Have you ever noticed a waning in your motivation right prior to leaving for the gym? Deep down, you know that you will be happy that you worked out, rather than sitting here on your butt. However, your mind starts rolling over all of the reasons you shouldn’t go to the gym. It conjures up a bunch of excuses and other obligations that you could take care of rather than going to the gym. So you begin to believe your mind. After all, it makes everything seem so logical.

You miss your scheduled workout and go about doing whatever monotonous task you felt was so much more important. Then, like your worst enemy, your brain starts sending messages about how you should have gone and exercised, it gets transfixed on this and soon you begin experiencing feelings of guilt and remorse for having skipped the gym.

Your brain is the most complex organ in your body. Weighing in at about 3 pounds for an average adult, it requires nearly 20% of the body’s oxygen and blood flow. Your brain has the ability to make you feel great or to cause you to take to your bed in pain and illness. The wonderful thing about this mix of gray and white matter is that you can manage the messages that your brain is sending by controlling the stimuli that you feed it.

If you could harness the brain’s energy you could power a 10-watt light bulb. Consisting of 100 billion neurons and capable of more ideas than the number of atoms in the universe. The brain is one of the most important organs we have, too.

Begin each day with positive affirmations; speak appreciatively of all that you have received and all that you have to offer. Next, envision the exercise that you will be participating in. Imagine the muscles that will be worked during the exercise, allow yourself to visualize those muscles. Concentrate on how the workout will benefit them. Breathe in and out, doing the exercise in your mind.

Do you have some good affirmations for exercise of your own?  Share them with us and our readers in the comments space below:

You’ve probably heard before that speaking positively to a child will do more for his self-esteem than criticism. Encouraging a child to study and making learning fun, will help him to develop his skills better than calling him stupid or trying to shame him into studying. That’s because whatever you say over and over to a child, will stick with him. He will begin to believe the things that you say about him, whether positive or negative.

The same is true about the way that you speak to yourself. When you say something often enough you begin to believe it. More powerful sometimes than actions, words cut to the very core of our souls. So if you self-talk about hating the way you look, about being fat and unattractive, or if you are calling yourself names, sooner or later, you will begin to believe all of that. And the sad thing is, that once you start to believe it, you achieve it. Yes, if you believe you can’t succeed, you can’t.

But if you speak words of praise and gratitude to all that you have achieved, you will feel uplifted and capable of success. A feeling of calmness will come over you once you realize what a magnificent creature you really are. Once the need to punish yourself has passed, you can move forward to accomplish greater feats in your life.

One of the big things you might notice when you talk positively to yourself is the way that you embrace life and accept all of its challenges. With a new-found strength and confidence you’ll take the bull by the horns, so to speak, and just say no to defeat.

Start today, sit quietly for a few minutes and reflect on all of the wonderful things in your life. Shut out all negative thoughts and fill your mind with positive affirmations of all of your accomplishments. Be sure to meditate on any changes you would like to bring forth in your life. Stamp out any thoughts of criticism or deprecation.

Repeat: I am beautiful, I am strong, I have accomplished some wonderful things in my life.

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Before we can benefit from self-affirmations, we need to learn about the effects of negativity in our lives. We need to stop the negative self-scripts that play over and over in our minds. These negative self-scripts are:

• Negative beliefs you have about yourself and of which you remind yourself on a daily basis. This is the constant worry and guilt self-talk that you drum up everyday to punish yourself with.
• Negative statements about yourself which sprinkle your every action and response. It seems like you can’t think a positive thought without a negative one trying to snuff it out.

 Affirmations are positive statements that describe a desired situation, and which are repeated many times, in order to make an impression on the subconscious mind and trigger it into action. In order to ensure the effectiveness of the affirmations, they have to be repeated with attention, conviction, interest and desire.

Imagine that you are running a race. You start running, and at the same time keep repeating in your mind, “I can do it, I can do it…”. You keep thinking and believing that you are going to reach the finish line. What is this act that you are actually doing? You are using positive affirmations.

More often than not, people repeat in their minds negative words and statements concerning the situations and events in their lives, and consequently bring upon themselves undesirable situations. Words and statements work both ways, to build or destroy. It is the way we use them that determines whether they are going to bring good or harmful results.

Often, people repeat negative statements in their minds, without even being aware of what they are doing. Do you ever find that your keep telling yourself that you cannot do something, that you are too tired, lack inner strength or that you never succeed at anything? Your subconscious mind accepts these repetitions to be true, and eventually attracts corresponding events and situations into your life. Your mind reacts by only recognizing the things that it expects like failure, instead of grasping at opportunities that lead to success.

Affirmations program your mind much the same way that an IT professional programs a computer, by feeding it commands and scripts. They work in the same manner as visualization. The repeated words help you focus your mind on your aim, and automatically build corresponding mental images in the conscious mind, which affect the subconscious mind. This process allows you to change your habits, behavior, mental attitude and reactions, and even reshape your life.

Sometimes results appear quickly, but often more it happens over time. Depending on your goal, sometimes you might attain immediate results, and sometimes it might take days, weeks, months or more.

It is important to understand that repeating positive affirmations for a few minutes, and then thinking negatively the rest of the day, neutralizes the effects of the positive words. You have to refuse thinking negative thoughts, if you wish to attain positive results.

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Are you holding on to regrets of the past? Have you refused to forgive yourself for failing to be perfect? Do you dwell on disappointment? Is all this negativity putting a strain on your health and well-being?

Break free from all the torture and pain of regret and disillusionment. Refuse to be a prisoner of the past. You cannot undo anything that has already happened. Leave the past in the past. While you might not be able to do much about something you did wrong yesterday, you can do much to make things right today.

Start each morning with gratitude in your heart. Take some time each day to meditate on all of the positive things in your life. Your mental and physical health, your appearance, your husband, boyfriend or lover, your family, friends and pets, be thankful for all of these and more. Dwell on your gratitude that you have a home, a car, clothes and food, in every thing, give thanks. Knowing that for every blessing you have there are other people who have much less.

While it may be true that you probably don’t have everything you desire, I’ll bet by taking time to be thankful of what you do have, you realize just how lucky you are. It is hard to be angry or stressed out when your spirit is in a gracious mood. By focusing on your blessings, you open your heart and mind to receive even more.

Don’t waste another minute on things you cannot change. Set your mind on things that you can change, how you can make your life and those around you better and what you will do to bring about those improvements.

If you would like to change the way that you look, take charge of your health and fitness, lose weight and get in shape, join Fitness4Her today. It doesn’t matter how many diets you have tried in the past. I believe in you and am cheering you on. Believe it and Achieve it!

Why not share some positive affirmations with us and our readers in the comment space below?

I work with some of the most beautiful women in the world. The women that I train are attractive females, but sadly, many of them refuse to believe it.

I am often surprised and disappointed by the typical woman’s need to belittle herself when she is around other women. You know what I am talking about because you’ve either witnessed this behavior or have been a part of it. The conversation will go something like this scenario.

Sarah: “Oh look at my thighs, they are huge! I hate them!”
Jennie: “You think that’s bad, look at my stomach–it’s horrible!”
Tammy: “Yeah, well my chin is too pointed, I look like a witch.”
Lisa: “My breasts are too small–I’m thinking about implants.”

Now seriously, can you imagine a group of guys having a similar conversation? No, because men are not self-deprecating about their appearance, which is quite funny, since women are considered to be the more attractive of the human species!

As young girls, females tend to be more concerned with expectations and moral issues than males at a young age. Because of this heightened concern, we become more dependent on social approval. As a result of this need for acceptance, girls are more inclined to develop a negative self-image.

When we group together, the self-loathing conversation is worse. Rather than praising ourselves for our beauty, which by the way is a gift, we prefer to criticize our features. As soon as one member of the group says something negative about the way she looks, the others feel it their duty to point out and make fun of features of their own. Should one of the girls not participate, she will be deemed conceited or full of herself.

This type of behavior sets the stage for a lifetime of dissatisfaction of one’s own body, which in turn can lead to eating disorders and all sorts of mental and physical ailments.

Instead, women can be thankful for their bodies. They should give themselves permission to love and cherish this beautiful gift that has been given to them.

For centuries, artists have painted pictures featuring women’s bodies. Some are slender while others more voluptuous. This is because women, no matter what body style, are still considered beautiful and highly desirable.

Women’s fitness is more than just being thin–it’s about being healthy. This unhealthy behavior of self-reproach remains a mystery to me, but I know that with conscious effort, all women can begin to appreciate themselves, both mentally and physically. So, the next time that you are with a group of girls and the conversation takes on the self-deprecating role, you can change it to one of positive self-assertiveness.

When the girls begin criticizing the way that they look, be brave enough to point out their attractive features, and commend your own body for its beauty. You will be pleasantly surprised, how a bit of praise and admiration can turn the banter around.

I guarantee you this, it will be a much more healthy discussion for you and your friends.

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