Eating healthy will help you lose weight, have more energy, improve your mood and reduce your risk of disease. Yet, despite these amazing benefits, maintaining a healthy diet and lifestyle is difficult and without a good plan of attack, nearly impossible. How many times have you seen others fail or watched your own goals fade away? Over the years, I have had my ups and downs, in and outs and at times I have flown high only to crash in utter failure. After many, many tries, I began to see that it doesn’t take just simple goals. Goals are like wishes, especially when I sit on my ass and dream about my goals of losing weight, or playing guitar or maintaining a fit body. Goals need a plan, a map from “here” to “there” so to speak. If I look down at my round belly with the cookie crumbs on it and want to see six pack abs, I need a focused plan to do it. A goal is the objective, a plan is the attack, motivation starts the work and discipline keeps its moving forward.
After years of failures and now
years of success, I can offer you how I did it… This may not work for everyone,
but it damn sure it will work for the serious minded individuals who truly want
change…
Here are my 11 ways to stick
with your healthy lifestyle...
1. Start with realistic expectations
Eating a nutritious diet has many benefits;
however, it’s important to set realistic expectations. For example, if you
pressure yourself to lose weight too quickly, your plan to achieve better
health may backfire. Your body will fight back like the rebel forces in Star
Wars… Researchers found that obese people who expected to lose a lot of weight
quickly were more likely to drop out of a weight loss program within 6–12
months. Likewise, those who dove into exercise programs with unrealistic
expectations quit before the people who started slowly and developed habits of
working out. Setting more realistic and achievable goals can keep you from
getting discouraged and may even lead to greater weight loss and fitness gains.
2. Think about what really motivates
you
Remembering why you’re making healthy choices can help you stay on course. Making a list of specific reasons why you want to get healthier can be helpful. Please be as selfish and shallow as you want with this list, it’s yours. If your goal is to be sexier, then write it down. If you want to wear a two piece bathing suit again (or for the first time…) then put it on the list... Gentlemen, if you suddenly come across the information that overweight males can expect to gain up to one inch in the visual size of their erections for every 30 to 50 pounds they drop, please write "bigger junk" on your list in big letters, then underline it and put a start next to it…Keep this list handy and refer to it when you feel you need a reminder.
3. Keep unhealthy foods out of the
house
It’s difficult to eat healthy if
you’re surrounded by junk foods. If other family members want to have these
foods around, try keeping them hidden rather than on countertops. The saying “out
of sight, out of mind” definitely applies here. Having food on display in
various areas of the house has been linked to obesity and increased consumption
of unhealthy foods… Seriously though, doesn’t this seem like a no-brainer? If
you absolutely cannot control your appetite, sit down and talk with your
household and ask them to help you. After all, if they can keep that shit out
of your hands for just 60 days, new habits will be formed and then they can
return to their shitty habits and you will be healed…
4. Don’t have an ‘all or nothing’
approach. A major barrier to achieving a healthy diet and lifestyle is
black-and-white thinking. One common scenario is that you have a few unhealthy
appetizers at a party, decide that your diet is ruined for the day, and proceed
to overindulge in unhealthy foods, then decide you fucked up and completely quit
altogether… Instead of considering the day ruined, try putting the past behind
you and choosing healthy, unprocessed foods for the remainder of the party or
if you have to, leave the damn party. This isn’t a game and it isn’t funny,
this is about your health, your goals and your life. A few poor choices make
very little difference in the long run, as long as you get control of yourself
again and move along like you need to.
5. Carry healthy snacks
Sticking to a healthy diet can be
tough when you’re away from home for extended periods. When you get too hungry
on the go, you may end up grabbing whatever is available. Too often this is
fast food, or processed food that is not good for you. Having healthy
high-protein snacks on hand can help keep your appetite in check until you’re
able to have a full meal. Some examples of good, portable snacks are almonds,
peanuts, and jerky. Also consider filling a small cooler with hard-boiled eggs,
cheese, or Greek yogurt. Always take your lunch to work and do not be ashamed
to pull it out and eat it. Go with your co-workers to eat lunch out and take
your lunch. I promise you, this will be empowering. You are making healthy
choices in the face of adversity and your bravery will empower not only you,
but maybe a co-worker who is trying to make the difficult decision to change
their own habits. Be an example, not a victim.
6. Practice mindful eating
Eating mindfully can help you
maintain a healthy lifestyle. Take time to enjoy your food and appreciate its
ability to nourish you. This increases your chances of making successful,
lasting behavioral changes. Recently, I have discovered a miracle for curing
overeating. It’s called the “Okinawa Way of Eating…” People from Okinawa, Japan
live incredibly long and healthy lives. Science has studied their habits,
genetic makeup and run the gambit of tests on them. The conclusions are
pointing to their eating habits as a major contributing factor. Largely plant
based with some fish, they have this weird habit of eating very slowly and
stopping immediately when they feel the very first sign of being full… I have
been eating like this for just a few days and I have noticed a huge difference.
There is absolutely no sluggishness or feelings of being “too full.” Now I have
to tell you that I thought improving my overall feeling of health would not be
possible. I have not had indigestion, upset stomach or any problems regarding
my digestive track in a long time. Becoming vegan changed everything but, this
week I was reminded again that small tweaks make huge differences. So be mindful
of what you eat, how you eat, the speed of your eating and how much you eat and
your life will change drastically.
7. Track and monitor your progress
When you first start your new
lifestyle, logging the foods you eat into a diary, online food tracker, or app
can help you stick to a healthy diet and lose weight. You may not be aware of
the amount of calories you are consuming and you will be surprised at the food
groups and nutrition that you aren’t getting. Look at your data for a few weeks
and it will help you adjust your habits to match your nutritional needs.
Measuring your exercise progress is
also beneficial and provides you with motivation that can help you keep going. In
a three-month study, overweight women who were given pedometers walked farther
and lost six times more weight than those who didn’t use them. I gather so much
data on my exercise progress it is almost ridiculous. But, the data gives me
motivation. I track reps, times and sets to see if I can shave time off of my
routine or see if I can beat the number of reps. P90X3 is data driven and has
taught me a skill set for data collection and tracking.
8. Get a partner to join you
Sticking with a healthy eating and
exercise plan can be tough to do on your own. Having a diet or exercise buddy may
be helpful, especially if that person is your partner or spouse. Believe me, a
vegan partner makes the transition to becoming and remaining a vegan much
easier. Researchers studying data from over 3,000 couples found that when one
person made a positive lifestyle change, such as increasing physical activity,
the other was more likely to follow their lead. I often challenge my co-workers
to a monthly challenge and a few have accepted my challenges… This month, one
of them has accepted the 5,000 squat / 1,000 Push-Up Challenge and she has
requested that I push her when she wants to quit… Right now we are still at 45
or 50 squats and 10 push-ups so there is no need for pushing but it gets
horribly cruel quite quickly…I wish her luck and I will be as gentle as I
possibly can but I’m not going to let her quit…
9. Realize that it takes time to
change your habits
Don’t be discouraged if it takes
longer than you expect to adapt to your new, healthy way of living. Don’t get
down when you wake up on week three and still want to quit. You are developing
discipline because the motivation is now gone and all you have left is to grit
your teeth and get your ass moving. Researchers have found that it takes an
average of 66 days to make a new behavior a habit and let me in on a little
secret, even when you develop the damn thing and make it part of your day, you
will still want to quit once in a while… It’s easy to not do the healthy thing…
So easy to just say, “Fuck it” and order a pizza, drink a beer and forget the
squats… 60 days may form a habit, but 90 makes it stick, and 120 makes it
solid… Keep going, keep going, and keep fucking going… Eventually, eating healthy
and exercising regularly will become automatic, but it will still be up to you
and your work ethic and discipline to make it happen…
10. Figure out what works best for
you
There is no perfect way that works
for everyone. The most important thing is to find a way of eating and
exercising that you enjoy, find sustainable, and can stick to for the rest of
your life. The best diet for you is the one you can stick to in the long run.
Change your exercise habits to eliminate boredom but the two most important
things are, enjoy what you are doing and keep on truckin’…
Finally and perhaps most
importantly,
11. Celebrate your victories, tell
people about your progress and be excited about your new life. Don’t be
embarrassed that you are changing, instead, love and embrace the new you!
Things you love, you’re more apt to keep in your life…
Get to work! Now…
The 90 Day Life Change Challenge
Update… Okay... Hurt today... My back seems to be okay but now I have a really tender right ankle. My heel is fused with the Talus bone so I don't have any flexion in my right foot... I limp quite a bit and it keeps me from running for my daily Murph workout. It was stiff as a board today so I had to modify my squats, P90X3 Eccentric Lower workout and Burpees were a bitch but, I didn't quit, I just lowered the weight, favored my left leg and gritted my teeth a little... Like my back, it will pass, because you cannot push the human body this hard and not expect it to fail a little, especially when you have had prior severe injury. Other than a little pain, I am cruising through this... Anybody up for some bodyweight challenges? :)
Another day closer to the end and we
are still together… I will see you again
tomorrow… Actually kinda looking forward to it…
Love you like a meathead loves flexing in the mirror at the gym…
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