I’ve watched my morbidly obese father struggle for decades with his weight. This unbelievably intelligent man has run several successful businesses, but can’t seem to figure out how to shed the pounds he needs to live a healthy life. After trying every diet on the market, failing (multiple times), knowing that losing weight is undeniably psychological, I suggested Mind Mapping how to eat, exercise and live.
Breaking it Down
Scientists have proven that men concentrate on one thing at a time while women are born multi-taskers, so Mind Mapping can work for either gender. Beginning on a blank sheet of paper, in the center, we wrote down his goal, “to lose weight”. Connected to this goal are several related sub topics such as “healthy foods I like”, “foods to avoid”, “exercise” and “reasons to lose weight”. This separation of subjects helps your brain to break down and figure out ways to achieve the ultimate goal of weight loss and healthy living.
Constant Reminders
Connecting the next step sub topics are the “reminders”, for example, attached to “reasons to lose weight” are topics like “playing with my grandson”, “to feel better” and “to live longer”. Drawing pictures of these foods and using visual photos on the map also helps you to remember what you should and should not be doing. Although he is perfectly aware of these things, seeing something in its simplest form on a tangible piece of paper, helps to keep this goal and how to reach this goal at the forefront of your mind. This latest form of simple self help may sound elementary, but has helped many people lose weight and keep the weight off. As for my dad, thanks to Mind Mapping, he is seven pounds lighter and that’s seven pounds more than any other past diet has helped him lose!
About the Author: Alexis Bonari is a freelance writer and blog junkie. She is currently a resident blogger at onlinedegrees.org, researching areas of online colleges. In her spare time, she enjoys square-foot gardening, swimming, and avoiding her laptop.
