How to Avoid a Croissant  By Alison Loyd

How to Avoid a Croissant By Alison Loyd

Some of you will see this title and think, “Why would you want to do that?” Others may find it pretty easy to understand. When you struggle with a food addiction, it’s never easy. Who knew that a croissant could bring awareness and freedom, thanks to the tools I received at The Journey Training and a friend who I met there?

My friends and I were having a magical breakfast at The Leaky Cauldron in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. My meal came with a croissant. I can normally say no to croissants, as there are breads that are much more satisfying and calorie-worthy to me. I told myself I didn’t need it. I offered it to my friends at the table who were not gluten-free. They both politely declined. I even offered it again, and then I just left it on my plate.

I finished breakfast first, and a little voice whispered in my ear: “They’re still eating and you’re done. Just eat it.” I gave in and regretted it.

A little later I was talking to my friend. We are so transparent with each other. The Journey Training enabled us to do that – to go deep and feel safe. She said, “I know you offered it. I was surprised when you ate it, but didn’t want to say anything and hurt your feelings.”

A huge light bulb came on. I struggle with food addiction and I have shed a lot of tears over the years when people have made comments about what I’m eating. I have an inner monologue that says, “They think I’m fat. They think I’m eating way too much. I’m a pig.” I’ve learned to recognize these negative lies. We call them tapes, the stories we make up in our heads. My friend knows this about me and didn’t want me to make up any stories.

I thought about it and had a huge revelation! It wasn’t about WHAT she says, but WHEN to say it. I could see the difference now! I shared with her that if we are eating and I’m clearly trying not to eat something, she can suggest I not eat it or help me get rid of it. That way, she’s helping me do what I’ve already decided beforehand that I want to do.  However, if I’m enjoying my food or already eating it, she can just let me eat it. That was a huge awareness for me because I can now communicate this need for support to others.

Two powerful tools from the training were at play here.

  1. I distinguished between the truth and self-limiting beliefs. It was true I didn’t need to eat the croissant. It was true that my friend could see that. It isn’t true when I make up stories that people think I’m a fat or that they are controlling my food because they suggest I don’t eat something or that I don’t want it from their perspective. They are simply trying to help me.
  1. I communicated what I needed from my friend. In The Journey Training, we learn to ask the question, “How can I love and support you?” This allows the person to share how they need love so that it will be received as love and not misunderstood or received as something else. You can also tell others what you need from them instead of waiting for them to ask you the question.

What’s your croissant? What do you want sometimes, but need to avoid most of the time?

Do you have beliefs you tell yourself that aren’t true? Do you wish you had someone to hold you accountable when and where you need accountability?

Do you feel like you need better skills in communicating love?

If you answered “Yes” to any of these questions, The Journey Training is for you!

Sign up today!

 

Opportunity to Dream

Opportunity to Dream

Last week I was speaking to a group of 6th grade classes at a middle school about dreams. Giving up on my dreams was a large part of how I ended up almost 500 pounds, feeling helpless and hopeless almost giving up on everything. My introduction video says at 17 seconds in, “When I was 17 years old, I was a rock star. I was lookin’ good and feelin’ good; I feel like somebody’s stolen my dream. This thing has stolen my life – and I want my life back!”

There’s so much truth in that statement. My passion has always been music. I went to my first concert at 16, saw the band on stage and the crowd, and made my decision: I was going to be a rock star.

Now, we all know that the odds of being a rock star were not in my favor. But I had an ingredient that could sure help: passion.

Opportunity Knocks

I went right home, dug a dusty guitar out of the closet, and went to work! I began learning melody lines from my favorite songs. After a few weeks, I heard some of my school mates had a band, so I went to watch them and was really impressed.

The week before I had just bought a bass guitar at a pawn shop at the advice of someone who told me, “You’re playing bass, not guitar. Guitar plays all of the strings at once, and you’re only playing 1 note at a time.” So I ran to the pawn shop and bought beat up, hollow-body bass and amplifier. The band I was watching finished rehearsal, and the bass player had to go. I asked, “How many gigs have you played?”

“None. We’ve only learned 6 songs. We want to learn Detroit Rock City by Kiss, and The Trooper by Iron Maiden, but Greg can’t play the bass lines.”

“I could play those bass lines,” I calmly declared, knowing I had barely been playing bass for a week. After convincing them of my bass playing prowess – which was completely falsified – they said, “Okay, Come back next Saturday and we’ll play those songs.” Boy did I have my work cut out for me! But I practiced until my fingers hurt until late every night, and the next Saturday I replaced Greg as the bass player in that unnamed band! I was really going to be a rock star! 3 months later we played a dance at school and became rocks stars on the high school level!

Dreams are the driver, opportunity is the road

Over the next 10 years, I played with several bands. I soon found myself on stage with Donny Osmond in front of thousands. Later, the band I was playing for actually knocked New Kids on the Block out of the number one singing group in the nation. We were on the Billboard Top 40, and had a record contract with RCA. After that opportunity didn’t pan out, a 3-man band I was in recorded an album and was ready to release it worldwide. It was bootlegged overseas, and the rug was pulled out from underneath me again. Later I found out Unleash the Dog was the #1 band in Greece in 1996, beating out Metallica and Rob Zombie – but we never even saw a cent of the profit.

At that point, another opportunity was sure to present itself, but I gave up. This is what I talked to those 6th graders about last week – not giving up on their dreams. My mantra since The Biggest Loser has been Lose Your Quit. There will always be another opportunity, so never give up.

Dreams can look different, so take the opportunities that come your way

At 39, I felt like my music career was over. My friends in that band in the 90’s (PC Quest) had gone on to do great things. Chad was the lead singer of Shiny Toy Guns, Steve was a studio musician and performer in LA, Drew was on tour with several artists, and I was left wondering what happened. Bob from Unleash the Dog was now in Arizona and was the national head of music instruction for Fender, and I could go on and on. They didn’t give up.

I only saw my dream of a rock star one way. Others kept their passion and brought it to the opportunities that came to them while I simply gave up. After going to my experiential training in 2008 and re-igniting my passion, I made it onto the cast of The Biggest Loser. The funny thing is, on that show I wrote new music. It provided me an opportunity to awaken those dreams once again – just not exactly how I thought.

I wouldn’t be a rock star, but I would be living my dream with passion! Since the show, I have spoken in 5 countries and 45 states in the US – to over a million people – and each time I close with two songs: the first I ever wrote called I can’t forget about you and Second Chance that I wrote on the show. I’m not a rock star, but I am living my dream, speaking and passing that passion of not giving up to others. And as I played Second Chance last week to those 6th graders, it was a dream fulfilled.


Where is your opportunity?

Your dreams are real, and they are possible. Those 6th graders raised their hands and told me what they wanted to be. One in the front row said, “I want to play in the NBA!” He was one of the shortest kids in the crowd, and that was a very lofty goal. I told him, “Never give up on that dream! And take the opportunities that come your way and you’ll live that dream! It might look different than you think, but it can happen. You might be a coach, or an announcer on TV for the NBA, or you very well might be the next Kevin Durant. Who knows?”

I thought about the movie The Sand Lot. Bennie made it to the big show, and Scotty Smalls made it as the LA Dodger announcer. They both realized their dreams – just in a different way.

So that vision that has been placed in your heart is true. Don’t waste an opportunity to bring the passion you have to the opportunities that present themselves. Even if it looks different that you thought, you can be a rock star!

FREE Mini Journey Training

Discover How To Find More Passion and Purpose In Your Life!

Click here for instant access to FREE Training

Winning The Right Way

Winning The Right Way

Winning takes courage

The Biggest Loser was the most competitive season of my life. Before I made it onto the cast of Season 8 Second Chancesmy doctor painted me a grim outlook. “Danny, at your current weight, you’ll have beaten the odds if you live to see 50.” I was scared – I was 38. The 12-year timer of my life began ticking in my head. It was time for a response. They say desperate times call for desperate measures, so I wrote in my journal that I would win The Biggest Loser JournalEntry-BiggestLoser and then I signed and dated it July 19, 2008.

When I looked down at what I had written, thoughts bombarded me; there’s no way and even if you made it, you couldn’t win, just to name a few. So I did something even more daring. Without thinking, I stood in front of 60 people and claimed “I’m going to win The Biggest Loser! I’m going to get on that show and lose more weight than anyone in history!” For a moment, you could have heard a pin drop.

I’m sure they were thinking those same thoughts that I was at first, but then someone said, “Go for it!” and the class erupted in applause. Okay, I had 60 people who were willing to support me, now I just had to follow through and continue to support myself.
Winning doesn’t mean create casualties

In my past, winning usually came with someone else’s casualty. That was just a part of the game, right? What I’ve learned is that it isn’t my job to create casualties to get what I want, it’s just my job to win – and that usually means I am first competing with myself; my biggest obstacle was me.

To win, I had to focus on the one thing I could change: me. If I focused on the game play, then I would react and not respond to my circumstances. If I focused on others, I’d be comparing myself to them, perhaps becoming discouraged if I hit a plateau. The key was me.

Winning doesn’t mean beating others

I’ve heard it over and over: “Even if you lose The Biggest Loser, you’ve still won.” I used to cringe at that statement! You see, my personality is that of a Lion. I win – and usually at any cost. I’ve come a long way from that way of thinking.

A while back I heard something from a participant of a team in a multi-team competition. They had set a goal to beat another team’s score. Their entire focus was winning a single battle, and not the competition. Wouldn’t it have been better to set a goal to win the competition? After all, if you beat the team, you could still lose the competition. But if you win the competition, you’d accomplish what you wanted anyway – and the focus would not be on someone else’s demise, but on their success.

Healthy competition breeds greatness

When I got to The Biggest Loser Ranch, I set a goal to stay above the yellow line. If I stayed above the yellow line, I couldn’t be voted off. So my focus was just to not be in the bottom two. Usually, your win is consisted of many small battles. If you look too far ahead and take your eyes off the battle, chances are you may lose the opportunity to win.

In the middle of Season 8, we went to teams. Then I could stay above the lowest two and still be voted off! I had to change my strategy. Now I needed immunity, which meant losing more percentage of weight than anyone else. I achieved that goal and set a record that still stands today on The Biggest Loser.

Near the end, it became clear that Rudy was the only one who could possibly beat me. My goal still wasn’t to beat Rudy, but to hit my goal weight. I knew that no matter what Rudy did, if I hit my goal weight I would win the show. Instead of focusing on his loss, I focused on my win. It did help to imagine Rudy right behind me on the way to the finish line. It kept me running!

Rudy and I were like Tiger Woods and Ernie Els in PGA Golf. One year, Ernie Els took 2nd in every major in Golf. He took second because Tiger Woods won all of them! Some might look at Tiger’s year and miss how great Ernie’s was. My perspective is that Tiger and Ernie’s competition lifted both of them higher than they would have performed otherwise. Rudy set the record for pounds lost at 234 pounds. Five minutes later, I set the record for pounds lost and highest percentage lost in history. We both were able to achieve our very best because we ran together in healthy competition.

Winning with integrity makes a champion

Rudy and I had an agreement: we would never vote each other off the show. Near the end, Liz asked me, “Danny, what will you do if Rudy falls below now? We’re almost at the end and he’s the only one who can beat you. It’s $250,000 for your family at stake.” When she put it like that, I began to re-think my agreement and became conflicted.

The next morning I woke up and pulled out my bible and turned to Proverbs 28:6 (NLT) and read, “Better to be poor and honest than to be dishonest and rich.” This reinforced my promise. I won’t truly win if winning means breaking my word. Keeping your integrity is the key to winning with honor.

Choose to win the right way

To sum it up, remember that you are your biggest competitor, so keep your focus on changing you and not beating others. Winning and achieving your goals doesn’t have to create casualties on your way, and everyone can benefit from your win. Keep your integrity along the way, because the trophy will rust but the memory of your broken word will last a lifetime.

Each month in The Journey Training  we teach people that winning in life can include everyone. Countless people come to our training believing that for them to win, others must lose. Also, an awareness of their own self-sabotaging decisions become clearer, causing them to navigate to their success much easier. I encourage you to enroll in the next Threshold class and begin your journey to your greatest win today!

FREE Mini Journey Training

Discover How To Find More Passion and Purpose In Your Life!

Click here for instant access to FREE Training

Get it in Gear!

Get it in Gear!

One thing I have found is true in my own life is Newton’s first law of motion which simply says “An object at rest will remain at rest unless acted on by an unbalanced force. An object in motion continues in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.” Let’s look at that law in some detail and Get it in Gear!

If your gear is stop, you remain stuck

If a bullet is in a gun, it is not in motion. In order for the bullet to begin to move, it needs to be put in gear. How does this happen? Well, it takes an unbalanced force, or a force that is greater than its current stuck situation to act against it. For a bullet, it’s gunpowder. Also, someone has to cock the hammer and pull the trigger, which is the most important part of the equation!

Many of us have a great deal of unbalanced force within us. The positive force is called potential. The gear we are in at the moment is a direct result of our choices; to change that gear, we have to decide we want change more than staying the same. If you don’t make the decision to pull the trigger, you will stay stuck. It’s when you pull the trigger that change begins.

High gear, low gear, granny gear – just choose a gear and begin!

In order for what you want to change, it’s going to take a decision. I call that granny gear. You begin to move and it is powerful, but usually at a fixed speed and not very fast – which is still okay! Remember the law? Once you begin, you will stay in motion – that is unless acted on by an unbalanced force. Believe me, once you make the decision, there will be many unbalanced forces that will come against you!

It seems when you start a diet, all of the sudden birthdays happen where there is cake and ice cream, the office decides to go to eat pizza, and you begin to see every drive-through that you pass! It never fails. It’s like the world shifts against you. If you decide to pay off debt, things suddenly break down! When you decide to start your business, there will automatically be nay-sayers who will bring a thousand reasons why you can’t! Because of this, you need a plan – goal statements and action steps to create the new reality you want.

Shift it into low gear

A plan consists of a long range goal and a series of short term goals to keep you on your path during your season of change. A long range goal might be to lose 30 pounds in 6-months, and action steps might be to join a boot camp and begin working out, to begin a meal plan and start eating healthy, and to increase my water intake. That’s a great long-term goal and action steps! Now, those action steps are shorter range goals that show you what to do now – tomorrow – next week?

Join a boot camp might have action steps like make a list of 10 boot camps in my area, call them and ask for a trial session, visit all 10 boot camps in the next 30 days. That takes the guesswork out and you now have a path. The same should be done with begin a meal plan and increase my water intake. The more you plan, the more you will thwart the unbalanced forces against what you desire – and increase the speed of your gear!

Kick it into high gear!

The third step in creating the change you want is to thwart as many of those unbalanced forces against you that you can. A key to this is your support network. People will come against you, including yourself at times. There will be nay-sayers, not who challenge your methods, but those who discount every one of them. I like challengers because they give me different perspectives as to what I might face or better ways to do things. When you think that your way is always best, you lose out on options. The nay-sayers I’m talking about are those who constantly tell you things aren’t possible.

There are also people who do not want you to change. Their co-dependency create fears that your change will separate you from them. And it very well might! If someone I know only eats out, I’ll probably not be eating with them much. You can’t let others’ decisions to stay stuck keep you stuck.

You need to surround yourself with people who want you to succeed. I have a coaching group online called SLI Society that has about 10 people in the group. The successes are incredible, because we lean on each other and hear the can do’s a lot more than the can’t do’s. It is imperative that to kick it into high gear, you find a support group to lean on, keep you accountable and keep you on track during your season of change. Their unbalanced force in the positive aspect will help thwart those unbalanced forces in the negative aspect and keep you moving forward with increasing momentum!

Gear up for change

Each month in The Journey Training, people find positive support groups, learn to set goals, and most importantly of all, find the decision to pull the trigger and begin the momentum of the change they desire! They also get a group of supporting people on a private page to give them the positive power they need. Most of all, they see the potential that they possess inside to make their dreams come true!

 

FREE Mini Journey Training

Discover How To Find More Passion and Purpose In Your Life!

Click here for instant access to FREE Training

Managing You

Managing You

It’s been 5 years since winning The Biggest Loser. I’m not perfect, but I’m still 200 pounds down from my heaviest. To sustain a 200 pound weight loss for over 5 years hasn’t been easy; in fact, it’s been a lot harder than losing it in the first place! The true battle began once I stepped off the scale as the World Champion of Weight Loss back in December of 2009.

Life can hand you challenges, and those challenges can become distractions. I’ve been handed many in the last 5 years, and at times I have failed those challenges and backslid into some old, bad habits. In fact, 2 years ago I had to make some decisions to get the train back on the right track and begin to make progress again. Will Rogers once said, “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” So how do you face those challenges and distractions, and keep yourself moving forward? It begins by managing you.

I have found that you spend the most time with one person: YOU. And that being the case, accountability begins with you! Managing yourself takes discipline and self-control, but simpler than that is it just takes a plan.

Make Some Deadlines, Create Some Expectations

For years, I managed Land Surveying crews. If I wanted something done, I’d give them a deadline. Without a deadline, we can tend to have the “there’s no rush” attitude. But when we have a deadline on something, things tend to get done! Deadlines in your life begin with goal setting. In The Journey Training, I teach goal setting by setting time specific goals. If you just set a goal without a deadline, there’s no urgency to get it done! So whatever you need to do in your life, whether it’s lose weight, find employment, sell things, or save for retirement, take the end result and break them up into smaller goals. Let’s use weight-loss as an example.

If I want to lose 50 pounds, the first thing I need to do is set a time frame. So my goal becomes lose 50 pounds in 6 months. Then I break that up into even smaller goals. My long term goal is 50 pounds in 6 months, and I now set a short term goal of losing 10 pounds in 1 month. And even further than that, I want to set a weekly goal of lose 3 pounds in 1 week. So now I have a deadline. Get on the scale in 7 days and be down 3 pounds. Without that deadline you can set for yourself, 50 pounds seems impossible. How big does 3 pounds sound? To me, it sounds do-able!

Just as you’d manage others, you’ve got to manage yourself. Set a deadline for yourself and put it out there. Tell others of your deadline. Ask them to check on you when it comes and see how you did. Do what a manager would do for his team – set a deadline and create an expectation.

FREE Mini Journey Training

Discover How To Find More Passion and Purpose In Your Life!

Click here for instant access to FREE Training