The Helm

The following is a thought I ran across this morning.  It came from Productiveflourishing and was specifically talking about something else but ... like so many other thoughts I come across, I find this one too apropos to not pass it along to you.

"Rather than running around the ship worrying about what will happen, grab the helm and get it through the storm.


p.s. It’s okay to run around the ship for a bit, just as it’s okay to let it coast. The point is to know what you’re doing and why you’re doing it."

You can't sail a ship one day, let it drift for the next and expect to get where your going by the third if it is a three day trip under sail.  Auto pilot doesn't get you to your weight loss goals -- it gets you to your current weight.  Don't worry about your weight -- grab the helm and get through the storm.
Photo credit: MackieKLew via Productiveflourishing

Yesterday, I posed the questions:

What if you only had 10 pounds to lose?

Would that change how you felt about losing weight?

Over the weekend, I have been reading Switch. The whole book is about change -- how to create it in ourselves or others, how to get it to stick...

One of the points the authors make over and over again is that changes must be small or people get overwhelmed. They like concrete starting points and a vision for how things are going to end up. But the steps in the middle (the actual change) must be small and incremental.

So what did you come up with? What if you had 10 pounds to lose and that was it. Would you be more confident in your abilities to complete this task in a timely manner?

Would you be less stressed about tackling the prospect?

If you have more than 10 pounds to lose, here is something to think about:

Clients that have a lot of weight to lose (whatever "a lots" is because it varies from person to person) have all lost 10 pounds in the past. They know, from experience, they can do that much. What if I renamed Mindful Eating to be the "The 10 Pound Tool".

To lose 10 pounds, you would use The Tool (reducing how much to eat by 9 bites per day). You would do this until you had lost the 10 pounds.

If you have 30 or 60 or 100 pounds to lose, you would use The Tool 3 or 6 or 10 times. Instead of tackling the whole amount, the weight loss is broken down into a series of smaller, do-able, attainable-in-the-short-term victories. Keep racking up the victories until you get where you want to go.

This has you completing your goal (10 pounds) pretty quickly. Clients feel successful after using The 10 Pound Tool the first time and they want to use it again. Once you've used The Tool once or twice, others might start noticing and commenting on how healthy you are looking. It provides positive feedback for your use of The Tool and next time The Tool is even easier to use.

You get to where are want to go by stringing a series of 10 Pound Tool successes together. How simple is that?

Passive, Fixed or Canned Experience

I just read something that has inspired me more than I have been in a while! It was the transcript of a talk by Clay Shirky entitled Gin, Television, and Social Surplus (do you have any idea how much I love that quirky title??)

I won't lie to ya -- the post is long! But totally worth the read if you are into new media and what lies ahead.

The gist of the article is the author opinion that we (as a culture) are just now figuring out how to deal with our spare time. What spare time, you ask? The time that we spend watching TV. The author makes the case that coming out of WWII more people started into the work force (very true) and there started to be a greater dividing line between work and free-time -- but that we didn't know what to do with our "Cognitive Surplus". Today, people have more options than ever to participate in their free time.

I run a blog and talk to y'all. Some people create movies and post them on YouTube. Some people sell their crafts and art on the web. Some people keep track of their friends and family via Facebook. The point is -- we are moving into an age where people expect to be INCLUDED in the activities that matter to them.

Any time you can have 100+ channels on your cable box and still think there isn't anything on -- we can see our expectations for how we spend our free time have changed.

But maybe it is more than just our free time expectations that have changed. We expect to have a say in our medical care -- working with our doctors to make decisions for our health -- not being told or just accepting what the first doc to come along says is Gospel.

The ability to custom design our Nike running shoes in colors and styles that suit our particulars doesn't suprise us anymore. The fact we can create them and have them on our feet in less than two weeks may be exciting but doesn't really surprise us any more -- it is what we expect.

So ... what about the diet experiences? Do you want a one size fits all diet??? Do you want your weight management experience to be run by others with no consideration that you are different than every other woman or man participating in the same program? OR....

Is that the only way you have been taught to think about weight management? Looking to "experts" to "fix" you?

My supposition is that the latter is more the case. My hope is we are starting to see that no one knows you better than you. And that you want more out of your life than being told how to live it so you will be "fixed".

Leverage

A couple weeks ago, a coworker asked me to create a series of classes on "Increasing your activity level to aid in weight loss". My program would be a complement to her nutrition series entitled Weight Management 101. Since she is a dietician and I am an exercise physiologist, this seems like a natural fit.

In order to get me started, she gave me the information she was going to use from the National Institutes of Health entitled "The Practical Guide to Identification, Evalutation, and Treatment of Overweight and Obese Adults". (and it was as dynamic of a read as the title indicates)

As I kicked around the idea of this program in my head, I keep coming back to the question:

Why would anyone, who already has a membership to my fitness facility and presumably is using it, choose to spend an hour listening to me talk about being more active when during that same hour, they could actually be active???

The best answer I could come up with was: Leverage

Investing the hour with me this month will allow them to leverage that time and become more active during the rest of their workouts. Hopefully, the knowledge they gain will give them an opportunity to burn more calories over the long haul than they would have if they continued doing exactly what they are currently doing because they didn't invest the hour in coming and listening to me.

The idea of leverage intrigues me -- both for eating and for activity (and, if I am honest with you, for money and for time).

The idea that I can make a small investment that will grow without much addition input of resources (additional time or money) so that I can create a greater desired outcome -- that is fantastic!!

So you know how leveraging your money works -- I make a commitment to have 6% of my paycheck taken out and put into a 401k -- starting when I am 24. Because my wage is small, there isn't much money going into the 401k -- of course, the sacrifice of giving up that 6% isn' that great either.

Over time, that 6% grows and compounds and over my working lifetime it adds up to something I can retire on (really comfortably -- I hope).

The same can be said for activity. In the 1930's, we burned enough calories in everyday tasks (think opening the garage door, starting the car, pulling it out of the garage, getting out of the car to MANAUALLY pull the garage door shut / dragging the carpets out onto the line to beat them with a stick instead of letting the Roomba do all the work / ect) to add up to the calories of 5 cheesecakes a month. -- Think about it, if you were doing all of those activities required for just living life in the 1930's, you could eat 1.25 cheesecakes per week and still stay at the same weight you are right now! Talk about leveraging the situation.

So what about food? How do you leverage your food choices?

The first idea is maximize your enjoyment!!!! If is doesn't taste GREAT -- only eat enough of it to get rid of your physical hunger.

If it does taste great, ENJOY every bite -- really taste it!

And most of all -- don't disregard all of the little "deposits" you make in the calorie savings bank! If you are able to decrease your fullness level by one number (from a 9 to an 8, let's say) at a meal, that is just like making that small 6% deposit into your 401k. The extra calories that are not satisfying physcial hunger are not going to be stored as fat AND you have had one more success in creating a habit of recognizing that a level 8 can be VERY satisfying even if it is not VERY full. That habit will make it more likely you will choose to eat less at another meal in the future, create another success, and increase your positive spiral.

All of your positive work (that, of course, you are CELEBRATING!! -- because that is the right thing to do with victories and you would celebrate with a friend if she were making these same decisions -- so you really should be celebrating when you make them for yourself!) ... positive decisions tend to lead to more positive decisions. When you are successful, you feel more empowered to make other challengine choices and be successful with those. With this phylosophy, your positive choices grow exponentially and you feel great about it! (This is very exciting to see. This is why I LOVE what the coaching I do!!)

So give the idea of leverage some thought. In your mind, when you choose to leave something uneaten -- think about it adding to your weight loss account. When you eat something that tastes great, know that you are EXPERIENCING the food and really appreciate it. That, too, is a deposit in the weight loss account because if you are tasting it and it is fantastic, there will be a time when you eat less of something because it does NOT taste fantastic and you know you can be satisfied with less of it.

And most of all -- no matter how much weight you need/want to lose or how much you are struggling to maintain your weight right now, giving the mindful eating approach some extra time and thought right now, will save you time, thought and heartache in dealing with your weight in the future -- and that is the ultimate leverage.

And the holiday eating continues???

I have noticed that not everyone is ready to give up the fun and pleasure of holiday eating just yet.

Case in point -- me. I want to keep eating cookies. They taste good. They are portable (and I told you yesterday I have been super busy!). They crunch (when they are frozen). And are soft (when they thaw). And most of all, my mom made them -- comfort like no other.

So -- I have done a pretty good job putting them away. I have only eaten 2 in the last 5 days. But the want to eat them is still there.

I met with a client this week who has let his portions creep back up and his weight is going that way too. Before the holidays -- not a problem. But the holidays knocked him off his groove and that is where he is now.

Another client realized she is stress eating -- not because she is stressed -- but because she was stressed through the holidays. Since the holidays have ended, the stress has gone but she is left with the stress eating habit.

What behaviors are you letting carry over into the new year? Do you feel you are in charge of your eating behaviors or are you just desperately trying to stay in control of them?

Why are you doing what your doing?

How did journaling go over the weekend? Was it hard to remember to write everything down when you are on the go without the structure of work?

This is the point. When you are on the go without the structure of work, many of us stop paying attention to what we are eating. With the fridge just a few steps away in the kitchen, are you the person who finds herself hanging out in front of it -- just looking to see if the food status has changed since your last visit?

Journaling doesn't have to be formal. Throw a pad of post-its and a pen on the counter and as you eat and fill them out, stick them into a spiral binder. Get creative and problem solve the situation in a way that seems sensible to you.

Studies have shown that it isn't the plan that determines how successful a person is at losing the weight -- it is how much the person buys into the plan. If you are modifying your behaviors in ways that seems sensible and maintainable over the long haul -- and then reevaluating them as you move through the changes -- you will be successful in losing weight and keeping it off over your lifetime.

1 January 2010

How are you moving into the New Year? Are you full of regrets of your holiday eating? Judgment about your weight?

LET IT GO!!!!!

The mindful approach to weight loss is all about letting go of judgment, both for the kinds of food you eat and for yourself. Guilt, shame and anger don't work as a long term weight loss strategy.

Have you seen the commercials for the Taco Bell Drive Thru Diet? That woman did not lose her weight because she was eating high quality food -- she was losing weight because she was eating fewer calories that she had been in the past. You could create a Twinkie Diet if you wanted to -- you would just need to eat fewer Twinkie calories than the total number of calories you have been eating. (I am not endorsing Twinkies -- don't get the wrong impression -- anything with that long of a shelf life probably isn't a food you want as a staple)

Who would have thought a person could lose weight eating at drive thru's?? Even if you haven't actually watched Super Size Me, we all understand the idea that fast food makes us fat. BUT, it doesn't. LOTS of fast food makes us fat. And most restaurant food (fast or not) is designed to give us a feeling of monetary value (huge portions to justify the larger price tag). But if you ate the portion size your body needed at that time (based on hunger and fullness cues not portion size cues) you would lose weight.

So, it is the first of the year! Get creative with your weight loss solutions. Make small changes and do more of what's working well already.

Gimme a break...indeed

Yesterday, I will in the car and heard a radio commercial. I tried to find a link to it but was unsuccessful -- maybe you will come across it in your listening, too.

The gist of the commercial is the announcer telling us that coffee breaks used to mean taking a break from work to enjoy a cup of coffee. Now, he informs us, coffee breaks only last the amount of time it takes to get the cup of coffee back to our desk to continue our work. The coffee, that used to be a pleasure to drink, is now just caffeine to fuel our productivity.

Because the coffee won't bring us the pleasure it used to, we should have a Kit Kat bar on our coffee break. This will make it the real break from work we are looking for....

...Really??? Are you listening to what marketers are selling you? You are feeling over-stressed, over-worked, unappreciated (honestly, who doesn't from time to time) but do you really need to buy into the idea that food/chocolate/candy/something from a vending machine is going to make you feel soooo much better?

Some evening take a look at how food is being marketed on TV. Many of the pitches are directing us to use food as an escape from whatever else is going on. How do you think that works for those of us who run on autopilot and do not understand we are packing on pounds because we are being taught it is okay to not deal with the real issues and just use food to make us feel better???

If you need a break from the work piling up on your desk -- there are 100 different ways to make that happen that don't involve food. Figure out when you are running to food because you need a break from the work at hand.

In fact -- need a break right now? Here is a kind of fun link to a mini Kit Kat film -- take your break this way -- without the mediocre candy bar.

My theory

I have a theory about keeping a house clean -- It is going to take 4 hours (let's say) per week to keep the house looking good. Now...I can spread that cleaning out over the week (think hanging up my clothes each time I change instead of throwing them on the floor to be dealt with all at once) -- so that I do the onesy, twosey things (the equivalent of 3 hours of work) through out the week in 1 -5 minute intervals and leaves me with with a balance of 1ish hours at the end of the week where I clean the tubs, vacuum, etc. OR...

I can do nothing all week (leave the clothes on the bottom of the closet, not lightly sweep the kitchen after the kids cook dinner, etc.) and spend 4 hours on Saturday morning cleaning like a banshee.

With the later scenario, I don't have to do as much throughout the week, but I also don't get the pleasure of walking into a house that, for the most part, looks pretty good every evening when I get home.

The same is true for eating patterns.

You are going to have to put the work in in one direction or another. You can consciously think about your eating habits most of the time. Eliminate unmeaningful bites here and there throughout the course of each day OR...

You can not give it any thought (but of course you really will -- it will just be those "beat yourself up" kind of thoughts that aren't productive) -- throughout the course of time but eventually you will reach a point where you are unable to deal with your weight and then it will require a concerted "dieting" effort to get you back to the place you want to be.

There is no "Get out of Jail Free" card. There are no easy answers to controlling our weight in our culture right now. The best you can hope for is to find a way to manage what you eat that lets you enjoy life, be happy with the decisions you are making, and gives you the best shot at "living long" and "dying short".

Never underestimate the power of Connected

I was looking around the fitness center today -- and what did I see???

Why are weight loss programs like Biggest Loser, Weight Watchers, and Atkin's successful?

A big reason people come to my fitness center is to be connected. Connected with others who are battling illness, recovering from an event, or struggling with a diagnosis. Biggest Loser, Weight Watchers, and the Atkin's revolution connected people -- gave them something to talk about. Gave them common ground to share their experiences. Let them belong to a tribe of others like themselves. Humans need that. --It is not a want -- it is a very basic essence of being human.

I just read an article that said 25% of Americans currently live alone (compared with 7% in 1940).

Research out of Duke University says that between 1985 and 2004 the number of people with whom the average American discussed "important matters" dropped from three to two. The number of people who said that there was no one with whom they discussed important matters tripled" In 2004 individuals without a single confidant made up a quarter of those surveyed.

Interesting statistic but how does this figure into our discussion??

If (and there is a large amount scientific data to support this)we humans need to be connected to each other -- and we have all watched the success of those lucky few on Biggest Loser or experienced the power (abet in the short term) of Weight Watchers -- why not harness this need to help us achieve our long-term weight loss success.

Get connected. Start talking to your friends -- the ones that will really support you in deed, not just in words. Talk to your family -- get their buy in for slowing down mealtime. Find the friends that are willing to explore their eating behaviors with you. Create your network of support. Talk, blog, compare notes. Don't just drone on about food -- explore your attitudes and listen to others talk about theirs.

You will all gain support and end up losing inches.

Do something Friday

I have been reading the book "The Positive Power of Negative Thinking" and I have to say, it has completely changed my perspective. Whether you are a glass half empty kind of person or you see that glass half full (or you think your an optimist only to read the book and find out you are a defensive pessimist -- like me) it is worth the read.

The gist of the book is looking at the strategies people use to manage anxiety. That goes well with what I just found ---

I just found a scale that doesn't tell you your weight. After programming it for the first time, all it does is tell you whether you have gained or lost since setting it. I love that there are not numbers to get fixated on. It seems like it would be a breath of fresh air not to have to stress about the actual weight number.

What do you think?

The difference between being thin and being healthy

Yesterday, I spent some time thinking about thin versus healthy. I have talked in the past about how there are many people that are not at their "healthy weight" -- by whatever measures you chose to use -- height/weight ... BMI ...weight charts -- that are still very healthy. Conversely, there are people that are thin and fit into the tidy catagories of height/weight ...BMI...weight charts -- that are unhealthy.

More and more research is showing that weight is not the determining factor in diseases. The determining factors are those behaviors that CAUSE you to gain the weight -- not the weight itself.

You may have heard that "moderate weight loss", as little as 5-10% of total body weight, can be enough to bring blood sugars and blood pressures under control. That means for a 200 pound person, they could lose as little as 10 pounds to become more healthy.

Why? Because when you are working with your body (eating smaller meals which stabilized the blood sugar, and taking time to taste your food -- which means you are paying attention to what you are doing and not letting 1000 other things stress you out while you are eating) the body functions better. When you are enjoying your food, you absorb more of the nutrients from the food. When you are not stressed, your blood pressure goes down -- we all know that is a good thing. When you are being mindful, you will eat less which will make you feel more in charge of your eating behaviors -- reducing your stress. Get the picture?

In many cases, it is not the weight that is the problem. It is your behaviors. People who get liposuction do not see the reductions in BP and blood sugar levels that people who lose the weight do. People who get liposuction are not healthier for having removed the fat!

Get to the root of the problem -- it is not your weight -- that is a symptom of your behaviors.

Want to read the studies? Check out Health at Any Size