinic under the supervision of physicians! Besides, it is intended not for weight loss but in order to clean the body and improve the health state. During this period, the health condition of the patient should be continuously monitored. If you start fasting under the supervision of a scammer, it can turn out badly.

Nikolay Ivanovich Kosenkov, member of Petrovskaya Academy of Sciences and Arts, Ph. D. of medical science

I tried fasting twice. My weight decreased. But a year after, I gained twice the weight I had lost during fasting. Yes, I had an unusual experience at the time of getting out of fast. What a great taste diluted juice has! I had never tried such a yummy drink before. My taste and smell senses were heightened. At the time of fasting, I felt ease throughout my body. I was active and positive. But after fasting my weight went up as fast as ever! Fasting can be applied if you have medical evidence, but not for weight loss. It’s all up to you. Is that what you want?

Andrey Vasilyevich Trenogov, psychologist, psychiatrist:

Another interesting fact: Why does your weight go down during fasting? As it turned out, two-thirds of lost weight consist of fat, as for the rest — it’s muscles! Just think about it — muscles! Now, can you guess the “content” of the weight that returned after fasting? Right, we’ve got more fatty cells and no muscles. Your body becomes flabbier. You know, it’s pretty easy to gain a pound of fat. As for a pound of muscles, it will take a lot of time and effort.

Group session of psychologist

Artyom Andreyevich Ovechkin:

— What else?

— Enemas!

— Oh my.

— Vomiting.

— Yes, there are some “weight-dropping” groups that gather at night. I am serious! I’d better not tell you the name. They gather at night, bring basins…

— ☺

— People are sitting and talking at the meeting, just like us. They are eating, with basins by their side. Before eating, they are given some water with a special emetic dissolved in it. Actually, people have no idea that there is emetic in their drink. “It’s a slimming cocktail!” People bring their favorite treats, delicious high-calorie food to the meetings. They eat, sitting in a circle with basins by their side. Then somebody starts vomiting. The others are carefully observing the process, and the same thing happens to them… Imagine what it would be if we were sitting here vomiting into basins. That would be impressive, right? It’s no surprise that people have a poor appetite after such meetings. They don’t overeat for a while.

— ☺

— Enemas. You know, there is an extremely popular lady. People come to her seminars in crowds. She easily gathers around two hundred people. They sit and listen for a few hours how great enemas are! What do you usually take with you when you go out of your house? Phone, keys. Have you forgotten your enema?! Oh no, all is lost!

— ☺

— You have to take enema in the morning and in the evening. But what happens if after six months of active “enema-taking” you suddenly stop doing it? How does your body respond?

— It probably fails to function normally without an enema.

— The intestines can’t work normally. You face stool retention since the microflora has been washed away.

Nikolay Ivanovich Kosenkov, member of Petrovskaya Academy of Sciences and Arts, Ph. D. of medical science

We tested the effect of colonic washing with nine liters of saline solution for twenty minutes in the hospital setting. After the procedure, the psychological state improved dramatically, a sensation of euphoria was brought, ease and lightness filled the body, energy level increased.

The result seems to be great. However, prior to the procedure, we measured the blood pressure of the patient, as well as the amount of adipose tissue, extracellular fluid (blood, lymph), intracellular fluid and so-called active (muscle) cell mass (in pounds and percentage) by using the method of complex bioelectrical impedance analysis.

What did the objective data indicate? Blood pressure rose from 130/80 to 180/120 mm Hg.

And the patient didn’t feel an increase in blood pressure! You can get a stroke after the procedure without even noticing it. And they call it health-improving procedure! The content of extracellular fluid drastically reduced, the blood became thick. It could lead to the formation of a blood clot in the vessel and death from a heart attack or stroke. What a great treatment procedure! So, think twice before trying it.

Group session of psychologist

Artyom Andreyevich Ovechkin:

— Any other methods? What else people do for weight loss?

— Surgery for obese people! Liposuction, bariatric surgery. They cut away a part of your stomach.

— In fact, it’s not so simple. It doesn’t mean that a person will be fit and healthy two hours after liposuction or stomach stapling. After a while, he’s got a layer of fat again! Where? In the liposuction area?

— No.

— No. Where then, Eugenia?

— In other areas.

Olga Vladimirovna Tsyganova, 28, economist, lost 110 lbs I’ve never tried any diet. Yes, I am lazy. I always told myself: It wouldn’t help anyway. But at the same time, I constantly complained: “I am fat. Nobody loves me. Nobody needs me.” Finally, I understood: I have to do something! Now I am ready. Then this mindset training happened. And I trusted my mentor’s words for some reason. I was inspired. My friend supported me, and I took the first step of the journey to my dream.

Eight rules of a slim person

— N.B.! Rule one.

A slim person maintains a well-balanced ration, consumes as much food as he needs, preventing the generation of fat deposits.

— I heard that they insert something into your stomach, and it prevents you from overeating.

— You are talking about a stomach balloon. A person swallows a special balloon.

Then, when being inside, it gets inflated. A larger part of the stomach can’t digest food since it contains the balloon. But we are stubborn, aren’t we? What should we do if most of the stomach is full because of the balloon?

— We’ll use the least part.

— Precisely. People use the least part beyond measure, extending it! The stomach is a muscular bag. It can be stretched. Sometimes this balloon bursts in the stomach. How can you detect it? Urine turns blue. Besides, sometimes stomach balloon comes out in a bad way. But we shouldn’t discuss it now.

Is that all? Have we forgotten something? Frankly speaking, there are more than seven hundred modern methods of weight loss. The ones you applied are written on the board, but there are many more others. Most of them are aimed at the body, biological part of our personality.

Diet means that you prohibit your body from consuming particular foods. How will your body respond?

— It will strive for the food!

— Yes, you can even see it in your dreams. For example, if you are banned from eating bacon, you will see bacon in your dreams.

Nikolay Ivanovich Kosenkov, member of Petrovskaya Academy of Sciences and Arts, Ph. D. of medical science

Food eaten at the end of a meal remains in the center of the food lump in the stomach and enters the intestine later than other food — in three hours. As it usually contains carbohydrates, getting into the blood after all this time, they will help to reduce excess insulin, if any, and there will be no weight gain!

The blood sugar concentration increases all hormones except insulin. This means that any stress, including activation of sex hormones, increases blood sugar levels even without food, when your stomach is empty, which leads to the release of insulin, hypoglycemia (decrease in blood sugar level) and overeating (blind munchies)!

Group session of psychologist

Artyom Andreyevich Ovechkin:

— N.B.! Rule two.

A slim person doesn’t have any list of banned foods. He knows precisely the amount and quality of food consumed and the rules of its consumption.

Let’s talk about doing sports. A woman has to bend over backwards training on running or any other gym machine to lose some weight. Right? Have you tried? Raise your hand if you have. You, and you, Nika. Who else? Nika, have you succeeded with weight loss doing sports?

— No.

— What about you, Mila?

— 24 pounds.

— Was it hard?

— Yes, it was! Six-kilometer cross-country running every morning and diet.

— Diet! So it wouldn’t work without diet, right? Attempt to lose weight and maintain it only through exercises without any diet is a hopeless mission.

— I’ve been trying it for twenty years. No result.

— I am not surprised.

N.B.! Rule three.

A slim person doesn’t try to lose weight by doing sports. He drops and maintains weight by managing his nutrition.

Coding. As usual, the technique is based on fear: take a drink — and you are dead, overeat — you are dead, or something bad happens to you. This way or another, they put this pattern into your mind. You start to believe in it. But it doesn’t last for long.

A coded person often feels angry and annoyed.

Have you ever dealt with that? Which of you met “coded” alcoholics on your life pass?

— Me!

— Me too!

— So, how would you describe them?

— They are aggressive.

— These people are angry and fussy. Sometimes a wife of such a “coded” drunker brings her husband back to the specialist back and says: “Please, decode him! I can’t live with such a person. Just let him drink if he wants.”

Andrey Vasilyevich Trenogov, psychologist, psychiatrist: I studied different coding methods and often said to my clients: “If you have money, try coding. It’s pretty interesting. Besides, it can be helpful.”

I’d like to tell you about a method described by one of my clients.

After the client sits down in the chair, the doctor and his assistant — who is usually pretty big — start a doleful lecture about the dangers of gluttony. When the client almost falls asleep, the doctor, who was walking around the room before, suddenly comes from behind. The assistant fixes the client’s legs and hands, the doctor throws back his head sharply, pressing the lower jaw so that the mouth opens. Then he sprinkles something bitter and smelly, like rotten fish, on the root of the tongue, and, yells loudly looking into the client’s eyes:

“Stop overeating! Stop overeating!” Then they say to the client: “That’s all, you can go.”

I asked her: “So, any result?”

The client: “When I came out, I felt offended. I paid them, and what have I got? They yelled at me. So, I decided to find a snack bar and comfort myself with some pies.”

Group session of psychologist

Artyom Andreyevich Ovechkin:

— Pellets. Please, be especially careful with the pellets from Thailand and China. You shouldn’t take them! Russian Academy of Medical Sciences researched products represented on the Russian market. Thai and Chinese weight loss pellets were banned. They found anorexics in a number of these medicines. These substances are kind of drugs. They improve your mood, reduce appetite, but in a while, you’ve got issues with liver, kidneys, skin, hair, teeth, insomnia, and then, after a certain time, depression and many other upsetting consequences.

There are other weight loss medicines: “Xenical”, “Meridia” and others. Have you taken it?

— Yes.

— By medical prescription?

— No, on my own. I took “Meridia”.

— Did it help?

— Yes, I dropped a good deal of weight, but I was also “coded” at that time.

— Oh, were you?

— I took a coding procedure long ago. So, I decided to add pellets at the end of the coding period.

— As a rule, the effect of the products is either negligible or absent. It is useless. What was your result?

— I don’t remember exactly. But it was not great.

— “Meridia” is off the market right now. It has too many contraindications and side effects.

— What about “Xenical”?

— It doesn’t go well with fatty food. You need to quit one or the other, fatty food or “Xenical”. Can you guess what people usually choose? They say farewell to “Xenical”. When taking the pellets and eating fatty food, you often face the problem of getting to “porcelain bus”, to W.C., as soon as possible. People get terrible diarrhea. It takes a lot to wash away the “pebble dash” from the toilet bowl. If it happens when you are at somebody else’s house, they’ll never invite you again. My clients complained to me about it.

N.B.! Rule four.

A slim person doesn’t believe that coding, “magic” pellets, medicines, herbs, and liquors can help to achieve and maintain an ideal weight. One prefers to change nutrition, mental mindsets, lifestyle to become slim easily and joyfully.

Teas, elixirs, BAAs.

— I tried it all.

— Did you succeed, Snezhana?

— No. I took apple vinegar with honey in the morning.

— In what proportion?

— A tablespoon to glass for a month.

— And?

— I lost about ten pounds.

— In my opinion, you shouldn’t drink vinegar, guys. Imagine someone asking you: “How about a glass of vinegar in the evening?”

— ☺

— The body starts losing weight in surprise. You have no idea what comes into the mind of people who try to drop weight. But by and large, all these pellets — number one weight loss pills, as they try to persuade us on T.V., do not help in the long-term period! Name at least one medicine that helps you both to lose weight and maintain the result for a long time.

— My daughter tried “Swallow’s Nest” or something like this. A sort of slim tea. But it’s tough. Intestines are almost get knotted.

— Yes. So, you know how it works.

Reflex therapy. We have already discussed it — needles, cautery, impact on biologically active points of the body, and so on. But the effect is temporary. How many pounds have you lost this way?

— Twenty pounds.

— Did you gain them back?

— Yes.

— So, you got these twenty pounds back anyway. And I guess it’s your fault partially.

— ☺

— Enemas. That’s obvious. People torture their weak bodies in any possible way: stick with needles, stuff with pills, and other things. At first, your body starts to lose weight but then gains it again. The reason is simple. We’ve got not only body but. What else?

— Psyche.

— Precisely. Some call it consciousness, the others — psyche or soul, but it’s no matter how you name it. It exists. Why do we know that it exists? It makes itself felt from time to time. In what way?

— Mood.

— Feelings.

— Yes, feelings. It either bleeds or fills with joy and soars in the sky. Then something else happens. Sometimes we get stressed. “Stress” is one of the favorite words in the modern world. The body responds to environmental changes. Everything is changing. Sometimes these changes are critical.

Marriage is a source of stress, isn’t it?

— Yes.

— It’s stressful. Divorce?

— It is stressful too.

— Funeral, moving, new job — they are all sources of stress. We constantly have to adapt to the changing environment.

N.B.! Rule five.

A slim person knows how to manage the response of his body to stress properly and never comforts himself with eating.

Do you usually adapt easily? Successfully?

— No.

— Things often don’t go our way, and we feel bad about it. What negative emotions do you usually feel?

— Low spirits.

— Melancholy, insomnia.

— Anger.

— Anger, rage. What else? The most typical ones?

You feel offended because something goes wrong. “Everything must be different! She shouldn’t act this way and say such things. They shouldn’t…”

You feel guilty because you had to do things differently, but you couldn’t.

Anger, insult, guilt, uneasiness. Loneliness in the crowd. There are so many people around, but you feel lonely. Do you know this feeling?

— Yes, and pretty well.

— Uneasiness. It’s not clear how it will end up, but you want to know it immediately.

What is the easiest way to repress all these negative feelings? Comfort eating. Food is…

— The answer to everything.

Nikolay Ivanovich Kosenkov, member of Petrovskaya Academy of Sciences and Arts, Ph. D. of medical science

Stress, adaptation. Only the laziest does not use these words appropriately and inappropriately! In the dissertation “Dynamics of the body’s sensitivity to certain hormones in the course of adaptation” (1985), we demonstrated that during the three stages of stress, when adrenal gland hormone production decreased dramatically (Hans Selye considered it to be exhaustion), hormone system is not exhausted. It works differently!

The sensitivity of cells with hormone receptors and their response to hormones have changed. A small dose of hormones causes over-response in some organs and reduced response in others, while there is no response at all in some other organs and systems.

Besides, it turned out that the metabolism of the whole organism also changes. The body has reduced oxygen consumption at rest and at work. It led to the accumulation of a fat mass of trial subjects. Many gained up to thirty-forty pounds over the winter.

Such changes were associated with the reorientation of the metabolism from the Krebs cycle to the pentose cycle. It leads to the accumulation of fat in the body.

So as soon as stress enters into its last stage, and real adaptation (not disadaptation, as Selye considered it) occurs, the person immediately begins to gain weight due to changes in metabolism!

The same happens to athletes who stop training. They have constant hypoxia associated with increased oxygen consumption by the body during exercise.

Prolonged hypoxia leads to the formation of the adaptation of the body to any (really any!) stressful effects! But they pay the price facing metabolic changes to the pentose cycle. It leads to obesity in case of a decrease in physical activity.

So, if you start to gain weight, it means that you have adapted to life circumstances and changes. New stress reduces your weight for a particular time, but as soon as you get adapted, the weight starts to grow again!

Andrey Vasilyevich Trenogov, psychologist, psychiatrist: It is noteworthy that, as a rule, there are always people in groups who say that they lost a good deal of weight under stress or during illness.

Under stress, adipose tissue is actually consumed (if the stress is not relieved by eating), but mainly at the periphery of the body (arms, legs, face). As for the corpus, it loses much less weight. The same process occurs when people get older. Arms and legs become slimmer.

If a weight loss is related to some disease, then you shouldn’t be happy about it. It usually occurs due to the loss of muscle tissue.

Group session of psychologist

Artyom Andreyevich Ovechkin:

— N.B.! Food is a psychoactive substance; it changes our consciousness.

How does it change? It increases the endorphin level. Endorphins, as you maybe know, are hormones of happiness, such as natural morphine derivatives in our body. Had some food — got endorphin rush! The endorphin level is high, and you feel high! It’s like pushing a magic button. Everything was so desperately bad. You’ve eaten some food — and things got better. Would you like to try it again? Sure!

When we are under a sort of stressful pressure, hormones cortisol and adrenaline are released. As a result, you feel bad, it contributes to the weight gain, as it provokes an attempt to improve your physical and psychological state by eating. By the way, weight loss slows down if you are under stress.

After a meal, the blood glucose level spikes dramatically, and the rise of blood glucose level causes a strong anxiety-suppressing effect. So, you feel good because of endorphins, and at the same time, anxiety disappears.

Great! ☺

No need for sedatives, right?

We must learn to treat food differently. Escape stress-eating but prevent stress from suppressing a true hunger.

We’ll discuss various methods of reducing stress, and how to relieve psycho-emotional and physical pressure. We have to learn how to do it by using other things and activities.

N.B.! Rule six.

A slim person can distinguish between true and false hunger to avoid comfort eating because of problems, difficulties, stress.

You need to learn how to distinguish between true and false hunger.

True hunger means that your body needs nutrition. As for false hunger, it’s a longing of the spirit or psyche. The psyche lets you know that something is missing by using the sensory system. What does it mean if it sends out a signal of loneliness? What do you lack?

— Communication.

— The psyche is longing for communication. We give it some food instead. It’s easier and faster. We have no time.

— ☺

— Or you suddenly feel anxious. Anxiety is longing for some information. It can be relieved by getting it, as well as by the conscious cessation of “mental walks to the future” and haunting the development of negative expectancies.

Instead, we get some food again!

It’s necessary to break this vicious circle. We need to distinguish between true and false hunger.

When you feel hungry, it’s not always because of physical hunger. Sometimes there is a psyche hunger behind it.

Olga Vladimirovna Tsyganova, 28, economist, lost 110 lbs: That’s true! In the initial stages of weight loss, it’s tough to distinguish between true hunger and false hunger. I trained myself, noted time between meals. It was just as tough for me as it is for you, I felt like I was at the minefield. I was afraid to make a mistake, to do something wrong, so I got one thing straight: hunger appears in a different amount of time depending on what you have eaten. If my thoughts draw me to fridge in an hour or two after a properly balanced meal, it’s not because of the true hunger. Then, it’s infamous false hunger, and I need to do something about it. I went for a walk, tried to distract myself with other things, talked to friends, or simply trained my willpower, persuading myself that after a while, I would pamper myself by eating something yummy. Indeed, as they said in my group classes, you need to learn how to negotiate with yourself. Of course, there were times when nothing worked out. So what did I do? I ate what I wanted, but then I got back on track because I had a goal. As they say, the harder the battle, the sweeter the victory.

Group session of psychologist

Artyom Andreyevich Ovechkin:

— Tomorrow I’ll give you three criteria for distinguishing between true and false hunger and describe the distinction procedure. Then you’ll learn to recognize true hunger in five or ten seconds after receipt of a “hunger signal”.

N.B.! We have to feed our True Hunger with tasty, nourishing, and favorable food four-six times a day, while False Hunger gets nothing. It doesn’t need food. It is important to provide your hunger with tasty, “appetizing” food. Dessert and high-calorie foods in each meal have to contain fifty kilocalories or less.

Later I’ll describe to you a couple of ways to manage false hunger.

Let’s talk about human beings now. We still have a mysterious third circle in this diagram. It remains unfilled. “Bio”, or body, is a physical, material aspect, the “psyche” is a spirit. What else do we need to become human beings? What does a human being need for turning into a fully-realized person?

— Other people?

— Exactly! We all need society, social relations.

Society turns a human being into a person.

Sometimes they find children who, for one reason or another, have been isolated from society and grew up wild, raised by animals. Have you heard about such cases? Media write stories about it sometimes. Such person can hardly become a human. Imagine if you have lived with animals for up to five or ten years and cannot talk, communicate, or normally interact with people.

Eating behavior and habits are at the intersection of biological, psychological, and social aspects of our personality. Overeating is caused by all these factors.

Let’s talk about overeating. What does it mean? Food enters our body and turns into energy. Some of the energy is consumed for life support. What happens if you consume as much energy as you need to live?

— Everything is fine. We don’t gain weight.

— Yes, you can maintain weight. What if you consume a bit more energy than you need for life support?

— The excess of energy is stored as fat.

— A person gains excess weight little by little.

Let’s see what happens to the energy. These are our muscles, fat cells, connective tissue, several layers of skin, and this is excess energy converting into fat deposits. It’s a kind of a gas tank, storage of excess energy, excess “fuel”… Fat cells start to increase in size. The size of individual cell could increase tens times! Imagine a gas tank that holds up forty liters. You pour gasoline into it, fill it full. If you don’t stop, gasoline will be poured over the edge. As for our body, it’s a kind of stretchable “gas tank”. That’s why some people weigh four hundred pounds and even more. It’s a way of intense suffering that leads to disability and, as a result, to an early death.

We need to stop this vicious process. Energy entering with food should be less than consumed energy. In order to achieve the goal, we have to learn how to estimate calories in food.

Let’s talk about overeating. What does it mean? Food enters our body and turns into energy. Some of the energy is consumed for life support. What happens if you consume as much energy as you need to live?

— Everything is fine. We don’t gain weight.

— Yes, you can maintain weight. What if you consume a bit more energy than you need for life support?

— The excess of energy is stored as fat.

— A person gains excess weight little by little.

Let’s see what happens to the energy. These are our muscles, fat cells, connective tissue, several layers of skin, and this is excess energy converting into fat deposits. It’s a kind of a gas tank, storage of excess energy, excess “fuel”… Fat cells start to increase in size. The size of individual cell could increase tens times! Imagine a gas tank that holds up forty liters. You pour gasoline into it, fill it full. If you don’t stop, gasoline will be poured over the edge. As for our body, it’s a kind of stretchable “gas tank”. That’s why some people weigh four hundred pounds and even more. It’s a way of intense suffering that leads to disability and, as a result, to an early death.

We need to stop this vicious process. Energy entering with food should be less than consumed energy. In order to achieve the goal, we have to learn how to estimate calories in food.

---

Gennadiy Arturovich Arustamov, 41, Ph. D. in Economics, a CEO of “Reka-More” company, dropped 90 lbs:

My wife has always supported me in my desire to lose weight, as it was medically necessary. So, at that moment, the main course and the main aim of my life was to get rid of excess weight and to return to myself.

Doctors refused to predict long-term prognosis; they didn’t recommend me to make long-term plans. Things had gotten pretty bad. Almost desperate. I weighed three hundred pounds. I had diabetes, hypertension of some high degree. Pills were almost useless. Every six months, I increased the dose of medicines to regulate pulse and arterial pressure. I suffered from some other diseases as well. I took handfuls of pills twice a day. All of these occurred against the background of constant stress and insomnia. I had a serious sleep disorder. It led to the catastrophic failure of multiple body systems. I was in very poor condition. Problems with back, high blood sugar level. It was very upsetting. I was forty.

By now, we’ve managed to achieve the following results. I’ve lost ninety pounds of excess weight. I don’t have diabetes anymore. I can safely say, that Type-2 diabetes can be healed. Believe me. And it’s not very hard. Even suffering from Type-2 diabetes you can safely start losing weight. I am pleased to confirm it. It’s fine. You can settle it. Diabetes shouldn’t stop you from getting slim. Even in that case, the body responds to the change in the volume of food consumed. It starts to lose excess weight. I take only two pills daily instead of fourteen.

What else can I say? I still do sports. I focused on training the cardiovascular system and did aerobic exercises, avoiding tough strenuous activity. I did a lot to improve the performance of cardiovascular and respiratory systems, so my training activities were mainly directed to achieve this goal.

My wife supports me in everything that I do. Of course, she was surprised a lot with the result. After a while I realized that it is the only right way of healing all the disorders (regular meetings with a psychologist, medical supervision, split balanced nutrition, sensible sport), that it changes the internal state of the body, I urgently tried to draw my spouse into it, almost by force. I realize now that it was a mistake. This state can only be achieved if a person makes this decision on his own. We have to love and accept our nearest and dearest just as they are. There is no need to draw our beloved into your way or force them to do something. They see everything. If they like what you are doing, they will follow you. As for us, we just have to love them. That’s all. As soon as I stopped trying to draw my spouse into ranks of people losing weight… and started to do things related to love and emotional support, and the family turmoil came to an end. Our relationship became deep and balanced.

---

Group session of psychologist

Artyom Andreyevich Ovechkin:

— Have you ever counted the calories?

— Yes.

— Anzhelika. Anyone else?

Nika. Fine.

Was it dreary?

— Yes.

— Sure.

— But you get accustomed to it.

— Agree, Nika?

— Yes.

— But still, I don’t really want to count calories, especially for the rest of my life. We have to settle it. Tomorrow I’ll tell you about it.

I will explain how to count the energy value of food in an easy way that allows decreasing excess weight. You can get slim without endless mathematics that makes your head whiz. It would be terrifying!

Our lives are not about counting, but we can take into energy the value of food by using a new simplified system in order to improve the quality of life.

We’ve got a key to open this door.

But the most important thing is to understand why this extra energy contained in extra food is just “begging” to get into the body. So, the things are starting to get clearer. We’ve got a few hints on what we are dealing with. The reasons are as follows: you do not distinguish between true hunger and false hunger and feed with food both hunger of your body and hunger of your psyche. Because of the false hunger, you eat a lot of excess high-calorie foods, trying to relieve negative emotions and stress with food.

What are the other reasons for excess food getting into your body? There is a critical one. A person begins to spend time, money, and energy on others, forgetting about the needs of his psyche and body.

N.B.! “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

This effective formula has been existed for over two thousand years. It reflects the wisdom of harmony, balance, and the health of the individual and society. It tends to fail when “Love your neighbor” has been put up on a pedestal, and “yourself” has been almost completely neglected.

Zap — and you push yourself aside, to the bottom of the list! What about your “neighbors”? We give them everything beyond all measure: our time, money, attention and energy! Every day, every moment we save everybody… except ourselves. Wake up in the morning, put your “911” cap and run to do some good, right?

— ☺

— What about time for yourself?

“Should I feed myself? Yes! Feed! I have to do so many things!”

We will deal with this problem. Why does a person with excess weight constantly lack resources for himself, but provide others with everything they need?

You get into details and realize that he’s not obliged to do this or that. But everyone comes to him and asks for help. “Please!” When sometimes the person tries to say “no”, the seekers start to shed a tear and lay on the sob stuff with a trowel: “Please!!!” In a while, you start to feel sympathy for them, right? Certainly. The others try to get what they want not by sympathy but by bullying. For example, a person with excess weight tries to deny a request. “What? What did you just say?!” The person replies: “Oh, sorry, you are right…” And once again, he starts to do everything for everyone.

We have to settle it in class. Are you familiar with this problem? Be honest. One, two, three, four. Anybody else? Five, six, seven. Seven people. As you see, it’s a common problem.

N.B.! The lifestyle when you do for others the things that they can do by themselves leads to gain of excess weight!

You feel offended. You give them everything and get…

— Nothing!

— Nothing. Then you comfort yourself with eating. Besides, you feel guilty because no matter how hard you try to cater to every whim of others, you’ll never be able to please everyone. It’s getting more and more annoying. No leisure, chronic fatigue. You suffer from chronic fatigue, but you don’t sleep enough. As a result, headache or heartache appears. This, in turn, makes you feel anxious. You comfort yourself with food. Again. It’s a vicious cycle.

N.B.! Rule seven.

A slim person knows how to treat others and himself properly. He is aware of his physical and mental needs, allocates enough time, money, and energy to meet these needs.

A slim person does not do for other things that they can and must do by themselves.

N.B.! Rule eight.

A slim person stays slim because he does not transfer responsibilities for his life and his weight to other people and circumstances.

Olga Vladimirovna Tsyganova, 28, economist, lost 110 lbs It was hard for me to say “No” but I kept learning. Of course, sometimes, it didn’t work. Even now, it doesn’t always work, as I am a kind, helpful person by nature. But it is really useful to learn how to do it at least sometimes. I am very sociable, and it always hurts me when my pals and me go separate ways. I do everything to keep them in my life, but I do not allow anyone to get a free ride on my back. There was a recent instance when I told “no” to a person very dear to me. So what do you think? He has not gone out of my life; he knew that it’s hard for me to fulfill all his requests. The person just said that he would never ask me for help again. At first, I had a bitter feeling inside of me. I was afraid of losing him. Imagine my relief and joy when I realized that our communication had not changed at all! I have plenty of such examples — no need to cultivate feelings of anger and resentment if we can change the situation. You just need to learn how to refuse requests if you do not see any benefits for yourself. Any relationship is based on mutual contributions, not on the efforts of only one person.

Reasons of gaining excess weight

— Now let’s talk about traditions and their effect on excess weight.

How much do we usually cook for Christmas Eve and New Year party?

— Plenty.

— We put mayonnaise almost into every dish, bake cakes.

— Then people visit each other with baskets full of food. You try from my basket; I try from yours.

— ☺

— Ten days that shook the world from the 25th of December to the 5th of January.

— Over ten days.

— Precisely! Some people start to celebrate even earlier. They not only eat far too much, but they also drink alcohol! As a result, happy and swollen people return to work after vacation. Some gain fifteen pounds, the others — twenty pounds.

— ☺

— By the way, most of this weight is due to the fluid accumulated in edemas. But there is some fat too!

Habit is the second nature

— Habits. Who instills them in us, and how? At first parents, people emotionally crucial for us, then teachers, relatives. We will discuss these habits and the impact they have on gaining excess weight. For example, let’s take the habit of eating up.

— Every dish! ☺

— Clean Plates Society. A woman from the morning group said that parents used to tell her when she was a little girl: “You should see a flower at the bottom of your plate.”

— ☺

— So, the child eats, digging deeper and deeper with his spoon, but there is no flower. The girl continues to work on it.

— A woman told me recently: “I force my grandchildren to eat. They don’t want to eat up, but I force them by any means. For example, by telling them: “You don’t love your Granny!”

— My mother just tied the child, my younger brother, to the chair.

— Really?

— Yes, it’s true. He is a man now, and he eats nothing except sausages, cheese, and candies. I told her: “What have you done to your son?” She replies: “What should I do? He didn’t eat. So, I tied him, opened his mouth, and force-fed him”.

— That’s how it works sometimes! It’s a frustrating story with sad consequences.

Andrey Vasilyevich Trenogov, psychologist, psychiatrist:

I’d like to tell you another story. Once I had at my seminar a client with a weight of two hundred fifty pounds. On the first day, when we talked about reasons for weight gain, he said that he was always overweight as a kid. The man was sure that in his case, this problem was inborn, and he came just to check if it would help him.

Then, during relaxation, he suddenly remembered that at the age of four, he went to the village to his grandparents for the whole summer. And for the entire summer, they told him: “Eat more, and you’ll become a superman” — and stuff like that. He also said that for some reason, he was the only child in the village full of super-caring older adults. They made a schedule establishing where and when he would have lunch. Can you imagine how eager they were to feed the only four-year-old child in the village and how they persuaded him to eat one more spoon for his Mom, Dad, and Granny?

As soon as the man realized that it was just a mindset adopted in childhood, and he didn’t need to continue to follow it, his excess weight began to disappear. As a result, he lost one hundred thirty-two pounds without any effort!

Group session of psychologist

Artyom Andreyevich Ovechkin:

— Social pressure in terms of nutrition takes place among the grown-ups too. For example, when you come to visit someone but you are not hungry. However, they start to beg and force you to eat by all means, as a rule, by manipulation, making you feel guilty: “Why don’t you eat? Do you mean to offend me? I cooked until midnight yesterday! You do not respect me. What a shame!”

— There is a joke I’d like to tell you. Once a woman with excess weight came to a doctor and told him: “I’m done. I have a big family. I eat up after everyone. Kids do not eat at all. My husband doesn’t eat much. We have a bunch of leftovers every day, and I eat up everything!” The doctor asks her: “You live in the countryside, right? Then you should buy a pig and feed it”. — “What? Do you want me to eat up after the pig too?”

— ☺

— Yes! Well, that’s a different situation. You are not hungry, but your friends or relatives force you to eat: “What does it mean — you are not hungry? How can it be?”

— I bet you did it once or twice, or maybe even many times, Galina?

— Of course, I did. My husband returns home from work and says that he is not hungry. “What? You have to eat at least a little bit”. — “Thanks, I am not hungry.” — “What? Where were you? You had dinner somewhere! What does it mean?”

Eating everywhere, eating with everyone

— Eating to join the club. As usual, a person eats one and a half, and sometimes twice as much when eating with friends. Researchers conducted experiments in different countries. A person eats less when surrounded by strangers. When dining with friends, one overeats.

— What about TV?

— Dining with TV is the worst option. We’ll discuss it today.

Let’s talk about physiological reasons for weight gain. What are they?

— Sedentary life.

— Inactive lifestyle, heredity, and so on. Poor me, I’ve got a defective gene from Granny, and it ruined my life. ☺ “Have you seen my Granny? No? Look, here is her picture”. — “So what?” — “It’s not my fault that I am overweight? Look! My Granny weighted three hundred thirty pounds. Have you seen my Mom? Now you understand!”

People tend to shift responsibility to other shoulders.

It is the easiest way to explain obesity. “I am fat because all my ancestors were fat.”

Other popular “contributors” are pregnancy and maternity. Nika, I know you consider it to be a reason for your weight gain”.

Olga Vladimirovna Tsyganova, 28, economist, lost 110 lbs: When people ask me how I had gained so much weight, I reply: “I had been overeating since I was a child.” I never blamed my heredity or anybody even though my parents introduced baby porridges to me too early. They were afraid that their daughter would be undernourished. As she grew older, she continued to eat more and more, and then she started gorging herself with foods. Yes, I ate a lot. Even when I was full, I couldn’t stop staring at all these yummy foods. When I came to grannies, aunts, it seemed like their main task was to shove everything they had into me, just to demonstrate hospitality. And I was pretty content with it. I am sure many of you understand me very well.

Frankly speaking, I still have this feeling from time to time, but now I know how to deal with it. In my childhood, parents often took me to endocrinologists. Doctors claimed with one accord that I would lose excess weight as I grew older, I would shoot up. But it never happened. By twenty-one, I weighed two hundred fifty pounds. How I hated my reflection in the mirror, I hated myself for my weakness! At one point, an inner voice told me: “Olya, you can’t go on like this, and you will be unhappy for the rest of your life.” And it just clicked in my mind. That summer, I finished the fourth year of university and had the last year ahead. Suddenly I realized that I wanted to receive an honors diploma and come to the University graduation ceremony as a slim beauty wearing a beautiful outfit. So, I got two primary goals for the coming year: an honors diploma and a slim body! Well, I achieved my goals. Now it’s your turn. Will you dare?

Group session of psychologist

Artyom Andreyevich Ovechkin:

— It’s all due to feeding.

— Sure, breath-feeding. What else? Endocrine disorders.

Let’s explore this set of reasons.

Move your body!

Inactive lifestyle. Nowadays there are so many things that machines do instead of us. Cars carry us, and elevators can take us up to the desired floor, the washing machine washes our clothes, the dishwasher washes the dishes. Thus, we move much less. No need to come up to TV to zap through the channels, as we have a remote control now. By the way, there is a sort of new disorder that appeared not long ago. Zapping.

— What?

— Zapping, quick scanning through different television channels.

— Oh, that’s how my husband does pretty often! ☺ It’s almost impossible to understand what’s on the screen. As usual, he doesn’t know what he’s looking for.

— I automatically zap to the next channel while seeing “How to Build Your Love” on TV.

— Or some advertisements.

— Imagine how less we move by now. Meanwhile, doctors tell us constantly: “All you have to do is to move more and eat less.” It’s a piece of wise advice. But it’s not clear how to arrange it.

By the way, you don’t have to eat less. You have to eat smart. A balanced diet must contain all elements and nutrition you need in low-calorie foods avoiding high-calorie foods.

— Sounds easy.

— You will learn how to do it in our classes. Many of our clients successfully lose weight without increasing physical activity. All you need to do is to walk for at least thirty minutes a day.

When it comes to burning calories, walks are not really helpful. But they help to achieve another goal — to improve your overall health and well-being. Walking outdoors revives your spirits, contributes to an increase endorphin level, accelerates metabolic processes. You know, we haven’t enough fingers to count all the benefits of walking.

N.B.! Start walking for at least thirty minutes a day. Breathing should be smooth and naturally rhythmic. After a walk, your physical and mental condition shall improve. If so, then the pace and duration you have chosen are appropriate.

Even while doing such a simple exercise as walking, you should avoid overloading.

It is necessary to consult your doctor on the issue of walking.

Insulin resistance syndrome

Almost all people with excess weight are subjected to different degrees of insulin resistance syndrome. Tissues of the body begin to become less sensitive to insulin. Insulin enters the bloodstream, binds to glucose, and delivers it to tissues. Imagine what happens if tissues are resistant to insulin. They start to starve. It leads to health issues. Cyclic, dynamic, aerobic exercises, including walking, help to get rid of insulin resistance step by step. That’s walking is beneficial. You can ride a bicycle for twenty or thirty minutes, swim leisurely.

You should do it at an average pace to keep your breath smooth, and after a workout, you should feel physical and mental recovery instead of exhaustion!

Nikolay Ivanovich Kosenkov, member of Petrovskaya Academy of Sciences and Arts, Ph. D. of medical science

Insulin resistance is often caused by obesity. Since the adipose tissue exhibits a sufficiently high metabolic activity, the insulin sensitivity of tissues decreases by forty percent when the ideal body weight is exceeded by thirty-five to forty percent.

Heredity and pregnancy

— Many people tend to shift responsibility from their shoulders to genes.

— Habits are transmitted from one generation of the family to another for sure.

— Yes, it’s true. Of course, certain genetic traits indirectly contribute to quicker gaining or losing weight. That does happen.

But the main reason for excess weight gain is the ingress of excess energy with food into the body.

Pregnancy and maternity. When an expecting mother carries a child, she needs to eat more, right?

— Right!

— Of course. A pregnant woman needs to build this small body inside of her. She needs energy. She needs so-called “construction materials”. Expecting mothers eat for two. ☺ Good. Should she eat more when she is breastfeeding?

— Yes.

— She eats more since she has to produce rich, high-quality milk in sufficient quantity. Two years have passed since the woman gave birth to a baby; she has already stopped breastfeeding. What happens to her eating behavior? Everyone says: “I return to food volumes I’ve consumed before.” And she does it. That’s how it usually happens, right?

— No. ☺

— It often doesn’t happen. Women are used to eating more during these two years. The women continue to eat more, including high-calorie foods that they have added to their diet. During maternity leave, women start to eat more high-calorie foods, as their physical and mental needs for nutrition increase significantly. That’s when a false hunger appears, and you feed it with excess food. Why is it considered to be excess? That’s because false hunger does not need food! It needs fellowship, love, solitude, rest, self-development, fun and pleasure, peace, and security.

Just as you said, Nika, when you finished breastfeeding, you started to gain weight. You needed more food before, but now the same amount of food exceeds the needs of your body. But you continue to overeat and, as a result, gain weight.

Endocrine diseases. In this case, it takes more time to lose weight.

For some people, it doesn’t slow down the process. They lose weight as fast as others. So even if you have some endocrine disorders, you shouldn’t worry about it.

As soon as energy balance and eating behavior get back to normal, excess weight will start to decrease.

Metabolism acceleration

— That’s so simple. The metabolic process of overweight people is slowed down and malfunctioned, to a high or lesser degree. That doesn’t mean you’re doomed. We can accelerate it. By the way, your metabolism didn’t use to be slow before. It slows down gradually for a variety of reasons. One of the reasons is irregular meals. Some people have accelerated metabolism. Many people on the planet are thin, they can eat anything, in any quantities, but they never gain excess weight. Even their bellies stay flat.

— It’s just the opposite for us.

— The others have a slower metabolism. You throw an eye on a bun…

— ☺

— ...and it sticks to your hips! That’s how it works.

What are we going to do with our metabolic processes? We will boost them.

First of all, I highly recommend walking. Walking outdoors accelerates metabolism. Another great option is various thermal procedures like saunas. But consult your doctor in advance. Breathing techniques! We’ll try a special breathing technique. Then, of course, regular meals are especially important. It’s the main tool for boosting metabolism. And finally, your improper diet should become rational and balanced.

We will learn how to do it in our classes. You’ll have new “slimming” mindsets and information on how to build up your diet. We will do different exercises and apply distinctive methods. That’s what we are going to do.

But the most critical task is to dispel the myths and legends associated with obesity and overweight, adopt the mindsets and behavior of a slim person.

Nikolay Ivanovich Kosenkov, member of Petrovskaya Academy of Sciences and Arts, Ph. D. of medical science

What happens to the metabolism of an obese person? As a result of weight gain, a change in cell metabolism occurs. Metabolism skips from the Krebs cycle, which leads to the formation of lots of energy, to the pentose cycle characterized by low energy release and reduction of oxygen consumption. This type of metabolism leads to the fact that even consumption of water leads to the accumulation of hydrogen in adipose tissue. So, a person can gain weight even when drinking water.

This feature of metabolism is applied in cattle production. They give forty liters of water to pigs for efficient weight gain. If it is necessary to have a layer of meat in fat, then they give to the pig only five liters of water for several days. As you see, it’s possible to gain weight even by drinking water. It occurs because hydrogen contained in water saturates unsaturated fatty acids. We’ve got saturated fatty acids and, as a result, weight gain.

Group session of psychologist

Artyom Andreyevich Ovechkin:

— Imagine your extra pounds as weeds in a vegetable garden. Has anyone of you got cottages with gardens?

— Yes.

— Tell us, Nadezhda, what do you usually do with weeds?

— I pull them.

— What else? If you pull weeds, after a while, they appear again.

— Yes. Then we pull them again!

— Has anyone tried to exterminate weeds? Tell us about it, Anzhelika. What did you use?

— Special chemical agents.

— Do you still have weeds?

— No, I have neither weeds nor vegetable plants now.

— ☺

— You put too much effort into it. OK. ☺

Look, these “weeds” are excess pounds, their “roots” are psychological and social reasons. You used to pull these weeds, mowed them, dug them out, trampled them down, and did all the other things. No matter what you did, they are still here. The “roots” stay in the “ground”. What’s so great about our program?

N.B.! What is the secret of the high efficiency of our approach? We fight against reasons for weight gain and eliminate them by working together. When reasons are eliminated, consequences — your excess pounds — disappear either.

The average rate of weight loss is from four to nine pounds per month. The World Health Organization considers it to be the optimal and safe rate of weight loss. Multiply it by six months. What do we get? From twenty-four to thirty-six pounds! It’s not fast. But this gives your skin time to tighten up and for the spine to redistribute the load.

— In my opinion, it’s not so much.

— You can lose more pounds in the first month than over the next ones. Water gets away, swelling disappears. If you drink properly, everything will be fine. Thus, the problem of losing excess weight is complex.

— Yes, it’s obvious.

— What about the responsibility for the process of weight loss and the results achieved?

You are the only person responsible for your weight loss.

We provide psychological and informational support, and you follow our recommendations.

Please, consult your doctor regularly during our program on the psychological correction of eating habits, mindsets, and behavior.

Olga Vladimirovna Tsyganova, 28, economist, lost 110 lbs I lost sixteen and a half pounds in the first month. I felt triumphant. I followed all the recommendations, walked, and indulged myself. In the next month, I lost another sixteen pounds. When I returned to the University in September after summer vacation, my result was minus thirty-seven and a half pounds.

Imagine how proud I was. My fellow students did not recognize me. They asked what had happened, whether I was sick. I just smiled back. This was such a strong incentive for me to see the surprised faces of those who knew me.

Due to the training, my life became brighter and more enjoyable. It helped me to settle my mental problems. I realized that life is beautiful. All I need to do is to change my habits. The best is yet to come. So, I must not give up.

I have to say that it was essential for me to find allies among my relatives and friends who treated me with understanding, supported my endeavors, and didn’t troll me. My pals did great!

Group session of psychologist

Artyom Andreyevich Ovechkin:

If you follow our recommendations daily, and we help you if necessary, you’ve got the result. Got it?

— Yes!

— Before talking about the rules of the group work, I want to tell you a few words about the ones who don’t lose weight during our training. That’s fair. I am sure some of you thought to themselves: “I knew it would come!”

— ☺

---

— The inner voice whispers: “It’s about you. Listen attentively!”

— ☺

— Yes? Do you have such thoughts sometimes? So-called victims do not reduce weight.

Describe a person who plays the victim role.

— He blames everyone around.

— Exactly. The person does not want to take any responsibilities. He is upset at everyone; he is not guilty of anything. He always blames others. The victim blames everything and everybody, “these bloody fools”, Government and Martians. “Jupiter in Scorpio turned retrograde when I started to lose weight, that’s why I failed.” And so on. Of course, these people will not take responsibility for implementation of recommendations and weight loss. In fact, they are not ready to do anything. In a month, they come to us and say: “I’ve tried dropping weight, but it didn’t work.” All other participants are content, they all became slimmer, but the victim didn’t! Then I start to ask her: “Did you do it?” — “No!” — “What about it?” — “No.” “Why?” — “I have a family. I go to work every day. I have no time”.

Besides, there are so-called infiltrators.

These are people sent to our class by mothers, husbands, or others. They did not want to work on weight loss. But relatives or friends called a taxi, gave them a contract and sent them here.

— ☺

— Sometimes it happens this way: relatives bring the “infiltrators”, sit by the door…

— ☺ In order to prevent the “infiltrators” from running away…

— Exactly. So, imagine, a mother of an “infiltrator” sits by the door guarding her “prodigal” daughter. She listens attentively, writes down all the recommendations, reads her notes at home, does homework. As a result, a month later, her mother lost excess weight for free, and her daughter is still fat. Because the daughter did not need it!

The third (and the last) category includes so-called headhunters. They even have a kind of “wall of shame” at home with “scalps” of specialists nailed to it. “This is a doctor from St. Petersburg, he was a good person; this is a ‘scalp’ of psychologist from Moscow, he did not help me either. By the way, I was a subject of three PhD dissertations. But I didn’t give up. I’ve got a ‘special’ fat. My metabolism is tricky, so modern medicine is useless”. A man comes to us to prove himself that “modern medicine and psychology are useless, I can’t lose weight here too.” What’s going on with him? He doesn’t lose weight. Then he comes here and demands results. “What’s your name? Artyom Ovechkin? I got you! Come here…”

Rules for the group work

— Organization rules.

We’ll begin classes on time. It is very important. If you’re late, you’ll miss something, and that’s not good.

Your cell phones should be turned off. Even vibration signals are unacceptable. Purses, crawling on the table under vibration, can interrupt important psychological practice at the crucial moment.

Imagine, we are sitting here, concentrated, focused on some moment. Meditative music is playing. Suddenly.

Buzz-z-z-z-z! Someone’s purse is running to us, vibrating like a mad hare! You know, no matter how many times I remind to turn off the phones. Everybody says: “Certainly, we’ll turn them off.” But then we hear phone ringing!

— ☺

— Now let’s talk about safety.

First, there is the “Stop!” rule. If we hit where it hurts you, if you do not want to work at this problem right now, you have a right to say:

“Stop! I don’t want to discuss it!” And we stop talking about it.

There is one more thing: privacy. You can say anything you want about me, about the program, but everything you hear within these walls about each other (and we’ll talk about personal life, work, discuss various issues that you are eager to share with us) must stay here. Can we rely on one another? Everything said by participants about themselves or each other cannot leave this room. It shouldn’t be revealed to anyone else. Promise?

— It goes in one ear and out the other.

— Active involvement. So the first rule is so-called I-statement. Many people use to say all the time “we”, “we believe”, “we think”. “We” is a great cover for hiding thing that allows evading any responsibility. Let’s talk in the first person!

The next point. You can ask any question you want. Every unresolved issue leads to a lack of information, wrong actions, and wrong results.

The next rule is “swapping”. We will change seats after every class.

First, your main task is to sit by Victor for at least once.

— What about me? Will I stay in the same seat?

— ☺

— No, you will change your seat too. They say that those who are sitting closer to the leader of the group lose weight faster. That’s why we need constant swapping. ☺ What for?

We all want to gain results — and to change our life! Big changes start from the little ones.

It is desirable to make some changes in the kitchen too. You can buy new beautiful dishware, tablecloth, table napkins or plastic overlays; put some flowers on the table, hang new curtains. It’s important, as earlier you lead a different life in this kitchen. You had an eating behavior that led you to excess body weight. Now a new life begins!

---

Andrey Vasilyevich Trenogov, psychologist, psychiatrist:

In one research, scientists studied people who lost excess weight (the focus group included people weighing more than two hundred and sixty pounds who had several weight loss experiences) and maintained achieved weight for at least two years. The researchers tried to understand what all these people had in common. What helped them to lose weight successfully? As it turned out, all the people believed that they would finally achieve their goal this time. Secondly, everyone faced changes in life. Some of them married, divorced or changed career. The others moved or renovated their house. Everybody who lost weight successfully faced not only internal changes but external changes as well.

Group session of psychologist

Artyom Andreyevich Ovechkin:

— Another rule. Let’s speak in turn. When I take the floor, I speak. When you take the floor, you speak. When five people are talking at the same time, no one is listening. We are here not to make noise to wake the dead. Do you accept the rules?

Yes!

Communication with a problematic person

Nikolay Ivanovich Kosenkov, member of Petrovskaya Academy of Sciences and Arts, Ph. D. of medical science

Nonconstructive methods can be used in communication if a person hasn’t got any problems. But this doesn’t occur often. A person often does not realize that he has some kind of problem! He believes that he is always late because of some embarrassing chain of events. If he is overweight, this it’s caused by bad genes. The person has no willpower to reduce food consumption and give up unhealthy habits. He blames the disruption of the endocrine system and anything else — except himself. As usual, this problem does not bother him. But when it affects others, they are trying to the point that to him in every possible way. People begin to use the following communication patterns, which ultimately do not lead to an awareness of the problem. If there is no awareness, then there is no solution, either.

The following are the methods of communication that we use in everyday life.

Nonconstructive methods of communication with a problematic person

1. Pushing a person to the independent solution of the problem:

— order;

— warning, threat;

— preaching;

— advice, proposals, interpretation;

— using logical arguments, lecturing.

2. Underlining of weaknesses and fails:

— criticism, accusation;

— the practice of naming and shaming;

— diagnosis, interpretation.

3. Attempt to improve well-being:

— praise, positive evaluation;

— consolation, encouragement.

4. Wrong questions:

— questions to gather additional information;

— questions to get away from the problem.

There are constructive means of conducting a conversation. They allow us to hear the person and understand his problem. The one who can listen is the best talker. These methods are presented below. We will learn to listen to each other and ourselves during our session.

Constructive methods of communication with a problematic person

1. Passive listening:

— keeping silence;

— empathic approval (“Uh-huh,” “Yeah, I understand,” nodding);

— “Gate-opening” (“Your story was so interesting. Would you mind to tell me something else?”).

2. Active listening:

pronouncing (the interlocutor repeats word for word statement of the partner. However, he can start with introductory phrases:

“From what I understand…”, “In other words…”, “In your opinion…”);

— paraphrasing (the interlocutor reproduces the statement of the partner in short, generalized form, summarizing the most significant things in his words. He can start with introductory phrases: “As I understood, your main ideas are…”, “So…”);

— the interlocutor tries to derive a logical consequence from the statements of the partner or to put forward an assumption regarding the reasons for the statement of the partner. At the same time, he can begin with an introductory phrase (“If we proceed from what you said, then it turns out that…”, “Apparently, you think so because…”).

Olga Vladimirovna Tsyganova, 28, economist, lost 110 lbs I was very lucky with the group. There were only nine of us, as it was a morning group. I felt like a part of the team. There was a pleasant and comfortable atmosphere. The others were very understanding. I was finally able to talk about things that bothered me. I listened to others and realized that I was not the only one in the world facing this problem. We’ve got everything in the class: laughter, tears, and interesting discussions. I went out inspired, charged with a lot of positive energy. That’s when I understood: “I can do it!”

Things leading to eating disorder

— Now we’ll discuss the following topic: “The typical scheme of eating disorder.”

— Should we write it down?

— Yes. You have to write it down. To make the explanation more entertaining, I’ll tell you a fairy-tale. Once good people told me a fairy-tale. Now I tell it from time to time at my sessions. It’s a story about a woman. Would you mind it, Victor?

— Me? No!

— Fine. So, it’s a fairy-tale about a woman. She is not twenty. She is not sixty… How old is she?

— Forty.

— OK. Forty. Fine. Her name was Zina. Has she got a family?

— Of course.

— It’s a nice fairy-tale. Husband and children?

— If the tale is nice, then she’s got all of them.

— Yes, she’s got a husband and children.

— ☺

— Who knows?

— So, Ksenya has got another idea: “Why are you so sure that the fairy-tale is kind-hearted if the woman has got a husband?” You should see Victor’s face now.☺

— ☺

— OK. She’s got a husband. How many children?

— Two.

— A couple of kids. What about pets? Cats or dogs?

— A cat.

— Sure.

— A cat. No dog. Right?

— ☺

— Right.

— No dog. So, the woman has got a cat, two children, and a husband. By the way, he is at the end of the list for some reason.

— ☺

— What does she do for a living?

— She is an accountant.

— Accountant as an option. Let’s generalize it. She works in the office. You know, there is a catchword “manager”, a person that you can find in every office.

— A manager.

— Yes, exactly. “A white-collar worker”. She is a manager. Has she got some excess weight at forty?

— Certainly.

— Of course, she gave birth to two kids.

Once, when the woman was cleaning her apartment, in some far corner, or maybe under a cabinet, she found something. Zina took it out, wiped the dust off. The last time she saw it was six months ago. It was her who pushed it under the cabinet in a fit of temper. A small tool on four legs.

— A weight scale?

— Yes. Zina puts it in front of her, on the floor. She wonders whether her weight has changed for the last six months. Zina feels in her heart that things go wrong.

— ...and pushes the scale back under the cabinet…

— No, she doesn’t! She decides to check her weight with the scale.

Zina stands on scales measuring her weight and sees.

— Oh, I can imagine that…

— Just like in the song: “Amber saw the three-figure number”.

— ☺

— Did you watch the official video for the song?

— ☺

— It’s an amazing song. What’s its name? Let me check.

— “She stands on a scale”.

— Yes, precisely. It’s “She stands on a scale” song. If you haven’t watched it yet, search for it on Google. It’s really amazing. It’s a bit obscene, though.

— ☺

— Well, Zina stands on a scale and finds out that she gained twenty pounds. What does she think about it?

— It might be a mistake.

— Certainly! Perhaps the scale is out of order.

It’s dirty, dusty.

— Or she overate yesterday.

— Yeah, exactly! Besides, her clothes may be too heavy, right? Are your clothes heavy usually? Of course. Maybe Zina hasn’t gone for a dump yet.

— ☺

— …or hasn’t washed away all the make-up.

— So, she didn’t gain any weight. ☺

— Yes! Although it’s a bit upsetting, Zina forgot about it soon enough.

Another year passes by.

Zina stands on the scale again and finds out that she has gained another twenty pounds. Forty pounds in total. For illustrative purposes, I’ll demonstrate what it means when you gain forty pounds. Look at the corner of the room, please. Do you see the vessel for a water dispenser? Nineteen liters and a container. It weighs forty pounds or so.

Imagine that it’s not water, but fat plashing there.

The adipose tissue is riddled with blood and lymphatic vessels. The heart is beating, trying to push the blood through these numerous miles of capillary vessels. Your heart, joints, and spine are overloaded. To make it clearer, you carry the load on your shoulders. It is heavy. And this is how Zina walks now. She sleeps with the load, lays with it in the bed. Zina wakes up in the morning, cleans her teeth, takes a shower, goes to the kitchen, feeds her family, does all the chores, and then… Where does she go then? To the office. She works there all day long, running in and out. And the “heavy load” — her excess weight — accompanies her everywhere. She settled all the issues, typed on her computer, talked by phone. Finally, her working day is over. Where does Zina go then?

— She goes home.

— I wish she did. But she goes to a store at first.

— And she leaves it with numerous packets.

— Of course, she has bags full of food. Now imagine that a woman has more than one “bottle” on her shoulders. What if she has two bottles weighing forty pounds each?

She comes home. Her hands are full, so she opens the door with her forehead somehow. Ups, the family is already there waiting for her.

— ☺

— ...screaming: “We are hungry!” She goes to the kitchen, bakes, boils, steams foods, helps children with homework. Then, late at night, Zina makes love with her husband. With this bottle on her shoulders. Then she goes to bed. She sleeps, and her body is getting bigger and bigger. In your opinion, what does Zina have to do to lose excess weight?

— She has to put away this load!

— The most important question is if she needs the willpower to get things done.

— Of course.

— She certainly needs the willpower to hold this heavy bottle all day long.

You can’t imagine how much strength and will I need to hold this forty-pound bottle on my shoulders for such a long time while standing in front of you and telling the story!

Finally, I feel something… What do I need to get rid of it?

— Motivation.

— Desire.

— Desire! Oh yeah, I’ve got a strong desire already!

So, I do this — pow! I throw it off!

As long as you have a strong desire, there is no need for willpower. Everything you need is “know-how” and a strong desire!

Yay! Diet starts on monday!

— So, Zina decides that a revolution is coming, since elites can’t, and people don’t want to.

“I don’t want to hold this bottle on my shoulders anymore! I have to work off the excess weight!”

The easiest way is to go on a diet. Zina downloads from the Internet another diet. As a rule, it says that it’s the best way to drop excess weight, totally proven and reliable. Zina decides to try it. How does she usually go on a diet? The schedule is like that: a few days on a diet, then some yummy treats, another day on a diet, and then another “rest”. When do you usually start a new diet?

— On Monday!

— Why on Monday?

— Because the weekend is over. During the weekend, there are always guests, cooking, foods, yummy treats…

— Two days of food paradise. On Saturday and on Sunday we meet up with friends, throw a party. Food-farewell ceremony! On Sunday, in the evening, Zina washes the dishes, eats up leftovers, and goes to bed. Then she wakes up on Monday morning. What does she feel?

— It’s so hard to get up.

— What does she feel during the first four hours?

— She’s hungry.

— Imagine these first hours of a diet. Your mood?

— Low.

— The low mood will come a bit later. But at first, in the beginning, you feel…

— Inspired!

— Yes! It’s over, “slim” life is so close! Soon I’ll become a fantastic slim beauty!

Zina is excited, inspired. Will she eat her breakfast?

— No, of course not.

— Precisely. What for? Breakfast? A cup of coffee at the most, and then she runs to work. Zina came to work, and then she faces the first enticement.

— Her colleagues are having tea.

— Coffee.

— Exactly. Everybody drinks tea! It’s Monday morning.

— Chocolates.

— Yes. Besides, everyone brought some yummy things from home. They all sit at the table. Zina is an active, outgoing, and fun-loving person. They say: “Hi, Zina! You should join us. Come on!” But she has a new life now! What will she say?

— OK, give me something yummy! ☺

— No, she is a strong-willed person. Do you remember about the heavy forty-pound bottle on her shoulders? Certainly, Zina can be far too reckless and tell her colleagues: “I am on a diet.” She’ll make a mysterious face and says: “I am on a diet. I am not like you anymore!” What response will she get?

— Everyone will pay attention to her. They will tempt poor Zina with yummy things.

— “You can start your diet tomorrow. Here, get some tea!”

— And it repeats again and again, every day when she comes to work. Once Zina comes to the office. Her colleagues are eating some desserts again: “Yum! Oh, so sorry for you, you can’t try it. You are our slim girl! Just mind your own business and stay away from our desserts”.

— ☺

— Of course, she will give up in a while. Let’s assume that Zina understands it very well. “I should better keep my diet in secret. I’ll tell them…” What? What can we say in such a case?

— I’ve just eaten.

— “I’ve just eaten… I had a tough weekend. You have no idea how hard it was! I feel sick. My stomach hurts. I guess I’ve got food poisoning!”

So, she got off the hook. Zina is fine until lunchtime. What does she feel then?

— Hunger.

— Hunger. She is so hungry that it’s impossible to ignore it. Thus, the woman makes a decision: “OK, I go to the canteen.”

— I’ll eat some low-calorie dishes.

— Yes. All the other people will have soup, a main course, salad, dessert as usual. As for me, I’ll have a vegetable salad and a drink. What can you drink when losing weight?

— Some water, for example.

— Green tea.

— Think again. What helps to lose weight?

— Coffee.

— Purgative.

— What goes well with fresh salad leaves?

— Salad oil.

— What can you find in any canteen? Drink.

— May be yogurt?

— Precisely! Zina ate herbs and covered it with some yogurt.

— ☺

— Then, while everyone returns to the office, she runs straight to the ‘throne room’. She spends a lot of time there, getting slimmer and slimmer.

— ☺

— Zina thinks: “Well, I guess everything is going fine.” Five minutes — normal flight, ten minutes — normal flight. OK, she’s done. It was a hard day in the office. She needs some encouragement. Zina sees a large mirror in the toilet room. She comes closer and checks for some signs of a weight loss.

— ☺

— Yeah, her cheeks are getting smaller. Ass looks firm. You can easily convince yourself of anything if you need some support!

Then Zina returns to work. So, in the evening she is super-hungry!

Zina goes to a store. She has no choice. Her hungry children, hungry husband, and hungry cat are waiting for her at home. So, of course, Zina goes to a store. What does she do because of her hunger?

— She buys everything she sees!

— She eats everything!

— Have you ever seen snowplow? A huge shovel sweeping snow. She is just like this snowplow, sweeping all foods from shelves! Of course, she ignores a small basket. She takes a huge cart and fills it with food. It’s not for her. It’s for them! For her hungry family!

— ☺

— On the small shelf in the cart, where people use to seat a child, Zina puts low-calorie sugar-free yogurt, laminaria, some crisp-breads marked as… Any ideas, Lena?

— “Dietetic”.

— Yes. Or maybe “Fitness”. “Healthy”.

— Yes.

— Really? Eat crisp-breads and lose weight. What else will she choose? Perhaps, some tropical fruits?

— Pineapples.

— Pineapples? Why, Nadezhda?

— They are burning fat.

— Of course, everyone knows that pineapples contain bromelain. Do you know what part of pineapple contains bromelain?

— Yes, pineapple peels.

— There are scales on the peel and small buds on the ends of the scales.

— ☺

— Yeah, they contain bromelain. To get at least one therapeutic dose of bromelain, you have to cut buds from twenty-five pineapples. If you see nibbled pineapples in a supermarket, perhaps Zina was there.

— ☺

— Finally, she is almost at home with all these packets, heads to the fourth floor to her apartment. She stands by the door, breathing hard. Zina doesn’t really want to get inside. As soon as she entered, all the family members run straight to her and ask: “Where were you?” Even the hungry cat is looking at her with reproachful eyes. Zina drops her bags and runs to the kitchen — to cook dinner! She slices cucumbers for salad. Zina cuts off both ends of the cucumber and puts them into her mouth.

— ☺

— Then she slices tomatoes, sausages.

— And takes a few bites.

— It’s hard to slice sausages nicely. Many slices get crooked.

— ☺

— It’s not good to put imperfect slices on the plate for family dinner. Put it into mouth! Can we feed our hunger by eating a few pieces?

— No!

— Certainly not! Finally, Zina laid the table. She fried hamburgers, potatoes, made salads. She called her husband, children. Even the cat got some yummy pieces. What about Zina? She’s got a peeled carrot and sugar-free yogurt. If it worked out in the daytime, then it should help her to feel satiety again!

Now, let’s do out fairy-tale a bit cruel. Her husband is skinny. And children are just like their Daddy!

— ☺

— So, they all come to the kitchen, sit around the table, and say: “I want more potatoes! And another hamburger, please!” And then they cover their foods with mayonnaise. Children ask: “Do we have some ice-cream for dessert?” Zina looks at this feast, thinking: “Oh my God…”

The woman is so hungry that she is about to faint. The others sit at the table, eating. They are chewing so hard that their ears are moving!

What should she do?

Zina goes to the living room, turns on the TV, and watches series. Johanna, Peter, episode three hundred thirty-five. They meet in some restaurant for a romantic dinner! Orange juice, a slice of cheesecake. Food is everywhere!

Zina is watching series dreaming about the time when she becomes slim and beautiful, just like Johanna. At this moment, her husband enters the room. He sits down by her side. Even though he hasn’t brought any food with him, he smells like fried steak. The women’s sense of smell is significantly sharper than men’s! Her husband says: “Zina, give me the TV remote I want to watch…” What?

— Football!

— Of course. Or hockey championship, or something…

“Are you watching the movie? Who cares? Anyway, you have some chores to do. Give me the TV remote and go to your favorite room to wash dishes!” Sad Zina goes to the kitchen. What does she see there?

— Leftovers on plates!

— Of course! There should be at least half of hamburger on one plate, left to its fate. And some potatoes. Zina thinks of… Well, actually, she doesn’t think at all at this moment!

She just sees food.

What if it is not the first day of her diet? What if it is the twentieth day? No thoughts, only instincts. She hasn’t made any decision yet. Zina closes the door, turns on water. She has come here to wash the dishes.

— ☺

Just one last piece!

— Nobody sees or hears what she is doing. Zina sits down in front of the hamburger and looks at it. The hamburger looks back at her. Nietzsche wrote: “And if thou gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will also gaze into thee.”

So, the “abyss” is gazing into Zina. What is she thinking about at this moment?

— I’ll eat only half of the hamburger. It won’t change anything.

— Exactly!

Everybody knows: half of a hamburger can’t ruin your life.

She thinks: “No, I shouldn’t do it.”

Zina has so-called withdrawal syndrome. She takes half of the hamburger and thinks: “I’ll finish this piece — and stop eating.”

— Then she takes another hamburger, and then the third one…

— Wait a little, of course, it will happen, but a little later! ☺

Zina starts chewing hamburger and… How does it taste?

— Amazing…

— It is magnificent! Zina got a blackout. She is totally out of order. Now all her thoughts are about…

— Potato.

— Why about potato? Zina is like a vampire, who has tasted the blood and then attacks anyone to get more… ☺ She tried the hamburger, and now her mind moves to the plate or to the pot with eight hamburgers! “Oh my… I cooked them by myself! Maybe…”

Zina grabs another hamburger, thinking: “It is the last one!” She stuffs it into her mouth (as if someone rushes into the room in a minute and takes away all hamburgers) and starts to chew it ravenously!

At this moment, she has a blackout. Her mind shuts off.

As participants of our sessions say, Zina meets Mr. Eating Frenzy! Of course, together they could eat all eight hamburgers! ☺ If eight hamburgers are too much for her, then, when devouring the sixth hamburger and feeling it getting caught in her throat, Zina starts to curse herself.

— Silly idiot.

— Yes, I believe you! I think you are honest. You speak from your heart! What else did you say?

— Why have I eaten so much?

— You sound too intelligent: “Why have I eaten so much?”

Imagine a forty-year-old person who has just devoured eight hamburgers. She is alone in the kitchen. She has just ruined his diet. No doubt, the woman would use some bad words. One of participants from another group assumed: “Well, she said to herself: “Oh, what a spineless piggy I am!”

— Do you believe it? Do you think Zina would say this?

— Dummy, idiot!

— What other names would she call herself in such a case? Perhaps some domestic animals?

— Pig!

— Pig. Yes, it’s possible. Maybe some horned animal then?

— Cow.

— Cow!

— ☺

— All the other words she uses should be bleeped…

— ☺

— ...cause I’m sure she kicked herself to the fullest. What does she feel? What emotions is she experiencing?

— She feels guilty.

— Precisely. Of course, she feels guilty. Is she hurt?

— She suffered for so long…

— Moment of weakness — and she ruined everything. ☺

— Yes! Is she angry?

— Yes.

— So, what does she feel finally?

— She feels sorry for herself.

— Of course. Self-pity. Zina knows how to comfort herself. Some sweets will help a lot! No, Galina, hamburger won’t work in this case. It’s hard to comfort yourself with a hamburger.

— ☺

— She raises her hand like this… and throws it down!

— Fine!

— Screw it!

— Life is ruined, all labor is for nothing. Everything is rotten. Zina opens fridge, buffet… As you remember, she bought lots of food recently, so her food reserves are huge! Zina eats one treat after another, comforting herself, searching for relief from negative emotions. Actually, she was going to eat some sweets.

— ☺

— Instead, she ate up… Much more than she planned. Reflexively. Sweets and chocolates jump into her mouth one after another! Zina opens her mouth, and they jump into it — hop-hop! The next moment she sits in her chair, cursing herself: “How could you…” She calls herself bad names: “Idiot, pig, cow, dummy…” She is angry and offended. And she blames herself again! It’s late evening, almost night. Her family is sleeping, and Zina is “washing dishes” in her “favorite” room.

— ☺

— Then she can’t eat anymore. Her stomach is full. Of course, she decides that…

— Again.

— It’s time to lose weight. ☺

— It’s time to lose weight.

— ☺

— Zina goes to her bedroom, thinking that all she needs for success is another diet, cause this one was “improper”. Besides, she feels guilty. She failed the diet! Zina blames herself. Therefore, she has to wash the guilt away. With blood or something! Zina feels that she has to be punished! She has to do something.

Do you have any ideas? What can wash the guilt away? What should she get?

— Punishment!

— Hunger!

— Yes, as an option!

Hunger. Long-time starvation, perhaps, even without drinking water. Dry starving, as they call it. I can’t believe that some people keep a diet without drinking any water.

Jogging!

“Well, what else can I do to myself?” Enema!

“Acupuncture, and forced vomiting, then I’ll join an equestrian club as a horse. Oh, I’ll make myself lose weight at any price!”

— Do you think we can help her?

— Yes, we can.

— Sketch the following diagram, please.

This is a classic pattern of an eating disorder.

It is very simple, but millions of people on the Earth follow it day by day, month by month, year by year. There are two circles in this diagram. The large circle is for physiological aspects, and the small circle is for psychological aspects.

Where should we start to help Zina?

— She needs desire.

— Right. She needs desire.

— Take away Hunger.

— Eugenia, you are right.

N.B.! Hunger is forbidden! We have to eat four-six times a day. Regular balanced meals.

Would we meet Mr. Eating-Frenzy in that case?

— No.

— Of course not.

Over-eating is a pathologic state. Extreme emotional narrowed state of consciousness, extreme emotional disturbance, if it is proven, is considered to be a mitigating circumstance for any crime, even murder. As we see, Zina accumulates hunger impulses and brings herself to the state when she is not able to control herself anymore. She just can’t stop eating!

When people were taken out of besieged Leningrad, and, outside the siege ring, they finally got access to food, they were told: “You shouldn’t eat a lot right away. Eat a little bit today, then a little more tomorrow. Increase your food portion day by day, and then, probably, you will survive.” What did they do? Some people sneaked into the storerooms at night. They even broke locks, gorged with food and died from intestinal obstruction. It’s impossible to stop a person from over-eating even under penalty of death if he falls into the eating frenzy. If we feed our Hunger with tasty, hearty, and rational food regularly, we won’t face eating-frenzy.

Praise and discountenance

Should we do something about our habit of criticizing ourselves?

— It should be forbidden!

— Of course. More than that — I advise you to start praising yourself! You fed yourself — “Good job!” You’ve done something good for yourself, treat yourself well — “What a good girl (or a boy)!”

Olga Vladimirovna Tsyganova, 28, economist, lost 110 lbs This story about Zina came into my mind again. I had a good laugh and then started to think about it. When I heard this fact of life, it was a shock for me. Why? It’s a simple description of my typical behavior, my actions. But I’ve never understood or realized it before.

Just like most of us, I blamed and scolded myself, called myself an idiot. Of course, I still call myself an idiot sometimes, but in other life situations. Now I praise and indulge myself much more often, and I advise everyone to do the same. Moreover, I allow all the other people around to pay me compliments and enjoy them so much! Why not? I deserved it. I am smart, slim, and beautiful.

Group session of psychologist

Artyom Andreyevich Ovechkin:

— Many people do not have a habit of praising themselves. It’s really bad because then they start to kick and blame themselves. It makes everything even worse. Mood, self-esteem, well-being, and efficiency — all these factors are getting lower.

Words like “idiot,” “pig,” “cow,” “screwhead,” “ham-handed,” “you are terrible” — come from childhood. Then a person grows up, but there are hours and hours of “audio records” in his head, in his memory. Parents and teachers scolded us when we were kids. Then a person grows up and starts to scold himself just like his parents and teachers did before. He spoils his life with this endless scolding without even knowing it. There is an old Chinese saying: “Call yourself a pig for ten times, and you will grunt.”

What if you call yourself a superstar ten times?

— You’ll shine and twinkle!

— That’s why we have to praise ourselves!

Olga Vladimirovna Tsyganova, 28, economist, lost 110 lbs. As they say: “Say good things about yourself often. The source will be forgotten, but the information will stay”. The others will see your good, positive side too.

---

Group session of psychologist

Artyom Andreyevich Ovechkin:

— So, self-scolding is forbidden.

That’s why we praise ourselves. I’ll give you at least a few reasons. Please tell me what we improve by praising ourselves regularly.

— Mood.

— Fine. What else?

— Self-esteem.

— Of course. When we are in a good mood and appreciate ourselves, how will it affect our lives? What will be improved?

— Relationship!

— Yes! Besides, we become more productive, both at work and at the creative activity. Wherever you look, there are only advantages.

But it’s so hard to make people praise themselves. I have to force them to do it. Most people do not have this good habit.

Let’s write down our homework. Set aside one clean sheet for homework. It would help if you wrote down there all the homework. Now, write down your first task. Tomorrow morning you have to praise yourself at least five times until our meeting. You should especially praise yourself for self-nurturing. I fed myself regularly — well done, I took lunch to work — what a clever girl. I overslept and came late to work — it’s OK, at least I’ve got enough sleep. Well done!

— ☺

— The glass is half full, not half empty. A positive attitude is all we need!

Tomorrow I’ll ask whether you have praised yourself five times or not. A typical excuse I usually hear: “I don’t have time for it”. It’s irresponsible. Agree? How much time do you need to praise yourself? Five seconds. So, “no time” won’t work. I’ll ask you about praising tomorrow.

Recipe for success

Andrey Vasilyevich Trenogov, psychologist, psychiatrist:

I noticed that when I ask people to praise themselves at least three times, the next day, many people say that they did it only once or twice. When I began to ask them to praise themselves at least fifteen times, everything changed. Now it seems to be so simple to say something kind to yourself five times.

There is a good saying. Unfortunately, I have no idea who said it, but I’d like to share it with you: “It is better to aim for the stars and hit the top of the mountain than to aim for the mountain and hit the dirt.”

Another thing: it’s very important to write down all the praises. Just thinking about them is not enough.

A well-known personal growth expert Barrett Brown researched how the most successful people develop their personality. He identified three patterns that are common to all of them.

First, they meditated. Some people did yoga, the others — qigong, some used awareness practice or daily practice of prayer, and so on.

Secondly, they all kept a diary. They made daily records of their achievements, insights, asked themselves questions, and answered them.

Thirdly, everyone had a coach, mentor, or friend with whom they discussed how they were moving towards the goal.

Despite being very busy, they found time to do it.

It just so happens that most people use to scold themselves. If I gave you the task to scold yourself five times, then (as I often heard) there would be no difficulty. And the scolding would sound sincere, with appropriate intonations. When a person praises himself, the tone is not always entirely sincere. It is usually playful, sometimes even cynical. It is known that intonation affects us much stronger than words. Therefore, while doing this exercise, try to praise yourself sincerely, even for very modest achievements.

I have seen many times that even such simple exercise helped people to improve self-esteem. And it is self-esteem that determines our well-being, how we treat others, and how we operate in life. This exercise can be made more complicated. To do this, you need a person who won’t let you “escape”.

It can be a person who desires to lose weight, except for your relatives. They are not suitable for this role. You agree with this person that every evening for ten days you will talk by phone or e-mail each other listing ten points of your “achievements” — good things that you have done today. The key challenge is that you can’t say the same thing twice. So, you’ll get one hundred achievements for ten days! It usually becomes difficult after the twentieth point, but after the fortieth one, on the contrary, all the difficulties disappear.

In doing so, you immediately engage three vital areas: you will practice awareness and self-observation, keep a diary, and discuss it with a friend.

Group session of psychologist

Artyom Andreyevich Ovechkin:

— Do you think it’s possible to take all the negative emotions away from your life?

— No.

— Can we eliminate negative emotions relative to our eating behavior?

— Yes.

— Of course, there is no room for them. I feed myself regularly, praise and love myself, nurture myself. What do we get then instead of self-pity?

— Pride!

— Even better than that. Mila, what do you think?

— Self-respect.

— What else? Any ideas?

— Love to yourself.

— Recently, this word has become a bit overworked. It is written almost on every fence, in every book, newspaper and magazine. They all persuade you that you need to love yourself, and then everything will be fine. But nobody says how to do it.

How do you love your kids? You take care of them. Loving yourself in practical terms is about taking care of yourself. Self-nurturing suggests that you should spend some resources for yourself. What recourses? Time, money and energy.

Building a new body

— I don’t mean that you should love yourself like it was proposed in a well-known cartoon about school for devilkin: “Hey, devilkin! The Thirteenth! You have to love yourself, only yourself! Love yourself, don’t think about others, and you’ll succeed!” It’s not what I mean! ☺ I want to say that you have to spend recourses not only for others but for yourself too. You have to take care of yourself in full measure.

Look what we get in that case. Do we need any punishment?

— No.

— Of course not. There is no reason. On the contrary, it’s time to start enjoying your life. We’ll discuss it during the seminar.

“I need to lose weight.” How do you feel about the word “need”? Tayisia, what if I tell you: “You need to lose weight. You are obliged to do it!” Do you feel negative emotions? Rejection?

— Yes.

— You want to do the exact opposite! We had enough of these “need” and “must” since we were kids. People feel negative about it on a subconscious level. What other words would never cause negative feelings?

— Want! ☺

— Of course, it’s “want”! Remember the situation in your life when you really wanted something. Did you need to be persuaded?

— No.

— No. You were ready to do it against all the odds. Perhaps someone even tried to slow you down a bit: “Hey, where are you going?” You replied: “No, I have to hurry up. I want it!”

I want you to have a burning desire to get slim! “Here I am! Slim superstar walking along the beach! I walk with kids wearing a very tight dress in summer, and they say: “Mom, you are so beautiful!”

— I want to get slim!

— I want to get slim! I want a new body. And I will create it! I regularly feed, praise, and love myself. I spend time and money on myself. I enjoy my life and get slim! Your train turns to a new railway! Is it achievable?

— Yes.

— Yes, this can be easily achieved! Especially when we consider the process step by step. It’s easy to understand how to do it. All we need is to retrain ourselves.

On average, it takes twenty-one days to form new habits.

During the next four days, you’ll start to adopt new habits that will help you to get slim. Then you’ll maintain them. In a month, we’ll meet again, check how it is going, refine some issues. Everything will be great!

N.B.! At first, you work for a certain time to form and fix the good habits. Then these habits work to make your life healthy, happy, and successful.

I would like to emphasize that Zina, the woman we talked about, lives inside each of you. Zina, let’s continue to call her Zina, it’s a sub-personality that lives in the head of every person. She is a part of your personality. Some psychologists call it “Sly Fat”.

The main aim of Zina or Mr. Eating-Frenzy is to keep everything in your life as it is. They oppose any changes to make your body fatter and fatter, and to increase the amount of fat in your mind, as they say.

What does it mean — “fat in mind”? It means that you doubt yourself, you do not believe in yourself, do not feed yourself regularly, scold yourself too often, dramatize any unpleasant situation, overthink every event, starve, eat all sorts of junk food when your hunger is seeking for healthy food, and so on.

Zina adores it! She will appear in your head from time to time and say: “Come on, Snezhana, it’s impossible to eat four or six times a day and get slim! It’s nonsense! Let’s get out of it!”

“He says you can eat meat, fish, poultry, seafood, pasta, and potatoes. No, please, do not eat pasta! Let’s get some cake after work instead! What?! He banned a cake — our only joy?”

“Remember how we used to do before? Someone hurt you, you go home and see a bakery. You enter inside, eat one pie, another pie. Oops! No tears, no offense. You are fine again! But he wants to take away our precious! Let’s get out of it! You cannot live like this”.

She will talk about it! Auntie Zina in your head will repeat it again and again. As for Victor, he has Uncle Joe or another subpersonality instead of Zina.

— ☺

— Your task is to “turn off the microphone” immediately as soon as Auntie Zina starts speaking. That’s enough! You are done with her talks! You have been listening to her for years.

— Yes!

— I will tell you about the lifestyle of a slim person tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. When you tell me your opinion, I’ll be able to understand who’s talking to me: “OK, that’s Anna… And Auntie Zina grabs the microphone and starts to complain, berate and justify herself!”

“I am slim” — it sounds like music for my soul!

— How to become slim?

To achieve your goal, you have to understand one crucial thing.

What makes a person slim? His body or his mind?

— His mind.

— Of course. Have you met some people without any excess weight who keep saying that they are fat?

— Certainly.

— Some people are overweight, but they say: “I am fine, I am slim enough.” So, in many respects, it’s a matter of perception.

For example, an overweight person draws a house, a tree, and a person.

They call it projective techniques. What do psychologists try to understand, analyzing such pictures?

— Problems.

— Problems of the person, his character, and his mental state. An overweight person usually draws a person like this: big head, small body, sticks instead of arms, and legs. Why?

— The body is not important to him.

— Moreover, a body is almost absent in the picture. If we cherish and appreciate something in our life, do we pay attention to it?

— Sure.

— This picture demonstrates that the person doesn’t pay attention to his body. Over the years of counseling, I met many people who hate their fat bodies. They even become aggressive against their bodies.

A person sits in front of a psychologist, crying, shaking his tummy with his hands. He says: “Look at my leg! It’s disgusting!”

His mind lives a life of its own. It has nothing to do with the fat body as if it was not his decision to make it fat and maintain this condition. The lousy body has only itself to blame.

— And some circumstances.

— Yes. It just happened, the body gained four pounds again.

As they say: “My weight has become heavier.” Of course, the body is growing bigger and bigger on its own.

— ☺

— “What? You’ve gained another ten pounds, my lousy body? I’m done. I’ll stick the needles into you and stuff you with medicines. Gained twenty pounds? OK, I’ll take you to a surgeon, and he will cut off pieces from you!”

— It’s no good.

— But the head considers it to be a great solution. There is no harmony. Head and body live separately from each other. They have a relationship similar to relationship of whom?

— Enemies.

— Enemies or who else? Head constantly berates body, browbeats it…

— Boss and subordinate.

— Precisely, boss and subordinate. Besides, the head is a very sophisticated boss. Smart. Well-educated. As for the body, it’s the worst subordinate you’ve ever met. A stupid, defective person. A walking disaster.

Then this type of relationship transforms into the relationship of… Whom? What other types of relationship between head and body can you imagine? If it’s not “Boss vs subordinate”, then… Give me more constructive versions.

— Parents.

— A parent and a child. Yes. Mom loves her daughter even if she is not perfect, right?

— Yes.

— Agree? Even when her daughter is nasty, when she is coughing, when her hair is filthy. Mom still loves her child even when she returned home too late with a broken knee and cut finger, dirty from head to toe. Mom still loves her. Right?

— Of course.

— Mom loves her anyway.

Head loves its body too: “You have to lose some weight, and then I’ll take you to the beach.” Body: “I want to the beach now!”

— ☺

— “Have you seen yourself in the mirror? At first, you have to lose at least thirty pounds. Then you can go there.” Body: “I want to the swimming pool!” Head: “All people there look like Belvedere Apollo and Aphrodite. And when you jump into the water, it will overflow over the edge! Besides, you’ll have to experience five meters of shame from the pool to the changing room and back. No. No swimming pool for you!” Body: “I want it. And I want to be loved and cherished!” Head: “What are you talking about?! Drop forty pounds, massage, fitness, cosmetology, and then you’ll get some love! Maybe.” That’s how the conversation goes.

— ☺

— The person gets less pleasure and joy. The only source of comfort is excessive food. So, the body eats more and more!

Meanwhile, the head keeps saying: “Genes?! Forget it.

We’ll cut them off too.”

That’s how it goes.

As soon as we’ve got a “devoted mother and daughter” relationship or “a loving mother and son” relationship, and then the care that we were talking about before occurs.

Let’s do an exercise to move towards this desired model. Actually, we won’t do it. You will write it down and then do it at home. Please, use a blank sheet allocated for homework. You have to hole up tonight or tomorrow morning. I guess the bathroom is the best choice, as no one will bother you there, and there is a latch on the door.

— Take a tub…

— No!

— ☺

— Take your clothes off and look at your naked body. Those parts of the body that cause intense negative emotions or even some kind of rejection, resentment, these particular parts of your body need kind words and tender touches.

If it’s a leg, then touch your leg. If it’s your tummy, then touch your tummy. Touch them tenderly and say a few kind words: “My dear leg, we are recovering. There is a beautiful slim leg inside of you…”

You know that it is still there, right?

— ☺

— OK. Some people tell me: “I can’t tell my leg anything good.” There is a slim beautiful leg inside. You are slim people. But your beautiful bodies are hiding inside of you. Look, there are bones, muscles, internals, skin. You have everything you need for a harmonious life.

A certain amount of excess fat tissue conceals some parts of your slim body.

We will part with this extra fatty tissue step by step during our session. Soon your slim body that is hiding inside of you now will appear again!

Olga Vladimirovna Tsyganova, 28, economist, lost 110 lbs A funny story has just come into my mind. My mother always believed that I was pretty, but she said that I had no neck. In her opinion, my head ran straight into my shoulders. I disagreed:

“Look, Mom, here it is. I do have a neck!” Then, after the session, I got slimmer and slimmer. One day Mom told me: “Olga, I’ve just noticed that you have such a beautiful neck. You have to open it!”

I had been chunky since I was a child. I could only guess what was hiding under the accursed fat step by step, I got to know myself, I began to learn about myself and my body. I can’t say that I am absolutely pleased with the result, but when I look in the mirror, look at my “before” and “after” photos — I am still amazed at the changes that have occurred in me.

It’s a wonderful life.

Group session of psychologist

Artyom Andreyevich Ovechkin:

— Then say yourself: “My body is slim, it’s getting healthier every day. Nice tummy, perhaps you’ll be half an inch smaller in four days. I’ll follow all the recommendations!” And the body responds with gratitude. A woman told me recently: “I holed up, started to say something good to myself. I was touching myself kindly, saying good words to my body, and suddenly tears ran down my face… I guess I wept for half an hour.” I asked her: “What did you feel?” She replied: “I felt so sorry for myself! I had been treating myself like trash. And then I finally understood that I am good!”

You have to do these exercises. It will be interesting and useful. Tomorrow I will ask you about the results. I will not ask about the details. I will just ask whether you did it or not, whether you were able to say kind words to your body and touch it with love or not.

Your mind has to adopt the following statement: “I am a slim person.” This thought will spread below from here, from your head, and affect your life, your habits, and your body. And then you will finally become slim. I am not really a true artist, so don’t expect a masterpiece. (draws a slim body). A woman from another group told me recently: “I don’t want the body you’ve drawn.”

— ☺

— But to succeed, you really have to accept this thought: “I am slim.” Because if you still consider yourself a dummy, a pig, a cow, we’ll never succeed.

Now you know that your slim body is still with you, it’s inside of you. You are slim!

Everything you need is to adopt a way of thinking of a slim person, feed yourself regularly, praise yourself, and enjoy your life — as a slim person does.

We’ll talk about it later. Next.

— When you gain weight, you always think: “It’s OK. I am slim.” At least I used to think this way. But then I saw myself on video. Oh my, I considered myself slim.

— I know what you mean. It was a moment of self-awareness. You realized that your slim body had gone. The paradox is that in order to return your slim body, you need to call yourself slim!

Nikolay Ivanovich Kosenkov, member of Petrovskaya Academy of Sciences and Arts, Ph. D. of medical science

The consciousness of a human can operate only skeletal muscles. We cannot regulate the operation of smooth muscles, the release of hormones, and biologically active secrets.

Consequently, if any dominant occurs, that must be accompanied by a certain action, and the action requires the activation of skeletal and smooth muscles, hormone release, we can stop (if the dominant is undesirable) only our skeletal muscles. But it doesn’t stop the whole process, and the dominant stays unrealized for many months and years.

Any event or memory of the unfinished action activates the hormone system and contraction of the smooth muscles of vessels and internal organs.

As a result, we’ve got exacerbation of psychosomatic illness since a memory (even subconsciously) causes a biochemical explosion in the body, which requires the urgent intervention of the liver, pancreas, and heart into the processing of biochemical material.

But we can use the dominant mechanisms for “peaceful purposes” as well, by creating a “slim body” dominant in our mind and trying to accomplish it.

It’s one of the aims of our training — to create “I feel light — and I am light!” dominant.

Group session of psychologist

Artyom Andreyevich Ovechkin:

— You have to feel your slim body. It’s inside of you. It’s still here. Your slim body exists inside of you. Agree?

— It’s just covered with fat.

— Yes. It’s covered a bit (or a lot) by fat, but it still exists. If you consider yourself slim, then you’ll start to lose excess weight.

If you consider yourself fat, then you’ll continue to gain weight. You won’t be able to follow all the recommendations and to go all the way to the slim body if you berate yourself and consider yourself fat.

Your only way is to adopt the “I am slim” mindset.

Your slim is in your mind, in your head. Then it creates habits of a slim person and then — a slim body.

The next exercise.

Visualization of your slim body.

What are the aims of this exercise? The first is to relax, to relieve psycho-emotional and physical stress. The second aim is to imagine yourself slim. For example, you imagine a new car when you are going to buy it, right?

— Yes.

— Of course. You imagine how you get in this new car. You haven’t got it yet, but you’ve got its image in your mind: How you get in the car, its color, interior. For example, the seat is comfortable; it smells good. And the other things: lamps are on, and you grab the steering wheel. You imagine all the details, right?

When you, Victor, buy a new suit, or you, Olesya, buy a new dress, you imagine how it fits you before purchase, don’t you? You dream about a new dress, and you visualize, imagine it. It always works the same way. In order to acquire anything, even a slim body, we have to imagine it at first. Then it will be easier to acquire it!

Training of athletes includes elements of visualization. Sports psychologists and coaches set them up for success, encourage them to imagine that they beat the world record, that they are the first to reach the finish line or jump higher than others, score a goal, or stand on a pedestal, that tears of joy are running down their face, the national anthem is playing, the flag is flying.

So, if a person regularly thinks positively, imagines positive events, visualizes what he wants, will it improve his capabilities and abilities?