Plan the perfect eating day.
Ok -- I try to stay away from "perfect" as a goal -- but this one's going to be a little different. Perfect meaning you're going to eat only what appeals to you. No counting calories -- fat grams -- vitamin content. If you could do that, what would you eat?
Small portions are the key here. You CAN have what ever you want but small, slow, and savor is going to be your mantra.
No one gains weight in one day (real weight anyway -- we're not talking about water weight here).
Just repeat after me: small, slow, savor. Own your behaviors this weekend. Make your choices based on what is going to bring you the most satisfaction. Choose mindfully. And ENJOY! Life's too short to do anything else!
Friday, June 29, 2012
Thursday, June 28, 2012
A trick to get you where you want to be
HERE’S THE MENTAL TRICK: To make better decisions, imagine your life one year from now. From that perspective, look back on where you are now and think about how you wish you would have handled your current situation. --Don Miller
Interesting.
Where do you want to be in a year? I bet you have a great idea of what you'd like to see. Now think about the most amazing piece or plate full of (insert your most loved food here).
How's that piece or plate full eating experience stack up against your desire for that outcome next June? I'm guessing it could be the best eating experience in the world but you could be happy with a third or less of it if you were guarenteed you'd be in the place you want to be next June.
Interesting thing about this mental trick? If you use it -- you will be where you want to be next June.
Interesting.
Where do you want to be in a year? I bet you have a great idea of what you'd like to see. Now think about the most amazing piece or plate full of (insert your most loved food here).
How's that piece or plate full eating experience stack up against your desire for that outcome next June? I'm guessing it could be the best eating experience in the world but you could be happy with a third or less of it if you were guarenteed you'd be in the place you want to be next June.
Interesting thing about this mental trick? If you use it -- you will be where you want to be next June.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Matching Motivations
Not too long ago, I came across an idea that totally rocked my world!
BJ Fogg developed this behavior change model -- which in essence says:
Motivation levels for behavior change fluctuate (probably from minute to minute).
When motivation is high, do difficult things.
When motivation is low, do less difficult things (but still do something!).
So -- that means on New Year's Eve, instead of swearing off resolutions, we should make them and then ACT on them. So if your resolution is to get fit in the New Year -- that is the time to sign up for a trainer (motivation is high so the ability to act --find a trainer, schedule and pay for your training package -- will be greater).
That way, when January 2 rolls around (and motivation is lower), the appointment with the trainer is already set and it will take more work to back out of it.
When you're motivated to become more aware of your snacking behaviors -- that is the time to put all your snacks in a tub with a lid on a garage shelf. Then, as motivation wanes and you find yourself craving a snack, it is going to be more work to get one. The additional work it takes to get that snack from the garage may be just enough that you'll find you don't really want the snack THAT much.
How is your motivation today? If it's high, do something...right now! that will help you make positive changes later in the day (like send a text to your family telling them you are cooking a meal tonight and you are all going to sit down at the table and eat together). If it's low right now, pick one small thing you can do (like get rid of all the change in your desk drawer so you can't hit the vending machine this afternoon).
The key, no matter how much motivation you have at any given moment, is there are things (big or small) you can do to move you ahead on your goal -- just don't do nothing!
BJ Fogg developed this behavior change model -- which in essence says:
Motivation levels for behavior change fluctuate (probably from minute to minute).
When motivation is high, do difficult things.
When motivation is low, do less difficult things (but still do something!).
So -- that means on New Year's Eve, instead of swearing off resolutions, we should make them and then ACT on them. So if your resolution is to get fit in the New Year -- that is the time to sign up for a trainer (motivation is high so the ability to act --find a trainer, schedule and pay for your training package -- will be greater).
That way, when January 2 rolls around (and motivation is lower), the appointment with the trainer is already set and it will take more work to back out of it.
When you're motivated to become more aware of your snacking behaviors -- that is the time to put all your snacks in a tub with a lid on a garage shelf. Then, as motivation wanes and you find yourself craving a snack, it is going to be more work to get one. The additional work it takes to get that snack from the garage may be just enough that you'll find you don't really want the snack THAT much.
How is your motivation today? If it's high, do something...right now! that will help you make positive changes later in the day (like send a text to your family telling them you are cooking a meal tonight and you are all going to sit down at the table and eat together). If it's low right now, pick one small thing you can do (like get rid of all the change in your desk drawer so you can't hit the vending machine this afternoon).
The key, no matter how much motivation you have at any given moment, is there are things (big or small) you can do to move you ahead on your goal -- just don't do nothing!
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Remember why you're doing what you're doing
Ever get on a roll, driving home from work or whatever, and when you get there, you wonder how it happened? That always freaks me out! It makes me wonder how many stoplights I actually ran and people I cut off. Yikes!
And although, I assume many of you would be perfectly content to throw on a pair of pants one day and have them fall off with no actually memory of how you lost all that weight in the first place, I'm pretty sure few of you are going to be that lucky.
That being said, I've been wondering how many of us get into the groove of "I've got to lose weight" without really assessing whether or not you really do.
Sure, we talk about health reasons for managing weight -- why a person would think that taking "just one" diabetes pill a day is a more reasonable solution to manage their blood sugar than losing 15 pounds and taking no pills -- I don't know.
Health considerations aside -- most of the reasoning I hear for weight management is aesthetically driven. And again, I'm fine with "how we look" being the reason we set out on this kind of journey.
But....
What if we're just ASSUMING we need to lose weight?
What if we're always going to be 5 pounds away from happy?
What if we never learn that losing weight can make life easier in many ways but it won't solve the problems?
For example: in the "losing the 15 pounds so you can go off your diabetes medication" -- it isn't the weight loss that drove those results -- it altering the behaviors that caused you to gain the weight in the first place.
And my point is this: If you're struggling with practicing a more restrained and mindful eating style...if you're struggling with increasing your activity level...if you're making the changes you need to make but it's hard and you're not seeing the weight fall off like you'd like it to....
Don't give up. Be happy now -- not 5 pounds from now. Know that as you're working through this process, you are making yourself healthier and more fit. The weight loss will come but the increased health is here right now. And perhaps that can be enough....for right now.
And although, I assume many of you would be perfectly content to throw on a pair of pants one day and have them fall off with no actually memory of how you lost all that weight in the first place, I'm pretty sure few of you are going to be that lucky.
That being said, I've been wondering how many of us get into the groove of "I've got to lose weight" without really assessing whether or not you really do.
Sure, we talk about health reasons for managing weight -- why a person would think that taking "just one" diabetes pill a day is a more reasonable solution to manage their blood sugar than losing 15 pounds and taking no pills -- I don't know.
Health considerations aside -- most of the reasoning I hear for weight management is aesthetically driven. And again, I'm fine with "how we look" being the reason we set out on this kind of journey.
But....
What if we're just ASSUMING we need to lose weight?
What if we're always going to be 5 pounds away from happy?
What if we never learn that losing weight can make life easier in many ways but it won't solve the problems?
For example: in the "losing the 15 pounds so you can go off your diabetes medication" -- it isn't the weight loss that drove those results -- it altering the behaviors that caused you to gain the weight in the first place.
And my point is this: If you're struggling with practicing a more restrained and mindful eating style...if you're struggling with increasing your activity level...if you're making the changes you need to make but it's hard and you're not seeing the weight fall off like you'd like it to....
Don't give up. Be happy now -- not 5 pounds from now. Know that as you're working through this process, you are making yourself healthier and more fit. The weight loss will come but the increased health is here right now. And perhaps that can be enough....for right now.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Friday, June 22, 2012
Do something Friday ... the FourthMeal
I just came across Taco Bell's Fourth Meal campaign. Maybe it's time for us to start voting with our dollars.
Here's the thing: We don't know very much about what drives obesity. Yes, we know our portion sizes have grown (and so have our waistlines). Yes, we know high fat, high sugar, high salt food have similar brain stimulation patterns as cocaine. Yes, we know there are a number of hormones that work together to drive our hunger, satiety, fat accumulation, etc. What we don't know is how all of these components (and many more work together).
We also know a couple really important things:
We can't keep eating what ever we want whenever the whim strikes us without eventually gaining weight.
Behaviors associated with weight gain are the same behaviors associated with diabetes, heart disease, cholesterol problems, high blood pressure, metabolic disorders, (and I could go on but hopefully you get the picture).
Food companies (i.e. Big Food -- just like Big Tobacco and Big Pharma) make money by helping us believe:
But...
The tag line for the ad is:
"You're out. You're hungry. You're doing the Fourthmeal."
This is clever. They're making it normal to eat because your out and because your hungry. Not both -- it could be one or the other. You're out....better go get some food....can't ride in the car without eating something. Or... you're hungry...don't wait until you get home (you know -- in 30 minutes) ... you have the ability to stop feeling the tiniest bit hungry -- better do that right now! Before you starve to death while you're driving!!!
Are either of these ideas going to benefit you? Nope -- I don't think so -- I think they're only helpful to Taco Bell...and McDonald's...and Subway (yes, yes, I know Subway's supposed to be healthier -- but if you're eating when you're not hungry or just because you're out, this is not the best choice for you).
When you eat at Taco Bell, you are literally funding this ad campaign. You are creating the world you live in -- right now with your lunch choices, dinner choices, vending machine choices.
"Be the change you wish to see in the world." -- what's your plan for doing that this weekend?
But...
- If we are chemically driven (think addiction) to eat their foods -- they make money. The more we can't help but eat their food, the more money they make.
- Food companies won't help you.
- The government can't help you.
- You are the only one who is actually in charge of what you put into your mouth.
"You're out. You're hungry. You're doing the Fourthmeal."
Thursday, June 21, 2012
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