A Roundtable Interview with
Vivien Schapera & Drew Logan
~Review of HOW TO LOSE WEIGHT AND GAIN MONEY~
Interviewed by Deb Jones
1.
How is HOW TO LOSE WEIGHT AND GAIN MONEY different from the usual diet
books/plans?
In
HOW TO LOSE WEIGHT AND GAIN MONEY, we don’t recommend a specific diet or a
particular financial plan. We begin by reminding readers of their
individuality and guide them through choosing the diet and financial plans best
suited to them – helping them to make sense of the overwhelming glut of
information about weight loss, diet and finances. Another big difference is that
we help our readers discover why they are the way they are, and why they
haven’t succeeded in changing their eating and spending patterns in the past.
How To Lose Weight and Gain Money coaches change and how to change, progressing
readers from their starting point – whatever their current weight and
financial situation – into lifestyle changes that will lead to peace of mind
and a balanced life.
2.
If "How do I lose weight and gain money?" is the wrong question
to ask, what is the right question?
It’s
a strange phenomenon – we all actually know how to lose weight and we
all know how to gain money – so, then the real question isn’t a “how”
question. It’s a “Why?“ question. For example, we know perfectly well that to lose weight
we need to eat less and exercise more and to gain money we need to spend less
and invest more ... but we don’t do it!
What
we want in How to Lose Weight and Gain Money is for the reader to find out the
answers to the following questions:
·
Why do I gain
weight?
·
Why do I lose
money?
·
Why don't I lose
weight?
·
Why don't I gain
money?
3. What is the link between weight
and money? What are the seven elements of the behavioral bridge between the two?
The
link between weight and money is the set of behaviors which are common to both
eating patterns and spending patterns. We called these the “Behavioral
Bridge”.
The
Behavioral Bridge between Weight Gain and Money Loss consists of:
Ø
Excessive
consumption
Ø
Imbalance between
what’s coming in and what’s going out
Ø
Loss of control
(including disrupted energy and lack of self-discipline)
Ø
Comfort Seeking
(including addictions, bingeing and self-medication)
Ø
Genetics and
family patterns
Ø
Environmental
influences, including peer pressure, fashion and trends
Ø
Faulty equations
in which money = love and food = love
4. With one author versed in healing and the other
in banking, can you explain what healing and banking have in common?
On the face of it nothing! Dig
down a little and banking and healing run by the same principles.
Authors Vivien Schapera and Drew
Logan come from very different fields. Drew was vice president at a bank, before
retiring at the age of 41, and Vivien is a teacher and energy healer. We found
ourselves working together on an executive board which was formed to solve the
financial difficulties of an institute we both attended.
Despite coming at the problem from
our very different angles, we consistently came to the same understanding and
the same solution. From our experience, we realized that when it comes to making
changes and restoring balance and function, the same principles hold good,
whether you’re running a bank or helping people heal.
5. In the cover material for your book, it states
that HOW TO LOSE WEIGHT AND GAIN MONEY is "the ideal companion to your
preferred diet and financial books." Why is it important that you are
not recommending one specific diet or investment book/plan?
The
key reason that the book does not recommend one specific diet or investment
book/plan is that everybody is an individual with individual circumstances.
Each
person needs to discover why it is that previous diets or investment strategies
have not worked for them in the past. Money loss and weight gain are merely
symptoms of patterns that we all need to work on.
When
it comes to choosing an eating plan and a spending plan, it is extremely
important to be realistic. For example, some people love group support and will
thrive in the health club or weight loss club environment, others need a buddy
and yet others need to do it on their own. One person needs a low fat diet
because of heart disease in the family, another may have allergies – one
man’s meat is another man’s poison.
When
it comes to both diet and finances the key is to be systematic. The individual
should choose the system that is best suited to his/her lifestyle and will yield
success for his/her plans for the future.
6. Besides weight loss and financial control, what
other issues do you think your techniques could be applied to? Do you see age as
a restricting factor in who can benefit from your principles?
The
subtitle of How to Lose Weight and Gain Money is: A Program For Putting Your
Life In Order – and that really is what the book is about. “Weight” and
“Money” are both tip of the iceberg symptoms – results – of our
lifestyle and behavior patterns. What we’ve found in teaching the program, is
that by working with our weight and money patterns we actually reach every
aspect of our lives.
There
are the general benefits which apply when one changes diet and reduces stress
– like reduced blood pressure, normalizing blood sugar levels and having more
energy. But the point is, people have used this program for any change they want
to achieve – one person quit smoking and another used the steps to deepen her
relationship with her husband. Participants have felt particularly empowered to
speak more informatively to their children about money and diet issues.
With
regard to age, we’d love to have the opportunity to tailor the program to
teenagers and young adults– give them an informed start on life. Certainly the
earlier in life you learn the Lose Weight, Gain Money® Principle, the better.
Conversely,
we like to remind older readers and program participants that “its only too
late if you start tomorrow.”
What
we’ve learned, is that people are pretty scared to find out the truth about
their circumstances – they don’t want to get on the scale, for one thing,
and they certainly don’t want to find out the truth about their financial
circumstances. And then once they get up the courage to face the music they are
always – and we can’t emphasize enough – always liberated when they
discover how manageable their circumstance actually is.
That’s
the magic moment for us – when we see the flood of relief and the realization
that it is possible to take command of one’s life – instead of feeling at
the mercy of uncontrollable financial and physical demands.
7. Where can I learn more about you?
Come visit us at our website: http://www.loseweightgainmoney.com. This site contains many useful tips, articles and free information. How to Lose Weight and Gain Money A Program for Putting Your Life in Order is available on-line and through major bookstores.
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