Getting Past What Holds You Back with Baby Boomer Weight Loss Expert Scott 'Q' Marcus
HOPE can be more powerful than KNOWLEDGE.Intelligence without hope leads to stagnation. Hope without knowledge is fantasy.
You can be very smart but never move forward. You can be extremely optimistic but accomplish nothing.
We might not like the choice. We might not be immediately aware of the choice. It might not even be the best choice. But we are never stuck with only one option.
The key is to ask ourselves, “How” do we change this, not “Why” are we here.
I have a theory that I believe strongly influences whether or not we succeed at what we want.I understand that’s a big promise and it’s going to take a bit of explanation, so bear with me.
My hypothesis: When we are happy with our actions, we take credit for them. When not, we blame them, not us. In effect, good results are internalized; bad results are externalized. This is critical because where we place that control determines our future results.
For example, you surprise your husband with a thoughtful gift for no reason other that being a loving life-partner. He walks in the door unaware and discovers the trinket — with a loving note — centered on the coffee table, asking, “What prompted this?” Per my premise, because you’re pleased with yourself for being so considerate, your reply will be internalized. “I just wanted to do something nice for you; no special reason.” Notice you spoke in first person; you owned the action.
As another illustration, the results of your diet are finally showing; and the scale, the measuring tape, and your friends’ comments are all reflecting it.
“You look great!” says your friend. “What are you doing?”
Your reply: “I’m eating better and exercising more.”
Yet, should the situation be frustrating or what we deem as unsuccessful, we abandon it quicker than one can shrug his shoulders and say, “Who me?” [Read more…]
by guest author Tara Spenser
Dieting can lead to a vicious yo-yo cycle that can have you swearing to cut out all junk food one day and binging on ice cream the next. Sometimes, it seems the more you try, the harder it is to succeed.
Though it may seem counter-intuitive, sometimes, the best way to get ahead and to finally meet your diet and fitness goals is simply to give in.
Here’s why:
When you think about your diet all the time – what you are supposed to eat, what you can’t eat, and what has to happen – you start to put so much pressure on yourself that you may be tempted to eat what you aren’t “supposed to” or to skip going to the gym. The constant thought of your new regime can make you focus too much on temptation, cause you to rebel against it, or just make you feel like you don’t have the mental energy to see it through.
When you stop thinking about all the new “rules” all the time, you feel less pressure and will be more likely to eat in a healthy way. Going to the gym might seem a little more enjoyable. When something seems less like work, it becomes something you are more likely to do.
If someone were to tell you right now that you can never eat a doughnut ever again, what would you do? Chances are you would start to think about donuts – maybe think about them a lot. You will start to think about how delicious they are, how long is has been since you’ve had one, and how impossible a future without those donuts seems. Chances are also good that you would go out and eat a doughnut – or two or three or a dozen.
By not focusing on what you “can’t” have, you are less likely to want to indulge in it. Successful dieters sometimes indulge in treats. If you feel a craving for a do-nut – or any other junk food – or you want to indulge at a party, go ahead and eat the doughnut. Accept that you have permitted yourself an indulgence, and move on. Get back on track later. Don’t beat yourself up for being “bad,” as it will likely lead to more indulgences that will completely derail your diet plan.
Many dieters focus on absolutes. Either food is “good” or it’s “bad.” Either you are sticking to your diet plan or you aren’t. Indulgences are seen as failures. One chocolate bar can indicate the end of the diet, leading the diet to give up completely.
By allowing yourself to let go of these expectations, you leave yourself room to focus on the positive. Instead of talking about what you aren’t doing, you can highlight the ways in which you are succeeding. Maybe you did have a chocolate bar for breakfast, but instead of dwelling on that, you can focus on the delicious salad you had for lunch or the baked chicken and Brussels sprouts you had for dinner. Celebrate your successes and you will feel more encouraged to continue on your healthy journey.
Success doesn’t come quickly, and you can’t change your habits overnight. Putting too much pressure on yourself only sets you up for failure. If you expect to just stop eating all sugar overnight, or only eat whole foods, or never eat saturated fat again, you’ll likely feel frustrated and defeated the first time that you inevitably break one of these rules.
Understanding that healthy dieting and fitness is a process can help you to achieve success. When you eat unhealthy foods or skip a day – or a week – at the gym, you don’t have to feel like a failure. You can recognize that it is part of the process and know that you will keep working through your goals and find more successes in the future.
In many ways, giving in can help you to get ahead with your dieting goals. “Giving in” doesn’t mean giving up – it means to let go of your expectations and all the rules you establish for yourself so that you can focus on establishing new healthy eating patterns in general.
Have you found that giving in has helped you to get ahead and reach your dieting goals? Tell us about it in the comments!
About the Author: Tara Spenser is currently the resident writer for workingcapital.org, where she researches the most affordable small business loan interest rates available. In her spare time, she enjoys blogging, swimming and being a mom.
by guest author Alesha Wilson
How many times have you promised yourself that you will do something but ended up postponing it and doing something less productive? How many times have you promised to go to the gym to lose some weight but have backed out of the plan when the day arrived? Having cold feet is normal, but sometimes you have to brave the waters and do what has to be done–in this case, exercising to avoid being obese is a priority.
Take a look around you and you will see that many people are turning obese. But you do not have to be one of them. As long as you set your mind to that necessary change, you can save yourself. So how do you motivate yourself to change your ways? Apart from exercising, you can also use the steps listed below in other tasks that you might be having problems doing.
After reading the tips listed above, you hopefully are more motivated in getting “something” done. Just make sure that you enjoy the process and the outcome will be worth it.
About The Author: Alesha Wilson writes for various online publications including RockwellNutrition.com – leading online supplier of Whey Cool.