There are seasons of the year, seasons of our lives and even seasons of TV shows. at face value they may all seem disconnected. The weather outside and how my life stage is going don't match up - but they kind of do. In your life seasons you'll have hot days(great days) and cold days(no so great days) and TV seasons, well they do follow the seasonal calendar for the most part.
What about TV seasons and the seasons of your life? Not related right? Wrong again - you aren't really wrong so don't get down, but do listen to how they relate.
You are in a season of life - maybe you are single or newly married, maybe you just had your first child or just lost a loved one. Maybe you are approaching an big birthday and thinking - what next?
As you look at the season you are in you may find that you notice some themes that match up with some of your favorite TV shows. This isn't really untrue - for example I'm a big fan of the TV The Flash, I don't however run super fast or save people's lives. I do however understand his personal loss and his desire to help others and better himself.
We are the authors of our own TV season - we are the stars. We control the plot as the season progresses. Do we get the girl in the end? Do we save the day? Escape the zombies? Does someone kill Kenny? For the season of your life are you the one writing or are you a supporting cast member in your own series?
The fact is for many of us we know what the plot of our season is and have an idea how we want it to end(aka what we want to accomplish with a given amount of time). How many of us are using each episode to fulfill our plot? Granted every season has some filler episodes, but we a good season of our show should stick to the plot.
If you days and weeks were TV episodes and your goals the plot of a season how would that change your day to day? Why aren't we reaching our goals? Don't wait until next season to bring up your ratings. You have the final say!
Be the hero - get the girl(goal)! You are amazing and nothing will stop you!!
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
Sunday, September 17, 2017
You 2.0
I was recently asked by a friend what diet I'm on. I told him I wasn't really on a diet just that I was eating better things and watching what I put in my mouth. After giving this a few days thought, it was not only totally unhelpful to my friend it was also not really true. I'd say I'm not on a diet because it is a permanent change of what and how I'm eating. However my diet has changed and for the better! So I'm giving my diet and exercise changes a name. Welcome to You 2.0 or Y2 for short. This could already be a name of a diet, I didn't check - if it happens to be the two aren't related. All I know is that once you give something a name it is harder to kill (Thanks Chris!)
So let's talk the new you, You 2.0 - most of us start with You and go to You 1.0 after our first few years of life. We better ourselves and make positive and sometimes negative changes in our lives. You 2.0 is simply making changes for who you want to be NEXT. Please note the all caps next, you can't change overnight and if you could it would be a bad thing because it would be too easy to change back. So let's get started.
Planning - You have to have a plan, we are trying to build a new normal and habits and you'll need a plan to get you there.
Let's start with exercise - I recommend 30 minutes a day for at least 5 days. Let's define exercise - something that gets your heart rate up for longer than a few seconds. I'd strongly recommend getting a fitness tracker, they are super helpful at tracking how you are doing and well worth the money. I'd even go so far to say for me it has been required.
If you don't live an active lifestyle and you wouldn't be alone in that. Ramping up to 30 minutes a day of exercise for 5 days may seem like a huge leap - it is, sorry not sorry. Maybe I can ease the blow by giving you my reasoning - you see exercise helps to curb your hungry, it also reminds you how hard it is to work off even a small amount of calories - most of us eat well over 1000 calories for lunch. I've been exercising regularly for months now and even with two workouts a day I've never burned 1000 calories just from working out. Never! Walking for an hour and a half gets me about 680 which is the closest I've gotten. Not to say it can't be done, but I think you are getting the point - if not here it is - exercise will help you lose weight, but it won't make you lose weight. Exercise will help you to be healthy, but if your goal is weight loss the battle is won or lost in the kitchen!!
So recap - we are exercising to be more fit, curb our hunger, free up some calories and to treat our bodies like we should be, we only get one treat it right.
I'm going to take a side step for a minute - if you have a kid or kids and they were sitting on the sofa not moving for hours on end and over the course of a few months they gained weight and looked like their quality of life was getting lower - would you sit back and let it happen?? Probably not - so treat yourself with the same standards, you could be saving your own life and your kids will be thankful for that later!
OK - let's talk diet.
First things first you need a food scale, I have two one I use for ounces and the other for grams, it just happen you needs one for grams for sure and you could probably make due with just that. You could buy one that does both as long as it is easy to change. I measure most prepared foods in ounces, cups or tablespoons - you will do this a lot so make sure you buy enough measuring spoons and cups I have at least four sets of each. Most packaged foods I measure in grams like cereals or chips (I don't really eat chips now but I'll get to that later)
Let me talk about that chip comment for a minute - If you want to lose weight you have to make changes to your diet, that isn't to say you can't have chips anymore, but I also want to make it really really clear that you will never get to eat like you do now. I think some people either believe or are told that once they lose weight they can eat their "normal" diet again, you can if you want to go back to You 1.0. If you aren't interested in making this change forever then I personally wouldn't bother. That said, the change is worth it and you will find that how you feel and your quality of life will prove that to you.
This post is already getting pretty long so I'm giving to give you some tips to get you started and address specifics in later posts.
I'm on a low carb diet - not really but I think it seems that way. I'm on a low bad carb diet - I skip the bread at restaurants, I don't eat chips at lunch - pasta is really a distant memory (I'll cover this later, it isn't a completely sad story), most importantly the fried foods have got to go!! That breaded deep fried goodness has so many calories you could be on a treadmill for hours and still but hurting - also put the tortilla shells by the way side, those 3 shells you just ate are close to 300 calories a piece, not including the greasy meat inside!
I promise to write about finding the right carbs soon. For now - replace rice with cauliflower rice, replace the chips with carrots and a serving of air popped popcorn (little to no butter), I recommend smart pop white cheese it is 35 calories for a cup. Buy low calories bread and some Oscar Myer roasted chicken breast for 50 calories for 2 ounces. For breakfast eat no more than 300 calories and make sure it is packed with protein and fiber - you'll need both to stay full oh and have (black)coffee it will help to keep you full.
Target around 1500-1600 calories a day for most men, ladies I suggest starting with this as well, but some research says it is much lower. NOTE: You have to eat to lose weight, if you eat too little your body thinks it is starving and won't let weight go - seriously!!
Hopefully this random information is helpful - stay tuned for more.
So let's talk the new you, You 2.0 - most of us start with You and go to You 1.0 after our first few years of life. We better ourselves and make positive and sometimes negative changes in our lives. You 2.0 is simply making changes for who you want to be NEXT. Please note the all caps next, you can't change overnight and if you could it would be a bad thing because it would be too easy to change back. So let's get started.
Planning - You have to have a plan, we are trying to build a new normal and habits and you'll need a plan to get you there.
Let's start with exercise - I recommend 30 minutes a day for at least 5 days. Let's define exercise - something that gets your heart rate up for longer than a few seconds. I'd strongly recommend getting a fitness tracker, they are super helpful at tracking how you are doing and well worth the money. I'd even go so far to say for me it has been required.
If you don't live an active lifestyle and you wouldn't be alone in that. Ramping up to 30 minutes a day of exercise for 5 days may seem like a huge leap - it is, sorry not sorry. Maybe I can ease the blow by giving you my reasoning - you see exercise helps to curb your hungry, it also reminds you how hard it is to work off even a small amount of calories - most of us eat well over 1000 calories for lunch. I've been exercising regularly for months now and even with two workouts a day I've never burned 1000 calories just from working out. Never! Walking for an hour and a half gets me about 680 which is the closest I've gotten. Not to say it can't be done, but I think you are getting the point - if not here it is - exercise will help you lose weight, but it won't make you lose weight. Exercise will help you to be healthy, but if your goal is weight loss the battle is won or lost in the kitchen!!
So recap - we are exercising to be more fit, curb our hunger, free up some calories and to treat our bodies like we should be, we only get one treat it right.
I'm going to take a side step for a minute - if you have a kid or kids and they were sitting on the sofa not moving for hours on end and over the course of a few months they gained weight and looked like their quality of life was getting lower - would you sit back and let it happen?? Probably not - so treat yourself with the same standards, you could be saving your own life and your kids will be thankful for that later!
OK - let's talk diet.
First things first you need a food scale, I have two one I use for ounces and the other for grams, it just happen you needs one for grams for sure and you could probably make due with just that. You could buy one that does both as long as it is easy to change. I measure most prepared foods in ounces, cups or tablespoons - you will do this a lot so make sure you buy enough measuring spoons and cups I have at least four sets of each. Most packaged foods I measure in grams like cereals or chips (I don't really eat chips now but I'll get to that later)
Let me talk about that chip comment for a minute - If you want to lose weight you have to make changes to your diet, that isn't to say you can't have chips anymore, but I also want to make it really really clear that you will never get to eat like you do now. I think some people either believe or are told that once they lose weight they can eat their "normal" diet again, you can if you want to go back to You 1.0. If you aren't interested in making this change forever then I personally wouldn't bother. That said, the change is worth it and you will find that how you feel and your quality of life will prove that to you.
This post is already getting pretty long so I'm giving to give you some tips to get you started and address specifics in later posts.
I'm on a low carb diet - not really but I think it seems that way. I'm on a low bad carb diet - I skip the bread at restaurants, I don't eat chips at lunch - pasta is really a distant memory (I'll cover this later, it isn't a completely sad story), most importantly the fried foods have got to go!! That breaded deep fried goodness has so many calories you could be on a treadmill for hours and still but hurting - also put the tortilla shells by the way side, those 3 shells you just ate are close to 300 calories a piece, not including the greasy meat inside!
I promise to write about finding the right carbs soon. For now - replace rice with cauliflower rice, replace the chips with carrots and a serving of air popped popcorn (little to no butter), I recommend smart pop white cheese it is 35 calories for a cup. Buy low calories bread and some Oscar Myer roasted chicken breast for 50 calories for 2 ounces. For breakfast eat no more than 300 calories and make sure it is packed with protein and fiber - you'll need both to stay full oh and have (black)coffee it will help to keep you full.
Target around 1500-1600 calories a day for most men, ladies I suggest starting with this as well, but some research says it is much lower. NOTE: You have to eat to lose weight, if you eat too little your body thinks it is starving and won't let weight go - seriously!!
Hopefully this random information is helpful - stay tuned for more.
Saturday, September 16, 2017
Willpower
Where to start... effort + time = success? Well sometimes, probably even most times. If you put enough effort into something and enough time you will have some level of success. For example if you love golf but suck at it, you will generally improve if you practice. Practicing incorrectly will not make you better so maybe it is effort + coaching + time = success.
So to solve for success we need coaching (I'm trying to help with that), you need time - we all get 24 hours in a day, you alone decide what to do with those (if you are married it may not feel like you making this decision by yourself, you don't if you are happily married ;)). So that leaves effort are you trying? Probably - but effort unlike time is variable.
You want to make a personal change in your life like a better diet or exercise. You have every intention of working out after the kids are in bed or early in the morning maybe, but it doesn't happen. Over and over again you mess your workout and you feel more and more guilty about it. This issue really isn't an effort problem, it may simply be you are trying to do the wrong thing at the wrong time.
Here is where I take a 180 on you - effort isn't really your problem. Not at the beginning of a change, most of us are excited and are willing to put in the effort. Time and coaching aren't really your problem either, not for most - you can make time, even if it is 15 minutes a day. Coaching is a simple google search away or maybe phoning a friend. Effort is important and if it is an area you need work in you know it.
So what's the problem? Willpower.
You go into the day wanting to put in the effort, but you fall short because of willpower. Had that chocolate cake after dinner, willpower issue. Skipped your workout because you wanted to sit on the sofa and relax instead, willpower again. You see willpower is like a muscle( http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/willpower-limited-resource.pdf), you use that muscle all day long, ladies research suggests you use it more than men (sorry!). Some researchers believe that as you use willpower that it reduces your "willpower stores". The article I linked above and some books I've read suggest you can increase or refuel your willpower, but I prefer the alternative approach.
Willpower is reduced each time you make a decision, which most of us do all day long. We start our day by figuring out what to wear or what to pack for lunch, which email do I answer first, what should I work on completing right now? The bad news is we all have to make choices each day, the good news is we can make less of them and save our willpower for that cake!
So how does one go about making less choices? To start you can simply move when you make a choice. Trying to eat healthier - prep your lunch on Sunday for the week or at least the first 3 days of the week. Don't try to decide halfway through the day what healthy option you will have for lunch. Can't prep your lunch? Ok use a mobile app to plan out what you'll have from your favorite fast food place. Before I even step into a Wendy's and smell those yummy fries or that oh so tasty frosty I know what I'm going to order - I use less willpower because I made the choice before I had to fight all the good smells.
Having an issue working out during the week? Well fake it until you make it - if you can't get up and workout (most days I don't have it in me), then workout at night. I hear ya... sure that sounds easy, NOT. You're right, you have used your willpower all day and trying to talk yourself into working out is another choice you have to make. So lets make less choices, decide today that you will always put your workout clothes on when you get home, that is one less choice you will have to make that prevents you from working out, not only that but it will put your mind in the right place working out.
The next step is to look at your day or better yet your week and make decisions for the upcoming week before it even starts. Set calendar reminders or appointments. If you really want to give your willpower a super boost read more on habits! Spoiler: Habits require little to no willpower and can change you into a completely different person!!
So to solve for success we need coaching (I'm trying to help with that), you need time - we all get 24 hours in a day, you alone decide what to do with those (if you are married it may not feel like you making this decision by yourself, you don't if you are happily married ;)). So that leaves effort are you trying? Probably - but effort unlike time is variable.
You want to make a personal change in your life like a better diet or exercise. You have every intention of working out after the kids are in bed or early in the morning maybe, but it doesn't happen. Over and over again you mess your workout and you feel more and more guilty about it. This issue really isn't an effort problem, it may simply be you are trying to do the wrong thing at the wrong time.
Here is where I take a 180 on you - effort isn't really your problem. Not at the beginning of a change, most of us are excited and are willing to put in the effort. Time and coaching aren't really your problem either, not for most - you can make time, even if it is 15 minutes a day. Coaching is a simple google search away or maybe phoning a friend. Effort is important and if it is an area you need work in you know it.
So what's the problem? Willpower.
You go into the day wanting to put in the effort, but you fall short because of willpower. Had that chocolate cake after dinner, willpower issue. Skipped your workout because you wanted to sit on the sofa and relax instead, willpower again. You see willpower is like a muscle( http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/willpower-limited-resource.pdf), you use that muscle all day long, ladies research suggests you use it more than men (sorry!). Some researchers believe that as you use willpower that it reduces your "willpower stores". The article I linked above and some books I've read suggest you can increase or refuel your willpower, but I prefer the alternative approach.
Willpower is reduced each time you make a decision, which most of us do all day long. We start our day by figuring out what to wear or what to pack for lunch, which email do I answer first, what should I work on completing right now? The bad news is we all have to make choices each day, the good news is we can make less of them and save our willpower for that cake!
So how does one go about making less choices? To start you can simply move when you make a choice. Trying to eat healthier - prep your lunch on Sunday for the week or at least the first 3 days of the week. Don't try to decide halfway through the day what healthy option you will have for lunch. Can't prep your lunch? Ok use a mobile app to plan out what you'll have from your favorite fast food place. Before I even step into a Wendy's and smell those yummy fries or that oh so tasty frosty I know what I'm going to order - I use less willpower because I made the choice before I had to fight all the good smells.
Having an issue working out during the week? Well fake it until you make it - if you can't get up and workout (most days I don't have it in me), then workout at night. I hear ya... sure that sounds easy, NOT. You're right, you have used your willpower all day and trying to talk yourself into working out is another choice you have to make. So lets make less choices, decide today that you will always put your workout clothes on when you get home, that is one less choice you will have to make that prevents you from working out, not only that but it will put your mind in the right place working out.
The next step is to look at your day or better yet your week and make decisions for the upcoming week before it even starts. Set calendar reminders or appointments. If you really want to give your willpower a super boost read more on habits! Spoiler: Habits require little to no willpower and can change you into a completely different person!!
Wednesday, September 13, 2017
Self
Mom's of the world this post is for you. (If you aren't a mom keep reading, it does apply to everyone in some way)
What makes a successful business person? Hard work? Connections? Right place right time? Luck? Some of all of these play a part I would wager. Most importantly time management plays a large role. If you are successful or working your way to being successful you have to manage your time well.
Time is the only real thing we have of value - we sell our time to get money to by other things, but make no mistake you can't buy time. I'm sure someone could argue that you can, but really at the basic level you can't, you can pay for services and vacation days but it doesn't give you more time it just frees up the time you already have.
So of the 24 hours in a day or 1440 minutes in a day, how much time do you spend on yourself? Mom's if you answered more than an hour or two, you are probably ahead of most. The rest of us may get somewhere between 3-8 on average. My free time tends to start around 6 and ends when I go to bed at 10 pm(on average). What do I do with those 4 hours of "personal time"? Well I used to waste at least 30 minutes of it on Facebook. The rest would be spent on video games or TV, maybe a book (if I wasn't out or hanging with the family). How much of that was I working on me? Zero. I was recharging from the day, but I wasn't doing anything to improve on who I was or reach the goals I had.
To be totally honest I still fail at time management. I have a lot of personal goals and most of them don't get much personal time - it's a work in progress.
So here comes the important part. Ladies and anyone who is giving everything and not taking personal time - you are hurting everyone in your life! Yup I'm the jerk who just said giving it all away is selfish. (Waits for tomatoes.) Seriously if you don't have time for you - your first goal is to make time. If you are a single mom with two jobs I can't even begin to know how much time you don't have and I have no advice for you, but I do pray you get relief. For the other Mom's...
You need to take time for yourself, regardless who you are or where you are at in your life. In order to be the best version of yourself you need me time. Figure out how to make that happen.
Husbands, fathers, dudes - You need to do this too - but make sure you are supporting your better halves in the process! Also Dad's your health is important - having ditched my Dad bode I can tell you that it was worth it. Worst case you can just go back to eating donuts - Dad bodes are easy to make.
Bottom line - In order to be your best for those you care about, you have to take care of yourself too. There is no I in team but there is an I in family!
What makes a successful business person? Hard work? Connections? Right place right time? Luck? Some of all of these play a part I would wager. Most importantly time management plays a large role. If you are successful or working your way to being successful you have to manage your time well.
Time is the only real thing we have of value - we sell our time to get money to by other things, but make no mistake you can't buy time. I'm sure someone could argue that you can, but really at the basic level you can't, you can pay for services and vacation days but it doesn't give you more time it just frees up the time you already have.
So of the 24 hours in a day or 1440 minutes in a day, how much time do you spend on yourself? Mom's if you answered more than an hour or two, you are probably ahead of most. The rest of us may get somewhere between 3-8 on average. My free time tends to start around 6 and ends when I go to bed at 10 pm(on average). What do I do with those 4 hours of "personal time"? Well I used to waste at least 30 minutes of it on Facebook. The rest would be spent on video games or TV, maybe a book (if I wasn't out or hanging with the family). How much of that was I working on me? Zero. I was recharging from the day, but I wasn't doing anything to improve on who I was or reach the goals I had.
To be totally honest I still fail at time management. I have a lot of personal goals and most of them don't get much personal time - it's a work in progress.
So here comes the important part. Ladies and anyone who is giving everything and not taking personal time - you are hurting everyone in your life! Yup I'm the jerk who just said giving it all away is selfish. (Waits for tomatoes.) Seriously if you don't have time for you - your first goal is to make time. If you are a single mom with two jobs I can't even begin to know how much time you don't have and I have no advice for you, but I do pray you get relief. For the other Mom's...
You need to take time for yourself, regardless who you are or where you are at in your life. In order to be the best version of yourself you need me time. Figure out how to make that happen.
Husbands, fathers, dudes - You need to do this too - but make sure you are supporting your better halves in the process! Also Dad's your health is important - having ditched my Dad bode I can tell you that it was worth it. Worst case you can just go back to eating donuts - Dad bodes are easy to make.
Bottom line - In order to be your best for those you care about, you have to take care of yourself too. There is no I in team but there is an I in family!
Saturday, September 9, 2017
Full
Full - it is an interesting word and concept. I would guess that most would describe the concept of full as a good thing. My life is full of joy or my cabinets are full of food or my house is full of friends and family. All great things, but full has a dark side... careful you are or full you will get and no room you shall have.
You can have a full house with no room to grow, full cabinets that won't hold that last cup you need to put away, a full schedule that won't allow you time to even go to the bathroom without putting it on your calendar (there are days... I'm just saying). Probably the worst full of course is a full stomach. Most of use are raised to clear plates and eat until we are full. I've spent my adult life getting full - most was from food, but sometimes it is other things like "stuff" or praise or even information, all of these can fill you up! The worst part of being full? You have no more room even if something great comes along or super important.
So maybe full isn't the best thing - maybe there is such a thing as too much of a good thing? Can you have too much love? Maybe you can if you aren't returning that love or showing it to others. So instead of being full why not be satisfied. Let's take a meal for example, when I was a kid I would be "full" once I had eaten enough of my meal that I had room left for dessert. I would rarely get "full" on good food alone. As an adult I still deal with this, but instead of saying I'm full I know I'm satisfied with how much of this or that, that I have eaten.
So what is satisfaction? To be honest I don't know what the real definition is and I won't be looking it up because I like my own :) Satisfaction for me is being happy for starters. It is also somewhere between not enough and too much. So from an eating point of view I'm neither hungry or full, but I also won't be hungry in 30 minutes or an hour. If I'm working on a task, satisfaction may have nothing to do how close to finishing I am, I could be done and not satisfied with the result.
So let's think about being done with something and not be satisfied - it happens in meals all the time, or a bad movie or even in relationships. Given all those satisfaction would seem to have an element of expectation to it. If I expect this chicken to taste like a steak I'm sure to be disappointed! This salad tastes nothing like that cheesecake. This movie won best picture, who voted for this awful thing? My best friend forgot my birthday...
Expectations are in everything we do - we expect to wake up in the morning. We expect to walk whenever we "tell" our legs to get up and move. So if we sit down to eat and we expect to get full, what will happen? Well we will get full most likely - But what if we sit down to fuel our bodies, to promote good health, to satisfy our needs. I'm not advocating to no enjoy your meals - but I don't know anyone that like an overfull feeling a lot of us get that feeling when working toward full, we tend to "top off" the tank.
Not trying to lose weight, fair enough - Maybe try setting your expectations for Monday. "Today will be the best day of the week because I am refreshed from the weekend."
Looking to lose weight or improve your health - set an expectation that will satisfy you - try to listen to when you are satisfied not full or stuffed. Don't expect that healthy meal you fixed to taste like the deep fried Twinkies from the state fair. Expect it to give you energy and no heartburn and healthier body to enjoy your life with!
I hope this helped to satisfy your hungry for healthy knowledge but didn't fill you up with too much to think about! :)
You can have a full house with no room to grow, full cabinets that won't hold that last cup you need to put away, a full schedule that won't allow you time to even go to the bathroom without putting it on your calendar (there are days... I'm just saying). Probably the worst full of course is a full stomach. Most of use are raised to clear plates and eat until we are full. I've spent my adult life getting full - most was from food, but sometimes it is other things like "stuff" or praise or even information, all of these can fill you up! The worst part of being full? You have no more room even if something great comes along or super important.
So maybe full isn't the best thing - maybe there is such a thing as too much of a good thing? Can you have too much love? Maybe you can if you aren't returning that love or showing it to others. So instead of being full why not be satisfied. Let's take a meal for example, when I was a kid I would be "full" once I had eaten enough of my meal that I had room left for dessert. I would rarely get "full" on good food alone. As an adult I still deal with this, but instead of saying I'm full I know I'm satisfied with how much of this or that, that I have eaten.
So what is satisfaction? To be honest I don't know what the real definition is and I won't be looking it up because I like my own :) Satisfaction for me is being happy for starters. It is also somewhere between not enough and too much. So from an eating point of view I'm neither hungry or full, but I also won't be hungry in 30 minutes or an hour. If I'm working on a task, satisfaction may have nothing to do how close to finishing I am, I could be done and not satisfied with the result.
So let's think about being done with something and not be satisfied - it happens in meals all the time, or a bad movie or even in relationships. Given all those satisfaction would seem to have an element of expectation to it. If I expect this chicken to taste like a steak I'm sure to be disappointed! This salad tastes nothing like that cheesecake. This movie won best picture, who voted for this awful thing? My best friend forgot my birthday...
Expectations are in everything we do - we expect to wake up in the morning. We expect to walk whenever we "tell" our legs to get up and move. So if we sit down to eat and we expect to get full, what will happen? Well we will get full most likely - But what if we sit down to fuel our bodies, to promote good health, to satisfy our needs. I'm not advocating to no enjoy your meals - but I don't know anyone that like an overfull feeling a lot of us get that feeling when working toward full, we tend to "top off" the tank.
Not trying to lose weight, fair enough - Maybe try setting your expectations for Monday. "Today will be the best day of the week because I am refreshed from the weekend."
Looking to lose weight or improve your health - set an expectation that will satisfy you - try to listen to when you are satisfied not full or stuffed. Don't expect that healthy meal you fixed to taste like the deep fried Twinkies from the state fair. Expect it to give you energy and no heartburn and healthier body to enjoy your life with!
I hope this helped to satisfy your hungry for healthy knowledge but didn't fill you up with too much to think about! :)
Saturday, September 2, 2017
Meal breakdown
A little advice on how to break down your meals for successful weight loss or control.
First - know when you are hungriest - for me it is dinner and after.
For those of us who like our snacks at night I'd suggest.
- A cup of coffee or tea(no calories here folks)
- 30 minutes to an hour
- Breakfast (protein and fiber are your friends!!) - try to keep this your low calorie meal of the day
- More coffee or tea
- Snack time (I try to wait until 10), I recommend a vegetable. (Carrots for me)
- Lunch time - honestly most days I don't make it past 11, but that seems to work out for me
- Make this your second biggest meal
- After lunch you should have about half of your daily calories eaten, unless you snack at night a lot
- Afternoon snack, I don't normally have one, but make sure I have food if I feel like I need one.
- Dinner time, Biggest meal, probably.
- Why not sneak in a walk after dinner? The dishes won't mind!
- Late night snack - if you are going to have one try to make sure you have it before 8
I'll go into more food detail in the next few days, but for now it is bed time - no one is good at personal change on too little sleep!!
First - know when you are hungriest - for me it is dinner and after.
For those of us who like our snacks at night I'd suggest.
- A cup of coffee or tea(no calories here folks)
- 30 minutes to an hour
- Breakfast (protein and fiber are your friends!!) - try to keep this your low calorie meal of the day
- More coffee or tea
- Snack time (I try to wait until 10), I recommend a vegetable. (Carrots for me)
- Lunch time - honestly most days I don't make it past 11, but that seems to work out for me
- Make this your second biggest meal
- After lunch you should have about half of your daily calories eaten, unless you snack at night a lot
- Afternoon snack, I don't normally have one, but make sure I have food if I feel like I need one.
- Dinner time, Biggest meal, probably.
- Why not sneak in a walk after dinner? The dishes won't mind!
- Late night snack - if you are going to have one try to make sure you have it before 8
I'll go into more food detail in the next few days, but for now it is bed time - no one is good at personal change on too little sleep!!
I stand on a tower of failure
I started to write a post about set backs the other day, but I couldn't really find the words I wanted to say - I knew what I wanted but not really how. To be honest as I type this I'm not sure I have the right words either, but I'll let you be the judge.
Failing sucks - it can hurt emotionally, physically and even financially. One of if not the hardest thing about making a real change in your life is failing to make that change over and over again - day after day you make a promise to yourself that today I'll do this or I won't do that and at the end of the day all you have is a broken promise to yourself.
Let's for a moment pretend that all of those failures or broken promises go in a bucket. Now we all fail a lot so lets have two buckets to catch all the fails and a stick to pick up those buckets and carry them on our back. I mean that is what failure feels like right? A large bucket or two of weight, preventing you from moving forward and each failure or set back make it harder to move forward...
Many things have been said about failures or troubles including in the bible, the bible says we ought to be thankful for our troubles (more or less). I'd have to agree - Failures and setbacks can either weight you down or lift you up...
Ready for a little trip down memory lane?? Remember when we had a reason for personal change and set a goal? OK close your eyes - just kidding then you can't read... Imagine you're in the woods it's cool out and the sun is going down, you hadn't planned on camping but here you are none the less. You start a tiny fire - see the flame in your mind notice how small it starts out. You add some twigs to the fire and the flame gets strong, hotter and bigger! You add a log or two and sit back to enjoy your warm fire - in the distance you hear thunder. The rain starts, you bundle up and hope your fire doesn't go out. To your delight the fire is still burning bright, mostly because of those logs you added.
So where am I going with this - the flame is a few things really, it's your goal, it's you in some sense. When you start to make a personal change in your life you tend to be weak in that area and easy to "put out", your goal can be extinguished before it ever really got started. Twigs to the rescue!! Twigs are your failures, yup failures help to feed the flame of our failure at least they can if you use them. Remember our big buckets O fail - think of them as coal to super heat the goal furnace!! The logs are our reasons for personal change, to weather any storm we need strong reasons that really keep our fire burning.
Setbacks and failures are a major part of life and most personal change - they can fill your bucket full of coal or water - you decide how you want to feed your fire!
Failing sucks - it can hurt emotionally, physically and even financially. One of if not the hardest thing about making a real change in your life is failing to make that change over and over again - day after day you make a promise to yourself that today I'll do this or I won't do that and at the end of the day all you have is a broken promise to yourself.
Let's for a moment pretend that all of those failures or broken promises go in a bucket. Now we all fail a lot so lets have two buckets to catch all the fails and a stick to pick up those buckets and carry them on our back. I mean that is what failure feels like right? A large bucket or two of weight, preventing you from moving forward and each failure or set back make it harder to move forward...
Many things have been said about failures or troubles including in the bible, the bible says we ought to be thankful for our troubles (more or less). I'd have to agree - Failures and setbacks can either weight you down or lift you up...
Ready for a little trip down memory lane?? Remember when we had a reason for personal change and set a goal? OK close your eyes - just kidding then you can't read... Imagine you're in the woods it's cool out and the sun is going down, you hadn't planned on camping but here you are none the less. You start a tiny fire - see the flame in your mind notice how small it starts out. You add some twigs to the fire and the flame gets strong, hotter and bigger! You add a log or two and sit back to enjoy your warm fire - in the distance you hear thunder. The rain starts, you bundle up and hope your fire doesn't go out. To your delight the fire is still burning bright, mostly because of those logs you added.
So where am I going with this - the flame is a few things really, it's your goal, it's you in some sense. When you start to make a personal change in your life you tend to be weak in that area and easy to "put out", your goal can be extinguished before it ever really got started. Twigs to the rescue!! Twigs are your failures, yup failures help to feed the flame of our failure at least they can if you use them. Remember our big buckets O fail - think of them as coal to super heat the goal furnace!! The logs are our reasons for personal change, to weather any storm we need strong reasons that really keep our fire burning.
Setbacks and failures are a major part of life and most personal change - they can fill your bucket full of coal or water - you decide how you want to feed your fire!
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