The Life Plan (59 page)

Food is the focus of any family or friendly get-together, whatever the occasion. The first question we ask when invited to someone’s home is often “What dish should I bring?” We have business meetings over dinner; we eat after funerals; the reception is the real focus of the wedding; we socialize over food; we buy food to watch a movie. I was on a major airline on my way home to Las Vegas recently, and the in-flight magazine devoted a two-page spread to teaching readers how to prepare themselves so that they could eat the most food at the casino buffets.

Often we eat food whether we’re hungry or not. When we use food to comfort, reward, punish, or conquer, then food clearly controls us. Instead of nourishment, it becomes part of our internal dialogue. I call this “food talk.” And, believe me, food talks to us all the time. But don’t despair: We can replace our present destructive “food talk” with a much healthier “food talk” that is supportive and motivating and sends positive messages about our bodies, our well-being, and the control we have over our lives.

You can change your food talk by using a technique Annie has taught me called
cognitive restructuring
, developed by psychologists trained in the field of cognitive therapy. Cognitive restructuring is another type of self-hypnosis that has proven very successful in blocking dysfunctional thoughts. You can use a simplified form of this technique to change your own destructive food talk into a powerful constructive message that can become an integral part of both your unconscious and conscious mind. All you need is a notebook and a recordable CD player, a few blank CDs (or dig out your old tape player and blank tapes), and a microphone to record your voice.

To begin:

1.

Take a few days to do this. Talk it over with your significant other and your friends. Do the best you can to drag these thoughts and messages out of your subconscious. Remember, you already have the answers within yourself—dig deep.

2.

(foods that you crave or typically binge on). Then write down any and all of the words and phrases that come to your mind when you think about these foods. Write down all the bad things these foods and uncontrolled eating have done to you. How have these foods and this behavior sabotaged your fitness goals, set you up for serious medical problems, promoted fatness and lethargy? Can you see that these foods are never worth the momentary pleasure they bring to you, because now they have made you feel so bad? They are literally killing you.

3.

Can you feel good about yourself when you don’t eat these foods and can you control your appetite? Remember that emotion drives us. Breathe in that positive feeling. Write down how upset you are that your taste buds rule your life. The more personalized you make your list the better.

4.

describing your particular problems and how you are going to deal with them. Keep it short, to the point, and most important, keep it positive. Avoid using words like “never, ““don’t, “and “won’t.” Keep it present. Use phrases like “I eat only the foods that are nourishing and healthy” or “Each day I am leaner and healthier because I eat only healthy foods.” Emphasize your goals and successes. Don’t be critical of yourself. Always visualize yourself as the lean, healthy individual that you can become, eating only the right foods. Get creative. Add relaxing background music. Promote your personal strengths and include your short-term and long-term goals. Include all the key positive phrases you need to hear and want to etch in your brain forever. Repeat them several times. Reinforce your goals. Dispel all the mystery and attraction of the foods that lead you down the path to failure.

5.

—especially if you don’t like the sound of your own voice. Always end your scripts with praise and gratitude for the good person you are and how special you are and how successful you are. Listen to your CD several times every day and especially at night, while you sleep. Your subconscious is acutely aware and open to suggestion while you sleep. Be sure to listen to your CD before you encounter difficult situations like parties or visits to your favorite restaurant. It is through this process of repetition that you will ultimately and effortlessly replace your old food talk with the new food talk you have designed for yourself.

6.

as you progress in your program or if they begin to bore you. Before you know it, and without thinking about it, you will have complete control over what and how much you eat, because you will have succeeded in reprogramming your brain.

Hypnosis and all forms of guided imagery are incredibly useful tools to help you achieve your goals. However, they are not a cure for clinical, physical, or mental health conditions. I have given you these options to help you achieve the best life possible. However, if you are currently under therapy for any reason, continue to seek the advice of licensed medical professionals as necessary.

You have now mastered two of the most important parts of the Life Plan: the healthy eating plan and the exercise plan, including exercises of the mind. In the next section, you’ll learn how science and medicine have come together to increase longevity. You can change your health and support your transformation by following the right nutritional supplements regimen and by understanding the latest hormone therapy options. Both of these tools can help you achieve your goals to become sexier, stronger, and leaner for the rest of your life!

P
eople ask me, all the time, “What’s the downside to taking hormones?”

My response is: Your deficiency is the downside.

You may know that testosterone is the male sex hormone responsible for your favorite pastime, and I’m not referring to ballgames, pizza, or beer. You simply can’t have sex without testosterone. But you might not know that it is also necessary for maintaining your high energy levels and vitality, increasing your muscle mass and overall strength (men simply can’t build muscle without it), enhancing your ability to burn body fat (especially around the waist and inside the abdomen), improving your mood and emotional well-being, preventing bone loss, keeping your mind sharp, and protecting your heart. What’s more, low testosterone level is an independent risk factor for both metabolic syndrome and Type II diabetes.

From age 30 onward, testosterone begins to drop 1 to 3 percent annually. Around age 40, it gets worse, and you will begin to notice. By your mid-40s, you start complaining about “feeling older.” As a result, your work productivity declines, and you worry about the “younger” competition that surrounds you while your intimate life takes a nosedive. And as I experienced, your once-effective workout won’t deliver the same results. Famed Harlem Globetrotter Meadowlark Lemon once described this situation quite aptly: “I run just as hard as I used to . . . it just takes me longer to get there.”

Low blood testosterone levels can also occur in younger men—in fact it is now estimated that 20 million American men of all ages suffer from what is called low testosterone syndrome. This includes 2 to 3 percent of men in their 20s, 20 to 30 percent in their 30s and 40s, on up to well over 50 percent of men in their 60s and 70s.

Because the drop is slow and steady, symptoms of low testosterone are sometimes imperceptible until bigger health problems emerge. These are some of the signs that your levels are falling:

Declining sexual and physical energy

Decline in the frequency of early morning erections

Decline in the number of spontaneous erections

Disturbed sleep

Emotional swings, irritability, anxiety, depression