It's not a diet, it's a "weigh" of life
If you will excuse the pun.
One of my 100 Day Challengers mentioned today that she was struggling with the planning and organising of the challenge. She would like to lose some weight and I'll leave the next bit to her, she says:
"The extra weight has has now become a physical burden as well as a mental and emotional one, affecting what I do and how I perceive things. My other goal I want to run along side this for the moment is to be more 'present' and fun for my son - I always seem to have my mind on the next job I have to do."
Rather than just respond to Beverley I thought I would share some of the hints, tips and advice with everyone as I am sure there comes a time when you are all ready to say "well it's all right for you but ..."
Well day 3, and now day 4 and all is not well with me. I failed to replace my running / training shoes in time and I am now suffering with a pulled right knee and a sore left heel. To be fair, the amount of exercise I do, I should ask the company who I buy my shoes from to sponsor me :-) as I buy at least 4 pairs a year ... it would save me a fortune. But anyway - tiger balm followed by ice and elevation and we'll be back on track in no time.
Days 3 - 7 of any new way of life are the hardest, why do you think so may people fail with New Year Resolutions? We often get frustrated at our perceived lack of progress and we may be tempted to fall back into old habits and patterns. So when I say we are not on a diet it's a way of life, I also mean that to everything we say we want to do. It isn't what we do once in a while that makes the biggest difference, but what we do day in, day out which will mean we get to our goals or not.
So - first off the bat - we are all on a "diet". That diet may be one that allows us to gain weight, lose weight or maintain our current weight. So first things first. If you want to lose weight - you need to change your current way of eating from one that has allowed you to put weight on, to a diet that will allow you to lose some weight. A "derr" I know that - HOW? Well if you know that then you know how. Write everything you eat / drink into a journal or in your workbook - not sure where your calories are coming from - this is the honest and easiest way of finding out. It takes a damn sight longer to eat an apple than it does to eat a bar of chocolate - but unsurprisingly you get more from the apple over a longer period. Start with replacing - sugar is sugar regardless of how it is packaged. The difference between an apple and a bar of chocolate is how fast the sugar hits the system (fructose vs sucrose or corn sugar) one takes longer to digest than the other... personally I would add some almonds (10) or an inch cube of cheese to further slow down the absorption and to give essential fats and proteins and you also limit the problem of sugar spiking.
Similarly - exercise should be a way of life if you say you are into health and fitness. I can't walk or cycle to my day job - but I can take my gym gear and walk during my lunch breaks... which I do. I also pack my gear and hit the gym 3 mornings a week - and have organised a personal training session for every monday evening. It is part of my way of life. So to Beverley who needs to find time to eat less and exercise more, AND entertain the little one - here's something that I see in Australia every day. Mum and Dad in their track gear, littlie in the stroller and out they go. Beverley - take the little one out as much as you can - when he gets a bit bigger and onto a push bike, you can increase your speed - head to the park and play... and don't forget the apples.
If the weather is rubbish - stick on a kids channel / DVD - preferably one that is active and take part in the activities... the little one will get tired, he can go down for a snooze and you can get planning tomorrow's activities. My ex was not an active part of my kids lives growing up so I was chief entertainments manager - I got very good at finding things to do with no money... frisbees, catch, picnics in winter, you name it, we did it... yes I got down, yes I got depressed, yes my weight yo-yo'd as a result of the same - but think of it as over life success rather than over night success and you will get there. And let the little one help you in the kitchen - find some healthy snacks to make and let him get his hands dirty ... hours of fun, and think of all the extra calories burned during the clean up phase :-)
Want to attract more clients? Do you spend one day a week calling 30 people, or do you make a habit of calling 5 people each day? How about writing that value packed newsletter you said you were going to do to share with your clients (hint - newsletter not a direct sales letter pitch) as you will notice, my newsletter is about 1 "sort of sales pitch" to about a thousand non sales emails. But I know that I am making a difference, and that's what life should be like - how are we making a difference?
When you've worked that one out - the rest as they say - should be easy.
---------------------------
100 Day Challenge Update:
---------------------------
Day 3 / 100 - http://www.motivateme.info/100-day-challenge/2011/9/25/2011-100-day-challenge-day-3100-day-3-is-usually-the-hardest.html
Day 3 is usually the hardest. You may be wondering what on earth you are doing, and you may find life is already getting in the way - but it does take just a little bit of perseverance in the first couple of days to set the patterns and behaviors to lifelong change. Remember, this is about life long change, just in 100 day blocks of time.
Then again you may already be well on the way - in which case, congratulations - all you need to do now is repeat the habits and patterns that have worked for you over the first couple of days, refine techniques and see if you can't push yourself just a little bit harder. After all we never know what we are capable of until we are pushed kicking and screaming out of our comfort zones.
As I write this I am enjoying a cup of coffee before my Saturday morning (and normal) gym session - followed by my 2nd day of interval training. Hope the knee holds up after a brilliant week of training last week as it is pulling a little, and the base of my heel isn't feeling too great either - may need to get a new pair of trainers and a compression suit (aka skins) - but we'll see if I can persuade my partner to go shopping with me :-)
Over the weekend, I will be spending some time going through my personal goals for the 100 days and so far I have managed to put into place 4 health related goals. The weekend will allow me time, now those are in place to work on the next phase of my business goals. Until then, good luck and keep up the good work on your own challenges.
To read Day 2/ 100 entry - http://www.motivateme.info/100-day-challenge/2011/9/23/2011-100-day-challenge-day-2100-23rd-september.html
Elle
---------------------------
Let's Connect:
---------------------------
http://www.twitter.com/MotivateMe_info
http://www.facebook.com/ellegb
September 25, 2011 at 18:13
Reader Comments (2)