Every Monday, That's Fit's very own "charged up" wellness guru Laura Lewis presents The Passion Principle, a weekly guide that will help you achieve your greatest potential through words of inspiration, cutting-edge ideas and action tips you can use in your every day life.

When I was in college, I did this crazy thing. I was a junior at a large University, studying food and nutrition and pursuing everything related to being fit and healthy. A friend of mine told me about this pre-med student guy who had done some work with hypnosis. He was looking for some guinea pigs, and she asked if I wanted to meet him. Always game for trying something new, I met him and after some discussion decided that we would do a hypnosis session so I could lose the 10 pounds I'd gained while in school. I reclined on a nearby sofa and closed my eyes while my girlfriend who tagged along sat quietly nearby.

"Ten, nine, eight, you're getting more relaxed, seven, six, more deeply relaxed now, five, four"... z z z z z. What I recall is slipping into a very relaxed state and conjuring up an image (per his suggestion) of my ideal self at an ideal weight, which was 10 pounds less than my weight at the time. I envisioned myself happy, content, feeling fit, alive, walking through a field with tall grass, a spring dress with a tiny flower print, draped across my thinner, lithe body, my hair blowing in the wind and sunshine warming my skin. When I came out of the hypnotic state, the image "stuck" in my sub-conscious and conscious mind. The experience had such a profound impact on me that decades later, I believe it's easier for me to stick to a healthy way of life because I still see and feel that vision.

Do you actually see your goal? Do you feel it? Here are three tools to help you connect with the "you" you'd like to become!

• Create a dream board. Buy a large poster board and cut out images and words from old magazines that represent your diet and fitness goals. Select words that resonate with you such as "healthy," "fit," "powerful." Also cut out images that represent your health, fitness and weight goals. Then, using a glue stick, apply the images and words in a random fashion that are appealing to your eye. When finished, study it. Take it in. Does it need anything else or are you satisfied with your final product? Then hang it in a place where you will see it every day. Hang it by your bed so you can see it before you go to sleep and after waking. Put it in your office or bathroom. Place it somewhere where you can study the images, taking them in, feeling them, infusing energy into your ultimate vision. I create a new dream board every so often for some of my different goals. The point of all of this: To help you see visually what you want to achieve!
• Use Affirmations. The purpose of an affirmation, which may be a word or phrase that represents a state of being you desire, is to help you attain a goal. Louise Hay, the Grand Dame of affirmations and author of the powerful book You Can Heal Your Life, has helped many people around the world change their lives with a technique designed to positively influence the unconscious and subconscious mind. Check out this trailer for Louise's new movie about how affirmations can change people's lives. Louise says: "If you change your thinking you can change your life." I truly believe this. If you change your thoughts about your body, whether it is to accept your current weight or to achieve ultimate fitness, affirmations can be a very powerful tool to help you to achieve your goals. I use affirmations every day. I have them hanging on my bulletin board, scrolling on my computer and by my nightstand so I can review them before I go to sleep.
• Reprogram Your Thoughts. Our brains are like computers, where information via "life's software" has been downloaded over the years. What kind of programming did you have as a child? At home? At school? People, experiences and thoughts have a huge affect on your current thinking. If you are stuck and just can't seem to make it past some sort of invisible barrier preventing you from achieving your ideal weight, it is highly likely your unconscious thoughts are getting in the way, creating a self-sabotage scenario. Is it possible to reprogram your mind? Absolutely. Listening to recordings that have positive messages, specifically targeted towards weight loss can help your brain to "rewire" into more healthy patterns. I love this site where you can obtain all sorts of recordings designed to nuke destructive old programming and get your thinking on the right track. I have a few I enjoy as I drift off to sleep. Talk about powerful!
  

Changing your thoughts can change your life and help you acquire that ideal bod you want. But you must acquire the vision and see it. You must feel it. Why not put a few of these items on your Christmas list to help you see and feel your goals? I think we all could use a positive infusion and now might be just the right time to do so! Good luck!