We need to recognize first and foremost that not all calories are created equal. A 300-calorie candy bar or soda is not the same as a healthy 300-calorie turkey wrap. Your body chemistry works completely differently when you have each of these foods. The sugary candy bar or soda will trigger insulin overload and be sent straight to your fat cells. 

The high-protein wrap and other quality foods such as those on Jim Ayres shopping list will be metabolized much more slowly. We’ll feel full longer. They will help us maintain our muscle tone. We’ll maintain a higher metabolism and have better blood sugar balance. All the best energizing and calming benefits are chemically triggered by real food.

And quality food doesn’t have to cost more. What would you save if you could cut down on the signals your brain sends you to “eat more, eat more”? What would you save if you could feel full longer? What would you save if you could resist temptations more easily? What would you save if your clothes fit you the same all the time?

The next time you start thinking about something you crave and how many calories it has, think instead about getting something of much higher quality…you’re worth it. It will actually cost you less.

Many ideas for this and the other articles in this series were gathered from suggestions by Kathy Smith, a well-known fitness icon who has led the charge for exercising, losing weight, and eating healthy for over 30 years

What gets us off our couch, out of the bag of potato chips, and into fantastic Xyngular® momentum? Others. If we want our activities to start lining up with our dreams and desires…our WHY, then we want to get together with others who are also excited and have similar dreams and desires. 

The first 72 hours

Your first 72 hours after you sponsor someone is critical, because if they don’t start doing the things they need to do quickly to succeed, they’ll start to feel like Xyngular won’t work for them. They’ll start to feel that they’re not good enough. They’ll start feeling guilty. Other things they have to do will start nagging at them, and they’ll get distracted…then they’ll give up.

Our brains start pulling us away when our body’s aren’t doing something that brings results.

We need to set each new Distributor on a serious course of action right away. We need to get them into a “Daily Method of Operation (DMO).” We need to get them to shut off the TV or online games and start going where their goals are. We need to get them into a goal and accountability process where they can physically see the numbers they’re achieving and watch themselves make undeniable progress. If they see too many zeros on a sheet, they’ll start to become frustrated. Their daily method of operation needs to be in alignment with their lifestyle, their values and their WHY.

If not they’ll slip right back into less important but urgent things. The fire and passion will get smothered by thousands of small things.

It’s not hard to make a contact list, get on scheduled 3-way calls with your sponsor, and start following a daily method of operation. But what’s easy to do is also easy not to do. So we don’t do the simple habits consistently that compound over time to make us successful.

That’s why it’s important for each new Distributor to get together with an accountability partner and call him or her every single day, especially at first, to find out what’s happening and keep a 3-way call schedule. Don’t use text or email for accountability. It’s not motivating enough. Make at least a daily phone call.

What’s toughest about tough homework is not doing any

Remember how you felt about homework in high school or college. Was it a necessary evil? Did you come to appreciate having done it when it came time for finals? At Xyngular the reason you want to give yourself and others some tough assignments is because you know how your life will change when you actually accomplish the assignments.

Your parents probably told you, “do the hard things in your life first, and your life will be easy. Do the easy things first, and your life will be hard.” Because at Xyngular no one has a boss, we have to be our own boss, our own parents, and help each other get into those daily methods of operation. And it has to be done so we don’t get stressed out and have fun doing it. For most people that requires doing things together…as a team. There is power in the word, “let’s.” “Let’s go do it,” is much more powerful than “you go do it.”

The most successful teams at Xyngular understand this principle. They understand that if they don’t have group goals, and team accountability their momentum will flounder. Watch any sports movie and you’ll understand. People on any team will work harder for a group goal than they will for a goal they set all by themselves. They’ll do more together than they’ll do alone. This is a powerful concept. It’s important to get your team together and get a consensus on goals. It’s important that they be inspiring and ambitious yet realistic.

Here’s the final lesson…human beings will do far more with each other than they’ll ever do alone. Setting up teams like this throughout your large organization will have the power to propel your income and theirs in an amazing way. Sending them or even yourself off to go it alone will lead to frustration, distraction, confusion, guilt, and resentment.

ACTION STEPS:

1. List all the “one-team-one-dream” activities that are already scheduled at Xyngular and are part of the culture…conference calls, team meetings, eat ‘n’ cheat parties, 3-ways, morning shows, etc. Evaluate which ones do the best job for keeping you and your team motivated.

2. If you see the need, set additional team goal-setting and accountability systems up to help everyone stay motivated.

3. Whenever you sponsor someone, get their goals, their “why,” their assignments, and an accountability system with them right away. Plug them into to the best team activities you have available.

What happens on a stressful, exhausting, or boring day? When we get home all we want is a whole bag of chips or a pint of rocky road ice cream. Sometimes eating isn’t about hunger at all. Eating by mood can be one of the most overwhelming issues for someone who has fought their weight all their lives.

In the heat of an emotional mood, it’s hard to separate the physical need for food triggered by hunger from the emotional need triggered by an emotion. Sometimes it’s boredom, anger, loneliness, sorrow, fear, frustration, or fatigue that control our responses to food.

We have to become aware of our personal mood/food connection by keeping a journal before we can resolve it.

Kathy Smith has led many groups through weight loss programs and systems, and the most successful people are almost always those who faithfully journal how they feel before and after they eat. It’s important to write our feelings down whenever we’re driven by emotion to head to the kitchen for a binge. When we can record our trigger emotion and recognize it for what it is, we can identify the specific food or taste sensation we’re after. We can become aware if it’s because we’re truly hungry or just trying to deal with a particular emotion.

For those of us who recognize that we are emotional eaters, it’s important to write about how life is affecting how we eat and binge. We need notes about the days we go off track and respond to our emotional state with certain foods.

Your Xyngular team can be a great support for sharing frustrations and victories once you’ve identified them.

The goal is to get to the point that you no longer respond to negative feelings with a binge. Then you find some kind of substitution. For example, if you typically start getting cranky around 4:30 most afternoons and that triggers a binge on something you regret later, you may want to schedule a 20-minute walk or some other stress-releasing activity every day at that time and have a light snack ready afterwards.

Many ideas for this and the other articles in this series were gathered from suggestions by Kathy Smith, a well-known fitness icon who has led the charge for exercising, losing weight, and eating healthy for over 30 years.

Before your “like” or your link gets clicked or your idea gets read, a busy person is going to go through a quick, time-saving mental exercise to figure out if it’s worth looking into a little deeper or even considering.

Since it seems that almost everyone is now connected one way or another, lots of people we don’t even know can get through to us with a deluge of noise, and just about everyone worth contacting is starting to become defensive about who and what they spend time glancing at. The message has to pass a few mental screens, like…

• Do I know this person?
• Did someone I trust send them to me? • Are there typos or grammar problems, and does the message look like it came from someone intelligent enough to bother with?
• Are they pestering me with some offer that’s going to cost me money?
• Who else is involved with this person?
• Who referred them?
• Does it sound too good to be true?

All of these questions come up in our heads and get asked, even before the idea is analyzed…

Whatever we’re trying to get across on Facebook, YouTube, email, text, or phone voice message; it pays to ask ourselves these questions to see how we would respond to the message if it were coming to us. It’s like a billboard on the freeway. We’ve all seen messages that go by so fast and are so hard to figure out that we just ignore them completely and complain that they’re wasted advertising.

The last question — Does it sound too good to be true? — is especially hurtful. Overselling is not only foolish because it simply isn’t so, but because now, they’ve heard the quick weight loss or the quick money promises so often that overselling them will do two things: (1) Make sure that they click DELETE without reading anything more and (2) ignore all future messages from you.

ACTION STEPS:

1. Take a moment to think of all the messages you put out there on Facebook, YouTube, email, text, or phone voice messages. Write them out. Then ask yourself the 7 questions in this article to see how well they pass the test. Adjust them according to the Golden Rule.

2. Pay attention to how you respond to your email, Facebook, and other messages. What annoys you? What do you delete? Talk to friends and get their reactions too. Then adjust your messages accordingly.

3. Look at the messages you most frequently respond to. Ask yourself why. Keep a selection of the headlines or subject lines of the ones that grab your attention and satisfy you once you read the whole story. Do it like they do.

4. If you’re planning an email or Facebook campaign to help grow your business, get to know more about the etiquette and best practices of these powerful marketing vehicles. Find a book at the library. Take an online class. Get yourself some skills so you don’t fall into the trap of putting out stuff that turns people off.

It isn’t realistic to think that we won’t be tempted to binge on our personal favorite salty, sugary, or fatty snack foods. But we can locate healthy substitutions. Even on Valentine’s Day.

We can replace addictive foods with other options. Sometimes it’s just the crunch or a texture we’re after. If it’s crunchy chips and dip that trigger our binges, we can try crunchy celery or sweet pepper slices with hummus or an all-natural, low-fat dressing. Maybe chewing something will take the edge off like sunflower seeds or almonds. If we’re in a candy mood, we can try fruit with some string cheese or peanut butter to take the edge off our cravings. A delicious berry and LEAN smoothie with a drizzle of healthy fat like flaxseed or olive oil can do the trick. These healthy substitutions can save the day…even Valentine’s Day.

Healthier Valentine “I love you” treats

1. Make an extra rich LEAN Shake with strawberries or cocoa powder and freeze it in heart-shaped molds.
2. Make the same shake, freeze in an ice-cube tray, and blend it for an easy sorbet. Add strawberries or other
berries on top and sprinkle with cocoa powder
3. Dark chocolate-covered strawberries or blueberries
4. Angel food cake with sugar-free icing
5. A fruit bouquet with dark chocolate dipping sauce
6. Dark cocoa over raspberries and nuts
7. Melt dark chocolate with a nut butter and dip apples or other fruit slices into it!

Live the 10 percent rule

Once we’ve reached a goal weight, we can make a plan that uses healthier substitutes for our cravings 90 percent of the time, but lets us indulge in our favorite foods the other 10 percent. No food is totally bad and total deprivation can lead to hidden resentments and then binges. It is all in how much we eat. If we choose to eat…say…chocolate occasionally, then we can make it a rule to only eat it when we’re away from home or at our special restaurant. If it’s in the kitchen, it may be too much temptation.

After we’ve reached our 90-Day Body Transformation, we’ll be ready to allow for occasional small portions of our favorite foods, and we’ll know when to make a substitution instead.

Valentine ideas that say “I love you” without unhealthy treats

Sometimes it’s best to find other ways of saying “I love you” without food. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

1. A hand-made card
2. Tickets to a hockey game
3. Jewelry
4. Flowers
5. A coupon book with things like movie tickets, a video game, a message, a bed-and-breakfast, a ski trip, a hike, etc.
6. Bubble bath, scented candles, and other spa supplies
7. Something active you can do together (bikes, dance lessons, etc.)
8. A healthy recipe cookbook
9. Get out Valentines Cards saved from former years and read them together

ACTION STEPS:

1. Make a list of the most notorious treats and snacks that you tend to binge on the most. Find substitutions and put them on your shopping list. Then purge your pantry of the most notorious treats and snacks.

2. Circle the healthy treat ideas from this article you want to try.

3. It’s last-minute planning that sometimes gets us into trouble. Plan ahead for special events—anniversaries, birthdays, holidays, etc. and use some of these treat/gift ideas that help you stay clear of unhealthy treats.

Stephen Covey tells us that we all have to think like pilots. Pilots are off course a large percentage of the time and are forced to constantly make little course corrections. This training is designed to help you make these course corrections and warn you against major distractions that could take you completely off course and ruin your business. For that reason, we all have to go through the fundamentals of success in this business many times.

It’s sad that most of us get our formal education when we are so young and immature. We could go to the best schools and get some of the best training in the world, but we don’t appreciate it or use it to its full power because we don’t have much experience. Most of us get a lot more out of on-the-job training as we come up against challenges in actual work situations.

We don’t usually learn some things from our introductory Xyngular training until we are failing and discouraged. Then we listen to the next training call or read an article in the ConneXion and recognize the need to adjust ourselves to the key fundamentals of success.

So even though we may think we understand what we are learning the first time through, we need to listen over and over and read over and over to recognize the key fundamentals we miss the first time through because of lack of experience. We’ll listen in on a familiar conference call and say to ourselves, “I don’t remember hearing that before.” It’s because our experience changes and opens us up.

The fastest way to learn the fundamentals of success at Xyngular is to follow a process called PLAN-DO-REVIEW. High-energy people get excited when they first get started at Xyngular. They’re eager to earn a lot of money quickly, they have great goals and high standards, and that’s good. But bright, quick learners too often give our training calls and our ConneXion articles a quick glance or a one-time listen-in and say to themselves, “I already know that stuff. I’m not going to waste my time with it.” Then all they do is do and do and do and do without stopping to review and then plan.

We all need to make ConneXions and conference calls a habit, not a single event. To maximize our training and our excitement with Xyngular over time, we need to constantly review and perfect what we are doing. We can only make money in this business if we are on a constant search to become better and better at what we do. That’s what keeps us excited and growing and attracts others to the team.

ACTION STEPS:

1. Schedule time twice a week to read through your ConneXions. Read the Action Steps and do what makes the most sense for you and your team.

2. Even if you can’t be on the live calls every week, carve out time to listen to the recorded calls so you keep that excitement you always hear on the calls churning in your brain. If you miss one week, you’ll notice a difference. If you miss two weeks, your team will notice. If you miss more than that, everyone will begin to notice that you’re not as plugged in to your business as you used to be.

3. Share what you hear and read with others and add your own excitement and enthusiasm to it. Apply at least a few of the Action Steps from the ConneXions every week. They only become effective in your business if they are shared and applied. Otherwise they’re merely “nice reading” or “motivational rah rah.”

What have we done in the past when the snacks are passed around? Did we take one or half the bag? We may need to pass the whole bag in the future. 

Everyone has their most challenging snack food temptations that are most likely to trigger binges. It’s much easier to say no to even one of our trigger foods than it is to stop a binge when it’s in full throttle.

Some foods may need to be banished from the house because they’re so dangerous to our personal health. There may be no way we can enjoy certain foods in moderation. It’s easier to identify them and keep them out of the house.

Our old habits have created who we are today. That’s why a journal can be so helpful, especially to record our feelings about the particular foods we eat…linked to our weight and exercise. When we keep even a brief record, we become more aware of our eating habits and patterns.

People in Alcoholics Anonymous have learned and taught for years that if they can identify a habit, a negative emotion, or an addiction and put a name to it, they can begin to do something about it. When it isn’t faced head-on, it remains hidden, and it remains a problem.

ACTION STEPS:

1. Keep a snack or food journal so you can recognize and openly name your “trigger foods.”

2. Throw them away. Get them off your grocery lists. Keep them out of the house and replace them with snacks or foods you can more easily turn down.

When we get right down to our “why” for doing Xyngular®, when we make our dream board or our vision board, there are many things we can cut out and paste in place. But there one category of things that belong on our board that usually trumps them all. In our enthusiasm for paying off debt, having a little extra spending money, or making that car payment, let’s not forget the most heart-felt reasons for all our hard work. 

If someone were to tell you they wanted to grow their Xyngular business so they could afford a new car, you might want to ask them, “how would your spouse or your family feel about that car?” When we’ve asked that question, and they start to think about it deeply, we’ve often seen tears come to their eyes. We realize that the true “why” is not the car. It’s the reason behind the car. It’s something for the kids…a better life for them. It’s a spouse’s respect. It’s that they want a “family business” to call their own. These are the heart-felt whys that usually come up if you search deeply enough.

Your Xyngular business is about family

Here’s an old saying that never grows old, “There are many treasures, but the greatest of these is love.” A small apartment where love is is better than a mansion where there is loneliness. Relationships with those we love must be cultivated like a garden. It takes time, effort, imagination, and creativity to keep our most important relationships flourishing and growing.

We all need to nourish the kinds of relationships on our way up that will stick with us on our way down, because life is full of ups and downs. True relationships insulate us from the devastation of the downs.

Here’s a good question for us to ask about our strongest relationships: If we were put in jail and falsely accused, who would we call? Why? How much would this friend spend to get us out of jail? How long would he or she try to get us out? As long as it takes?

How do we develop and nourish such dedicated, devoted relationships? We do it with service and sacrifice. We spend the time. We listen.

That’s why Xyngular is such a great business…because it thrives on building relationships. We can’t gather much wealth in this business without also developing the wealth of caring relationships. This business requires a sizable investment of our lives in other people…discovering their true needs and filling them. Fortunately for us we get to choose the people we want to work with…and they get to choose us. That makes us all so much better and happier. So give a little extra measure of love today. Remember, love is most often spelled T-I-M-E.

ACTION STEPS:

1. Take a moment to re-evaluate “why” you’re growing your Xyngular business. Answer the question, “how would it impact my loved ones if I really succeeded at this business?” Could you truthfully say that you’re doing this business for one of these reasons: (1) To give my children chances for a better life, (2) to improve the respect I get from my spouse or significant other, or (3) to create a “family business for those I love.

2. Take a quick inventory of your relationships. What small things could you do today to nurture and grow your most important relationships? How could you schedule these into your busy life?

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