When you think of getting into shape, getting healthy or changing your lifestyle, you most likely think of diets, exercise and supplements. What you may not realize is that nothing you do on the outside can ever be long-term without first tackling what is happening on the inside. Until you get your thoughts into shape, create a healthy mind and change how you think about you, you can never create the vision you have of yourself.

As you most likely know, what you eat, when you eat and how you eat all play a part in the optimal health of your body. However, what you may not realize yet is that every thought you have, be it conscious or subconscious (the hardest to control), effects how you respond to the food and exercise you take part in.

The science of Quantum Physics explains that our world is made up of energy. All things, from the car you drive to the air you breath to the thoughts that enter and exit (or stay stuck in) your mind, are made of varying speeds of energy particles. These energy particles are attracted to same vibrations. The universal Law of Attraction states, "that which is like itself is drawn." Like attracts like. What you think about is what you attract more of into your life.

So, if you have limiting subconscious beliefs that you may or may not even be aware of (like losing weight will change my whole life and that is scary, I am just not a "thin person" or I have never been able to keep the weight off no matter how much I do) that are directly conflicting with your conscious desires (like I am going to lose this weight once and for all, I am going to develop my muscles or I am going to get my body fat down) the subconscious beliefs will almost always win out.

The reason this happens is two-fold. One, the subconscious is a very powerful force in your life. Primarily, your subconscious mind's main responsibility is to keep you alive. No matter what else happens, it must keep your heart beating, your lungs taking in oxygen and your blood pumping. It also keeps you alive from a safety standpoint.

Your subconscious is comprised of multiple beliefs, which are represented by parts that are all looking out for your best interest. A great majority of your beliefs are often beliefs that have been with you for many, many years. As a child, you are an open book. You are ready to learn and grow and thrive. As things begin to happen, positive and negative, you begin adopting beliefs to assist you in surviving as a human. Given you are still a child, the resources available are limited, so many of the beliefs you adopt end up being a bit limited as well. They work great for the time, but may not work great as you grow and learn more and develop more resources. However, and this is where most people get stuck, those beliefs become engrained in your subconscious and never get challenged. You begin to react from these beliefs without even knowing you are doing so. They, in essence, become habitual responses that begin creating the patterns and themes of your life. You may change your conscious beliefs and desires, but your subconscious, the 88% of your mind that takes its responsibility of keeping you safe and alive very seriously, is not changing. These beliefs actually become blocks that sabotage your efforts and you don't even know you are doing it.

The second reason your subconscious is most likely going to win out is that when you have conflicting intentions (as you do if your conscious mind has a desire and your subconscious mind has a different intention), is that your conscious mind has less energy and focusing power. If your subconscious makes up 88% of your mind and your conscious mind is the other 12%, using the science mentioned earlier that like attracts like, the majority of your energy is actually being focused on your subconscious intention. You end up with what you don't want and you don't understand why.

The only way to create change in your external world is to uncover what beliefs are actually being held onto by your subconscious mind. This is true of making money, advancing in your career and most definitely for losing weight, getting into shape and creating a healthy body.

When you have first identified where you are, you then can identify where you want to be. This is how you uncover where the conflicts are living. Using tools like Neuro-Linguistic Programming, the Nine Environments of Holistic Living, the Law of Attraction and the Process of Deliberate Creation, you can remove the blocks that no longer serve you, replace them with those that do and develop a daily plan for manifesting that which you most want to create for your life.

Fitness, weight loss and health begin in the mind and then manifest in the body. It is time to begin your quest toward total transformation. The power is yours. You simply need to begin.

Copyright 2006 Melissa Quiter