Success

MYST 199: Holiday Survival Guide

When people are on a weight loss journey, the winter holiday season is often viewed as a gauntlet of slow death. Oh, the parties and food are wonderful, but the bathroom scale often reflects gains and as a result, feelings of self-recrimination, despair, guilt, and depression pollute the underlying mood of the season.

I have one piece of advice:

STOP IT!

Yes, you actually are in control of your emotions. You are letting a few days of the year wreck all the positive progress from earlier in the year, and set you off with a negative mindset as you enter the new year. That is a plan for disaster. (And you know I’m right, because you’ve done that in the past.)

Ignore those parties. Or rather, enjoy them! Spend time with your friends and family. Eat! Drink! (Don’t drink and drive.) And stop worrying about those few days. The reality is that you probably have between five and ten events between the US Thanksgiving and New Year’s where you are likely to exceed your calorie budget.

That’s it. Just five or ten meals. If you eat three meals a day, you eat 1,095 meals a year. Are you really going to let ten meals (mathematically, that is 0.9% of all the meals in a year) turn you into an emotional and dietary wreck?

I hope not. It’s not the smart option.

What you should do is to do as I always say: eat the foods you really love and try to eat controlled portions. If you exceed your budget, don’t sweat it. This is a lifelong journey. We need to be able to have fun while still making progress towards our goals.

Not my Christmas meal, but doesn’t that look appealing?

I hope you have a safe, happy and wonderful holiday season! And come back next week for episode 200!

You can enjoy this and still reach your weight loss goals!

Photos via Pixabay, but Wirdefalks (Chrismas Dinner), and Couleur (Champagne)

All photos published on Pixabay can be used for free. You can use them for commercial and non-commercial purposes.

_________________________

Music composed and performed by Jason Shaw, courtesy of Audionautix.com

Voiceover courtesy of Matt Young. Matt is a professional voiceover artist. If you have any need of voice-over work, for your podcast, radio spot, or whatever, you can reach Matt by a variety of methods. He is on LinkedIn. On Twitter. And Google+. Follow his Facebook page to learn how to better use social media. Matt was also my guest on MYST 54. Give his story a listen.

MYST 197 How Do You Do It?

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Android | RSS

Success is the result of finishing a task. But the ability to finish a task is dependent on whether we work toward our goal consistently, and if we enjoy what we are doing to reach that goal. That applies to weight loss, writing a book or running a marathon. If we don’t enjoy the process, we are unlikely to stick with it long enough to see the results we hope to achieve.

And one way to help ensure “working consistently” is to make good habits. Find a process that works and habituate yourself. For example (and this will sound truly trivial) when I sit down to create a podcast cast episode, I need to make coffee first. The ten minutes it takes helps me get into the right mindset for creation. So I always start a production day by making a pot of coffee.

It’s my habit and because I really like coffee, it works for me. When I start my day by following a routine–a routine that has always helped me find success–it becomes easier to continue finding success.

What happens when the ideas fade and I cannot connect with my muse? I wander out to my birds and just relax for a little while. Usually, that brings me back to a place where I can work.

This is two week’s eggs.

In that photo of my studio, you can almost see some of the vintage items we collect. I have hundreds (actually, 594 by actual count) of vintage beer glassware. These are the glasses that relate to that “high quality” beer, more popular in the 60s and 70s, “malt liquor”. Again, it is something like this that helps calm down and reorient to creativity. Yes. I know, it’s odd. I’m okay with being “odd”.

Photos are mine, and cannot be used by anyone else.

All photos published on Pixabay can be used for free. You can use them for commercial and non-commercial purposes. You do not need to ask permission from or provide credit to the photographer or Unsplash, although it is appreciated when possible.

_________________________

Music composed and performed by Jason Shaw, courtesy of Audionautix.com

Voiceover courtesy of Matt Young. Matt is a professional voiceover artist. If you have any need of voice-over work, for your podcast, radio spot, or whatever, you can reach Matt by a variety of methods. He is on LinkedIn. On Twitter. And Google+. Follow his Facebook page to learn how to better use social media. Matt was also my guest on MYST 54. Give his story a listen.

MYST 196 Trained Fleas

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Android | RSS

We trap ourselves with our beliefs. We let our previous stumbles define our total capabilities. Weight loss is hard, and it never ends. We sometimes find ourselves stepping on the scale and seeing a number that our mind says “Nope! That’s it! We can’t lose more!”

And you don’t lose more.

You have reached your limit, based on your previous limits. You are now a trained flea.

I know I should have used a picture of a flea since that is the topic of this episode, but those are disgusting little blood-suckers!

Break that training. We need to redefine our goals and not stop until we get them, even if “not stopping” means we take purposeful pauses.

I don’t know how many pounds you want to lose, but let’s break past your previous training. Let’s stop being trained fleas. Reset your goal for 10 pounds, and the rate of 1 pound a week.  You should reach that goal in 8-12 weeks (unless you are only 10 pounds away from your ideal weight.)

When you hit that 10-pound “interval goal”, set your plan to your maintenance budget, and stay on maintenance for as long as it took you to lose those 10 pounds. Keep active and don’t eat your exercise calories (you probably won’t need to  because your budget will be 500 calories more than you are used to.)

 

Work it. Push through the challenges.

After that “rest period” reset your goal for the next 10 pounds at 1 pound a week. Keep doing that until you reach your ultimate goal.

You may need to lose 100 pounds and that is a lot of weight. And deep in the recesses of your mind, you might hear a voice saying, “You can’t lose 100 pounds!” That voice might be right.

But you know that you can lose 10 pounds. That is a simple goal. You’ve probably done it several times. So now you are going to just lose 10 pounds at a time, taking a break between each 10-pound segment. No stress. No worries.

You KNOW you can lose 10 pounds! Even a trained flea can lose 10 pounds!

Photos via Pixabay by DougandPeteGardening (Believe) and 5182824 (Push-ups)

All photos published on Pixabay can be used for free. You can use them for commercial and non-commercial purposes. You do not need to ask permission from or provide credit to the photographer or Unsplash, although it is appreciated when possible.

_________________________

Music composed and performed by Jason Shaw, courtesy of Audionautix.com

Voiceover courtesy of Matt Young. Matt is a professional voiceover artist. If you have any need of voice-over work, for your podcast, radio spot, or whatever, you can reach Matt by a variety of methods. He is on LinkedIn. On Twitter. And Google+. Follow his Facebook page to learn how to better use social media. Matt was also my guest on MYST 54. Give his story a listen.

MYST 193 Sharp Spikes

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Android | RSS

Winning a race and setting a record does not happen by accident. Without the proper preparation, planning and the ability to choose the environment–and reject unhealthy environments–success will not happen. And even then, usually success only occurs after at least one failure.

Roger Bannister set a new record in the one-mile race on May 6, 1954, but only because he failed two years earlier and then he used what he learned to get better.

Racing spike photo via Wikimedia. This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.

Woman stretching is via Pixabay by Skeeze.

My food log from September 30, 2018

All images from LoseIt are mine, and cannot be used without permission.

_________________________

Music composed and performed by Jason Shaw, courtesy of Audionautix.com

Voiceover courtesy of Matt Young. Matt is a professional voiceover artist. If you have any need of voice-over work, for your podcast, radio spot, or whatever, you can reach Matt by a variety of methods. He is on LinkedIn. On Twitter. And Google+. Follow his Facebook page to learn how to better use social media. Matt was also my guest on MYST 54. Give his story a listen.

MYST 189 Next Step

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Android | RSS

What are you going to do when your current plan falters? Yes, of course, you can keep doing what you have been doing, but when that fails what will you add?

In episode 187 I talked about FOCUS (Follow One Course Until Successful–or Stagnant) and I believe that is the most basic action. Find a course of action that you can follow–and still enjoy life–and then ride that horse to the finish line (yes, I mixed a metaphor there.)

And in episode 188 I talked about KISS (Keep It Slow and Simple) by not adding complexities that make adherence to those rule overly difficult. When you combine those two episodes, you discover my true belief. Find ONE simple action to make a slow but steady improvement and don’t stop until you reach your goal.

But what happens when something unexpected adds a new twist to the problem? You need to have something planned for your next step. Mine? I am looking for a good but used rowing machine. Why that? Because it takes me back to my childhood, and memories of fishing on the lake in the morning with my father. It is a simple activity and takes no training. I can do it in my basement while listening to podcasts, or to music or to nothing more than the rhythm of the machine.

What is YOUR next step?

Photos via Pixabay by geralt

All images and videos on Pixabay are released under the Creative Commons CC0. Thus, they may be used freely for almost any purpose – even commercially and in printed format. Attribution is appreciated, but not required.

My LoseIt Food Journal for Sept 15, 2018

Photos via Pixabay by ger

All images and videos on Pixabay are released under the Creative Commons CC0. Thus, they may be used freely for almost any purpose – even commercially and in printed format. Attribution is appreciated, but not required.

All images from LoseIt are mine, and cannot be used without permission.

_________________________

Music composed and performed by Jason Shaw, courtesy of Audionautix.com

Voiceover courtesy of Matt Young. Matt is a professional voiceover artist. If you have any need of voice-over work, for your podcast, radio spot, or whatever, you can reach Matt by a variety of methods. He is on LinkedIn. On Twitter. And Google+. Follow his Facebook page to learn how to better use social media. Matt was also my guest on MYST 54. Give his story a listen.

MYST 188: K.I.S.S.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Android | RSS

A great image, but not the KISS I’m talking about.

KISS: Keep it Slow and Simple

Success requires changes in actions and attitudes, and not all changes are simple. When you choose a plan–for a weight loss goal or any other goal–if the plan is complex, it is more likely to break down. Compare a boiled egg with a basic souffle. Each recipe uses the same ingredients (eggs) but the souffle has very specific instructions that must be precisely followed for success. If you miss a single step, the end result will not be what you want.

Weight loss is similar. Weight loss is built on the idea that the person burns more calories than they eat (Calories In/Calories Out). That’s it. There is nothing else that forces excess fat to be burned.

But there are many methods to control CI/CO. You can change eating patterns. You can increase activity. Or you can do both. But if you make it too complex, it becomes more difficult to continue.

From September 13, 2018

Choose one simple change. Just one. You will make progress. Never quit!

This is what I’m talking about.

Photos via Pixabay by Skeeze (soldier) and CJ (tortoise)

All images and videos on Pixabay are released under the Creative Commons CC0. Thus, they may be used freely for almost any purpose – even commercially and in printed format. Attribution is appreciated, but not required.

All images from LoseIt are mine, and cannot be used without permission.

_________________________

Music composed and performed by Jason Shaw, courtesy of Audionautix.com

Voiceover courtesy of Matt Young. Matt is a professional voiceover artist. If you have any need of voice-over work, for your podcast, radio spot, or whatever, you can reach Matt by a variety of methods. He is on LinkedIn. On Twitter. And Google+. Follow his Facebook page to learn how to better use social media. Matt was also my guest on MYST 54. Give his story a liste

MYST 182 Prospective Statements Bring Power!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Android | RSS

People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.

Zig Ziglar

Photos via Pixabay by Alexas_Fotos

_________________________

Music composed and performed by Jason Shaw, courtesy of Audionautix.com

Voiceover courtesy of Matt Young. Matt is a professional voiceover artist. If you have any need of voice-over work, for your podcast, radio spot, or whatever, you can reach Matt by a variety of methods. He is on LinkedIn. On Twitter. And Google+. Follow his Facebook page to learn how to better use social media. Matt was also my guest on MYST 54. Give his story a listen!

All images are Creative Common Zero.

MYST 181: Talking to the Expert

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Android | RSS

There are tens of thousands of books on weight loss. Maybe hundreds of thousands. All of them are correct. And all are wrong.

See, here is the thing. Those books are written by experts. They know exactly what you need to do to have weight loss success. And every authors says “This is the best way!”

They are all correct. None of those authors are being deliberately misleading. But at the same time, they are not totally truthful.

Every book describes a way to successfully lose weight. That means all of them are potential successful methods that you can use.

All of them.

So, which one do you choose? You need to ask the expert. And in this case, the expert is YOU.

Which method of weight loss looks like something you want to try? Don’t pick a method that you know from day one that you cannot follow to completion. For me, the idea of P90X is simply not an option. Likewise, I have no interest in trying a Keto diet? Am I saying P90X and Keto won’t work? Of course not. I know they work. It’s just that I know I won’t be able to (or want to) follow them fully, and therefore it would be a waste of time.

It would be a waste of time for me. Maybe it would be perfect for you. I don’t know. (And neither do all those authors.)

Ultimately, the successful plan will be the one that you start, and never quit. And only you know which plan that will be.

Go ahead. Read all those books. Check out blogs. Watch Dr. Oz. But in the end, the final decision is yours. Find a plan that looks like you will enjoy it. Follow it. If it doesn’t work, try something else.

You are in control of your success. That can be empowering and at the same time it can be demotivating. If your choice brings success, you will be your own hero. If your choice does not work…well, then it’s back to the drawing board.

Start now. And as long as it works, never quit!

MYST 165 (http://makeyoursomedaytoday.com/losefast)

MYST 166 (http://makeyoursomedaytoday.com/OneStep)

Photos via Pixabay by Geralt

_________________________

Music composed and performed by Jason Shaw, courtesy of Audionautix.com

Voiceover courtesy of Matt Young. Matt is a professional voiceover artist. If you have any need of voice-over work, for your podcast, radio spot, or whatever, you can reach Matt by a variety of methods. He is on LinkedIn. On Twitter. And Google+. Follow his Facebook page to learn how to better use social media. Matt was also my guest on MYST 54. Give his story a listen!

All images are Creative Common Zero.

MYST 172: Someday Might Start Tomorrow

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Android | RSS

“Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. It comes to us at midnight very clean. It’s perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we’ve learned something from yesterday.”
John Wayne

I know the name of the show suggests that “someday” never comes, and “tomorrow” is not a real day. And yesterday already happened–it cannot be changed. This show is about today.

But, as with almost everything in weight loss and in life, nothing is absolute.

Yesterday plays an important role, as does tomorrow. Let’s talk about yesterday first. Here is an important idea: If your yesterday was excellent and you made progress, you have learned a lesson. You know what works for you. Now you need to repeat it. Maybe not copy your food exactly. You don’t need to eat precisely the same foods, but simply repeat the concept of the meals. But maybe you will want to eat exactly the same food. If it tasted good, and you enjoyed it, and it brought you more success–well the saying goes, “don’t fix what’s not broken.”

However, maybe yesterday threw you a curve ball and you struck out. The scale showed a minor weight gain. But you know that in weight loss, even minor gains can lead to big problems. So use that gain as an indicator that you were given a learning lesson.

 

Photo via Pixabay, by GreekFood-Tamystika

Go back and evaluate your actions. If you look–and you probably won’t need to look hard–you’ll see where you went off-track. Unless yesterday was your first day on your weight loss journey, the “wrong choice” will stand out like a cherry on top of a bowl of vanilla ice cream.

What changes do you need to make? Ah, now that is where I can’t give you exact advice because it all depends on the “wrong choice” that you found. It could be:

  • you simply need to get back to basics.
  • you need to make a total change of plans.
  • you need increase your exercise program
  • you must stop eating your trigger foods
  • you should purge your food kryptonite from your home and office.

I don’t know what you need to do. That is very specific to you, but for every “wrong choice” there is a “new option”.

And more than a “new option” there is also a “new day”. Tomorrow. See, when we have a bad day–bad month?–we always keep one option available. We can make changes tomorrow. A bad day yesterday–or today–may help us have a better day tomorrow. Tomorrow is that new slate. Tomorrow is a field of snow unmarked by any human footprints. Tomorrow allows us to change ourselves into what we see ourselves to be.

So, look at yesterday as a test, and if your score was not a passing grade, use tomorrow to make necessary changes.

The tests in life never end, but also we never stop having the ability to make new choices. And that is where we will find our lasting success.

Next week, I will talk about what has been happening to me, my self-evaluation of my actions, and the changes that I put in place to break my slump. Yes. I was in a slump.

If you are in a slump, come back next week.

Picture via Pixabay, by

_________________________

Music composed and performed by Jason Shaw, courtesy of Audionautix.com

Voiceover courtesy of Matt Young. Matt is a professional voiceover artist. If you have any need of voice-over work, for your podcast, radio spot, or whatever, you can reach Matt by a variety of methods. He is on LinkedIn. On Twitter. And Google+. Follow his Facebook page to learn how to better use social media. Matt was also my guest on MYST 54. Give his story a listen!

All images are Creative Common Zero.

MYST 166: One Step

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Android | RSS

“The journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step.”

You have just started a new weight loss plan! That is always exciting, and maybe a little daunting, but you are full of enthusiasm.

You went to CostCo bought drums of protein powder to refuel post-workout, as well as new shoes and a new yoga matt (okay, your first yoga matt). You bought a membership at an “Anytime Fitness Center” so you can exercise either before or after work. You saw some secret supplements on Dr. Oz that are guaranteed to boost your metabolism and burn fat, so you bought a monthly subscription for delivery. Amazon will deliver the exercise bike that is wifi-linked to Alexa. You found some excellent recipes on Pinterest, and bought a 50-pack storage container set for all the food prep and home-cooking that you will do. And you bought Premium LoseIt.

And for a few days, you actually follow your plan.

Then, on day four, you wake up late and skip the gym. You can’t go on your way home because you need to pick up the kids. You think protein powder tastes terrible. You were the only student in the yoga class, so the class was canceled. The supplements gave you heartburn and diarrhea, and Alexa yells at you because you are using your bike as an auxiliary closet. Cooking in real life is not like Food Network, and you needed to take the battery out of the smoke alarm. The kids—and your spouse—won’t eat the crappy low-calorie foods you make anyway. You don’t like logging all the food—who can remember everything?

Don’t do what I just described. Don’t try to change everything in your life. Weight management is a lifelong process. I don’t care what event is on your calendar, trying to tackle weight loss from every possible angle will not work.

Take a single step. Do one thing that is new on your weight loss journey. The first thing morning, the day of your “first step” weigh yourself. Write that number down. Now ignore the bathroom scale. Set a reasonable budget (for most, that will be 1 pound a week.) Eat those calories. Log the food. That’s it. Develop a new skill set—measure and log all your food. Do that for a month. Don’t worry about “special diet foods”. Make the food everyone loves, just make certain you portion your plates correctly and log it all. Do that for a full 30 days.

On day 31, weigh yourself again. Compare this number to the first number. You probably lost weight. Maybe you lost three pounds. Maybe six or more. That doesn’t really matter. What matters is you’ve taken the first step.

Now, take your next step. Find an activity you enjoy. Do it. Keep eating the foods you love, and logging everything you eat, but don’t eat your exercise calories. Whichever activity you’ve chosen, try to gradually increase your workouts, but only as possible and tolerated. Do that for 30 days.

On the next “day 31”, weigh yourself. You probably lost three to six pounds. You finished step two.

Now you will either reduce or eliminate one food, or make one other food change. Maybe stop drinking diet soda. Maybe drink more water. Maybe you want to stop eating foods with added sugar. Pick one food change. Focus on that new change (while continuing to log your food, good portion control, and increased activity) for 30 days.

On the next “day 31”, weigh yourself.

By now, you understand my plan. One change for 30 days, then a new change every 30 days. And you only weigh yourself the day of a new change. That concept is the most significant part of this. By making a single change and then measuring at set intervals, you can determine if the change you made had the effect you wanted. If you eliminated added sugar and that month only lost 1 pound, maybe that change isn’t worth the effort. But you cannot know if you change everything at once.

Will you lose weight as fast as the Biggest Loser? No, but as I said in part nine, the speed of loss is unimportant. Continued loss, or continued maintenance, is the goal of this entire journey.

Photos via Pixabay by 5132824

__________________________

Music composed and performed by Jason Shaw, courtesy of Audionautix.com

Voiceover courtesy of Matt Young. Matt is a professional voiceover artist. If you have any need of voice-over work, for your podcast, radio spot, or whatever, you can reach Matt by a variety of methods. He is on LinkedIn. On Twitter. And Google+. Follow his Facebook page to learn how to better use social media. Matt was also my guest on MYST 54. Give his story a listen!

All images are Creative Common Zero