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Yesterday afternoon as I entered my local pub my first stop was the bar – to order a Shiraz – it’s something I do on auto-pilo.

Pub = drink, like meeting a friend = kiss hello, like hearing Eminem’s ‘Lose Yourself’ as my alarm ring tone each morning = time to bounce outta bed and rock today (because: If you had, one shot – and one opportunity – to seize everything you every wanted…)

If you also LOVE this song you understand why this is the best way to wake up – if not you may think I’m just a little bonkers…

Whenever you respond without thinking you are under the influence of an Anchor.

Perhaps it stimulates an action or maybe it changes your emotional state.

The question is: Are YOUR Anchors propelling your towards the achievement of your body gain goal or dragging you further from it?

That’s the subject for todays show: Anchoring and how to use it to your body gain advantage.

If the idea of an Anchor is new to you… basically anything can be an anchor. It may be something you see, hear, taste, feel or smell.

It can be a word. A memory. A person.

For example: hearing an ex boyfriend’s name may immediately change your emotional state… possibly flooding back delightful positive memories or just as likely swamping you in the type of UN-fun, hostility and loathing that can ruin a particular name for you, for Life!

Equally your child or favourite grandparent’s name may be the anchor to immediate feelings of unconditional love, generosity and warmth.

The power of the anchor is potent and the possibilities are limitless.

Anchors are directing your day whether you’re aware of them or not. The first step in using anchoring to your advantage is:

One: AWARENESS.

For example: Feeling tired, overwhelmed and stressed may be a reliable relentless little nudge to go grab that quick UN-fix, NON-pick-me-up. It was for me for years. After a day of what seemed like let down after let down that final straw would snap my tenuous grip on – well whatever I was trying to grip – Sanity? Self Control? Anyway, my ‘Stuff It’ anchor the thing I turned to on auto-pilot was a 600ml diet coke and a colossal low carb protein bar.

Now it could be worse right? It’s not a McHappy meal, however it still left me super-disappointed-McGrumpy at myself.

Step Two: DROP THE BAD ANCHORS.

These things will keep you stuck.

It may be a food that is halting your fat loss that you reach for automatically when stressed, or when you walk through the door, or just because there’s a free sample being thrust your way in the supermarket.

Perhaps just seeing or smelling the food is your anchor, because it brings back positive memories of eating it as a child or maybe it was the reward you got for doing well in a test or even the comforting meal your mum made when you were unwell.

It might be an association you have with a place, a person, an activity.

Perhaps the gym brings back all those hateful Physical Education class’s that were mandatory at school?

Step Three: BUILD NEW SUPPORTIVE ANCHORS.

In the way the you’ve unconsciously bit by bit gradually built up the anchors that currently decide your actions and emotions you can consciously choose your new anchors.

For my fake-food diet coke and protein bar habit I built both an action and an emotional state.

That’s the thing with every mind game you play with yourself. There is no right or wrong. No one way. It’s whatever is effective for you to get the result you want.

I decided that the ‘Stuff It’ point that I still came to all too regularly before I sold my last business was now the time to take a brief walk outside while listening to an uplifting song or podcast.

I came back feeling better than I’d started.  Rather than worse which is how you always feel when you turn to food as a solution to a problem that is not fixed by food… so that’s basically any non-hunger related problem right?

However, just an action wasn’t enough for me. I needed emotion too.

I decided: fake, low value food = fake, low value people.

If that’s a jump, it may explain a little that the people in my life that would most often help propel me towards the ‘Stuff-it’ point were (in my mind) fake, low value, integrity lacking people.

Again it’s whatever works for you. Three and a half years on I don’t touch diet soft drink or fake food.

I was lucky enough to have a whole lot of emotion ready to funnel towards a good use, and for me that good use was ditching rubbish food and drink.

To get actionable today I’d love you to get proactive with an anchor. Of course if you’re thinking of negative anchors you’re like to  drop in favour of building new supportive anchors that rocks too.

However todays action step is to decide on the anchor that causes you to feel hugely motivated.

Perhaps it’s a song, like my ringtone.

Maybe it’s a picture you have as your screensaver, of your family or of the body you are working towards.

Possible it’s remembering the way you felt when you last achieved a goal that meant the world to you.

I’ll finish today with a quote and I don’t have anyone to attribute it too, however it’s apt: “Life’s roughest storms prove the strength of our anchors.”

That brings us to the end of Healthification #136. I’ll be back tomorrow with the Tuesday Tucker show and how to: Make Mindless Eating Work In Your Favour.

If you liked this you’ll also like: Why NOT Being Genetically Gifted Is A Weight Loss Advantage.

If you’re yet to share the Healthification love – just click here to zip over to iTunes and leave an honest rating and review. It’d help me out big time. With gratitude, Kate.